An update with lots of pictures...uh see ya

It's been awhile but I have a feeling not too many people noticed...
But, if you have, sorry for not being diligent bloggers. I've been more focused on keeping my sister's missionary blog updated.

So here's a quick update on our life. We are loving life and are so blessed! The summer has been treating us well! Here's a list of some of the things we've been able to do:

• We went out to Mesa Falls with our lovely friends and were able to enjoy the demolition derby in Rexburg.
  
• Lots of swimming and even boating at Ririe Resevoir and Rigby Lake. (Will tried Wake Skating for the first time...it's like wake boarding but w/ no bindings. He had a lot of fun doing that)


• We went tubing down a river with some friends and even invited two of the tenants here. We're totally the coolest managers ever...I know...


• Lots of outdoor fun including ultimate frisbee and leisure bike rides. We love our bikes! (Thanks Bonnie for letting me use yours!!).


• Speaking of Bonnie, we had fun celebrating the 4th of July with them and more of our friends. We claimed a spot right by the band stands and played games until the show started at 10:00.
  


• Fun FHE's like water balloon volleyball w/ friends.
• Reading! We finished the series Chronicles of Narnia and totally recommend it for anyone and everyone! C. S. Lewis is amazing and the movies miss a lot of the symbolism that he puts in so beautifully! We've also started reading Lund's The Kindom and the Crown series and have been listening to Ballard's Counciling with our Councils on CD.

• We celebarted our 1 year anniversary!! WOO HOO! We had a BBQ potluck and invited all the tenants and all our friends. It was quite the party! (Again more proof that we are the coolest managers ever...and proudest...) The next day we went up to Island Park and had a picnic and then to West Yellowstone and watched the Secret Garden at the Playmill. It was so good! Many of the actors were BYU-I students and WOW!
  
Big springs at Island Park where we had our picnic



• We are hoping to be translated and are going to 4 hours of church on Sunday! (This isn't that exciting but I thought I'd throw it in for some laughs or sighs...) But, we are now proud members of the Rexburg 5th ward. It's an amazing ward! We were quite impressed. It has a lot of younger couples like us but, every other age too. The ward is so organized! We are still serving in the singles ward. I'm still temple prep teacher but now also the family history coordinator! Best two callings ever! Will's finally getting a grasp on his responsibilities in the bishopric. It's still humbling but a very enlightening experience for him.


• An amazing summer trip to Tahoe, California to visit my dad, then to the Redwood Forest, up the Oregon coast to Portland, and then finally to Pasco, WA to visit our dear sister Bonnie. We had so much fun! Our dad treated us to some fancy restaurants and we also went up to Squaw Valley, the Olymipc site in 1960. We went on a very rigourous yet beautiful hike with him as well and took the boat out on the lake. The Redwood forest was absolutely beautiful! We camped out at the nicest KOA ever. We loved walking through the park. The coastal drive was beautiful too and of course we had a ton of fun w/ Nathan and Bonnie's family in Oregon, and even more fun in Pasco.
  
  
  The hike of death! Actually it was beautiful we hiked around about 4 different lakes and 1 river!
This is at squaw valley. They have a ropes course that is 10x's better than BYU-I's, no offense it's got the money and yeah...

Our campsite in the Redwoods!

The biggest tree we've ever seen and there's a whole forest of them this size!!!

• We almost forgot that it's illegal to pump your own gas in OR, but luckily remembered almost before it was too late...


Fun w/ the Hall's at Multinomah Falls on our way to Pasco (sorry it's sideways)


Portland, OR Temple


Will and I had a picnic down there on that sandy part. This is on the Oregon Coast somewhere.

• We celebrated our 23rd birthdays together. We went up to Yellowstone with some friends on the 15th (my birthday) because it was free and because our President was going!!! Well mostly because it was free...We didn't actually think we'd see Mr. President but we sure joked about it! We got excited when we noticed helicopters flying above us and we knew he must be close. So, that's when we decided to use our detective skills and figure out where he was. Actually we were on our way to Old Faithful and hoped he might be there too! When we got there we noticed secret service and fenced off areas all over and people grouped together in one spot. After a brief investigation we determined that he must be coming to Old Faithful. The showing was in about an hour so we waited it out. We couldn't decide if we were more excited to see the president or Old Faithful. Sure enough 15 minutes before it went off Dear Obama and his HUGE party came but of course they stayed far away from the crowd. They left but stopped traffic for what seemed like ever but luckily we hadn't had our lunch yet so we just snacked while we waited for them to let us out. The rest of our time up there was glorious. We saw lots of animals and of course the rest of the beautiful park



Air Force One Helicopter!!!



There he is!!



The Upper Falls...

The Lower Falls


A very talented Buffalo


My dear friend Amanda and I...it smelt bad. But on the bright side she has a cute tummy!

My adorable husband!!!



• When we got home we went out to Applebees w/ a gift card we got from my Aunt, Thanks Dianne!! Then on Sunday for Will's birthday we had cake and ice cream and had a small get-together with friends. Our friends spoiled us rotten and got us fun little presents that we weren't expecting at all! Thanks!!
  


• My friend and I threw another Baby Shower for our friend Linsdsey. It was a lot of fun. Will helped with it a lot! He made most of the diaper cake and even decorated the lounge for us w/ streamers! He's got quite the artistic eye. (He actually did most of our wedding reception planning too! But, he worked for Margene's setting up Weddings in high school so he had a lot of experience...isn't he so great!!)



• Finally Will and I got CPR & First Aid Certified so if you have any health problems in our presence you are in good hands!

Well now you are caught up and enlightened...well probably not enlightened but at least you know what we've been up to. Managing is still going great. We love the guys. The new semester starts up in 2 weeks and we're almost completely full for the fall so that means I'll be busy! Not to mention that I'm teaching at Shumway Academy again! I'm excited! They opened up an older school and asked me to be the teacher so we'll see how it goes. It's intense because I'm teaching every subject...AHHH! Will's been doing temp work on the new auditorium and working hard on his farmers tan! He's excited for school to start. He's doing an internship at the Behaviorial Health Clinic so it will be a pretty intense semester for him too.