Five Years!! Really??

Our Wedding Day! 8.22.2003

Yesterday, Eric & I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. I cannot believe it has been 5 years since the two of us got married. We had such a good time yesterday, reminiscing about old times. We went to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts and saw an amazing exhibit. They had paintings from Van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, etc. It is amazing to see true works of art. After the museum we went to Thaifoon at Gateway. Yum Yum!! It was so good. We then took the train over to Temple Square and saw the Joseph Smith movie. It was very touching, but very emotionally draining. It is so sad to see the horrible things the prophet had to go through. But it was also very interesting to see a different side to Joseph Smith. My mom took Ryan and so Eric and I got to sleep in this morning. It was heaven! Thanks Mom!!

So, I have been thinking about what Eric and I have done together. In the last 5 years we have...

• Travelled to New York City, Upstate New York, Niagara Falls, Chicago, Wisconsin, California (multiple times), Hawaii, Spain, and around the Utah/Idaho/Montana region camping!
• Eric got his Master's Degree in Architecture
• Eric spent a semester in Bluff, Utah (that sucked, for Ali that is)
• Had a baby and added an entirely new realm of joy and fun to our life
• Bought our wonderful little Town home
• Got season tickets to Utah Football (Go Utes!)
• Eric almost being a licensed Architect (hopefully 2 months to go)

I am sure there are many other things, but Eric is no help and I can't think of anything else. All I can say is that these have been the most fulfilling years of my life thus far. I am so thankful for Eric and look forward to many anniversaries to come!

Before 5 blissful years of marriage

After 5 blissful years of marriage

My hunky husband!!

sour patch kid video

Ryan eating the sour patch kid

Vacation

So our vacation is now over, but we still have some fun pics to post. We went to Cedar Breaks on Saturday morning. It was nice because you just drive up to the viewpoints. We didn't do any hiking that day. We actually had pictures in the afternoon, so I wanted to make sure Ryan had some good naps so he would be good for pictures, which he was. He was awesome!!!

I took a funny video of Nate and Rachel giving Ryan a sour patch kid. I will try to put that at the bottom, it is priceless.

Family Vacation

We are in Brian Head, Utah right now on vacation with Eric's family. His parents rented a very nice cabin for the whole family and we are enjoying our stay here. Yesterday we drove into Bryce Canyon and did some hiking. It was so much fun. I have never been there before, and it was amazing!! Ryan did alright. He wanted to get out and walk around, we were all so nervous because there are drop offs all over around the hiking trail. It was fun to watch all the guys and us following every movement Ryan made, trying to make sure he didn't fall off a cliff. They were so much fun watching them play with Ryan. We are having lots of fun! Here are some pics from yesterday.

Ryan watching the chipmunks! It was so cute!!!

Camping

Well, we finally made it out camping! We went up into the Uintas yesterday afternoon, found a great spot at Shingle Creek and spent the night. Ryan was a hoot. He is a natural in the outdoors.

The first thing he did was get a huge handful of dirt and throw it. He was filthy within the first 10 minutes. We got camp all set up, Ryan loved helping.

He "helped" hammer in some of the stakes. The ranger came to our camp and got us all set up and told us that there had been a bear seen the day before about 700 yards from where we were camping. What a perfect way to freak me out! I was up a good chunk of the night last night, especially after I heard a gun go off at 2:00 am. But even with that I loved it! Ryan got a bit cold, so he slept in the bed with us and he did so well.

Yesterday afternoon we drove up to Mirror Lake and walked the trail around it.

What else was fun...

Ryan roasting marshmallows

Watching Ryan throw rocks in the lake

Kicking Eric's butt at cards...yeah!

Ryan actually falling asleep in the car while we drove

Watching Ryan scarf down his breakfast

and Just being together. I loved it.

Oh Dear!

On Saturday as I was scrubbing the house... I heard a bang and saw some kids by my car. I ran outside and they came up and said that they had crashed into my car while they were playing on their bikes. Wow, they hit the car hard!! There is a huge dent in the side and it broke part of the back light. Luckily, the kids fessed up to doing it and we spoke to the father of the boy yesterday. He is going to have it fixed. Thank goodness they are being so good to work with.



Now we only need the passenger side front side to get repaired and then we'll have a new outside to the car.

Girls Camp

The past couple of days I have been at Camp Piuta with the Young Women in our ward. What a great experience it was. I was a bit nervous going since I just miscarried a couple of days before I left, but I am so grateful that I went. The youth in my ward are some of the most exceptional ladies I think I've ever met. There was never any "drama" with the girls, they were so welcoming and inviting to all of the girls and leaders there. They were grateful for all the time and effort put into it and they were so pleasant with great attitudes. I feel so lucky to be able to serve with them. I really think that I needed those couple of days to cope with what I've just been through and the young women and other leaders were amazing for me. I know that miscarriages are common, but that doesn't make it any easier when you are going through it. If any of you are reading this please know from the bottom of my heart that I love you and am so thankful to have spent these last couple days with you!

Now for the fun pictures. The pic above is Julie, Holly, Annie, me and Camille during the hike. We went on an amazing hike. The Earth is the most beautiful creation and we hiked in some magnificent areas of it.

Katie and Holly (I couldn't get her attention to turn around)

Chars face in this picture absolutely cracks me up! I had to add it!!!