Flashback Friday

Our neighbors are leaving today to go on their first cruise together. Their excitement made me start thinking about our first cruise together and how much fun we had!! We went to the Bahamas in May of 2002. It was a multi-purpose trip...we went to celebrate our wedding anniversary and also to celebrate my graduation from Wichita State University. We had an unbelievably good time!

We got a GREAT deal on our trip to Florida and the Bahamas because it was one of those timeshare vacations where they entertain you for several days and then try to get you to buy one of their timeshares. We also got very lucky with a good salesman who was willing to go through the sales presentation motions with us, but he was not pushy or high pressure at all. We actually enjoyed our presentation and have thought someday we might own a timeshare.

Our trip consisted of several activities. We began our vacation in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. We had fun hanging out at the beach, but realized how dirty that city is/was! We then spent a few days on the boat and in Nassau, Bahamas. Once we got to Nassau we took an "Island Excursion" and went to the Island of the Blue Lagoon. It was gorgeous! After we arrived back in Ft. Lauderdale we drove up to Orlando and went to a Pirate Dinner Theater. That was very entertaining. We also spent a day at MGM Studios at Walt Disney World. We then drove back to Ft. Lauderdale and flew home. "It was good times," according to Dave. I picked just a small portion of our pictures to use with this post. I took 10 rolls of film so there is NO way I could ever post that many! Plus, there are so many pictures of the gorgeous scenery, but I decided to stick to pictures that actually had us in them. Enjoy!

Ocean Breeze was the name of our ship

Our official boarding picture

Our ship (it was tiny compared to some of the big cruise lines!)

Dave playing on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale

Holly on the Island of the Blue Lagoon

Flashback Friday

In the summer of 2001, my mother, step-dad, Dave and I took a trip from Kansas to Utah/Idaho. There were a couple of events happening so we decided that it would be fun for all four of us to go together.

One event that summer was Dave's family was starting the first ever annual Ella Kent family reunion. I don't have the best memory, but I think his grandma, Ella Kent, was celebrating her 90th birthday so her children thought it would be nice to have a family reunion. Since then they have tried to continue it every year even after her passing a few years back. It was fun to have everyone together! Even all 7 of Dave's siblings and their families made it back for the event.

Also while in Utah/Idaho that summer his brothers talked Dave into going swimming in the flume. This was something they grew up doing and for several years every time we were in his hometown we had to go swimming in the flume. It wasn't something I enjoyed and maybe only did once. The gist of this activity is to jump in one end of the flume and let the water carry you through this tube down to the other end and then walk on the boards on top of the flume back to the beginning. It was really hard for me to walk back because you could see the water rushing below you in the opposite direction you were walking. Not my cup of tea! While in the area we also attended the Preston, ID night rodeo and went to the 24th of July parade (for those who aren't familiar with Mormon history, that is the day when the settlers arrived in Utah so it is a big holiday out here...like the 4th of July).

While we were in Idaho we decided that we would try and find a lake that my mom had visited as a child with her father. Her dad loved to take vacations every summer and they did so until he died when my mom was 12 years old. She remembers visiting Lake Jenny (I hope that is the right name...again, my memory is not very good) and how calm the lake was, like glass, and how beautiful the scenery. We found it, but it wasn't anything like what she remembered. As you can tell from the picture the water wasn't very calm, but the scenery was beautiful!

Also while in Idaho we decided to go visit Yellowstone. I had been there many times while at college in Rexburg, ID and couldn't wait to return. It had been years since my mom had been there. We were only there for a short time so we visited the popular places like Old Faithful.

My mother's 50th birthday was coming up and she had been instructed by her sister that as part of their family tradition she needed to have her picture taken in black and white at the age of 50. My grandma had such a picture along with my aunt. My mom decided that she wanted to have me take this required picture of her on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. We spent the day there along with two of Dave's siblings snapping as many pictures in black and white of mom as possible.

We had a great trip and enjoyed being able to see Dave's family and new sites!

Thank You President Bush!!

After weeks of anticipation and a few glitches along the way, it finally has arrived!

What's inside?

Dave has put a lot of time and effort into finding himself a Wii! First, we searched high and low in every store in Provo/Orem that might potentially sell one. After many sales people telling us that our best option for finding one in a store was to buy the Sunday paper and then arrive as early as possible Monday morning to stand in line for one, Dave decided he would see if he could find one online instead. He found a GREAT deal on one through Sam's Club, but of course, we aren't members. His sister, Ann, came through for him and saved the day because she is a member and offered to let him use her membership number. His first attempt at ordering one through them fell short. On the anticipated date of arrival no Wii showed up at our door. Dave thought I was hiding it to surprise him on our anniversary, but I had no such plan in motion. Sam's refunded our money, but encouraged us to order it again. We still are a little unsure as to why we never got the first Wii???? He decided that he would give Sam's Club one more opportunity, but this time he had his sister do all of the ordering, paying for it, etc. (by the way, we did pay her back with part of our stimulus check). All along the Wii's journey from Texas to Utah Dave tracked it through UPS and it arrived yesterday afternoon. Needless to say, he is one happy boy! My husband is a kid at heart!

You can see how "old" your fitness age is.
Dave: 61
Holly: 49

We are golfing

Help???

I've heard of companies that will make a book out of your blog posts. Does anyone know of any specific companies that will do this???

Flashback Friday

This Flashback Friday post is dedicated to our many moves! Over the course of 8 years we have moved an insane amount of times. I really like change and have probably forced many moves on my poor husband who would prefer to stay in one place for a very long time. I think we both are the way we are based on the way we were raised. His family stayed put while my family moved a lot. I also spent the summers in Colorado with my father so there was always change and new adventures!

I love this first photo because it shows Dave's frustration and exhaustion with our first big move together. Little did he know he would have many many more of these moves ahead of him! That summer we decided to move from Utah to Kansas. I added the third picture because it shows a pretty big event that was happening as we were getting ready to leave the state...the mountain was on fire! I love looking at old photos of us because we look so young and so skinny!

For those of you that are curious, here is a list of the places we have lived in our 8 years of marriage:

Logan, UT (rented an apartment)
to
Halstead, KS (lived with my mom)
to
Newton, KS (rented an apartment)
to
Halstead, KS (rented a house!!)
to
Halstead, KS (lived with my mom again)
to
Newton, KS (rented a duplex)
to
Newton, KS (bought our first home!!)
to
Fruita, CO (rented a farm house)
to
Orem, UT (rented an apartment)
to
Provo, UT (bought our second home...a townhouse this time!!)

Soakin' Up The Sun

Some days I wish I was a dog and this was my life!

Our 8th wedding anniversary

Well, our 8th wedding anniversary has come and gone. We had a very enjoyable weekend celebrating it together! We did most of our celebrating on Saturday since the actual day was a Sunday and also Mother's Day. I've created a slideshow below with a few pictures from our day together.

We began the day out by driving up to Heber City, UT and rode the Heber Valley Railroad. Our train ride was supposed to be 3 hours, but because of "maintenance" on the tracks, it turned out to only be about 1 1/2 hours. We went to the Decker Bay area around the Deer Creek Reservoir and then headed back to Heber. It was a very nice and relaxing trip. We sat in the open cars so we would have a better view, but I have to admit that it was a bit chilly to ride out there.

After the train ride we drove over to Park City, UT. We've driven through Park City many times on our way to and from Kansas, but we've never actually stopped and looked around. We decided to check out Old Main Street and have lunch there. We ate at the Main Street Deli. It was a nice locally owned sandwich shop. After lunch we wandered around Main Street for awhile and did some window shopping. What an experience! While we were in Park City we also tried to find the outlet stores, but weren't successful. I guess there is a big outlet mall there. We'll have to go up there again to check that out.

After all of that we decided that it was getting late enough in the day that we should head back home. For our anniversary Dave got me the newly released "P.S. I Love You" movie with "Must Love Dogs." It was a two-pack. So, we spent our evening together watching movies. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing day! Here's to another wonderful 8 years (hopefully more) together!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful mothers out there! We especially want to say Happy Mother's Day to our very special moms. We love you both VERY much and appreciate all you have done for us over the years! We are truly thankful to have you in our lives!

Dave's mom, Dorothy, and one of her granddaughters, Ella.

My mom, Debra, and one of her granddaughters, Laiken.

Flashback Friday

My dear friend, Erin, has been encouraging me to do a Flashback Friday for the last few Fridays. I think this is a great idea, but wanted my first Flashback Friday post to be extra special so I've waited until today! In two days (May 11th) Dave and I will have been married for 8 years! Can you believe it? Time sure does fly quickly when you are having fun! This first Flashback Friday post is dedicated to our wedding!

Dave and I were introduced by my seminary teacher from high school in the fall of 1999. Eileen and her family had decided that they needed a new adventure in their life so they packed up their house and their family in Hesston, KS and moved to the very tiny town of Dayton, ID. My dear husband was one of the many who welcomed them to Dayton and helped them get settled. After getting to know Dave better, Eileen decided that I needed to meet him. I was finishing up my last semester at Ricks College, now known as BYU-Idaho, in Rexburg, ID. Eileen called me one day and asked me if I needed a new friend. I can never turn down the opportunity to have more friends so I took her up on the offer. She asked for my email address and said she would give it to Dave so that we could get to know each other that way instead of awkwardly meeting face-to-face for the first time. We emailed each other back and forth multiple times each day. In early December, with Eileen's encouragement, we finally decided to meet face-to-face. Eileen had bought a new computer and wanted my assistance in getting it all set up. She invited Dave over as well to help me. I have to admit that I wasn't very nice to him initially that night. I didn't even stand up when he walked in the room and introduced himself. I sat on the couch and shook his hand. I wasn't convinced that I needed anything more than a friendship with him and Eileen was convinced that we were perfect for each other and should get married. After spending almost every second with him that weekend I knew that there was something special there and that I should give him a chance and get to know him better. I went back to Ricks to finish up my finals and we continued to email back and forth multiple times daily.

After finals were over Eileen asked if I could stop by Dayton on my way back to Kansas to pick up a 50 pound bag of potatoes she wanted to go to someone in our old ward in Kansas. I agreed because I was interested in seeing Dave again. We spent some time hanging out together that evening and it was solidified in my brain that I wanted to get to know him better. The Wedels offered me a place to live if I was interested. I decided to go home for Christmas to think about what I wanted to do. It didn't take me long to agree to take them up on their offer and was back in Dayton all moved in in time to spend New Years Eve with Dave. For the next three weeks we spent every free moment we had together. After much contemplation on Dave's part and attending the temple for guidance, he proposed to me on January 17, 2000. We didn't waste any time! I was convinced long before he was that we should get married so I had to convince him of the same...although three weeks is a VERY short amount of time.

Over the course of the next couple of months I found an apartment in Logan, Utah to rent so that I wasn't mooching off of Eileen and her family for too long. We decided that we would wait until the end of Dave's school semester to get married. We decided that we would get married on May 11, 2000...I think it was the very next day after finals was done for Dave. I couldn't wait any longer! We got married in the Logan, UT temple. It was a perfect day! We decided to have two receptions. We had one in Dayton the evening of our wedding day and one in Kansas about a week later. Our honeymoon consisted of us taking a week to get from Logan to Kansas. We visited places like the Flaming Gorge, Vernal, UT, Steamboat Springs, CO, Estes Park, Colorado Springs, CO, Garden of the Gods, Seven Falls and Pikes Peak. We had an amazing time together during our first week of marriage!

It is hard to believe that 8 years have past already. We've had our fair share of trials along the way, but are totally and completely still in love with each other! We look forward to spending eternity together! Below are a few pictures from an amazing time in our lives!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Refinance

Last Thursday, May 1st, we "closed" on our townhouse for the second time. We decided about a month ago that it might be wise to refinance our mortgage. Because I am self-employed and had only done Medical Transcription for about a year when we bought this townhouse, we were only able to qualify for an adjustable rate mortgage with a higher interest rate. In fact, we even had to have two mortgages. Our broker suggested we refinance in a year to get a better mortgage. So, almost two years later we finally got in gear and got it done!

We now have one mortgage with a fantastic FIXED rate. We couldn't be more excited! We are also using some of our equity that has built up in the almost two years to pay off some debt to hopefully free up some money each month to begin saving for adoption. This whole plan was to ultimately help us begin the adoption process sooner! Hopefully this summer we can put our adoption papers in and join the masses waiting for babies!