6 years and counting

Sunday Ryan and I celebrated our six year anniversary. It was so fun to watch home videos and look back at pictures and see just how much we've done. I thought it would be fun to do the highlights of every year we've been married.


Married November 23, 2002

December 2002~ We went to Costa Rica with 2 of my older sisters who were also married within the year. It was a group honeymoon I guess you could say. Unfortunately we were robbed on our first day, cameras, passports, clothes, even birth control pills. So we never had a picture that captured how beautiful Costa Rica really was. This picture is of us and one of my sisters and her husbands. We were dragged way out into the ocean and kept wiping out time and time again. It's kinda funny now, but our husbands were very unimpressed with their new wive's adrenaline tolerance.

2003- We closed on our home on our one year anniversary and celebrated by cleaning for 3 straight days. I really love our little home and have enjoyed doing home improvements to the house and yard. I am completely happy to stay here for a few more years to come.

2004- We ended our second year by going to Mexico with my parents and my sister Stacey and her husband who didn't join us in Costa Rica. This is one of my most favorite vacation spots and I can't wait to go back.

2005- My parents invited us to join them on a journey to Peru that was truly a once in a lifetime experience. Going to warm ocean and tropical shores has been done time and time again. But to have a chance to trek into the mountains and see such history was truly amazing. Cusco is the most romantic town I've ever been too and I've never seen anything as beautiful as the Andes mountains.

In the meantime we also spent many trips going to Oregon to visit Ryan's family and spend time on the Oregon Coast, my most favorite place in the world. Ryan and I were always busy camping with friends, going on weekend trips, hosting parties, staying up late (we still do that) and just enjoying all of our free time. Our friends and our ward also played such a huge role in the early years of our marriage. Although we have so many friends who we cherish I feel like I need to give a special mention to the Stowers and the Malmbergs for the important roles they've played in our marriage and for the strength and example they are to us. The picture below was on Ryan's 25th birthday, I made sure he celebrated in style.

2006- The best thing to ever happen to us. Our sweetest little Emma came and gave us more joy than we could have ever imagined. I know I'm her mother and all, but this is one BEAUTIFUL baby.

2007- We went with my family for a 2 week vacation to Thailand and had so much fun. The week leading up to the trip I decided I was fine to not go if it meant I wouldn't have to leave Emma. However, once we got there I hardly even missed her and enjoyed every moment. The picture below is one of my favorite activities that we did. We swam into this remote island where monkeys live and they greet you at the shore to feed them. Ryan missed the instructions on how to carefully interact with them, since they are wild, and so he thought it would be fun to touch their tail. However the monkey totally freaked out and tried to bite him and luckily he had his flipper to defend himself. That's me in the background yelling at him for not listening to the instructor and putting us all at risk. We made it off the island safe and sound and it made for a funny story.

2008- We are so happy with our little family and just so excited for the new little baby we've been waiting for. I love to have adventures and spend time with our families, but my most favorite memories are.....

*reading in bed together

*family prayers (especially when Emma says them)

*picnics at the parkway

*day and night hikes

*trips to the zoo

*recreating my childhood traditions

*dinner group

*date nights

*staying up late with a bowl of popcorn and orange julius

*going to Portland every summer

*car rides together, the longer the better

"Marriage hath in it less of beauty but more of safety, than the single life; it hath more care, but less danger, it is more merry, and more sad; it is fuller of sorrows, and fuller of joys; it lies under more burdens, but it is supported by all the strengths of love and charity, and those burdens are delightful."