Our Summer Adventures in Washington State!

Ben and I decided that we would take one big road trip this summer and go see his family in Washington. I have never drove for so long at once! But it was fun to see the country. We finally made it there after two days of driving. Our first stop was beautiful Hood River, Oregon (about 45 min. from Bens moms)

That weekend we also went to the Portland Saturday Market. It was pretty neat.  There were so many people and booths it was crazy! We went with beautiful Julia and Thalia. So fun!

Climbing Mt. Adams

While we were visiting Ben's family, we thought it would be fun to climb Mt. Adams.  It is over 12,000 feet and is covered by snow year round.  

We found our cool ski poles at good will for $3.00 each at goodwill.

Emily headed back down, with Mt. Hood in the distance.

Other fun things on our trip

Ever since Emily saw VooDoo Doughnut on the travel channel she has wanted to go there. The doughnuts weren't that good, but they had style.  

This voodoo doughnut man was being skewered by a pretzel stick.

A trip to the coast

Camping in Diamond Valley

We camped in Diamond Valley for one night.  Emily was afraid of Bears and murderers.  Needless to say we made it home alive.

Our trusty tent

The view from our campsite

Roaring campfire

Jordy and Adams Wedding

I am soo happy for one of my best friends Jordy and her hubby Adam! They were sealed forever in the Saint George Temple on May 7th 2011.  They make such a wonderful couple and I can't wait to see the Ross family grow.

Graduation Day

I was able to get my Associates this spring!  I decided to walk because Thomas S. Monson was the commencement speaker and Ben and I wanted tickets in. haha.  It was a fun experience, Moe my big sister got her Bachelors and her husband Steve received his Associates.  The Prophet spoke about attitude, integrity, and service.  

The Prophet is on the big screen in black.

Spring is Here!

Ben's cousins The Jensen's came down to Saint George for their spring break.  Mark and Kerry have 5 kids and they are all great! They even helped me with a school project.  So nice!  It was really fun to get to know them all a lot better. We had dinner, went swimming, they took us shopping and out to lunch, we also went to the temple with them. It was such a fun week. Ben and I hope to have a family like theirs someday.

Another great thing that happened during our spring was Easter weekend.  Julia and Jack (Ben's mom and stepfather) came down to Saint George with our niece Thalia!  It was super fun to go to Zion with Thalia. She is sooo fun and cute.  We love all our nieces and nephew, they are really special.  

Julia gave us a nice Easter Sunday at her house here with Jacks kids.  We had a great dinner and fun time. This picture is from our "preception". I forgot to take pictures during Easter...oops  This is Mark and Kerry along with Julia and Jack.  Love them!

Jingle Bells!

Our first Christmas together was a little lonely.  Both of our families were far away and I had to work.  That night we went on a hike and it made the whole day a lot better.  We wrapped cereal and other practical presents for each other, we are broke newly weds!  I told Ben we should have waited one more month to get married so we could still get actual presents from our parents for one more year:) It was a humbling Christmas.  

Ben made us some SWEEEET furniture for our apartment.  He made 2 bookcases, some shelves for the bathroom and some more for the living room.  They were much needed storage spaces (our apartment is tiny!) and made the place look a lot nicer.

The Honey Moon!!

Ben planned our wonderful Honey Moon.  He booked the hotel and made all the arrangements! We decided to go to Las Vegas, its close and there are lots of fun shows and things to do (if you can ignore all the bad stuff haha).  It was a wonderful and fun start to our marriage!

One thing we did during our honey moon was going to shows, one show we went to was The Blue Man Group. It was such a great show! It was a gift from my parents. So thank you parents!

OUR WEDDING DAY!

On November 20,2010 we were sealed for eternity in the Saint George temple.  It was such a sacred and beautiful experience.  A temple wedding is unlike any wedding on this earth, we are so grateful for a temple in our town.

Our wonderful families and friends