camping with the old ward

Because of multiple reasons, Ryan and I had to head back to Utah shortly after arriving here in Columbus. It was a busy time full of trips and visiting family and friends! One of the things we were able to do during this "month of vacations" was surprise our old friends and randomly show up at the ward camp out! Yep - the best ward ever to be found - the BYU 147th Ward!! It was so fun to see old friends one last time before we moved, and we had a blast staying up late playing cards. I never realized how much a ward could bond (or divide for that matter!) over a game of Uno ... scum ... oh heck ... and some others that I completely forgot the name to! I wanted to include a ton of pictures - so there's a lot, and they're tiny. Just click on them to see them up close. Hope you enjoy!! Thanks to the old ward! We love and miss you guys!! (especially those who we didn't get to see at the campout!)

back in business

Man - living without the internet is surprisingly refreshing and draining! First off, you get a lot more important things done like unpacking! So it's nice to not be distracted (for those of us who have less self-control than others). On the other hand, you feel so out of the loop you go in sane! You can only handle real maps in the car for so long before you scream for mapquest or maps by google. And without the internet to find furniture stores, grocery stores, or ANY stores for that matter in a completely new city you are not familiar with - and to top it off with no phone book in the apartment either! - you literally feel cut off from all information. And considering the fact that we're living in the "information age," we were really desperate for anything! So, for those of you who ever find yourself in a similar situation - neighbors are a gift! Not only do they tell you where the cheaper groceries are, but on occasion they have a wireless router for the internet and can give you the password and cut a deal in price for you! Yay for neighbors with the internet!

But since we have neglected our blog for about a month and a half now, it's time to play recap. Stay tuned for our adventure stories and pictures!

moving

Towards the end of June, Ryan and I packed up all of our belongings and fit what we could in a 6X12 trailer. After a fun weekend celebrating the wedding of Ryan's brother Brit to Jennifer, we set off on our road trip across country. The trailer made the trip go a little slower than planned, but visiting family along the way was worth it! We got into Columbus on July 4th (our own version of Independence Day I guess), and will hopefully find ourselves a new home soon. The search is on! We were sad to close the door to that part of our lives, but yet so excited for the next chapter! We will miss our cozy little Provo home, and all the friends that we had there. I guess we just have to grow up now. :)

brit and jen's wedding

Brit and Jen's wedding on June 30th was gorgeous! It was such a wonderful weekend to celebrate with family. The new couple looked radiant as they came out of the temple, and the whole day was marvelous. Congrats to the new bride and groom - we love you!!

our cute nephew!

Colby is now 15 months old, and has gotten so dang cute as he's been growing up! Since we're back in Utah momentarily for vacations and what-not, we've snapped some really cute pictures of him! What can we say, we like to brag.Colby trying to be like his daddy and drive the boat. (yes, that is a little mermaid lifejacket - but he's so little he doesn't mind!)

Helping us clean and pack up our old apartment - somebody had to be in charge!

He was just so excited for his uncle Brit to get married!

He couldn't believe how beautiful Jen was in her wedding dress!

What a cutie!

recent adventures

(editor's note: we posted this on a family blog a little while ago, but we liked the pictures so much we figured we'd post it again. Sorry to be boring!)


These past few months have been so fun! Here's a little update on what's going on in our lives.First, we graduated!! Yay! We're off to medical school - Ohio State University here we come.

We're having fun this summer camping as well - and trying to get in as much hiking/outdoors as we can! The first pictures are from camping up in the Uintas with some close friends of ours. The river was incredibly cold - our feet stung for so long after we got out of that water. But the hike was fun - and beautiful!

These other pictures are us with the same friends down in Zions National Park. The first two are just fun ones along the hike. But the last one has a long story to go with it. To give you the highlights, we had a beautiful two-day hike along the West Rim Trail. Afterwards, Ryan hitched a 45-minute ride to get the car only to realize that Heather had put the keys in her pack without realizing it. What followed was a long five hour excursion including hitch hiking, receiving help from numerous people (including some Aussies), sweltering heat (a mild case of heat exhaustion), separation of the group, reuniting after passing one another at least twice, and finally, a dang good meal at Oscars. We were recipients of amazing generosity throughout it all! What great examples to learn from!

And finally, this past Memorial Day we went to Colorado to visit Gary and Cynthia! We had a great time with them! Heather's family came out for a little weekend visit as well, and we all got to go to Denver to see Wicked! It was amazing! We ended the vacation with a trip to Garden of the Gods - which was so beautiful!!