Five Years Part I

On March 15th, Josh and I celebrated our five year anniversary!  These last five years have flown by.  We have both finished up degrees, have lived in 3 different states, have lived in 5 different apartment/homes and have had a lot of fun. 

 

Here we are on our wedding day, 5 years ago.

 

Because it was our FIVE year anniversary, we decided that we needed to do something a little special.  So at the last minute, we decided to take a little bit of time off work and headed out.  We didn't really have any specific plans except we wanted to go to Gettysburg and Hershey, PA.

We/I took a ton of pictures, so beware.  Our first stop was Gettysburg.  It was a great place to go and we went at the right time of year.  We could see that during the summer, this place is completely packed!  It was great to go and learn more about our history.  I'm sure I learned all of this in school, but its completely different to see it in person and to learn about it at this age. 

We started out at the visitor center/museum.  This is right outside of it:

We first watched a 25 minute video narrated by Morgan Freeman.  Then we went to see what they called "The Gettysburg Cyclorama."  It is this HUGE painting.  It is 359 feet long, 27 feet high and weighs an estimated 3 tons.  Here they told the story again for the actual battled and played a little light show on the painting.  It was so neat!  There are so many details on the painting.  It is completely amazing.

Josh had to make sure that we got a picture of the field "hospital."

After the Cyclorama, we went into the museum.  There are cannons all around the town of Gettysburg.  We were told that they are placed everywhere so that we can remember the events that took place there and remember to respect the peace and the lives that were given there.

This was one of my favorite quotes.  It almost even brought tears to my eyes as I thought about it and about where we are as a country today.  There are many who fight in our military and give their lives today but what about the other citizens of this great country?  Are we willing to do everything we can to protect our country and the freedoms that we have?

The battle took place over three days, from July 1-3.

After the museum, we drove around and did our own little car tour of the battlefield.  There are statues and monuments all along the tour.

There are several lookout points along the way too.  It was a little cold and SOOOO windy, so we only climbed a few but he is one of the views.  It's a beautiful place!

 

This is at the top of the "Little Roundtop"

This is where the well was and were the soldiers obtained water throughout the battle.

 

This was day one of our little vacation.  We had a great time there and it truly is an amazing place. 

January & February 2013

January and February are two months that just flew by...thankfully.  They were such busy months for so many reasons.  We have been busy with work and church and who knows what else.  Here are a few things that I can remember that we did:

• My momma had a birthday!  I won't tell you how old, but we did call her and wish her a happy birthday.  Her gift was Hobby Lobby gift card that we gave her at Christmas time.  (Must be where I get my LOVE for that place!)
• Josh and I went to the Washington DC Temple for a stake temple day.  I had a wonderful experience there.  It's such a beautiful temple....we just wish it was a little closer.
• We both worked
• Josh worked some more
• and then he worked some more...
• In February, we went back to Ohio to be there at the temple when a friend went through for the first time.  We always meant to take pictures of us outside the Columbus Temple, so we were able to finally do that too.

 

 

• On our way to Columbus, we went through West Virginia.  We stopped to eat there so we could both cross that state off as a state we have been to. 
• 
  We celebrated Valentine's Day...No pictures...but we did celebrate with a few small gifts and dinner at Texas Roadhouse....YUM!
• We put up and took down Valentine's Day decorations.  This is the only picture I have of them.  My mom sent us some garland in our Valentine's Day package.

• We have had two fun and totally awesome game nights with our friends, Nick and Sarah.  We stayed up til 3am one of those nights.  None of us had stayed up that late is forever but we were having such a good time!

I think that about sums up our last two months.  We have been very happy as south Jersey doesn't seem to get very much snow.  We have enjoyed the lack of snow a lot!  It's been cold but is definitely warming up.  We are both REALLY ready for spring.  I can't wait to be able to go running outside on a consistent basis.  Spring is now just around the corner!

 

Christmas in Idaho

Yes, I know it is now March and that I am still posting about Christmas.  I'm not sure where time has gone.  It must have something to do with this really busy calling that I have now.  Time seems to just be flying by.  Josh and I have both been so very busy lately.  But let's start with Christmas. 

 

After leaving Oklahoma, Josh and I headed to Idaho.  My mom took us to the airport early in the morning and like always, it was so hard to say goodbye to her.  I really hate those airport goodbyes.  Luckily, this time I had Josh with me so it was a little easier.

 

It took us pretty much all day getting to Idaho.  We booked flights on two different airlines so we could fly into Idaho Falls the cheapest way possible.  I'm not sure that I would ever recommend this to anyone especially during the holidays when lots of flights are canceled.  We didn't have too much trouble flying there but the way back home was another story, but we did make it.

 

Like always, we had a great time in Idaho.  I sure love the Wray family.  They are seriously great in-laws to have.  We always have fun with them.  Since it's been about two months, I don't remember everything we did but I do have some pictures.  Some of these are my own and some are stolen from Ashley or Becca (thanks!).

 

Here is Josh with Paxton and Alexander.  We had fun playing with them and getting to know them more.

 

On Christmas Eve, it is Wray tradition to act out the nativity.  I was chosen to be a wiseman and Josh read the story out of the Bible.  Here are some pics...

 

 

 

Aunt Julie and Uncle Donald and their family joined the party.  They are both so much fun!

 

Christmas morning came early but it was great!  The Wrays sure do spoil us way too much!  Unfortunately, there was a little bit of illness going around while we were there.  It hit poor Reese Christmas morning.  Poor girl came up and just laid there for a few minutes before going back to bed.  She opened her presents later that day.

 

 

At some point, a few of us decided to do a cheese puff contest to see who could fit the most in their mouth.  I'm pretty sure Taylor won this one.

 

Vince and Jill also treated us to a dinner and western show.  It was so much fun and the food was fabulous.  We got to go on a sleigh ride to get to the dinner.  It was a blast.

 

We really did have so much fun while we were in Idaho.  I wish I didn't wait so long to write.  Next time, I won't wait as long so I can remember all the details.  It was sad leaving the Wray family.  Even though Josh and I have always lived so far away, it always feels like home when we are there.  We love you guys!  Hope to see you all soon!