Thursday, July 22, 2010

Bring it ON!

Today is July 22nd. That means that when we wake up in the morning, it will be July 23rd!

And THAT means, that we will be

Reunited with all of these people:
:)

Boarding one of these:


Exploring awesome places like Mendenhall Glacier:


Eating some amazing food like this:

Celebrating my BeeGee's 90th birthday!!!

And LOVING LIFE!

Bring it on, Alaska!!!

...I'll be back with full report in 10 days...

Saturday, July 17, 2010

4th of July Weekend!

I had big plans for this post. But due to our unreliable internet and busy schedule, I think I better just get these pics up and this post out of my "drafts" box. Our the fourth of July weekend, we saw:

The weather was perfect for our weekend in Wyoming and Montana! Woot woot for Yellowstone!

Just this week, I have had 3 dreams about this turkey, avacado croissant sandwich. It was a DREAM. Really, a dream!

We ate lunch at the Grand Teton lodge, beautiful scenery, and lots of "Japanese-tourist people watching!" They were thrilled to wear their American flags on the fourth of July!



This was taken during our hike around Jenny lake. We would TOTALLY recommend it to anyone going to Teton National Park. We took a boat over, then went up about a mile to the lookout! 2 miles roundtrip with mountains, a lake, waterfalls, and blue skies,
yes please!

The first night we stayed at a campground just outside Jackson Hole. This pic was taken right after we met our first bison. I wish I had the patience to load the video clip of that because Scott was VERY excited :)


A ranger told us this is the most photographed barn in America or something. I don't know about that, but it is pretty picturesque, eh?

Our first night, we saw this "shootout" in downtown Jackson hole. I'm sure many of you have been to this show, it goes on every night at 6pm. For like 15 year or something crazy. It was pretty cheesy, well, extremely cheesy. But, what can you do?

The gift shop employees told us that it is primarily the foreigners who buy the animal skins. How do I look in mink?


My frog prince :)

The first night of camping was better than the second. After a few excursions with the tent, we can now get it up in under 3 minutes (If we focus, that is).


(again, Sorry these pics are out of order, but I'm practically positive my internet will go out any moment so I won't take the time to organize the photos.) Anyway, the gurgling hot pots! How cool is that! Scott was scared to use toilets in Yellowstone, just sure that thermal activity would shoot up out of the ground!

On the third morning, we probably saw over 30 bison! One crossed the street right in front of our car!

OLD FAITHFUL!!!



Amazing how different the mountain range can look at different times of day! Also, I LOVE my camera. And more especially my lenses.
We planned to stay in a motel in West Yellowstone our second night, but EVERYTHING was over $90, so we just couldn't justify it. All the campgrounds in the park were full, and everything outside the was full too!

After being rejuvinated by a few shots of chocolate (aka: melted Hershey's) we found a random, privately owned campground where I crashed the Staff holiday BBQ to act desperate and beg for a site/spot to pitch our tent. Well, in the end, he gave us one, but it was WAY overpriced, and didn't even have a fire pit. It was still ~5 hours 'til dark and WINDY as heck. So,we de-pitched our tent (to the wonder of our neighbors) and drove ourselves right back into Yellowstone. All the gate attendants and park rangers told us we'd have to drive to Idaho to find somewhere to sleep, all the camping and hotels were full (except 1 $580/night suite...). Well, we drove to Canyon Campgrounds and I approached the office:

"I know you're sign says you are full, and I know it is the fourth of July, but I just wanted to ask if there have been any last minute cancellations or recent changes." Next thing I know, we gave her $20 and a license plate number, and we had ourselves a prime spot on the outside loop, fire pit n' all!
The dehydrated Spaghetti and meatballs was really pretty good! Scott loved the ORANGE thermal activity. Those boardwalks were so wild!
So there you have it. A weekend away with Scott and Stefanie Hathaway.

Stay tuned for a post about Scott's "Tour De Donut" bike race! He is relaxing and protein-loading as I type...

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Off The Hook

The other day we rappelled down a waterfall. It was pretty wild. Josh and Katrina came with us up PG canyon. The boys had so much fun wrapping webbing around trees and tying knots to save our lives.
I was clearly a little nervous, but mostly excited!
Here is a perspective shot so you can see the height of the falls:
That water is pretty heavy when it's beating down on you.

It's all FUN after you take that initial step backward off the cliff. That part wasn't so fun. But we all lived and we're excited to go back! (and take anyone who thinks walking backward off a cliff and trusting Scott with their life sounds fun :)

p.s. We are going again today after work, so really, if you want to come, call me!

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Only for special events we go to

The Foundry Grill

at Sundance.

... and while we were there, we definitely saw Robert Redford.
And Bones from the show "Bones."

I had cucumber salmon (fantastic) and Scott practically drooled over his marbleized rib-eye steak. What a treat!

Hopefully we'll get another gift card from One on One Marketing soon!

Thanks for being such a hard worker Babe!!!

Friday, July 2, 2010

In JUST 6 MONTHS, we have done more than I would have ever imagined! In January, we had a beautiful wedding day, practically perfect in every way J We were so lucky to have all our family and friends with us at the temple.


We stayed at the Hotel Del Coronado- the most amazing honeymoon I could ever imagine!

Sassy huh? Not really our style... but kind of fun :)




In February, we ROCKED SOUTHEAST ASIA! Wow, neither of us have any regrets about the decision we made to take 30lb backpacks through Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Those experiences were both blessings and trials for us as newlyweds, and we wouldn’t give those memories up for anything! Thank you Scott for being the navigator and saavy, adventurous traveler that made the “adventure portion” of our Honeymoon absolutely spectacular!


If Scott had 1 day left to live, he would take a Thai cooking class. It was SOOO amazing!!!

I don't think I've showed you this picture yet... it's one of my FAVS!

March was a month of changes and transitions. We stayed in California for 2 weeks, playing with John and SueAnn, and adjusting our minds and bodies (jetlag and food intake) to an American life. Oh, and job searching. Then we returned to Utah where Vess and Angie so graciously hosted us while we found jobs, and an amazing condo where we are SO BLESSED to live. We began learning how to have 8-5 jobs and manage our time in a way we never have before… We know we are lucky and are thankful everyday for the conveniences we enjoy every day!




Scott's first day of work :)

April began with a visit from my parents for conference. Between Easter, birthdays and mission farewells, we had lots of opportunities to get together with friends and family. We went rock climbing in snow, took a trip to Logan to visit Grandma Boss, and …


In May, we had 2 visits from Scott’s parents, and then had Bryan with us! We went up the canyon, had picnics, played with the aerobie, and took a few Saturday hikes. The highlight of May was definitely our Moab/Colorado Memorial Day road trip! Those were some GOOOOOD times J We found the secret town of Silverton and returned to our FAVORITE vacay spot, Glenwood Springs!

In June, we took some rappelling gear to the top of a waterfall and lowered ourselves down through the falls J We went to the rodeo with friends, and took a camping trip to the Uintas. We watched the Ragnar relay race pass through Kamis.

And now, July 2, we have been MARRIED for 6 months!!!

I am the LUCKIEST to have Scott to calm me down, push me to new heights, encourage me to be my best, and to love me more than anyone in the world.

I know Heavenly Father loves me because He gave me Scott.