Up to Date

Okay. This is not Erin. And I also have no idea what I'm doing. Or something. Occasionally Erin thinks about getting caught up on the blog, but then I see her eyes glaze over when she realizes how much time has passed. I figured I'd help her out. Just this once.

July

Erin and I both had birthdays. There was a party. People came down. Fireworks. Look! Pictures!

Behold Travis' shame at losing the pushup contest.

The always adorable Rowan.

Don's enviable camping chair.

We also went up for a Smith family reunion. See?

Erin wanted me to add the pretty one, but funny faces trump all.

August

Erin's sister Cindy came to visit. We were all invited to cruise down the river. It was the first time Erin and I had gotten on the river in the 3 years we've lived here.

Not actually us, but you get the idea.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Two cute ladies and a really ugly guy.

 There were also some hikes or something...

Notice the picture in the bottom left hand corner where Sean slips and falls into a giant pothole. What a loser!

My first experience with quicksand. And scorpions the size of my hand. I prefer quicksand.

September

Erin (who is really hot) got me climbing gear for my birthday, so we were able to go climbing several times throughout the summer. There is even photographic evidence!

That is definitely me. Not Forrest.

And then we went to Boston for [insert long, boring, unimportant story], but we were able to stop by the temple while we were there.

I like how the flash brings out my eyes...

October

Apparently nothing happened in October.

November

We were able to go down to west Texas (eww gross) and east Texas (oooh nice!) to visit family and friends. Good time was had by all. Except for the Turkey. Cause it was dead.

The Jay Gowen Family. We visited them. In Texas.

Jay and Shauna were fabulous hosts. And they make surprisingly good gumbo. We spent an entire day trying to find pig trotters. I'll leave the rest of that story up to your imagination.

December

Ya know...Christmas

January

Our super good friends, The Gales, came up to spend New Years Eve (it turned into New Years Week) with us. There was a slug* of appetizers. It's always a party with the Gales around. No picture evidence of this event, though.

We also decided to adopt a dog from the local Animal Shelter. His name is Jack (or Jak; we change the spelling at random (because it's funny)). Here is a picture of him and Erin falling asleep together on the floor. Aren't they adorable?

I don't know how they look so cute when they sleep. I look awful.

February

Erin got a job at a local credit union. Here's a random picture of someone working that I stole off the internet.

This could totally be copyrighted, so let's keep this between us, m'kay?

Wow, I really started running out of steam at the end there. That is the last 9ish months in a nutshell (Why do people say that, anyway?).

If you have any questions or complaints please direct them to my facbook account and I'll get back to you next time I get on The Facebook. Bwa ha ha!

*Slug: unit of mass in standard units. Approximately equal to 32 lbs. Stupid SI units.

October Overiview

For us, October was a good month and a very long month. We went out of town once every week, so it kept us busy.

First off, we had a hike to do for work! Corona Arch and Bowtie Arch in the evening:

We documented our driving. It's sometimes a way of entertainment.... This is mostly taken between Price and Spanish Fork. And yes, we are singing at the top of our lungs in some of these pictures.

The first weekend in October was General Conference! It was wonderful. There were a lot of great words and some exciting announcements. We also got to meet baby Emrree.

There was an extra hike we could do for work, and we picked a perfect evening for it. Delicate Arch. I mentioned it earlier, here.

We went up to Salt Lake to see the first Opera of the season, Verdi's Il Trovatore. Fortunately, a friend's reception was also happening that weekend, so we got to see a lot of happy and familiar faces.

We spent some time down at City Creek and Temple Square before the opera. (Store clerks treat you differently/with more respect when you step up your grooming and even comment on it. Noted.) Everyone got a box of chocolates after the opera since it was the opening night.

The next week, Sean had a training for work in Texas. Since he was flying out of Salt Lake, I came and got to play with my mom for a day and work on projects with here. It was a nice break for both of us. While Sean was in Texas, he got to see these fabulous people! Lucky.

He got back, and there was a Gowen cousin reunion at Nathan and Brenda's. Natalie and kids were out visiting too!

We decided to stay over for Sunday to spend more time with family. It was a good choice!

The next Tuesday night, we drove up for an RSL game. It was cold with rain/snow the whole time. We lost, but it was a fun game to watch with the boys. 

Sean took the next day off so we could drive during the day, so we got to have lunch with our friend Cassi. Who knew it would be a "hello" lunch and a "congrats to your new job, Cassi!" lunch.

A little bright out...

We did a short hike for work the following Tuesday night. Apparently, we were getting in the Halloween mood....

And finally, Halloween came. We didn't pass out candy due to other events, but our neighbors said they counted around 685 trick or treaters. It was quite busy on our street, and fun to see.

Sean, was a Scientist, and I was US soccer player Mia Ham. It worked.

Hope you had a fantastic October! Whew.

Texas Trip Day 7

Our time in Texas came to an end. After a stop at church Easter Sunday, we made our way over to the airport in Austin.

The time we spent with the Gowens was really nice. We had a lot of fun with the kids and (at least I) got to know them better. It is so nice to be around family!

It was fun partying with the Gales again. A friendship that was said, "started with DDR and Frisbee, and was just magical!" - Jeff.

We got on the plane and made our way to Denver. After a relatively short layover, we learned our flight was delayed. Then downgraded. And were offered a $50 voucher and a flight two hours later. To a different airport. No thanks. We boarded the propeller plane, and flew to Provo. Great stories about the steward. Ask sometime.

We were picked up from the airport, and given some treats for our drive to Moab. (These great friends were so nice to transport us to and from the airport and offer us food and drink.) Thanks Ellers!

This picture was taken before we were married, but it is pretty accurate still.

We loved Texas! We loved the time we spent there and the company we were able to see. Consensus: we would love to go again (but probably not fly Frontier).

The end.

Texas Trip Day 6

It was time for more donuts. Just because.

We had breakfast at The Egg and I and had the best server ever!!! (Just to clarify, the name of the restaurant is "The Egg and I"; there was know tipo in thee previus sentance.)

Sean was doing a terrific job distracting Jay from grading his papers.

We hid Easter eggs for the kids and enjoyed watching them collect them. They also taught us a lesson about being humble, but you will have to ask us to tell the story.

Then all of us when to an "authentic" Mexican restaurant (the server made sure to inform us that it was authentic multiple times) and then the camera battery died :(.

So we persuaded Jay to get out his camera and tripod for some farewell family portraits.

Then we packed up, got treats from the Easter bunny (which Jay firmly proclaims doesn't exist), had a big fat hug party, and drove back to San Marcos. We really enjoyed our time with the Gowens. It is always so nice to get to know family a little better.

Texas Trip Day 5

Friday, we grabbed the kiddos,

and headed to NASA!!!

 

We took the Blue Tour,

and saw Mission Control (restored to it's former glory)!

Took a look around the campus. Look at how huge that garage door is!

Said "Hello!" to the long horns on the side of the road.

Made a stop at Rocket Park.

 

Saw an original Saturn V rocket! The re-entry pod still had the burn and scorch marks. Cool.

Took pictures with the astronauts from the Apollo missions.

Had a moment of silence, for those who lost their lives, at the memorial grove.

It was amazing! It was a special experience walking by the wall honoring the Apollo missions.

Then, she had to try on the space suit.

So did he!

Preparing for launch!

NASA was pretty cool!

We drove over to see the ocean, since we were so close.

In the evening, we went on a walk around the neighborhood with Jay and Shauna. The houses are beautiful! Some of them still use kerosene in the lamps in front of the house (not pictured).

It was a fun day with the kids, things were learned, awe was felt, and it ended in a relaxing and enjoyable way.