Monday, September 24, 2012

Honeymoon #2 Bahamas

After we were sealed and had dinner we headed straight to the airport to catch a red eye to Florida. 

Universal Studios
We are so bringing the kids here.


The Hulk! One of the BEST coasters out there.  
In the middle of that tunnel it shoots out and you are immediately upside down!


Entering Harry Potter Village




Looked so real!





We Boarded our cruise and treated us like VIP's. My hair was still done so for the rest of the trip we were the "Honeymooners" 
They had an amazing gym on board.  



Half Moon Cay.  The most beautiful water ever!! That really is our ship behind us.  

We did the stingray swim.... Awesome.  They were HUGE!! They look so graceful swimming through the water, but when they got up to you they were so so strong.  They could knock you right over.  We even got to feed them.  It was really, really fun.

On one of the islands we decided to find a local to take us around and show us some history of the Bahamas.  We buddied up with a few other people from our cruise and he took us all around and told us about their government and explained why the buildings are the colors they are.  It was one of my favorite parts.

He took us down to the shore where the locals go for some fresh Conch Salad.  They dive for them in the morning and prepare them right there for you.

The finished product... Conch meat, Tomatoes, Lime, Oranges, and Lemon.

This couple was the only ones who actually enjoyed it.

What it looks like fresh out of the ocean




Running on the treadmill, surrounded by ocean! So cool!







Spent some time at Atlantis!  It was an incredible place!  The cheapest rooms are $450 per night and the most expensive (The Michael Jackson Suite) was $25,000 per night with a minimum stay of 4 nights!  Just for us to spend the day swimming and hanging out was $150 per person.  I probably would not be booking a vacation to the Atlantis anytime soon, but it was so fun to go there and it is soooo much better than on the commercials :)




The room that looks like a bridge connecting the 2 buildings was the Michael Jackson Suite!

We love love loved the Bahamas and I would love to go back on another cruise there again. 

Sunday, September 23, 2012

It's Eternal!!

As I sat in Sunday school last week I was able to reflect back on this amazing day.  It made me realize that I REALLY need to be better at blogging considering this IS my journal. 
Just a little background story leading up to this day.  Brandyn and I were dead set on a temple marriage last summer when we got married.  Unfortunately, cancellations and clearances were not achieved by our wedding date.  So after our honeymoon, we sat down and chose a date for the next summer.  July 18th was the date we had chosen for some personal reasons.  Over this past year we worked hard trying to get ex's to comply and it just seemed to drag on and on.  We knew it would all work out, but we got pretty discouraged a couple times.  As the day came closer and closer we still hadn't heard a status on whether or not we had clearance.  April....May....June passes by and we start to freak out a little bit.  Our Stake President assured us that it would get taken care of.  The first week of July comes and President Rose comes to us and asks us if we had heard anything, our response of course was no.  He informed us that the First Presidency takes the month of July off and Brandyn and I were so devastated.  The next week passed and still no word, by this time we had accepted that it just wasn't going to happen July 18th.  This just pushed us even harder to build a strong relationship with ourselves and our heavenly father.  We spent sooo much time on our knees together.  It was July 13th, I had gotten home from work, jumped in the shower, and when I got out all our mail was sitting on our bed.  I noticed an envelope for each of us from the church.  Brandyn wasn't home but I just couldn't wait to open mine.  It was the best letter ever!! A cancellation and a clearance all in one letter.    I was so excited to tell Brandyn, I was planning how I could tell him when he got home so the next few hours seemed to just drag on.  I get a call from Brandyn and he says "did you get any mail today?" and I was like "Why?" I guess President Rose had also received a letter and out of excitement called Brandyn to let him know the good news.  It was such an amazing day.  That night as we sat with our letters it hit us that our first presidency had held those papers in their very hands, they prayed for US personally, and then they signed them.  All 3 of them signed both our letters.  It was an amazing feeling!!  
Draper, Utah Temple





Carson felt like it was his responsibility to carry my dress for me.  THE CUTEST THING EVER!!



So much support from our loved ones!


My besties! I have gorgeous friends don't I?

And we like to play....ALOT!  

And do Zumba

And more Zumba







My beautiful McKenzie.  

My Monkey, Carson


Like I said, We like to have fun ALL the time! No worries, Bradley just found that the marble lining the stairs is like a slide.





As we planned this day for our own personal reasons we realized that it was Brandyn's parent's wedding/sealing date as well!!  My mother in law told me "This is the best way and the best anniversary gift I could ever ask for!"  She has just always been a sweetheart to me.  It was a great feeling knowing we were sharing special days with eachother!






I love my family, I love my life!!!