Sunday, August 31, 2008

Summer Living....

Okay it has been forever since we posted last, so here is a long overdue update of our summer life. Feel free to skip sections or glance over it as it might be kind of long...... First we said goodbye to work, friends, family and house in Seattle and started our venture to Michigan. Sorry Family, I didn't have any recent pictures, we were bad about taking pictures:(



Our first house that we bought. Sad to say goodbye!



The girls at my work made me a blanket to remember the "Valley Gals," so much fun and so many good memories......




We stopped in Monterey for a week and stayed at the beach cottage and relaxed by the ocean..... Too bad we had to leave! We love it there! While we were in Monterey we were able to visit with both my family and Shawn's family and some friends from Seattle.

My mom and her friend Melody

Our Friends from Everett (the cutest girls ever!)

Shawn and I riding the "double bike." I loved it!

Then we drove to Fresno to visit Shawn's family and friends. Shawn was in heaven!! Usually Shawn is outnumbered by girls when we go with my family but Shawn loved wake boarding, camping and hanging out with his guys friends while we were there. I got plenty of pool and reading time in, so I was a happy camper as well.


Shawn has such a determined face here

Conquering the wake!


Getting some air!

Camping with the guys and eating a classic dinner!


On our way to Utah we stopped and visited my best friend Sandy and her family. She gave birth to a beautiful daughter like the next day. She is a trooper!! Her daughter loves to pretend like she is a witch, so we are posing like witches do.


On our way to Utah we stopped in Vegas and stayed with Shawn's aunt and uncle. His sister was also vacationing there so we got to see her as well. In California at the grocery store a guy saw that our car was loaded with our bags so he asked us where we were going. We told him we were moving to Michigan but we were stopping in Vegas and Utah before we headed out. He randomly gave us $5 and a business card and told us to split the jack pot with him. Shawn and I of course lost all the money in like two minutes but we took pictures of the event and sent him a thank you note. I wished we had earned some money so that we could have sent him some. Super cool of the guy though.


We also went and visited Shawn's grandpa who I had never met. He has an amazing musical talent. I hope one of our children inherit this talent. He is in his 90's and still plays the piano, guitar and sings. Truly amazing!!!



On our way to Utah to met my mom, sister and cousin in Cedar City for the Shakespearean Festival. We saw some great plays and had a great time. And yes Shawn did enjoy the plays to his and my surprise!.



Then we went to Utah and stayed with my mom. I always love being "home" and seeing friends and family. My brother was in town for a wedding so it was nice to everyone home. We especially loved eating fresh vegetables from my grandpas garden.
My brother, grandpa, me and Shawn


Then it was time to take the big venture to Michigan. Our first stop was in Omaha where we stayed with our friends Becca and Devin. It was fun to see their cute boy!




We briefly stopped in Winters Quarter where we learned more about the pioneers and that terrible winter. Then we went to Liberty jail, Independence and Cathrage jail where we continued to learn more and have a greater appreciation for what the pioneers and leaders of the church endured. They had such amazing faith! Next we spent the day in Nauvoo. We wished we had more time there because there was so much to see and do that we were not able to do it all. Shawn loved the the Browning House where the founder of the Browning and Company lived (he started a big gun company). Shawn loved seeing and learning all about the different guns. It was really special to see the Temple and houses of the pioneers. I loved learning about the different pioneers that lived there and the sacrifices they made for the faith they believed to be true. It definitely inspired me to be a better person. I am so grateful for the sacrifices they made so that Shawn and I can enjoy the blessings that we receive today.


Shawn in front of the Browning house


Guns, Guns, Guns.....


Should I be worried.....


Nauvoo Temple, so beautiful and special!


Cathridge jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were shot


This is the Church of Christ's Temple. They offer tours but we barely missed the last one for the day. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about their religion, another day......


Lastly we drove to Michigan. Our complex is huge and includes around 200 other MBA students. We are almost settled in (couple closets to organize and pictures to hang up). .....




We have met some wonderful people and are excited to make more friends. Our ward (congregation) here is super friendly and we have been able to make new friends with several of them. A couple of weeks we were able to go to the Detroit temple with the our friends the Anne and Jeff Bednar. Shawn actually took a couple of classes with Jeff at BYU. Small world.



The biggest event so far was the Michigan vs U of U game on Saturday. Football is CrAzY here. People started partying around 8 am and I don't think they stopped until the weee hours of the next morning. The football game was a fun thing to experience although I don't think I will go to anymore games this season. Standing up for fours hours was a little hard on my body but it was worth it for the Football Experience. You can see that a lot of red was represented but we were still rooting for Michigan.



Okay if you have made it this far, thanks for reading, now go take a nap, that was way too long. That is the end of our venture thus far. We will keep you posted more frequently!

8 comments:

Heidi said...

I loved your post! It was great to see all your stops and adventures you had along the way to Michigan. You look adorable- as always. I loved Nauvoo and all the church sites so I'm glad you were able to visit them. I wish you would have been able to see that Church of Christ- very interesting... We went to the BYU vs UW game on Saturday and it was so much fun. Kyle was rooting for UW and so was my Dad, but we were surrounded by BYU fans. Funny.

Kristin said...

Love the photos! What a great summer. :)

Kim said...

Marti - not fair! You guys had way too fun of a summer! I am jealous - that was fun to read. And you look darling - I hope you are feeling good and getting excited! Glad you are all settled in Michigan :) Hope to chat soon...

steveandjonelle said...

Looks like a fun trip across the country! Welcome to Michigan.

The George's said...

Marti, I found your blog on Sand's. Congrats on the baby and the move. Good luck with things. You look great like always! Emily

Ames Family said...

Hi Marti! Fun to see your blog. It's been a while. Cute pictures!

Sarah (Tate) Ames
sarahames@msn.com
www.sarahandchrisames.blogspot.com

*** said...

Mart, so fun to read up on your venture across the country! I am so glad you were able to take the time to drive and make stops, especially to see us! It was so fun to visit and make witch faces :). Glad you are loving your place and ward there!

Becky Slivka said...

I'm so glad you had a good trip across the country, that was basically what we did when we went - no kids and stopping when we wanted to, road trips were a dream. I am SOO jealous of the apple picking, we went apple and raspberry picking every year in CLeveland and it is one of the things I"m missing most about living in the desert. I wish we had coordinated our husband's schooling a little better so we could have overlapped back east.