Mt. Timpanogos

I have always wanted to hike Mt. Timpanogos but then whenever anyone asked me I would come up with some really great excuses why I couldn’t. Bryce finally convinced me to stop being a wuss and hike it with him! We set out at 2:15am and hiked through the dark. I could not believe how much water there was! We frequently had to cross streams that were from snow melt. I counted about 20 that we crossed (a lot of them were just the same waterfall we kept having to cross because of switch backs). We also had to cross 3 glaciers. Those were a little scary in the dark because you couldn’t see what would happen to you if you slipped and slid down the glacier. I had my trusty walking stick that I found on the ground and my great husband to keep me safe though. The hike up felt great. We were moving at a pretty quick pace and hardly needed to stop at all until we reached the saddle. After we passed the saddle I thought I might die. It was very steep and very tiring. I also thought we were going to miss the sunset but we didn’t. We got to the summit, sat down, then literally seconds later the sun started coming up over the horizon. We could not have timed it better. I was SO glad we got to see the sunset because it was absolutely beautiful.

We only stayed on the top for about 10 minutes then headed back down the mountain. The last two hours of the hike were a bit difficult for me. It felt like my feet were covered in blisters and every muscle in my body ached from my head to my toes. At one point I said “Bryce, I think we are getting close” to which he responded “Was that  a positive comment I just heard?” Needless to say I was quite the complainer that last stretch of the hike. Mom had told me this hike was easier than Mt. McLaughlin, but I discovered that that was not the case…turns out she got Mt. Timpanogos and Timpanogos caves confused. In the end I was so happy we did it. We really did enjoy the time we got to spend together. It was a piece of cake for Bryce and growing experience for me :)

                 

The moment I saw those cars was one of the happiest moments of my life. I made it out alive—barely.

Bryce turns 23, yipee!

As long as I had known Bryce, I had yet to celebrate a birthday with him. He is much more low key for his birthday than I am for mine. As some of you may know, I kind of make my birthday a big deal. It is the one day of the year you get to demand all the attention and not look like a jerk. I mostly love it because I just love knowing that so many people thought of me on my day…yes I am that vain. Bryce, however, just likes to keep it low key. I tried to make it special for him. I made him homemade waffles for breakfast (that sounds pretty great, but even better when you know that I get up at 5:30 in the morning to get ready to go to school…yes I am tooting my own horn). The night before I made him apple pie. It only took me 3 hours and I only had to call my mom 4 times for help. Not too bad for me :) The apple pie was a big hit though so it well worth it. For his birthday I got him a new ipod since he had lost his eons ago. We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse—one of my favorites, then opened presents and had dessert at his parent’s house. Even though we both had to work, it turned out to be a pretty great day. At least it was for me, I hope he enjoyed it too :)

     

Getting sung to on the saddle at Texas Roadhouse and the hideous shirt his sisters gave him. I will burn it when he isn’t looking.

     PRESENTS!

DEMOLITION DERBY!

Months ago we went to Springville days, or whatever they call it, and saw a booth for tickets to the demolition derby. Neither of us had been to a demolition derby before so we decided to get tickets. Then, on August 20th, our dream of seeing cars smash into each other came true. It is such a bizarre concept but sooo entertaining. My favorite quote of the night was “Number 59, you’re gonna have to shut ‘er down”. Redneck is all I can say. Cars got smashed, rolled over and started on fire. It was nothing short of AWESOME.

             

While cars were getting fixed up for the next round, this guy was doing some sweet motocross tricks in the air. He would get some serious air!

   

The photo on the left is from the powderpuff round. The women. The car on the right was so beat up but just kept going! It was pretty funny. If you ever get the chance to go to a demolition derby….GO!

Honeymoon in Cancun!

^{Our honeymoon was just as perfect as our wedding. The day after our wedding we drove back to Salt Lake. We then flew out of Salt Lake to Cancun. We stayed at an all inclusive resort called Barcelo Maya. It was the most relaxing, blissful perfect week of my life, probably. We seriously loved it.}

Our first excursion we went on was a place called Actunchen. It was pretty low key and not touristy so it was nice and private. There we went on zip lines through the jungle, explored underground caves and swam in a cenote’. Here are the pictures from that fun excursion.

On our next excursion we went to a place called Xel-ha which has an inlet with amazing fish to see. Basically it is a natural aquarium. We did a lot of snorkeling, eating at their free buffet and biking through the jungle. Next to this place there are ruins that we also visited. It is a Mayan Ruin right on the cliff of the ocean called Tulum. That place was VERY crowded but still fun to see. Bryce liked to take pictures of random people so I included some of those pictures too :)

We also played tennis, went miniature golfing, went parasailing, spent a day shopping at the biggest market I have ever seen (40 blocks!) in playa del Carmen, ate at a fantastic Japanese restaurant, then a Mexican restaurant and relaxed on the beautiful beach and in the fantastic pool. The pool had a bar in it that you could get endless drinks (don’t worry, they had non alcoholic beverages). They had actual bar stools in the water and everything.

This is the buffet we ate at every day. They served breakfast, lunch and dinner so we were there quite a bit. We always sat at about the same table next to the fountains.