Summer's over...time to hit the books

We had a fantastic summer! Here are some highlights from out favorite season!

Anniversary Flowers! on Aug 25th we celebrated our 4th Anniversary! I REALLY cannot believe it's been 4 years, time is flying and we are loving every minute of it!

We went to the US Open of Surfing down in Huntington Beach. Always, a fun event.

We dressed up as Nerds for our friend Sean's birthday.

Had a bonfire and it was cold!

I got to work with this group of characters all summer....

...while hanging out with these adorable kiddos

Girls Camp 2011!

Hey! Remember that time that I bought a new curling iron and it BURNT my hair off. Yeah. that really happened. I have filed a claim with conair and my curling iron is currently being tested by their engineering department... we'll see if anything comes from it, it was a very sad day indeed.

We welcomed home our family friend, Andrew from his mission in Nebraska.
And we enjoyed another summer wedding season! Congrats to our good friends that got married this summer!

It was all super fun but now we are focusing on school! The first week is over and we are both really loving the masters programs we are in. Yes we are crazy for BOTH going back to school at the same time, but we are definitely in the mindset of GET IT DONE. So that's what we will do. Like I mentioned in a previous post, Bryce is at Chapman getting his MBA with an emphasis in Finance, while I am getting a Masters in Recreation Administration.

Trek 2011

A couple of weeks ago, Bryce and I had the amazing opportunity to be "Ma and Pa's" on our stake's youth pioneer trek. We had such a great experience. When we were in the youth program, the stake didn't do treks so we were grateful to be able to go now. We had a great family and we all worked HARD. This experience gave us a very small glimpse into the lives of the early saints and was very touching. Definitely a testimony builder. We faced challenges along the way such as the men being called away to the Mormon Battalion leaving the women to pull the handcarts on our own. Also, the last leg of the Trek was an incredibly steep 1/2 mile incline called Testimony Hill. We met church history characters including Brigham Young, Mary Fielding Smith, Porter Rockwell, and the infamous Gov. Boggs. Between the costumes, vingettes, activities, and physical challenge, history really came alive to the youth of the Long Beach East Stake :)

The Wilderness of So. Cal

Rocking the bonnets

"Pa" Bryce

Me and the "Baby"

Crossing the "Sweet Water River"

"Hole in the Rock"

Mormon Battalion

The Fam :)

Spring Festivities

We've been busy as always, working hard but also making time for some fun. Back in April, we went to Mexico with our buddies Ricky and Shannon and had a blast. It was so nice to just relax at the beautiful beach.

We tried to get Bryce to do the "Little Mermaid" pose but he refused.

Shuffle Board is NOT just for old people

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My MIL Christy was in charge of the Ward Easter Breakfast and did an awesome job. Since I am a close, personal friend of the Easter Bunny, I pulled some strings and got him to make an appearance at the breakfast. :)

We were fonrtunate to spend Easter with the RIJOHNSKY Superfamily. (Ricks, Johnsons and Starkeys) We had an easter egg hunt for the kids, and by kids I mean the grown adult children. We then used the eggs as currency for a prize auction. It was such a fun day. Larry was a great auctioneer

While everyone was in town, we also caught an Angel game. Although the Angels did not show up to play, it was still entertaining since they were playing Boston.

We had one last dinner together before everyone headed back home...

These people are just plain awesome. Balloons are fun.

We also had the opportunity to participate in a service project with our church. We donned the ultra-fabulous yellow vests and set out to clean our local beach. (turns out the beach was pretty darn clean to begin with but every little bit counts right?)After the Clean-up, we checked out the classic car show down the street where Bryce got a pic next to his dream car....This lovely lady had a birthday and turned the big....well, I better not say. Let's just say she looks GOOOD :) My Mama LOVES horses (she grew up with them and such) so we had the fam over for a Kentucky Derby Party, super fun. Intently watching the Derby.... My two adorable nephews. A lot of people have asked how Mitch has been doing (on the left). As you can see, he's back to normal! For those of you who don't know, he gave us a scare back in February and spent some time in the hospital. We are so grateful he was able to pull through and get better...he is such a sweetheart and is so fun to have around. Clay (right) is enjoying the last weeks of his senior year as he gets ready to graduate in June... I love these two!

Of course we have been keeping up with our Disneyland attendance...And there's been no shortage of fun in my calling with the YW.

They are the funnest girls in the world!! Lastly, this weekend, I made some yummy PF Chang-style lettuce wraps. They were delish! Theres a lot of prep work but actually really simple to make. Here's the recipe for those who are interested, Lettuce Wraps. I used extra mushrooms...yum... and made a little extra sauce :)

P.S. That not my pic but thats what they look like, thanks google images.

I hope you're having some springtime fun too!!