Happy Anniversary!

Wow, I can't believe it was just a year ago that this wonderful day came to pass! We are still happily married and can't wait for what the future holds. I am going to attempt to make chicken cordon bleu tonight....lets see what happens.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Wow, my man is getting old, 26!! The only thing I got Ryan for his birthday was 2 packages of mints, so I had to make up for it by making him some breakfast:)
This picture makes me laugh...Ryan is trying out new smiles for the camera, this one is called the fake smile.
We had quite the party here that night....the missionaries, a neighbor, and a couple from our ward, it was actually pretty fun.
Yesterday was my first Christmas workshop here in Ann Arbor and it was a marathon! 9am-4pm.....crafts, crafts, and more crafts! These are the nativity blocks I made, cute huh?!
I also made these joy frames which were really fast and easy!! Thats how I like it!

Halloween 2008

Welcome to Halloween 2008. This is a special Halloween because it is our first together (last Halloween we were thousands of miles apart). This first picture is us at the ward Halloween party. For those of you who don't know, Candice loves Halloween - especially the dressing up part. We got to the church and none of the other adults were dressed up. OK, at least that's what it felt like at first. We ended up having a really good time and no, I am not supposed to be Jack Sparrow. I am a much manlier pirate and Candice is my gypsy sidekick.

Our first time carving pumpkins together, so adorable.

The pumpkin designs we used ended up being much harder than we thought they would be. We spent a couple of hours on them. Candice did an awesome job with the three dancing ghosts...(Candice speaking) Well, I think I looked like a ghost by the end of the night, I was so tired.
I have to say I'm pretty proud of my pumpkin. It wasn't easy to carve out the wolves or the tree. Let's just forget about the tree branch that was supposed to be above the wolves until it decided to break off when I brushed my finger against it.
Yesterday we went for a nice stroll around beautiful Ford Lake with a couple of public health student friends from the ward. There were bridges and paths all along the lake and some fall leaves still on the trees. These trees were especially stunning. Michigan is starting to grow on us.

Trip to Ohio

Two weeks ago, Candice and I made a two day trip down to Ohio. We visited Cedar Point Amusement Park and Kirtland. The picture above is of the Kirtland temple which was completed in 1836. The temple is beautiful and very unique inside (where we were not allowed to take pictures).
This table is on the second floor of the Newel K. Whitney store. Joseph Smith would have met around this original table with other early Church leaders. Several revelations were received here and the spirit is incredible at these sites.
This is the room where the School of the Prophets met. This is the room where members would spit tobacco and smoke until Joseph Smith received the section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Several other important revelations were received here and many early leaders were trained in doctrine as well as linguistics, mathematics, etc.
This is the John Johnson home in Hiram, Ohio (50 minutes south of Kirtland). Joseph and Emma Smith lived in this house for a time and it was here that Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon received the revelation of the degrees of glory contained in D&C 76. It was also while living in this home that Joseph Smith was dragged outside, beaten, and tarred and feathered. He preached a sermon the next day and a few days later his adopted infant died of exposure from the traumatic night.
There is a small cemetery just south of the temple. Several early church members are buried here including Joseph and Emma Smith's infant twins.
This is outside of the Newel K. Whitney store. It was the center of town and Newel K. Whitney became the second bishop of the Church and gave crucial financial support to the impoverished church.
This is inside the store. Because of meticulous record-keeping, they were able to stock the store as it would have looked in that day. The first bishop's storehouse was located to the right of this main room. Interesting fact learned on the tour: the term, "the whole nine yards," refers to a spool of yarn. When someone wanted the whole spool, they would request the whole nine yards.
This is the Newel K. Whitney home where Joseph and Emma lived when they first arrived in Kirtland.
Here we are at Cedar Point amusement park. It has been voted the best amusement park in the world for the last 11 years by Amusement Today. The ranking is well-deserved. This place is crazy.
This ride is called Millennium Force. A few years ago it was voted the best steel roller coaster. The initial drop is a beast, the ride is 310 feet high and reaches speeds of 93 mph. Good ride.
This crazy ride is called the Maverick. Check out this initial drop. It is actually a 95 degree angle meaning you fall more than straight down and feel like you're going to fall out. The same ride also randomly stops in a tunnel and then shoots back up to 70 mph. Fun stuff.

The biggest beast of them all was the Top Thrill Dragster of which I posted the video below. Here is a really cool link to a video taken with a camera mounted on the front (starting at 36 seconds into the movie). That's what our view was like on the front row. Wow. I think I'm done with roller coasters for the next few years.

Overall it was a great trip. We were able to balance fun with an extremely rewarding historical and spiritual experience in Kirtland. The history of the Church during this period is fascinating and we recommend that everyone learn more about it and visit if you get a chance.

Crazy Ride

This has to be the craziest ride I have ever been on. It is at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio and is the former (now 2nd) tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world. You go from 0 mph to 120 mph in 4 seconds and go up at a 90 degree angle to 420 feet above the ground. You then drop down at a 90 degree angle and return to a speed of about 120 mph. My face is just now returning to its normal form. I was more scared than Candice was.

Here are some random pictures that are late in coming. Here I am at my summer internship at the Health Management Research Center on campus. I did some analysis of employee health promotion tools of the Center and some of their competitors.

Here's the Big House. This is at the Michigan-Utah game and I believe there were over 108,000 people watching with us. The student section was pretty angry with the performance. I have to admit that a big part of me was rooting for Utah. State pride can be powerful.

Candice celebrated her 24th birthday on September 7. I got her some flowers and we went out for dinner to celebrate. Our first birthday celebration together.

Here are some pictures of our apartment. Candice has done a really good job decorating and we have been blessed with an abundance of cheap/free furniture.

I think they're all pretty self-explanatory. The apartment is a one bedroom, one bath paradise. Here I am at my usual spot.

Good times at the Chelsea Fair

This weekend we decided to mingle with some of the locals at the Chelsea Community Fair. Chelsea is a quaint little town near Ann Arbor and the home of actor Jeff Daniels. The fair was good times and we enjoyed getting away from the intellectuals of Ann Arbor and spending time with a crowd that's a little more down-to-earth.
The fair had everything you could want including rides, food, and farm animals. Who knows what the deal was with these ducks... George Washington called, he wants his hair back.
One of the highlights of the night was eating a 2 lb banana split while we watched renowned tractors such as "Fat Bottomed Girl" compete in the tractor pull. These hot rod tractors were actually pretty entertaining to watch as they did wheelies and spewed mud at observers behind them. Overall, a great date night and a chance to reconnect with our roots.

Trip to Utah and Colorado

Welcome to our recent trip to Utah and Colorado. Candice's grandparents picked us up at the airport and gave us food and shelter. The salmon dinner was fabulous and even Candice loved it.

We have been lucky to do quite a bit of traveling this year and it was great to see family on this trip. It was a beautiful and relaxing trip and I got my fill of mountains for the year.
No explanation needed.
Location: Canyonlands National Park
Here we are at Balanced Rock in Arches National Park. Beautiful, but very hot and dry.
On this trip we saw these petroglyphs, walked in actual dinosaur tracks and went to a natural history museum. I was in nerd paradise.
This is a glacier on the drive to up to Mt. Evans. Candice nearly lost her lunch as she peered over the edge of the cliffs on the drive up. It wasn't the only time on the trip where her fear of ledges led to some drama.
Here we are standing atop Mount Evans near Denver. You can drive to within a couple hundred feet of the top of the peak (elevation 14,265 feet). The road up is pretty narrow and precarious since there are no rails to keep you from falling thousands of feet.
My brothers and I took an early morning hike to Mills Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a beautiful lake right under the tallest peaks in the park. We came up with mountain man names on the hike up and here we are acting the part. From right to left: Cliff Bridger, Abe Stottlemyre, and Jeremiah Chesterson.
We hiked to this little pond, called Nymph Lake, with my family. It was covered with lily pads and had a bunch of little ducklings swimming in it.
On Monday, we did a bike ride around Estes Lake in the town of Estes Park. It is a beautiful town and don't be surprised if we retire there some day. The bike ride was memorable.
On Tuesday evening we made a stop at Coors Field in Denver to see the Rockies play the Washington Nationals. The Rockies had zero runs when we left at the 7th inning stretch, but when on to win 8-2... figures.

Here are some pictures from our short trip to Ontario, Canada & New York. We went with my former roommate and his wife and friend. Here we are with old father Lehi and his family.
This is the stage and just about all of the cast for the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It was well done and it brought the Book of Mormon to life!
We went to the Sacred Grove on Sunday morning before church. It was really a humbling and testimony strengthening experience. The place just commands reverence and awe.
Our Maid of the Mist (explained below) ponchos came in handy once the rain started up after church. This is the monument to Moroni on the top of the Hill Cumorah.
This is a replica of the log house the Smith family lived in on this exact site. It was in this house that Joseph was visited by Moroni. The trees behind the house are part of the Sacred Grove.
This is about 1,200 feet up on the glass bottom floor of the CN Tower in Toronto. It messes with your head a little bit.
Here's a view of Lake Ontario from the observation deck at the CN Tower. The tower was the tallest free standing structure in the world until last year, when a building in Dubai passed it up.
We went on a double decker bus/lake cruise tour around the city since we only had half a day to get to know the place. The CN Tower is in the top left corner and the old Sky Dome is right next to it on the left.
Here we are at the famous Niagara Falls. It was an awesome sight, but we both feel that we have been to a more impressive waterfall before (Candice-Iguacu Falls in Brazil, Ryan-Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe).
We both felt like the Maid of the Mist boat ride was the highlight of our stop in Niagara Falls. The boat takes you quite close to the falls and gives you a better feeling for the power of the water and a face full of water from the mist.