Highlight #3

Caribbean Vacation!

Thanks to Brandon's hard work with his company, we got to go to beautiful St. Maarten for an all expense paid vacation! We went for the last week in January, escaping the frigid snowy winter for the sunshine and surf!
Ahhh! Sand between the toes! The hotel we were put up in had it's own beach that had some great snorkeling! The best part was getting to sip frozen drinks while relaxing to the sounds of the ocean and getting warmed by the sunshine!


My eyes!!! So one morning Brandon woke up with his eyes all puffy! Alergies??? That's what we thought and found some benadryl for him. They didn't seem to help and his eyes got puffier and puffier. So the next day we decided we needed professional help and were able to find a local doctor who was able to see Brandon.

The doctor knew it couldn't have been anything he ate as the swelling was just around his eyes, so she thought it could've been the pillows of the hotel or something that may have come in contact with his face. Ohhhhh! It dawned on me then! The day before the swelling started we had purchased some souvenir towels in-town from a street vendor. It was a hot day and Brandon used one of the towels to wipe his face with. That was it!! We've sinced washed the towels and they are fine now, they must've just had some sort of factory residue on them that did not agree with Brandon's face! With the right medication, the swelling quickly subsided and we were able to continue having a good time!

Exploring a quiet, picturesque beach on the French side of the island. The island actually has a French side and a Dutch side. St. Maarten is the Dutch side, and St. Martin is the French side. Everyone says that the Dutch side is the place to shop and the French side is the place to eat.
Here's another view of the beach! Just gorgeous!

Brandon being the strong man as usual! This was the fateful day of the towel encounter!

Even though Brandon's company were treating us to a vacation, that didn't mean there wasn't work to be done! He had some team building activities and meetings to attend. Here's his team's sand sculpture to represent that his company is "On the go!"

St. Maarten is an awesome place to visit! We highly recommend it! The food was great, the weather was perfect, and we had the most memorable time there! We were lucky enough to have all the guys in Brandon's office also make Chairman's Club, so we had a good time hanging out with them and their spouses and friends. Brandon's company certainly knew how to take care of us with gifts each day, fun activities, and great parties. We hope that we'll be able to go again in the future!

Highlight #2

2) Vacation to the Pacific Northwest in July!

We decided to escape the heat of Utah for the cooler climate of Seattle and Vancouver. We flew into Seattle, rented a car and drove north to Blaine, WA, which is right on the border of Canada. We stayed there 2 1/2 days and explored this cute coastal town.

We were able to take a Whale Watching cruise that took us through the San Juan Islands, where we found a pod of Orcas and followed these 20+ whales as they leapt, "spy hopped," and hunted Salmon to eat. It was awesome to see these animals in the wild and really a huge highlight of our whole trip!The Peace Arch in Blaine, WA. It sits on the border with Canada representing an open gate between our two countries.
They call these "Tall Ships," there were two of these old sailing boats that were docked in Blaine for the weekend. They travel up and down the West Coast, giving tours and cruises. The sailors on it all dress in pirate type costumes!

Then we drove up to Vancouver, British Colombia. It was quite the change from the sleepy Washington coast. Vancouver is a pretty big city with lots going on. We went to China Town and visited one of few genuine Chinese Gardens that exists outside of China.

Walked around "Gas Town" the old part of Vancouver, that has a steam powered clock.

Walked, though we wished we would've rented bikes, around Stanley Park, a huge park on a penisula on the edge of Vancouver that is popular with cyclists, roller bladers, and joggers, that gives you great views of the sea!
I really enjoyed visiting Granville Island which is home to an awesome Farmer's Market that has pretty much whatever your heart and tummy desires! I became reaqquainted with my favorite french pastry, a "Mille Feuille" or "Napoleon."

We stayed in Vancouver for 2 days and then drove south and back to Seattle. We really enjoyed Seattle. It's got it's own sort of charm. We went to the top of the Space Needle, which had some great views of the city.

We took a fun one hour cruise around the Puget Sound and got to see Seattle from the water.

Here's Pike's Market, where they are famous for their fish throwing.
The Aquarium was pretty neat. Here's Brandon getting hands on with some Star Fish. There was actually several different types of star fish in this area and the weird thing was, is that some were spiny and hard while others were squishy!

All-in-all it was a fun vacation for us. We loved spending time together and making new memories.

What's New!!!??

It's been nearly a year since we've updated our blog! While a lot has taken place in the past year, we'll only bore you with the highlights! It may take a bit of time to get you up to speed! Let's start with the present and work our way back.

Highlight #1

We're going to have a baby boy in December! We couldn't be more excited! Our due date is December 27th. "Christmas baby" you may say?? We definitely didn't plan that! Trying to have a baby doesn't always go as planned or as smoothly, as we've learned, so we are thrilled to be expecting our first child! Brandon already thinks that we're going to have a big kid, hopefully that'll happen post-womb!

We had an ultrasound just this past Friday, and it was way weird seeing the images of our child. It definitely isn't the jelly bean looking thing that we saw in our first ultrasound! It's got all it's little limbs and was moving around, opened it's mouth, and did a little wave. It's hard to believe it's hanging out in my growing belly (yep I've had to move into maternity pants)! When we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time, Brandon expressed concern that it sounded a bit like faster breathing "Darth Vader!"

We're lucky to be surrounded by our family and friends who have "been there and done that," to help us first timers out!