Honeymoon- Jasper and Beauvert Lake

When we made it all the way up to Jasper we took a little time to check out the town. Jasper is such a small town that there really isn't too much to see. We stopped at Beauvert Lake, which was really pretty. We also saw lots of animal life up in Jasper. We saw an eagles nest and some deer.

Honeymoon- Bridal Vail & Panther Falls

One of the places that we stopped along the way to hike down to see Bridal Vail Falls and Panther Falls. They were both just a short walk down the to a spot where we could see Bridal Vail Falls. From there we decided to walk a little further down the path in hopes to get closer. As we did we found another water fall (which when we got back to the hotel we found was Panther Falls). We could get really close to the water fall, but didn't want to get really wet, so we didn't get too close. We we walked back up to the top of the hill we went looking for the top of Panther Falls. After a little searching we found it. It's amazing how much water was flowing over the falls. Maybe it's just the fact that we come from such an arid area, but all the water is amazing.

Honeymoon- Drive through Banff National Park

I know it's been a while, but I'm going to try to catch up with everything that's been going on before the end of the year.

The next day, Dan and I drove north from Lake Lousie, through Banff National Park and up into Jasper National Park. The drive was amazing. It was nice to be able to spend some time with Dan in the car, but the views were amazing too. I almost wanted to stop around every bend in the road to take a picture of something more beautiful than we had already seen. There were mountains, waterfalls, lakes, rivers, clouds, blue sky and green trees everywhere. We took so many pictures along the way, but I'll just share a few of my favorites.

Honeymoon- Morant's Curve

This happened to be just a pull off on the side of the road, but let me tell you the views made it definitely worth the stop. Breath taking, that's about all I can say.

Honeymoon- Lake Moraine

After our climb, 1,204 feet up and than back down, we were happy to just take the flat trail around Lake Moraine, yet another one of the beautiful lakes in Banff National Park. I think that the way that the mountains ended right in this lake made it one of my favorites. Although seeing beautiful lake after beautiful lake did make it hard to choose one that was my favorite. We are also able to find some more kind people to take our picture. It's nice to have documented that Dan and I actually went on the vacation together and not just took pictures of each other.

Honeymoon- Lake Agnes

1,204 feet above Lake Louise we reached our destination. Lake Agnes was probably one of the clearest lakes, still the same teal blue color just not as milky. We felt the water in Lake Agnes and it was cold, but that's to be expected from a lake that is feed by a glacier. Like many of the other lakes that we saw this one had a glacier that was at the far end. Also like many of the other lakes this one was BEAUTIFUL.

Honeymoon- Hiking

So on some adventures the destination is really the only part that is wonderful or beautiful. That was definitely not the case as we hike up above Lake Louise in Banff, Canada. I'm not sure there was a moment that we weren't surrounded by beautiful scenery. Wither it was a beautiful vista of the mountains with the cloudy, blue sky.

(I personally like this view too)

Or the pine trees that were all around the path. Or even the snow on the ground that Dan decided he wanted to play in. It was all amazing and we got to share it together. We even found some fun signs along the trail which were only the first of the fun signs that we would see around Canada. (More to come later).

Honeymoon- Mirror Lake

From Lake Louise we decided to take a hike up the mountain to see some other lakes. It was funny because Dan kept commenting on how amazing it was that there was so much water. It's funny coming from a boy who spent most of his life in the arid state of Arizona. The first lake that we reached was Mirror Lake. Once again it was a beautiful teal color, we didn't get in the water, but I'm sure it was cold. They are lakes created from glacier run off, so I'm sure they are cold. We even found some people at the lake who were kind enough to take our picture. That's one of the hard things that we had to find other people to take our picture if both Dan and I wanted to be in the picture.

Honeymoon- Lake Louise

Our first adventure was out to see the beautiful teal waters of Lake Louise. The beautiful color of the water is from the rock flour that is carried into the water from the run off of a nearby glacier. There is nothing like seeing the teal blue water with huge mountains covered in glaciers behind them. I remember telling Dan every couple minutes how much I LOVE the mountains and how beautiful it was.

Honeymoon- Baker Creek

Dan and I were both really excited about where we were going to be spending our honeymoon. When we talked about different places to go we decided that somewhere in the mountains would be the best. It was really nice to be in cooler weather, especially since we were coming from such warm weather in Arizona. We decided that Banff, Canada was the place for us. Neither of us have ever been there, so it was fun to explore somewhere new together. Dan found a wonderful place for us to stay. It was a little cabin inside Banff National Park near Lake Louise. It was called Baker Creek. It was a great little rustic cabin with AMAZING views. I remember how much a ABSOLUTELY love the mountains and pine trees. The company wasn't too bad either.

2 Month Annivesary

So I was reminded this weekend that it has been two months since Dan & I got married and I'm finally getting around to posting about it. You could say we've been a little busy lately. Plus I've been waiting to get picture from our photographer, but haven't got them yet. So as not to push this off any more I figured I would use the pictures that my sister took. So two months ago was admittedly one of the best days of my life. I was married to Dan for time and all eternity. It was a beautiful day at the Newport Beach Temple. We were also surrounded by so many of our friends and families. After a wonderful ceremony in the morning we gathered with our friends and family back at my parents house to eat and hang out. While we were eating lunch Dan surprised me by signing 'our' song to me in front of everyone.

It was a little embarrassing, but I think Dan lives sometimes to find ways to embarrass me. (Don't worry it's one of the things that I love about him). Later that night we had a beautiful reception in the backyard of a close family friend. Once again we were surrounded by wonderful friends and family. My mother also has some wonderfully amazing friends that helped her organize the food and treats. My brother was definitely enjoying the treat table. Overall it was a wonderful day that I'm sure we won't forget any time soon. So glad we could spend time with our family and friends.

Less than a week!

Hard to believe, but all the planning for the big day is done and know we are just waiting... and it's less than one week away!

Bridal Shower in California

So when I was home two wonderful women from my home ward decided to throw me a bridal shower. First I want to say thank you so much for both of them, because it was a lovely evening. The food was amazing and the games were fun. Mostly I just liked seeing so many of the women who have helped me become who I am. From past young woman's leaders to women who's children I babysat. There were even a couple of my friends who are still in the area and it was good to catch up with them. It was also wonderful to have all my sisters and mother there with me.

(Maire left before we got a picture of all of us)

Graduation

Last weekend I was home for my sister Julie's high school graduation. It's hard to believe that the baby of the family is graduating... it's also hard to believe that it's been 9 years since I graduated from high school. Weird to be back at a place that I spent 4 years of my life and yet it seems to have changed so much. It was fun to be home with the family, all except Rob. I'm so proud of Julie for all her achievements (she graduated as one of the valedictorians). Yeah!

5 years!

Hard to believe, but June 5th was my 5 year anniversary at work. That means a few things...

• I've been here in Phoenix for 5 years
• I've now been working longer than I was in school (college at least)
• I will start earning more PTO (yeah for paid time off)
• my 401K is now fully vested, so it's all mine

I'm sure it means lots of other things, but on any level it's a cool milestone.

Girls Camp Round II

So they must have really enjoyed my help last year at girls camp, cause they invited me to go again this year. Or they just know that I'm a sucker for the outdoors. I just can't seem to turn down an opportunity to be outside in nature. I really liked the theme that was chosen for girl's camp this year too. It was 'Embrace the Royal Within'. It was about how each girl and young women has the divine potential to become a queen. I think it's such a wonderful blessing to know that we have a Heavenly Father who wants nothing more than the best for us. A couple of my favorite things from girl's camp this year were that I was with the YCLs (or whatever they are called, but it's basically the junior camp leaders). They have so much energy and passion is was fun to be around them. Short of some minor drama that is typically when you get girls together away from the world the weekend was amazing. My other favorite part was our hike on Monday. The weather couldn't have been any more perfect and the sights were absolutely beautiful. I'm in awe at the beauty that our Heavenly Father has created for us to enjoy here on this earth. What more can I say than that I LOVE it!