Much has happened since our last accounting, and so here goes the quick catch up...
During our last weeks in Oregon, life was filled with many adventures. William seems to have grown up so much while we were there! He learned how to walk...and then run, eat amazingly with chopsticks, and sleep mostly through the night (hooray!). We posted the video of the first time I caught him eating with chopsticks. He still can't eat great with normal utensils, but this one-time chopsticks catch is worth the watch! ;) He really is Asian at heart (don't let the hair deceive you!)
Multnomah Falls
Other exciting things were...major car problems, visits from Becca Graham, Steve's Dad, Joanna and Nate Freeman, Liz and her kids, Michelle Charles and her kids, wonderful trips to the beach, Tillamook Cheese Factory, Multnomah Falls (several times), Punch Bowl Falls (also several times), lots of swimming, delicious Food Carts downtown, Ben & Jerry's, Salt & Straw, Voodoo Donuts, riverside walks, rose gardens, Portland Zoo (many times), Pizza A'Fetta, Portland Temple, running, beautiful weather in July, and much more... While my sweet sister Liz was there, we even managed to have her suburban broken into (window broken etc.) and all of our purses, phones (except for mine), wallets stolen etc. What a pain! Liz was a saint about it, and never uttered one word of complaint! Hopefully we learned something! We loved the ward there, and I got to serve in the Relief Society, and accompany the ward choir during our short stay. We really were quite sad to leave, yet knew a new and exciting, stretching chapter of life was awaiting. And so it was...we left. We have wonderful memories and learned so much! A few of the things learned: an experience will only be what you make of it so just dig in and go regardless of how hard it might seem or how short the time, people can be sincere Obama fans and still be amazing people (believe it or not!), positive support works best!, we love living in the mission field (this didn't come as a surprise to me, but did to Steve), it's much easier to forget loneliness when you're relieving another's loneliness through sincere love and friendship, and finally I realized more how sincerely good and pure my husband is - SO thankful for that!
Voo Doo Donuts
Two Cowboys
Berry Picking YUM!
July 4th!
I came home two weeks before Steve so I could be here for my parent's farewell and to spend some time with them. It was really hard to say goodbye, though watching my dad with William at the airport is likely one of my favorite memories! It has been even harder to have Mom and Dad gone, but I keep remembering how much I LOVE my mission, and missionary work truly is the greatest and happiest thing in the world! Steve lovingly reminds me (when I'm mourning not having them here) that I wouldn't rather have them anywhere else, doing anything else. It's true, even though my selfish instincts might occasionally deceive me!
I also managed (with TONS of help from amazing people) to surprise Steve by moving in before he got home. A HUGE thanks to so many who helped out: Karen Richardson (and her kind brother), Jen and her kids, Isaac and Angie, Will Anderson, Aaron Washenko, Corey Lord, Sarah Mano, Nate Freeman, and even new neighbors! Steve was happily surprised! I loved doing this for him! We're still working on getting things decorated (thanks to my sisters and Michelle!), but I'm a bit slow.
Steve & His Little Buddy!
We are now 4 weeks into law school, and Steve is loving it. He is definitely busy, but he loves being disciplined, scheduled, and stretched so he seems to be in his element. He got a new bike, and I'm not sure if he or William love it more. Steve straps William on his back and takes him for long rides. William certainly is his daddy's boy, and not just because he looks just like him. He loves doing the same things, and especially doing them with Steve!
I didn't get a bike, but I got a new piano!! Yay! We love having that in our home, and now I am teaching here as well. I am enjoying teaching, and have some great students. I've also been putting up quite a bit of fruit! Though I did it my whole life, doing the whole thing myself gives me a new appreciation for what a process it is! I enjoy it, but have huge respect for my parents who did about 100 times (literally) the amount I have done every summer, and still mostly had smiles! Wow! What sacrifices! Thanks, Mom and Dad!
We are happy, and feel so blessed that even through the good and the bad, we can carry forward with faith and trust in a bright future! The best is yet to be!!
Okay, so don't be too shocked!! Yes, this is me, and I am officially BLOGGING! I'm still just trying to figure the basics out, so it might be a little "interesting", but I'm excited for the adventure. Steve is excited, too! ;)
I guess I should begin with a brief introduction. It was our beloved missions in Taiwan (2006-2009) that brought a handsome, adventurous, sky diving, four-wheeling, loves to run/work out, ambitious, movie loving, goal making and hitting, fun loving, country fan who always dreamed of being a real cowboy-- to marry me, a classical pianist, reader, thinker, loves to talk and enjoy a nice quiet dinner. Yes, we could be considered real opposites, but it sure felt like we had found our match when we fell in love. It took Steve bringing his cute little girlfriend to see me a couple of days after I got home (because a friend, Elder Evans, who was staying with him at the time wanted to), to realize he might actually like me. A few months later (July 2009) we went on our first date - boating under fireworks :) WITH Steve's whole family (apparently he knew I'd be brave enough to meet the family on the first date). It was quite magical, and though I thought Steve might never call back since it was obvious we were from very different backgrounds, he did, and it wasn't too hard for him to quickly win my heart over. Some of our first dates were 4-wheeling in American Fork Canyon, Mormon Tabernacle Choir Concert, an amazing Utah Symphony concert in Park City with Mike and Jenet (an experience we'll always treasure!), camping with my family in Scofield, a rodeo, Beth VanDam's baptism, and much more. Those exciting dates were all topped off when Steve took me sky diving in September, and proposed with a banner as I was falling from the sky that said, "Marry Me Shirley?" He had jumped before I did and had prepared a beautiful bouquet of 2 dozen roses with my ring. It was all pretty much perfect. It was definitely Steve's style of proposal! :)
I can't think of a more incredible feeling than when we were in the sealing room of the Salt Lake Temple just a few short months later on November 20, 2009. We were so blessed to be surrounded by so many we love, and were given beautiful words of instruction from our sealer that we will always treasure. I will always remember the realization that after all the work and money and time and stress etc... that had gone into planning all of the other events (reception, wedding dinner, honeymoon etc.) nothing could even come close to comparing to the feelings inside that beautiful, simple room...and it didn't cost a single penny, didn't require any silly stress, just required worthiness!! Isn't that how the gospel is?! What a beautiful blessing!
Well, our first year of marriage was filled with lots of wonderful and learning experiences. I knew before I married Steve that life would always be on the move, and I haven't been disappointed yet. Major events of our first year include: endless hours of studying the LSAT, taking the LSAT, my Graduate Recital, a miscarriage, completing my classes for my Master's degree, taking the LSAT again, my final huge oral exams, completing LOTS of law school applications, and a whole bunch of fun learning in between. It definitely wasn't stress free, but we're thankful we were blessed to do it all, and hopefully we're a lot stronger for it. A few highlights were welcoming home President and Sister Hoer (we love them!), a trip to California when we found out we were pregnant again! :), my graduation, getting a miracle score on the LSAT, and miraculously getting into BYU! During all of this, a huge blessing was living in Mom and Dad's basement where we were constantly blessed by there wisdom, love, and care. We will forever treasure our time there!
Proposal
Honeymoon
Zion National Park
Goblin Valley Jacob Family Reunion
California Trip
The greatest highlight to follow was the arrival of our "little buddy", William James. Life has never slowed down since! We are more and more in love with him, and I'm always trying to sneak in a little sleep... Now he is nearing 18 months old, walking, laughing just for fun a lot!, saying "no, no" while he shakes his hand and continues to do the thing he knows he shouldn't, running around getting into everything possible and finding whatever destruction he can cause, throwing occasional tempers when he bangs his own head against the wall or floor :(, and simply being an incredible light and joy in our lives every day. We never could have imagined how much joy, laughter, work, stress, and perspective our sweet little boy would give us.
Cannon Beach, Oregon
This Summer we are in Oregon doing ADT sales, and loving the beautiful nature surrounding us. We have loved going to the beach, eating great food at food carts, voodoo donuts, salt and straw ice cream parlor, Multnomah Falls, Punch Bowl Falls, Tillamook Cheese Factory, swimming in our pool and sitting in the hot tub for a few moments after Steve gets home late from work. We have especially loved opportunities to share the gospel, wonderful members in the ward, opportunities to serve short-term as the choir accompanist and assistant secretary in the RS. We've also learned a lot about organic and natural foods and what it means to really "go green!" We've thoroughly enjoyed our time here as a family, and have loved living in the mission field. We'll miss it, but are excited to start our BYU Law School experience in just a few weeks.... WHHHAAAAATTT?! Crazy! There are definitely more wonderful, exciting, and growing experiences ahead, and we can't wait!! Steve helps me enjoy each day by always making me laugh, being a really cute dad as he is TOTALLY in love with his little boy, and always bringing some kind of adventure into any dull moment. He's convinced I'm going to run a marathon with him one of these days. Maybe I'll surprise him....some day! :) Life truly is beautiful, and we're excited to keep a record of great moments through our little blog! Until next time...
