Beach Rock Village: Mon. 10/12

After we had fun at the aquarium we went to Beach Rock Village for lunch. It was located in the middle of the jungle. It was did not meet health standards in the least, but it was still a lot of fun. They had this little place where you could eat your food that overlooked the jungle. You go also go upstairs and sit on the roof to eat too. This is a picture of where they prepared the food.
Where we ate.

They had this rickety tree house that we decided to check out. It was about 75 ft. high and not very sturdy. Billy and I took turns holding Ryan so we could each go up.

In case, you didn't think it was dangerous!

More Aquarium

They had huge lobsters!

As you exit the aquarium they have an enormous tank full of fish, turtles, whale sharks, etc.

Me and Ryan! Oh, how I love her!

Our Trip to Okinawa! Warning lots of pictures!

Our trip to Okinawa was so much fun. Billy's brother Rick is an audiologist in the Navy and has been based in Okinawa, Japan for the past 2 years. They will be there until next summer. Billy and I have been wanting to take a trip to visit them. When you have a place to stay, are able to experience a different culture, and have tour guides with you, it's something you can't pass up. With the economy and time of year we were able to find some a good price on tickets. We bought our tickets and it was a for sure thing. We flew down to Long Beach on Fri. night (Oct. 9th). It worked out perfectly because my dad picked us up from the airport and we were able to spend a night with him. We flew out the next morning out of LAX at 12:55 pm. on ANA airlines....a 12 hr. flight to Tokyo. After arriving in Tokyo we took another plane ride (2 hr.) to Okinawa. With the time change, we arrived on Sun. night at about 8:30 pm. We weren't too mixed up and went right to bed. We woke up early the next day and spend the whole day traveling around. The cars have the steering wheel on the right side and you drive on the opposite side of the road as you do in America. I think it would be a big adjustment to learn.

Ryan did great, esp. considering she averaged 1 nap at home and 1 in the car.

On Monday (Oct. 12th) we spent part of the day at the aquarium. This aquarium used to be the largest in the world. It was a lot of fun with lots of fun sea creatures to see and touch.

Just Another Day in Paradise!

Billy and I celebrated our 4th anniversary today! I can't believe how fast time has gone by. Billy, Ryan, and I took a trip to Okinawa, Japan to visit Rick and Wendy as our anniversary present. I'll be posting pictures soon. Billy had work and mutual so it was a pretty uneventful day, but I did try to make it a little special by making him a dinner he really likes and dessert. The past 4 years have brought about many experiences and memories that we'll never forget. Here's just a glimpse into some of the things that have happened the past 4 years:

1. Began our marriage in Provo, UT in an awesome basement apartment.
   
2. 6 mo. later Billy got hired full-time working for S&I as a seminary teacher.
   
3. Moved to Gilbert, AZ 6 weeks after getting hired for our first assignment.
   
4. I transferred to ASU to finish my degree.
   
5. We moved into our first house in Mesa, AZ.
   
6. Billy began his master's degree at ASU.
   
7. Life got even busier when Billy was called to be YM Pres. in our ward and I was called to be 2nd counselor in Primary.
   
8. I went through some medical problems that at times were discouraging, but shortly after finding out the cause was doing great and haven't had any problems since. A great blessing.
   
9. I graduated from ASU and began teaching 1st grade at Noah Webster Basic School.
   
10. We went through the heartache of having a miscarriage.
    
11. I became pregnant shortly after and welcomed our sweet baby girl Ryan in Feb. 2009.
    
12. We took many trips home to see family.
    
13. I was able to stop working and stay home with Ryan. Yeah!
    
14. Our heart ached again when my mom passed away this past summer.
15. We knew it was time that we start taking some "family" vacations so took a short staycation at a resort in Phoenix, AZ.
16. We went to Okinawa, Japan to celebrate 4 wonderful years together!
    

I am so grateful that I have a family that is sealed in the temple forever. I am so grateful for Billy and how hard he works to support our family and how he honors his Priesthood. We have so many fun memories and I look forward to spending eternity with him. I love you!

Oh, how I LOVE my daddy!

Ryan is so much fun...and cute, adorable, funny, loves to play, loves to snug, loves to smile, etc.! The list goes on and on. Oh, how we love this little girl. Ryan is a really good baby; so when she starts waking up in the middle of night (like 4 times) crying you know something is up. Ryan's second tooth popped through this past Friday (Oct. 2). She did great with the first one, but had had enough when another one came in less than 1 week later. She was up during the night, had trouble sleeping during the day, constantly wanted to chew, and to top it all off, had diarrhea, which created a bad diaper rash. Well, she is finally starting to feel better. Poor thing. I felt so bad for her, but knew there wasn't anything I could do besides give her snugs all day. She's back to sleeping well, which mom and dad really like too!

Did I mention that Ryan is a daddy's girl? Or that Billy is a great dad? Ryan loves the water. She loves to take showers with Billy and loves to go in the swimming pool. All summer long we had a number of people invite us over to swim. We loved it. It was our chance to be outside admidst the raging heat. When summer ended (which for AZ didn't happen until last week) we saw this great kiddie pool that was on clearance. I love a great deal. So when we saw this whale pool that even had a spout that shot water out of it for $5 we knew we had to have it. Even with cold water Ryan still loved playing and splashing around. And her daddy got in there too. I am so grateful for Billy and his love for kids. I appreciate a husband and a father who doesn't sit on the sidelines, but is actively involved in Ryan's life. The other day Ryan and I stopped by Billy's work to grab something and as soon as we left Ryan started crying and kept looking back at Billy. I love my family!