Places We Have Traveled

This is us at Yellowstone. This really was an amazing place. It is crazy how most of the geo-thermal events in the WORLD are all there in that one place. It was a quick trip so we want to be able to go back and take our time really seeing it all.

In 2006 we got to go to Hawaii (also with Josh's work). It was awesome, even though there was an earthquake while we were there! The coolest thing we got to do was take a shuttle to the top of Haliakala (a dormant volcano) to watch the sunrise and then ride bikes all the way back down the huge mountain. It was a great way to see the countryside.

This is us in Ensenada Mexico. We were able to take a cruise there with Josh's work. We had a lot of fun, even though it was a quick trip. All of the vendors thought we were newlyweds because we were "young and still happy."

Nancy left for Alaska the day after she got back from Puerto Rico. She got a job at a lodge on a small island off of Kodiak island called Afognak Wilderness Lodge as a cook and a maid. The lodge was literally the ONLY thing on the island. Our connection with the outside world was the mail guy who came on Tuesdays via his float plane. Well, him and all the guests. Nancy still has never been in a more beautiful place and hopes to take Josh up there to see the bears, whales and puffins that seem to be everywhere!

Since he speaks Spanish, Josh got to work in Puerto Rico for two summers before we got married. I got back from China the week after Josh left to work his second summer in Puerto Rico. He couldn't wait to see me, so he dropped $500 to fly me out there to see him. We had a blast. Josh says it was there that he really decided he wanted to marry me.

In 2003 Nancy had the opportunity to go to China as a volunteer English teacher. It was one the most amazing and rewarding experiences of her life. She was in Urumqi, China for three months and had twelve 4-6 year old students. Her students lived at the school and only saw their parents every other weekend for three days. So in addition to her classes, she got to play with them after dinner and sometimes even help put them to bed. Leaving them was the hardest thing she had ever done. She will always love her students and the time she spent there and will always have a special place in her heart for China. This is Nancy riding a camel up a sand dune at a tourist spot in the Gobi dessert in China.

Big Acheivements

In 2008 Nancy became a certified Yoga instructor as well as a certified Personal Trainer. She has been teaching 7-8 classes a week and has just started taking on clients. Nancy graduated from Brigham Young University in 2006 with a bachelors in Home and Family Living getting a double emphasis in Interior Design and Family Finance. She is the first of her siblings to get a bachelors degree. Nancy is also a certified kitchen designer and worked for a time helping people design ther kitchens and homes.

Josh graduated from Brigham Young University in 2004 with a bachelors degree in Exercise Science. It was a tough major but he made it! He is still the only one of his siblings to have a college degree! Go Josh! He is currently working outside of his major as a regional security system installer and manager but we bought the gym in town hoping that it would give him a good opportunity to use his bachelors. Josh is also a certified personal trainer.

Our Hobbies

This is Josh and I four-wheelin' in St. George.  Although we don't have one of our own yet, we'd like to get one in the near future.  Josh would also like to get some dirt bikes as well.

Over the last few years Josh has picked up golfing.  He doesn't get to spend as much time as he'd like with it but enjoys the time he does get.  When we went to Hawaii in 2006 he got to golf there.  The course was pretty amazing from what he told me.  This is him golfing in St. George.

Josh loves his sports.  This is him at a Cubs game in Chicago.  His teams are the Minnesota Vikings and the BYU Courgars.  He makes a few games every year.  We like going to the "Cougs" games together to cheer on our old school.  Once a cougar, always a cougar.

  
Josh is a snowboarder and I am a skier.  Josh is better than me but it's only because he gets to go more with work (they have "meetings" on the slopes sometimes).  We got to go together for our 4th anniversary and had a ton of fun.

Nancy loves to ride her horse and do yoga.  If there was a rock climbing gym in town she'd be all over that too!  She also loves helping friends pick out paint colors for their walls and window shopping for furniture that she hopes to be able to afford someday.  She loves Pier 1 and World Market!  She plays the piano and sings a little and also enjoys painting and drawing.

Our Pets

This is Sox the Cat ... who's a horse.  He raced as a young thoroughbred so they have to have creative names I guess.  He is one of the sweetest horses I've ever met.  The neighbor kids are always coming over and crawling all around him and he just loves it.  When I graduated from college Josh made all my little girl dreams come true by letting me get a horse.  Sox is my first horse and I have learned a lot with him.  There is something about being around horses that is good for the soul!
This is Miss Mia.  She started out as Josh's mom's puppy but ended up as our dog.  She is FULL of energy but Josh says that is normal for English Springer Spaniels.  She is three years old now so supposedly she should start to start calming down a little.  She is crazy for playing fetch.  She will play fetch until she is so tired she can barely move but still begs you to throw her ball for her again.
This is Bruno.  I got him when my older sister Heidi had her third baby near the beginning of 2008.  I guess I wanted a "baby" too.  Even though he ate my favorite pair of shoes when he was teething I still love him.  He is half Australian Shepherd and Half King Charles Spaniel.  He's all grown up now but still has that cute puppy face.