How We Met

We met at our ward's opening social at the beginning of the 2002 Fall semester at BYU in Provo.  I was 19 and he was 24.  He invited me to go a friend's house to play games and five days later he kissed me behind the Provo temple.  This is a pic of us going to homecoming up at the capital.  When we met, I was already planning on going to China the next semester.  I almost didn't go because I was so crazy about him.  But luckily he encouraged me to go.  I told him that first semester that I loved him, but since he wasn't so sure about me yet he just changed the subject!  I was home in January before leaving for China in February so Josh came out to see me twice.  The last time I dropped him off at the airport to fly back to Utah I said "So, do you love me?"  and he said "Yes, I love you."  So I said "OK, bye" and kissed him good-bye.  We wouldn't see each other for 6 months and I needed to know where we stood! 

Josh's Adventures Abroad

Puerto Rico

Josh worked in Puerto Rico for the '02 and '03 summers for Pinnacle Security installing security systems. He got to use the Spanish that he learned on his Los Angelos spanish speaking mission.

Nancy's Adventures Abroad

China

In February of 2003 I left for Urumqi China to volunteer as an English teacher as a school.  It was my first plane ride...and it was a long one (14 hrs).  I taught a group of 10-14 kids every week for three months.  These little kids lived at the school so I got to be more than a teacher to them, playing with them outside of class and even helping to put them to bed. They were amazing and I will always love them.  We ended up having to leave 6 weeks early on 1 day's notice because of the SARS outbreak.  I had a special relationship with my kids so when I went in to say "good-bye" to my kids their care-takers taught them to say "I love you, I miss you, I never forget you" as they clung to my legs and gave me hugs.  I was a wreck!  My experiences in China will always be a part of me and will be something I will always treasure.  I think it is impossible to really understand your own reality until you experience someone else's.  There are some things that you just can't read about in books.  I am so glad Josh was so supportive of me going to China.  The whole time I was there we exchanged emails.  It gave us a great opportunity to really become friends, since we started dating so fast!  That 3rd picture is the bathroom that I used for the 3 months I was in China.  That is the shower head in the top left corner.  The squater also served as a second drain for the shower!  I was so nice to finally be able to shower barefoot when I got home.

Alaska

After I got back from China, I stayed home for about a month before going to see Josh in Puerto Rico.  I got back from P.R. and then left to work in Alaska the next day.  I was in Alaska for 2 months.  I worked at a lodge that was literally the only thing on the island.  I cooked and cleaned the guest cabins.  It was a great experience.  It is probably the most beautiful place I have ever been.  On my days off I got to go out on the boats with the guests to fish for salmon, halibut and ling cod.  We also went bear and whale watching, hiking, target shooting and kayaking around the small islands. Bald eagles and puffins were everywhere!  The Whales were my favorite thing about Alaska, aside from how beautiful it is up there.  We got to see killer whales really close up and it was so humbling to see firsthand how huge they are!

Engaged!

After Nancy got back from China and Alaska and Josh got back from Puerto Rico and we both got back to school at BYU in the fall of 2003 we finally got to start dating for real again.  A month later we were engaged.  We both knew we would get married but Nancy wanted to get things moving along so one night in Josh's car Nancy asked, "So, what do you think about us getting married?"  The shell-shocked Josh answered with, "I think it'd be a good idea?"  To which Nancy replied with a simple "When?"  Poor Josh, he wanted to surprise Nancy with the ring.  Three months later we were married in the Timpanogos Temple.  

For Time and All Eternity

We were married on December 20th, 2003.  You could make a movie with everything that happened that week!  It was a Saturday at the end of finals week (that alone would be crazy enough!).  But when you add Nancy getting the flu, arrangements for ALL decorations falling through two days before, Josh's grandpa passing away the day before, people getting lost...it was insane!  Josh was even 30 minutes late to the temple!  Anyway, Josh got there and everything fell in to place perfectly.  The insaneness (is that a word?) continued after the wedding ceremony but I will always remember the peace I felt in the ceiling room that day holding Josh's hand and knowing that from then on, I would always have my best friend by my side.

Our Families

(still awaiting the scan of Josh's real family picture ... these are his parents, little sister and nephew)

Josh is the second of four kids. The family moved to Minnesota when Josh was 9.

His older brother Ryan is married with 3 kids and lives in Southern California, but is currently serving our country in Kosovo.

Josh's younger brother Seth also serves in the military and just got home from his second tour in Iraq.

Josh's younger sister Katie is married with 2 kids and lives near their parents in Minnesota.

Josh's parents live in Farmington, Minnesota. Josh's dad, Mike, worked for Northwest Airlines for 20 years, runs marathons and has his pilot's license and his mom, Leslie is a nurse, loves the east coast where she grew up and is all about her family and being a nana to her grandkids. They are the most amazing and supportive parents ever!

Nancy is the third of six kids. All 6 kids were all born and raised in California. 14 years in a tiny farming town in the mountains of Northern California and going on 11 years in the foothills of Sacramento.

Nancy's older sister Heidi is married with 3 kids in Sacramento California.

Nancy's older brother Michael is married with one in the oven and is currently attending BYU.

Nancy's younger brother Steven is single, living in Sacramento and is one of the funniest guys you'll ever meet.

Nancy's little brother Daniel is serving a mission in Ogden Utah.

Nancy's little sister Tami is 16 and is everyone's sunshine!

Nancy's parents live in Placerville California. Her dad, Mark, is a computer programmer and pharmacist and loves his motercycles and dirtbikes and her mom, Linda, used to be a nurse but has been living her dream as a full-time mom since Nancy was born. She enjoys jazzercise, reading, playing the piano and is also loving being a grandma.

We are both amazingly blessed to have such amazing parents and families.

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.