Austin Anniversary

Adam and I have been married a year! In many ways it has gone by really quickly, though when I think about the different jobs we have had and the different places we have lived and visited this year, it seems hard to believe that it has only been a year. I'm so grateful to be married to Adam. Marrying him was the best choice I have ever made.

To celebrate our anniversary, we went to foodie paradise--Austin, Texas. Adam said "the trip was worth it just for the breakfast tacos."

Austin is a beautiful city. We can add it to our short list of places we'd enjoy living. It has such a fun vibe. We enjoyed canoeing on Lady Bird Lake that runs right through downtown. It's so peaceful that it's hard to believe you are in the middle of a city. We saw over 100 turtles both on the banks and in the river.

For our anniversary we went to the San Antonio temple. The temple has so many beautiful and ornate stained glass windows.We enjoyed doing sealings in Spanish as a way to celebrate our sealing a year ago.  

We met up with M'kynzi and she gave us a tour of San Antonio. Our first stop was the San Jose Mission. It's the largest and best preserved of the missions around San Antonio. The mission was founded in 1720.

We visited the Alamo of course. They were celebrating 179 years since the Alamo, so basically it was Texas Disneyland. They even had reenactments on the grounds. We were surprised by how small the Alamo was and by the fact that it is right in downtown.

Last we visited San Fernando Cathedral and walked the River Walk.

Oregon's Birthday

 It's been over a month since we have written. The ast month has gone by so quickly. I have been working quite a bit, including working some every weekend for the last month. We have been playing a lot of racquetball. I almost regret getting Adam to play since now he wants to play everyday. It helps that he has beat me a few times.

My brother Jared came to visit last week since we were selling him our car. It was fun to show him around Provo. We had a racquetball tournament while he was here that lasted three hours until Adam finally emerged victorious. Jared and I believe it's only because Adam can hold up better without food for long periods of time :). I forgot to take a picture while Jared was here. It seems to be a reoccurring theme lately haha.

It's Valentine's Day and also Oregon's birthday (the day Oregon became a state). Adam and I went to an early dinner and then watched the sunset on Utah Lake. The sunset was beautiful thanks in part to the pollution in the air. It was fun to spend Valentine's Day enjoying the outdoors and the good weather. I feel like Valentine's Day puts a lot of pressure on what a couple or a person "should" do. I think we all make life harder on ourselves when we get caught up on what we think life should be--I know I do. It was fun to spend Valentine's Day doing what we enjoy--and yes, we did play racquetball after watching the sunset :). 

Arches Weekend

We rented a house in Moab this weekend with a group of friends. I realized that I never took a group photo and didn't really take that many pictures in general. I blamed it on still being sick. Here are some of the pictures I did take.

Corona Arch

Jeff and Lauren--Jeff served as our guide all weekend. He knows Moab really well. We were all walking to look at the Indian writing.

This one was by far my favorite.

Old West as seen in the Lone Ranger

Delicate Arch

 We stopped by Dead Horse Point to watch the sunrise on the way home. It was well worth getting up early.

The Holidays

The Holidays this year were really busy and really exciting. We were able to celebrate some big events with friends and families. One of my coworkers went through the temple for the first time and my whole Research and Evaluation Department was able to attend with her. It was so exciting to be there with her. My sister and one of my really good friends got engaged as well.

Before we headed to Oregon for Christmas, Jeff and Lauren got engaged! Jeff gave me the key to Lauren's house so we could decorate for a surprise engagement party. I think I am getting old because after going dress shopping with Lauren and her mom, I thought of posting a picture of her dress. Luckily, I quickly remembered the do's and don'ts of social media.

I was pretty proud of some of our engagement puns like meant to me, put a ring on it, check out her rock and he popped the question.

On Christmas Eve Eve (December 23rd) we went to get Mexican food to celebrate my 26th birthday. It's been a tradition that we have done since I was little to help separate my birthday from the Christmas celebrations. It was fun to be there again this Cait since we used to go in high school.

My cousin Becky, her husband Jack, and their baby Henry came over for games. He is the cutest and most intelligent 2-year-old. My favorite was when they put his hat on, he exclaimed "I'm hiding!"

After Daniel proposed, we went to dinner with his parents. They are from Veracruz, Mexico, where Adam served his mission. We really enjoyed meeting them and talking to them.

Amongst all the events, we all flew home this year. This meant a lot of trips to the airport. After dropping off my brother at the Airport in Eugene, Adam and I hiked and explored. I love how pretty Oregon is even in the winter.

One last shot with the PDX carpet on our way back home (yep I called Utah home). I am going to miss it. It might be outdated and odd, but that's how we like it in Portland.

Nativities

This is our first Christmas as a married couple. It has been fun decorating our apartment with some of the nativities that we have collected and have been given. We also went to see the lights around Temple Square. Surprisingly, we haven't ever gone together to see them before. 

Willow Tree Nativity

 Peruvian Nativity

Mexico Nativity

Mesa Verde Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with Adam's extended family in St. George. Adam's aunt Shell and her husband have developed the best system for cooking a turkey. They wrapped the turkey in bacon and cooked it underground. It was so good people were picking off pieces as soon as it came out. The taste was worth burning fingers.

The turkey coming out of the pit where it was cooked.

Here's an example of what it looked like. The bacon off ours was eaten too quickly for any photos.

Friday morning we headed off to camp in Mesa Verde, Colorado with Sam and his girlfriend Carina. It was a 6 hour drive, but the scenery was beautiful. We stopped at Four Corners to be able to stand in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona at the same time. It was cool to see the monument, though we felt robbed when they charged 5 dollars a person just to see the plaque.

Just one example of the beautiful scenery.

Adam and I have been wanting to go camping for a while. Since we have spent the last two summers out of the country we haven't ever been camping together. It's been over two years for both of us. It was fun to make hobo dinners and roast marshmallows. The downside was how cold it got at night.

On Saturday morning, we toured Mesa Verde National Park with the Anasazi cave dwellings. Most of the sites we went to were 90 percent original with very mild restoration work. There are over 600 cliff dwellings in the park, as well the remains of Mesa Top dwellings that pre-date the cave dwellings.

The Spruce Tree House: they believe it was a home site for 60 to 90 individuals. 

The Cliff Palace--home for the royalty

The Sunset House

The Spruce Tree House allows for self-guided tours while others are more restricted.

This is an entrance to a religious kiva. The wood and stone are original. They are still used by the Hopi Indians as religious site.

The inside of a kiva. The pit is used to house a fire.