Our Summer....

This summer has been a crazy one. It has been a whirlwind of events. Ryan and I celebrated our first anniversary completely separated but were able to spend the day on SKYPE together. It was a hard day as I am sure you can imagine. We really had a hard time being separated that day.
We were counting down the days till we saw each other again. Well it wasn't far away. He came home on July 1 for his 2 week R and R.

Ryan stepped back because he wanted to give the lady that offered to take pictures his camera. I wasn't sure what was going on of course. Elyssa and Christopher came with me to the gate to surprise Ryan when he came off the plane. He had no idea at all. It was totally awesome!

My hug that I finally got after 2 1/2 months without him!!! The greatest feeling!
My accomplices...We had so much fun waiting for the moment!!!
We spent the first 2 nights at Anniversary Inn. It was so much fun! I got to cook for someone other than myself!!
Here we are on Mom's birthday-July 3rd-at the cemetery. Hard day but we also celebrated Ryan's halfway mark with his contract-not the deployment, that's September.
We celebrated with all of Ryan's family and my family with a BBQ!!! It was so much fun and Ryan was so glad to see his family.
After the BBQ, we went to the Sandy Library to watch the fireworks across the valley. This was our first 4th of July together. He was gone last summer to ROTC training at West Point. We spent Sunday the 4th just relaxing and did pack for our vacation. Monday the 5th, we went to Long Beach, CA for a week to just get away from everyone and relax. We drove down Monday and were there till Saturday. Tuesday we went to Venice Beach and it was a little more chilly than we planned but we still had fun.
Here we were unsure if we were going to have fun on a cool beach. We planned on warmer weather and it definitely wasn't.
Us with our picnic lunch on the beach. It was an overcast day and we forgot to put on sunscreen and we were COOKED! It hurt bad!
Ryan rolled up his pants but that did no good obviously!!!!
I don't like cold water at all as you can see. We drove back to the hotel and got our favorite Jack-In-The-Box for dinner. Wednesday I was in a lot of pain from my burn which was on only half of my body because I was laying on my side when I got burned. Not a good idea. We did walk down to the beach that night and walk around after sunset. So romantic. I enjoyed every moment.
My favorite picture of us on R and R.
Ryan and I decided that we didn't want to go back to the beach because we didn't want to get burned any more so we decided to find something else to do.
WE WENT TO DISNEYLAND!!!
Now we took TONS of pictures here so I am having a hard time deciding which ones to post. We rode Buzz Lightyear and Ryan won that! Then when we rode Toy Story I WON!!! It was great!!! We went to the new water show "World of Color". That was spectacular! I don't want to post those pictures because you just have to go see it!
MICKEY MOUSE!!!
Another one of my favorites!!!
We rode this classic ride for the last time before they change it so that it is updated with all 6 movies. Love this ride and can't wait to ride the updated one!
Had to be cheesy at Disneyland!!! I love my knight in shining armor!
Saturday we drove to Las Vegas! There we went to one of our favorite broadway shows...
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!!!
After the show, we realized it was our 13 month anniversary! See the date!!!! We were so excited that we got some sort of an anniversary! And we enjoyed every minute of it!!!!
Sunday we started our final leg home. We stopped at the Bell's for a break and to say hi. She posted pictures of us there. (We stopped after my siblings did.)
Monday the 12th when we finally got home after spending the night at the Bell's, we saw our friends the Swart's. They didn't know Ryan was in town so their surprise was awesome.
We then had 4 days left till Ryan went back. We went that night to Toy Story 3 and cried our eyes out. Then we went to Spaghetti Factory....our favorite!!! It was the perfect family night. I couldn't dream of a better way to spend it.
Wednesday the 14th, we saw Eclipse! Then had dinner with my family at Winger's.
Thursday the 15th, we went to dinner with Ryan's parents at Los Hermanos. It was good. We had to wear these funny looking shirts to get our drinks for free.
That night we slept under the stars!!!
Friday was so much fun. We went to the Draper Temple and did sealings.
We then went downtown to the Roof Restaurant. Uncle Gary gave us the money!! Thank you! We enjoyed it. It was our first time being there!
We then went and walked around Temple Square and the Gateway before going home.
We then cried because we were going to have to say goodbye the next morning. Man it sure was harder the third time saying goodbye. We still had 8 months till he was home for good. It was so hard. I cried and cried and cried. I miss him so much and am so glad that we had such an amazing 2 weeks together.

I then went to Nauvoo with my dad and siblings and to Yellowstone. Those pictures aren't as important so I won't post them. We did a lot in those 2 weeks with the family that you all would get bored with it if you aren't already.

Ryan and I are counting down the days till we get to be with each other and the number is 211. That's still a long ways away.
Ryan, I love you and am so glad we spent every minute together while you were here. Can't wait to make more memories!