Christmas

We've had a great Christmas season! We have most enjoyed just being together. We have been busy as can be but have had tons of fun.

This is us at the 144th ASMC Christmas Banquet. We had tons of fun being with friends!
After Chris' concert at Temple Square
At the Joseph Smith Building with the Bartlett's
Ryan's nephew loved our train under our tree and dragged Ryan to see it with him. It was adorable.
Temple Square with the Olsen's. Brittney and I went to UVU together.
These were made into neighbor gifts. (Place in 300 degree oven for 3 min then cover with another pretzel) DELICIOUS!!!
For our family for Christmas I made them all a journal that they can fill in about their history.
We were playing games all night with the Gustafson's and this kind of catches all the excitement of the end of the quarter game. We were really competitive by the end. It was a GREAT amount of fun for everyone!
Ryan's gift Christmas morning
Ryan gave me this necklace because our hearts are entwined with each other.
After a wonderful sacrament meeting at church, we went to see Grandma, Grandpa and Mom. Each year is still hard but we relish in the memories they left us. We then went to Dad's house and opened gifts with them. Then went and visited the Reneer's for a little bit too.
Christmas was good to us. We got some things we needed and some fun gifts. Thank you to all our family for a great holiday!

What's new in our life...

We have been so busy lately that I haven't been able to blog...that is a new year's resolution for next year. I will just include our Christmas card and you can see how busy we are...I do have other pictures to share and will get them up soon.
Here is our letter that was included in our card:

December 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been quite a year for us! We have done a lot and enjoyed the year being together.

In January, Elise started her student teaching at Copperview Elementary in a 6^th grade classroom. She had so much fun with her class. She learned a lot and had great students to work with. They were a great support for Elise as the deployment wrapped up in Afghanistan for Ryan.

March 20, 2011 marked one year to the day since Ryan left for Afghanistan. It was an exciting day for us…he was finally coming home! The neighbors put up flags on our street—way cool to see! Elise made a banner, got flags for everyone, and a friend came to take pictures so that nothing was missed! Ryan said that the flight was long but Elise thinks that waiting at the airport for 1½ hours or more for the plane to come was longer. When the plane landed and the flag came out of the cockpit, cheers went up like no other! Elise, of course, was crying and couldn’t stand still. This was the moment we had waited for for 9 months! (That’s how long it had been since we’d been together for leave.) When the door opened on the plane, even louder cheers came out of everyone there. The soldiers then filed out of the plane. Ryan finally came out with tears in his eyes. When we finally got to hug, it was the BEST hug ever! We just held each other. Newpapers were taking pictures, family was taking pictures, and tears were flowing all around. It was the best moment of the year!

Shortly after Ryan got home, Elise graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. The very next day we headed off to HAWAII!!! (This was our first vacation that Ryan didn’t have to go anywhere when we got home.) We enjoyed the military discounts there and stayed in a cabin right on a private beach! We took pictures on the beach with a photographer, saw Pearl Harbor, the Laie Temple, went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, enjoyed the local shops, and luaus. We had so much fun but sadly never saw a sunset there. It rained cats and dogs at some point almost every day! The Hawaiians felt bad for us and apologized for the weather but we told them that it was okay because we had left 8” of snow in our yard back home. We enjoyed our time there and hope to be able to go again!

The rest of the year has just flown by! Here are some of our highlights.

We went with Elise’s family to Yellowstone in June. It was Ryan’s first time and he thoroughly enjoyed it! Ryan participated in the Centerville parade, we went to Stadium of Fire, saw the Tabernacle choir, and ran in the Freedom Run in Provo all over the 4^th of July weekend. Then, of course, in true Gustafson fashion, we all went to Disney World in August. We had a lot of fun and created many memories along the way! We then went to see Josh Groban in Vegas which was a fun quick overnight getaway. We also went to Disneyland in October for a couple of days. What can we say…we love Disney!

Elise is now the secretary for the Family Readiness Group for Ryan’s unit. She also has set out on a home business selling Paparazzi Jewelry from our home. Ryan has been on the job hunt and works for his unit out at Camp Williams when they need extra help.

We are so grateful for many things this year: great memories, family, friends, the Gospel, our Savior, and those who are serving over seas so that we can be together and celebrate. Please keep those serving in your prayers. We hope that you had a great year and wish you the best for the coming year!

Love always,

Ryan and Elise Reneer

ryanreneerfamily.blogspot.com

Photo credits: Top: Rachael Nelson (homecoming), Middle: Conrad Prusse (Hawaii), Bottom: Elyssa Gustafson

New job!

I am going to start selling jewelry for $5 from a company called Paparazzi. Check out my Facebook page-Paparazzi by Elise. Find it on my profile or on my status'. If you would like to host a party just leave a comment here or on my facebook page!

Disney World!

Ryan and I went with my family to Walt Disney World for 12 days! We had this planned for 8 months and it was finally here. We had a crazy start to this vacation! Dad was working the night before on Amtrak and the train was looking late...not good for an early flight. Well we got to the airport on time and Dad missed the plane. The train was too late. He had to end up taking a later flight. When we got to Florida, Dad had us get a shuttle to the hotel so we didn't have to sit in the airport for 6 hours waiting for him. The shuttle needs it's own post but in the short-the ride was the scariest of my life. It was pouring rain, he was drifting, and left the car on while getting gas. Let's just say Elaura was REALLY scared. We got to the hotel and got our room. Dad called us from his first class upgrade and said he was on his way finally. We got dinner and hung out because we didn't have a car to anywhere. Dad got to the hotel around 1 AM. The next days we spent them going everywhere at Disney World. We bought annual passes for both Disney Parks-Disneyland and Disney World. We went to the water parks and all the other ones in between. We had so much fun! It was just WAY too humid for my likings. We enjoyed every minute. Oh did I tell you that it rained like crazy a couple of the days. We just put on our ponchos and went at it. We were just soaked from knees down including our shoes and socks. We had so many pictures taken there and so I will only choose a few. To see more, come on over and see my new adventure!



This is the Sand Pail we bought at Typhoon Lagoon! It's full of ice cream and all the toppings. We ended up buying 2 to feed all 7 of us! It was so fun!
There are just too many pictures to post them all here! Just some of our highlights!

DISNEY and MORE DISNEY!!!

Ryan and I went with the family to Disney World for 12 days! It was so much fun but VERY humid. We did everything there. I have TONS of pictures to go through and pick out the ones that I want to post. Between me, Izzy and Ryan we have tons of pictures! As I was thinking about the pictures, I decided to find a Disney background and found a few but this one was the best for now! I am excited to show all the pictures and fun we had! Chris is also creating a music video of our trip. He took video coverage and hoping that as soon as he has time to sit and do it that I get to post it! This weekend Ryan and I are headed to Josh Groban in Vegas! It's a quick overnight trip but we are excited! Post more later!

Ryan

I just wanted to tell you all how much I love Ryan! It has been a different life since he came home 4 months ago...Yes! 4 months ago!!! Time has just flown. Anyways, he told me that he would always make me laugh when we were dating and he hasn't failed yet. He always makes sure that I know that he loves me. He has tried so hard to try to find work and struggled. He wants to work and support me and our future family. We have tried to find him a job. He got one that is going to be just a side job but it is at Primerica. He sells life insurance policies. They really are a great investment. They can help out when a family member suddenly dies. My family all have one and it was the way that we helped pay for my Mom's funeral. He has been training but it doesn't start paying until he has his license. But this last weekend he went to drill and as much as it was drill, he was glad to be paid for his work. He then found out that this week he could work out there finishing up what wasn't finished and he took the opportunity. I haven't seen him so excited to work. He really is eager to work and I am glad that he is happy to do it. Ryan really is an example of hard work to me. I love him with all my heart and am grateful that I am his eternal companion!

BUSY BUSY BUSY....

We have been so busy that I haven't been able to put up our last days in Hawaii or any other pictures of what we have been doing....need to make it a habit to update more often.

Our last days in Hawaii were so fun! We drove back up the island to try out all the local food. We stopped at the Dole Pineapple Plantation but didn't see much because of the rain. We then stopped at Giovanni's Shrimp Truck and tried the shrimp. It was good. We then went up to Ted's Bakery and had a HUGE eclair and bought a pie that is the popular flavor there-Chocolate Haupia Cream! OH it was SO SO GOOD!!! We also went to Laie Point where you can see all of Laie. It is just so beautiful there! We also did some more shopping at the swap meet. We then enjoyed a dinner cruise around the harbor of Honolulu. We enjoyed virgin Mai Tai's, crab and steak! It was a fun night but maybe not on our list for next time. Sunday we just bummed around. We stopped at Pearl Harbor again to read some more of the signs, we ate at a fun mexican restaurant called Bandito's and then went to the beach to see what was going to be our last sunset but as had happened the whole time we were there, we never saw a sunset while in Hawaii. We took a red eye home which we are not doing again. We really enjoyed our time in Hawaii. Here are a few pictures.

We have been so busy since we got back. It's a good thing we take pictures so I can remember all the events. We had concerts like crazy for Elaura and Chris, Les Miserables, Memorial Day, funny photo shoot with Elyssa, Elaura's senior awards night, clean up at Eastmont in honor of Mom, Elaura's graduation, made a skirt with Elyssa from no pattern and of course our anniversary! For our 2 year 1st time together anniversary we had a nice breakfast, saw "Pirates of the Carribbean: On Stranger Tides", ate at Little America and stayed at Anniversary Inn. We had so much fun together celebrating our anniversary. We had our friends The Butlers over and the next day they welcomed their daughter into this world. We played Michael Jackson on the Wii and chatted. The next week we went to Strawberry Days in Pleasant Grove and took Elyssa and Chris. We rode three rides at the carnival where we pretty much made ourselves sick and then went home and had strawberries and cream.

This last week has been crazy! We went to Yellowstone with my family. It was Ryan's first time there and it was so much fun to take him around the park. We visited all the sites, floated the Snake River, watched a play at Mack's Inn called "Home School Musical", and Ryan got his Junior Ranger. I love the Junior Ranger Program. It teaches so much about the park and some of the history of how the park became what it is now. We saw 2 bears-one black and one grizzly, tons of bison, elk, an eagle, and LOTS and LOTS of Mosquitos. We were eaten to death. You couldn't sit outside because there were too many!

We came home a couple of days early so that we could enjoy the 4th of July weekend. We started with my 5 year high school reunion. Saw and chatted with some friends and met spouses and babies. Sad there weren't very many there. Saturday morning Ryan participated in the Centerville Parade. It was so fun to see him shaking hands and handing out flags. He had a blast! That night we went to the Stadium of Fire! Brad Paisley and David Archuleta were awesome but the best part was the fireworks! It took us 2 hours to get home that night-that included our walk to the car. We were exhausted but we still got up early Sunday to go see the choir. We took Izzy and had fun listening to the music our mom loves so much on her birthday! Sunday night we went down to Ryan's families house to stay because we were getting up early again to watch the Provo Freedom Parade and running in the Freedom Run! Ryan ran the 10K and I ran the mile! We were so exhausted after all that that we crashed after fireworks with Elaura, Izzy and Elyssa.

We have had an eventful 2 months. If you read this far, thank you! Hope you enjoyed it!

Laie Temple and PCC

Day 5
We got up early and went to the temple. Oh my gosh is it GORGEOUS!!! We attended a session and I am so glad we did! We really enjoyed the beauty of the temple. After we came out, I was able to see my roommate Becca Haws and catch up with her quickly. She moved there to go to school. We just really enjoyed the beauty of the temple. We then had lunch at McDonald's and then walked into the Polynesian Cultural Center. Oh my it is the Disneyland of Hawaii. We barely got to see most of everything we wanted to see. We just had so much fun enjoying all the culture. We had tons and tons of pictures by the time we were done. We went to the luau and enjoyed the food and then went to the show. Loved it all! But next time, we are not doing Pearl Harbor and the PCC back to back because we were past exhausted.

Pearl Harbor

Day 4
We went to Pearl Harbor on about our only sunny day! It was such a neat experience to be there with Ryan. We met 4 survivors who were just the sweetest men there. This day wasn't about fun, it was remembering our military family and honoring them. It was a very good experience that really got to me and especially to Ryan. The video we saw really got to me but I am so glad that I was able to honor those and see history for myself. We also saw the USS Utah. We then went over to the USS Missouri where the peace treaty for World War II was signed. It is the last battleship the US has that is now retired. We took an Ipod tour that was so incredible. By the time we saw all of Pearl Harbor, we were worn out. What a neat day though. We really enjoyed it.

Day 2 and 3 Hawaii

I have had a hard time with blogger and decided when I was able to get it working again, I would just hurry and post our trip as fast as I can. So I will just hurry and list our details for day 2 of Hawaii.
Day 2 we went to the ITR at Schofield Barracks to get our great discounts on the activities we chose to do on the island. Then we went back to our room looking for beach time. Well we found this instead.

We hadn't seen rain like that in a long time! We had so much fun playing in the rain and being soaking wet. I tried uploading the video but it wasn't working. But these pictures say it all! We ended up staying in the rest of the night and watch history unfold as we all found out the Osama Bin Laden had been killed.

Day 3 highlights:

• Beach outside our room-got sunburned but am loving the tan!
• Kualoa Ranch-took 2 tours there-Hawaiian Fishpond and Garden Tour and Movie Site and Ranch Tour

Some movies made there are 50 First Dates, Mighty Joe Young, Jurassic Park, Godzilla, Pearl Harbor, George of the Jungle, Lost, and Tears of the Sun are the ones we knew of. You will see some of the signs in the pictures below of some of the famous spots we stood in.
After the tours, there was a luau that ended up being so intimate because there were only 6 people there including us! It was so much fun! I made a plumeria flower clip for both of us (they told me to make one for Ryan!) and then we made a fish out of the green leaves. Did you know that if you are going to wear the flower that it says something depending on the side you wear it? The right means you are still looking and the left means you are taken or married. The food was delicious and we had so much fun! Ryan went up during the show and did the martial art they were teaching. Here's the video:

We got back to our room a little late but it was well worth it!