This summer has been one for the books. We have been so busy with life that we haven't time to update the blog. I will start at the beginning of our exciting summer. I went through the Jordan River Temple like my mom on June 4th. That was such an amazing experience. It was so amazing and I know that my mom was there the whole time. Bless my dad's heart, that was the neatest day for me to see him in the temple. Being in the Celestial Room was so incredible. I love him so much! He is truly the best.
We then were married on June 10 in the Draper Temple. It rained the whole afternoon in between everything and as most of you know, we did end up with the reception in my backyard as planned and it was beautiful. I couldn't have asked for a better day and a better family that helped out so much.
Ryan and I went to Disneyland on our honeymoon. We had so much fun there! Ryan hadn't really seen Disneyland and so it was so much fun for me to watch his face light up with the child excitement inside him. We spent 3 days in Disneyland and then just relaxed our last day. On our way back to the airport we saw the San Diego Temple which is gorgeous! Our flight home was quick and we stayed at a hotel since we had no where to call home yet.
Reality hit hard Monday morning...24 hours till he left for West Point Academy Training for 1 month. He wasn't quite packed so we spent way too much time packing him and making sure he had everything. I wasn't quite the happy wife I should have been but what do you expect when you have been married for 6 days and your new husband is leaving for 1 month. I tried my hardest to be happy and get him ready. Tuesday morning hit hard when we went to say goodbye. I wasn't the happiest and it made for a miserable day.
While he was gone, my family moved out of our home. We picked a day and made a massive move that day. I spent 2 weeks in my home by myself cleaning, setting up house, and waiting for Ryan. I had our furniture delivered the day before he came home and made sure that the house was clean for him when he finally got to walk into our home!
I picked him up at the airport on July 17 with a big sign, balloons, kisses and huge hugs. Elyssa came with me inside the airport to take pictures and be there with me. Dad waited in the car so that we didn't have to pay to park. Ryan greeted me with a huge kiss and hug and we both cried. It was so nice to have him home again.
We spent the next couple of weeks moving him in, cleaning up the rest of the house, enjoyed being together again, I worked and he kept moving himself in. Annual Training came in August and he got out a week early to take a vacation with my family to......DISNEY WORLD!!!!
Disney World was so much fun! Dad took us all for 10 days down to Florida. We flew down all together. The first day August 16th, we visited the Orlando Florida Temple grounds and enjoyed the beauty of the temple but hated the humidity-it was bad and we all were wondering who picked this time of year. We also visited the beach and enjoyed jumping in the ocean waves. Ryan had never been to the Atlantic Ocean and he was a child that I had to-seriously-keep my eyes on so that he didn't end up at the bottom of the ocean! It was so much fun and the water was so nice!
We spent the next 7 days at the Park! It was so much fun! We saw so many things, did so many things and slept little. Ryan told his army buddies that he was more exhausted at Disney World than he ever is at drill or training. I laughed-Welcome to the Gustafson way of vacation....we see and do everything we can on vacation. We enjoyed everything about the parks and started to plan a return trip for who-knows-when. We all keep wishing we could just jump back on a plane and go back right now-especially Ryan and I. We spent one day at Blizzard Beach and just had a blast in the water! We all saw the sun a little much that day! We all were so tired at the end of the day. While we were there, there was a space shuttle launch that was to happen at 1:35 AM the morning we were leaving. So we had dinner after Blizzard Beach and took a 2 hour nap so that we all could go out to the beach area and watch the launch. We sat out there for 45 minutes waiting for the launch and then at 1:25 AM, they cancelled it due to lightning. We were so sad. That was our golden chance to see that! So we turned around and went back to the hotel to sleep for I think it was maybe 3 hours more before we had to leave for the airport. The day we came home was a LONG day. We hadn't slept well/got any real sleep in over 24 hours.
We spent the day we came home recuperating so that when school started the next day we would be alert and alive. Yes we started school the next day after a 10 day vacation! That was crazy...reality hit hard! But reality hit hard Tuesday the day we got home because our toilet had a problem that took a while in the afternoon to fix. Not fun but funny!!!
School started and we wish that it would end. It's keeping us very busy. I am constantly working on homework and working at Sweet Tomatoes. Constantly going and never stopping.
Labor day weekend we went to South Pass, Wyoming. We visited the crash site. That was my first time there. It was hard to look and see where my life turned around in 2 seconds-ok maybe a few more than that but still. The distance the car traveled was not what I thought it was at all. It was much further and it blew my mind. That was a good thing for me but it was very hard. Later that night in Rock Springs, we blew off fireworks in an empty parking lot. That was fun! Lots of illegal fireworks! That was fun. Then Ryan and I drove home Monday and tried to accomplish some things before class resumed the next day. I tried to gather myself all together so that I could go back to school with no problem.
School has gone on and on and on. Ryan and I have hit land marking dates-the day we first met, the day we went out on our unofficial first date, our chaotic trip to Wyoming last fall, our first anniversary of when we started dating and looking towards our rough future.
Just so you all know, Ryan leaves for Afghanistan for 1 year on March 17, 2010. I am not excited at all but I am going to need everyone here to help me get through it all. We are spending every moment together until he leaves and now are starting to get him ready for this hard trial we have to go through.
Our lives are so crazy and that's why I haven't gotten to putting a blog post up. I am truly sorry that it has taken a long time. I am going to try to do it on Sundays when I am relaxing. It's a nice thing to do on relaxing day so start looking for updates at the beginning of the week.
Pictures are still in process for Izzy so as soon as I get most of them, I can post a huge slideshow and hopefully put a picture for each event I have talked about. I promise I will hurry with those...Love to all who read to the end of this!!!
I wanted to thank Ryan for his service to our country. It's so hard being so far away from him but he's an example to all and I appreciate and love him for that. I can't wait till we are reunited in 290 days! I love you, Ryan!!!! By the way, this picture is from the 1st week we started dating in October 2008!
I also wanted to honor my Grandpa who served in the Navy during the Korean War. I miss him so much and am so proud of his service for our country. I love you Grandpa!!! (and Grandma, of course!) This is from high school graduation by the way!!!
