Happiness is...

One Amazing Year

2011-12-29T16:08:00.000-08:00

This year has been an amazing year for us. In February we moved into our new Home in Mapleton. We absolutely love it. Ryan has kept busy mowing our 0.5 acre lot and doing yard/garden work. Tracy has had fun decorating our home and working in the garden. Joshua enjoys running around in the yard and playing with all of the neighbors animals.
In May we took a family vacation to sunny Florida. We had a great time playing at Walt Disney World and Sea World. Joshua loved all of the sea life at Sea World. We also found out in May that we would be having a little girl.
In September we welcomed our little Princess, Elizabeth, into our family. We love her and Joshua so much. They are the apple of their parent’s eyes. Joshua turned 2 years-old in September. He is already growing up too fast for his parents. Ryan and Tracy also celebrated their 4th Wedding Anniversary .This has definitely been one amazing year for us. We have made so many great memories and look forward to 2012 to make even more great memories. Happy New Year!

Blessed

2011-12-22T10:45:00.001-08:00

There’s nothing like blessing a newborn to get you counting your own blessings. On November 27th, we blessed our daughter, Ellie, and we counted our blessings. She’s healthy, happy, growing, and adding even more adventure to our lives. Thank you to everyone who was there in person and in spirit to show your support.

Two Years and Four Weeks

2011-10-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

Time seems to be going by faster and faster. Joshua turned 2 years old this past week. It seems like we just brought him home from the hospital yesterday. He is growing up so fast. He is becoming quite the little man. We celebrated his birthday together as a family with cake, ice cream, balloons, and of course presents.
Ellie is 4 weeks old. She is definitely the princess of the house. She, like Joshua, has her parents wrapped around her little finger. She still has her days and nights mixed up, but we are working on that. She is such a pleasant baby, and we are so happy that she is part of our family.
Every once in a while, it occurs to you that you’re going through one of the best times of life. This is definitely one of those moments for us, and we are enjoying every moment of it together as a family.

Second Time's the Charm

2011-09-21T20:48:00.000-07:00

Almost two years ago exactly, we brought home our first bundle of joy with little idea of what we were getting ourselves into. This time around has been the same and different, all in good ways. Our daughter, Elizabeth Williams, was born on Wednesday, September 14 at 1:44 p.m. She weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce, just like her big brother did. She wanted to do things the hard way at first, but it all worked out. Mother and baby are healthy and happy.
The first time we did this, everything came at us so fast that when moments passed, we felt a little like we missed it. This time, we’re ready to enjoy everything.

Oh, what a summer!

2011-08-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

Summer this year has been full and productive. We have kept busy with yard work, painting and decorating our home, camping trips to the Cabin and of course playing and having fun. Joshua is growing. He’s our little boy now instead of our little baby. He has learned to count from 1 to 10 and is singing his ABC’s. He has turned into quite the little musician. He will serenade us with singing while strumming the guitar. He loves all of the neighborhood kids, including all of their pets: kittens, puppies, chickens and ducks. Ryan and I on the other hand are not so fond of the pets.
We are anxious to welcome a new addition into our home next month. We have her room all painted and decorated. We are so excited for her arrival and to become parents again. Joshua is going to be a great big brother.

It's a Girl (and she loves the sunshine)!

2011-06-06T13:51:00.000-07:00

On May 4th, we found out that the new addition to our family will be a girl, and to celebrate, all four of us (Ryan, Tracy, Joshua, and Joshua’s little sister) went to Florida to see lions, elephants, dolphins, killer whales, and McDonalds. Though Joshua’s little sister probably won’t remember much of it, the rest of us will. Joshua and Ryan napped while Tracy went to her nursing conference. After the conference was finished, we went on a safari at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, bought souvenirs at Downtown Disney, and watched the killer whale, dolphin, and sea otter shows at Sea World. Joshua even got to pet a stingray. It was a great start to our fun-filled summer.

The first picture of our little princess.

Joshua enjoying the plane ride to Florida.

Haingin' out at the pool.

Mother and son making music in the Africa section of Animal Kingdom.

Joshua and two new friends.

Joshua with his new best bud.

Excuses, Excuses...

2011-04-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok. We know we haven’t blogged in three months, but we’ve come up with a couple of really convincing excuses that should explain what we’ve been up to since the new year began and, hopefully, gain the forgiveness of our loyal fans.

Excuse #1: The Move

In February, we packed up all the random, unnecessary knick-knacks we’ve collected over the past three and a half years and moved it all from our condo in Springville to our new home in Mapleton. Buying a new house is a little like having a baby. Your whole schedule gets thrown out of sink, and you find yourself scrambling to get into a new routine. We’re finally settled in and loving it.

The new house.

Joshua making himself at home.

Speaking of having a baby…

Excuse #2: We’re Pregnant

Joshua has been having so much fun with his cousin Kye that he’s requested a playmate who lives a little closer. Rather than getting to know our neighbors better, we’ve decided it’d be easier to just have another baby. So, in mid-September, we’ll be welcoming a second child into our home. Tracy is already dusting off the boxes of maternity clothes, and we’re trying to decide which child gets which room. Joshua has been such a blast, we’re sure that two kids will be twice as fun.

If that doesn’t make up for the past three months, we plan on having plenty to blog about in the coming months.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T16:07:00.000-08:00

The Year Has Been Good to Us

2010-12-19T14:45:00.000-08:00

Who was it that said, “Every ending is just another beginning” (sounds like a Beatles song)? Well, we’re ending an era in our life and beginning a new one. OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: We are buying a home! We started looking just for the fun of it and found our dream house at a dream price. So, that’s our Christmas present to ourselves this year. It’s a cottage in Mapleton on a half acre lot. Tracy’s already dreaming about fresh tomatoes from our own back yard. Ryan’s drawing up plans for a model railroad in the shed. Joshua’s looking forward to chasing deer in the back yard and finding ways to convince his parents to let him get a puppy dog.
We’re a little melancholy about saying goodbye to the condo we brought our first child home to, but we’re keeping it and renting it out as a retirement investment. We’ll always be able to come back and reminisce. Besides, with the new home, we will have room to bring a few more children home. We’ll see you in our new back yard for a Dutch oven cook-off in the spring. Merry Christmas.

Your monthly Joshua fix.

Merry Christmas

(Yes, Ryan buzzed his head. http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/article_df07d4c9-0d13-563b-9560-56fe9ae90c18.html?mode=video)

Halloween is Back

2010-11-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

Halloween loses some of its charm when you start to think of yourself as “too old to trick or treat.” We were always a little sad when the holiday would come and go without the magic we remembered from our childhood. Well, the magic is back, resurrected by a chubby little puppy dog with floppy ears and a grin that makes you wonder what he’s up to. This was Joshua’s second Halloween, but his first real costume and first trick or treating experience. Even though we only stopped at two houses (the Andersons' and the Chestnuts'), it felt just like old times, especially since we got to eat all his candy.

Happy Halloween

Our Birthday Boy

2010-10-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

It’s funny how we were experts on parenting before we had any children. Now, after a year of being parents, we have absolutely no clue what we’re doing. Thankfully, Joshua has guided us through it with relatively little pain and suffering. In the past twelve months, the worst we’ve had to worry about were a few food allergies (and a few, ill-timed bathroom incidents). We hardly notice the rough times when we compare it to all the good moments (i.e. watching him sleep, hearing him laugh, trying to understand his babbling, feeding him something he’s never tasted before, seeing him face-plant into his plush toys, his smile when he first sees you in the morning, his squeal when he sees animals, the way he turns the page for you when you read to him, the look on his face when Ryan delivers a lamer-than-usual joke, the way he giggles when we get home from work, the way he snuggles when he’s tired, the way his little bottom waggles when he races away from you, the way he crawls into Tracy’s lap for a story or a snuggle, the way he claps when he stands up on his own, how he uses you as a jungle gym if you’re lying on the floor, etc., etc.). Needless to say, our lives have changed in ways we never imagined. After all, since September 27, 2009, we’ve blogged about nothing else. Happy 1st birthday, Joshua.

Joshua's first birthday party.

He loved the cake.

Joshua enjoying one of his presents.

Our happy family.

Ryan and Tracy enjoying the fall colors.

Four generations of fathers and sons.

Our little pumpkin.

Remember the Alamo (and the Riverwalk, and Bohanan’s, and the Tower of the Americas…)

2010-08-15T18:16:00.000-07:00

Summer vacations. We love ‘em. This time we went to San Antonio, deep in the heart of Texas. Tracy attended medical conferences while Joshua and Ryan played and napped all day. We stayed in a hotel right on the famous San Antonio Riverwalk. We walked it every night trying not to melt in the heat and humidity. We also saw the Alamo and the Tower of the Americas. We had some amazing Mexican food at a café on the river, and we ate the best steak and salmon we’ve ever had (sorry Dad) at a restaurant called Bohanan's. We realized that our son is a flirt at ten months old. He had stewardesses, waitresses, and complete strangers stopping to coax a smile out of him. Good times.

All three of us on the Riverwalk

Mother and son watching the boats pass by

Remembering the Alamo

Joshua flirting with the girls at the children's museum

Growing Up Too Fast

2010-08-01T18:28:00.000-07:00

There’s nothing like watching your first child reach developmental milestones like crawling and pulling himself up to a standing position, etc. However, our faces have slowly shifted from grinning pride to flat-faced concern to wide-eyed panic. Joshua’s growing up so fast that we’re afraid we’re not going to be able to keep up. We can no longer barricade him in the living room. He’s been able to find a way to sneak through every time. He’s discovered the fundamentals of kitchen cupboard doors and seems to think that the kitchen floor is a better place to store all our cans and containers. Lastly, we were so proud when he started saying “Mama” whenever Tracy walked into the room until 5:30 this morning when we both woke to the sound of “Mamamamamama!” I guess we can be grateful that we still have a few years until he’s driving.

Summer Vacation

2010-07-18T18:02:00.001-07:00

We took Joshua on his very first airplane ride, and he did better than expected (thank goodness). With the help of Mom and Dad Williams, we bundled him up and took him on a four hour ride to Baltimore to see his brand new cousin. The trip was one for the memory books. We saw the sights at the Baltimore Inner Harbor, toured the Mall in Washington, D.C., and dipped our toes in the Atlantic at “the shore” in Chincoteague, Virginia. And the best part about it all was that we spent all our time with family. Mom and Dad Williams were great with the grandkids, and Dalynn and Daniel and the girls treated us like royalty. We’re daydreaming about when we can do it all again.

The whole crew on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

At the baby blessing of the newest member of the family.

Joshua's day at the shore.

Dipping their toes in the Atlantic.

In the shadow of the Washington Monument.

It's Summer!!!

2010-06-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

We've been waiting anxiously for the weather to make up its mind that it is, indeed, summer. Finally, we're seeing warm temperatures and cloudless skies just in time for the end of the school year and the start of summer break. In keeping with tradition, we kicked off our summer with a trip to the Schofield cabin, which included four-wheeler rides, airsofting, sewing, a Wii tournament, reading, napping, and loads of junk food. Joshua got his first taste of the great outdoors. He loved the sunshine and the swings.

And that's just the start of our summer. Ryan will be staying home with Joshua until school starts again in the fall (His part-time BYU job allows him to work from home). Tracy goes to a lighter work schedule at the end of June (She'll be working on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we'll have four-day weekends all summer). We have a trip to Baltimore in July for our new niece's baby blessing and a trip to San Antonio in August for a medical conference. Ryan has two guitar gigs this summer, one at the Kemmerer Stake Girls' Camp and the other at Kemmerer's Annual Fossil Fest. And, we plan on spending as much time as possible down at the pool teaching Joshua to swim. Feel free to join us anytime. It's summer!!!

Down at the swings

The traditional bath in the kitchen sink.

Mother and son.

The intense Wii tournament

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

2010-05-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

We realize it's been a while since we've posted. We've just been having too much fun with our little guy. Here's a glimpse of what the three of us have been up to.

So Much for Tummy Time

2010-03-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

Joshua has never liked lying on his stomach for some reason, and he has expressed that to us in no uncertain terms whenever we try to do tummy time. As his parents, we hope that we will always do what’s best for him whether he likes it or not. So, despite how noisy and tear-jerking it has been, we’ve insisted on twenty to twenty-five minutes of tummy time daily. Well, Joshua outsmarted us. He’s learned that if he doesn’t want to lie on his stomach, rolling over will get him out of it. The first few times were an accident, but now he’s learned to roll over at will. For better or worse, Joshua will now stay on his stomach no longer than four or five seconds at a time. So much for tummy time.

Growing Like a Weed

2010-02-21T11:01:00.000-08:00

Joshua and Ryan woke up from their Sunday morning nap today to find Tracy sitting in the baby’s room almost in tears. She had decided to go through all of Joshua’s clothes and pack away everything he’d grown out of. We were surprised at how big he’s grown, and it was heartbreaking to put away the tiny little outfits he’d looked so adorable in.
Not to worry. He’s still as cuddly as ever, and he’s even picked up a few habits that make him even more adorable. For instance, when he’s tired of sitting in his swing or bouncer, he’ll lift his arms out to you and yell at you in a high pitched squeal until you pick him up. He’s getting good at reaching and grabbing, so anything dangly has his instant attention, like daddy’s hoodie strings or mommy’s hair. He’s decided he likes to stand much more than sit or lie down. Since he can’t stand on his own, we’re getting an arm workout regularly. And, if you sing to him long enough, he’ll start to sing with you.
He’s growing so fast, and we’re both happy and sad about it at the same time. So, we smile and wipe away tears while we’re storing all his old things. We’ll keep them in a safe place for when Joshua’s ready to be a big brother.

Joshua wanted to help mommy organize.

Joshua's First Tooth

2010-01-31T08:41:00.000-08:00

Joshua turned four months old this past week and celebrated by getting his first tooth. We’ve been trying to get a video and/or a picture of it, but he refuses to stop sticking his tongue out at us to give us a clear shot. We think he’s just toying with us. He’s doing great, talking up a storm, squealing at us at 5:00 a.m. to come get him up, and generally being the cutest baby either of us has ever seen. He even took a trip to Wyoming this weekend to see Grampy Tim and Grammy Cinny. He was a little disoriented at first but warmed right up as soon as Grammy Cinny took him flying and Grampy Tim gave him muggins. We’re wishing we had taken our camera. Next time.
The trip was his first night away from home. Since all three of us survived, we’re trying to decide where to take him for his next overnighter.

Joshua's First Christmas

2009-12-28T19:39:00.000-08:00

For those of you interested in all things Joshua, we have an update for you on his first Christmas. Santa brought him Christmas pajamas, foam building blocks, and a Thomas the Train starter set. He's still a little young for the blocks and the train, but Ryan has agreed to test them out first.

Just One Year

2009-12-08T17:58:00.000-08:00

It’s hard to believe how much can happen and how much can change in just one year. In January, we learned that we were going to have a new addition to our family, and in May we learned that the new addition would be a son. In June, we traveled to New York and Italy and saw just how big and how small the world can be. We cultivated our green thumbs helping out with the Brady garden. We cheered a lot and cried a little when Mom and Dad Anderson received their call to serve a mission to Mongolia. We celebrated our two-year anniversary, wondering the whole time whether or not we still qualify as newlyweds. And finally, we brought home a bouncing baby boy who has been the center of our universe since the moment of his birth. Looking back at 2009, we can’t help but wonder what we have to look forward to in the coming year.

He's Got My Eyes

2009-11-12T15:49:00.001-08:00

We're still trying to decide who he looks more like. Maybe you can help!

Joshua

Tracy----------------Ryan

Joshua's Blessing

2009-11-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

We wanted to invite everyone to Joshua's baby blessing on Thanksgiving weekend. If you can make it, we'd love to have you.

Date: November 29, 2009
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Place: Kolob 11th Ward Meetinghouse
1627 W. Cadbury Ln.
Springville, UT

Directions from the North:
Take I-15 heading south.
Exit on the second Springville exit (Exit #260)
Turn left onto 3900 S. and cross over the freeway.
Turn right at the first stoplight onto 1750 W.
Turn left onto Cadbury Ln.
The church is two blocks ahead on the right.

Directions from the South:
Take I-15 heading north.
Exit on the first Springville exit (Exit #260)
Turn right onto 3900 S. and head east.
Turn right at the first stoplight onto 1750 W.
Turn left onto Cadbury Ln.
The church is two blocks ahead on the right.

Smile, Yawn, or Gas?

2009-11-02T18:10:00.001-08:00

We can still never tell which is which.

Highlights from the Last Four Weeks

2009-10-25T16:52:00.000-07:00

For obvious reasons, we haven’t been out of the house much for the past month. Not that we’re complaining. We’ve had plenty of entertainment. We’ve learned a lot about little Joshua over the last weeks, including the following:
- Stand back when you’re changing diapers.
- He’ll calm down if you put on some Pachelbel.
- He still hasn’t made up his mind about baths, but he hates cold hands.
- He is a noisy sleeper (no snoring but a lot of grunts quickly followed by other strange sounds).
- He has his parents wrapped around his little finger.

Sleep deprived but still smiling.

One Week Old (And We've Survived)

2009-10-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

At the risk of turning this blog into our son’s online photo/video album, here’s another picture and video of our boy at one week. His parents are a little bleary-eyed, but he’s doing great, even after his first time in the great outdoors.

Hopefully, something we'll see a lot of; his smile.

His first outdoor adventure up the Alpine Loop.

A 7 Pound, 1 Ounce Bundle of Joy

2009-09-29T15:55:00.001-07:00

We had been looking forward to getting a lot done this past Saturday. Little did we know…

We arrived at the hospital at around 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 26th. Tracy started pushing at around 4:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, and twenty-five minutes later, Joshua Ryan Williams entered the world on the 27th of September, 2009. He weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce and was twenty inches long. Mother and baby are doing great, except Joshua has his days and nights mixed up. We’re working on that.

Showers of Gifts

2009-08-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

Help! We’re drowning in gifts. Our son is already spoiled, and he hasn’t even been born yet. There’s so much baby stuff in the baby room that there probably won’t be any room for the baby. All joking aside, we are so grateful for the generosity that all our family and friends have shown as we get ready to welcome our little one into our home. Thanks to all of you, he will have everything he needs, including and especially your love.

At the Tremonton baby shower.

Tracy and her sisters at the shower in Springville.

Waiting for Baby

2009-08-16T17:37:00.000-07:00

Our American Gothic

2009-08-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok. So we haven’t put up a new post in two months. The reason: all of our spare time has been spent gardening (and stuff). After last year’s balcony potted tomato fiasco, we decided that we needed (1) actual ground with real dirt in which to plant, and (2) the experience and expertise of a veteran gardener, a.k.a., Grandpa Brady :). So back in the spring, we drove over to Orem, knocked on the door, and offered our help with the world famous Brady garden. As a result, we are currently filling our cornucopia with tomatoes, corn on the cob, beans, onions, carrots, a few peas, and we are looking forward to some fresh cantaloupe, watermelon and squash. You can stop by our place on Saturdays from 8:00 to noon for the Brady/Williams Farmer’s Market (Try the corn. It’s unbelievable).

The Manly Traditions Continue

2009-08-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

What summer would be complete without an amateur guitar concert at the Kemmerer Stake Girl’s Camp followed by a very manly, meat-filled weekend with the Williams boys and a camp fire? This year, after Ryan’s annual (and only) guitar gig, he took off to Yellowstone with his father, brother, and two nephews to roast hot dogs and shoot each other with air soft guns. It was a Man’s Camp to be remembered, especially since, after all these years of going to the Park, he got to see his first, live, in-the-wild bear. The only way to top that is to take his son along in a few years.

The Girls' Camp Gig

Checking out the hot pots.

Dad, Ben, and Austin spotting the bear.

La Settimana in Pardiso

2009-06-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

It is so hard to return to normal life after spending an incredible day in New York and a once-in-a-lifetime week in Italy. Work seems drab and monotonous when you compare it to jet-setting around the world. We still have a lot of things we want to see and do in this wide world, but during our vacation we enthusiastically checked the following off our list of things to do before we die:

√ Stand in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Times Square

√ Take a stroll in Central Park
√ Sing along to every song of Wicked at a live performance on Broadway
√ Fly eight hours to Italy
√ Stare in amazement at the expectation-surpassing Le Vigne villa for hours before we really believe that’s where we’ll be staying for a week
√ Get lost in the crazy European traffic in Rome
√ Fight like gladiators in the Coliseum (Tracy won)
√ Toss a Euro and make a wish in the Trevi Fountain (It only works if your wish is to return to Rome)
√ Have our breath taken away by the beauty, detail, perfection (none of these words really do it justice) of the Sistine Chapel
√ Try to count the amazing works of art at the Vatican (and lose count before you leave the first room)
√ Hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa
√ Eat a Caprese salad in a square full of naked statues in Florence
√ Explore medieval mountainside towns like Assisi and Gubbio with cobblestone streets, picturesque alleys, and ancient cathedrals

While we’re dragging ourselves out of bed and off to work in the mornings, we find ourselves hoping that our Trevi Fountain wish will come true soon. Even though we have a lot of other places to check off our list, we hope to one day return to our Italy. Ciao!

Times Square

Our stroll in Central Park

The front of our villa

The view from our hilltop villa

The Coliseum

Trevi Fountain

The Leaning Tower

It's a Boy!!!

2009-05-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

After an exciting and entertaining ultrasound on May 4th, we have the first pictures of our son. Yes, it's a boy. He is healthy and growing and plans on saying hello in person on September 28th. Already, he has a lively personality.

He's going to look just like his mother, thank goodness.

He gave us a thumbs up to let us know he doing great.

Moab - Take Two

2009-04-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

Between the two of us, we hardly have a competitive bone in our bodies. (Church basketball doesn’t count.) Still, a return to Moab for a second shot at the Moab Half Marathon sparked a little competition between us, at least in Ryan’s head. Tracy wasn’t aware that a competition existed until the results were in. Here’s the story:
Ryan, for reasons even he is at a loss to explain, signed up for the half marathon this year. The five mile run in 2008 was such a blast that he decided to upgrade. Tracy, who is a seasoned runner, also signed up for the half. Our plan was to run side by side the whole way and, hopefully, win the cutest running couple award. Then, Tracy got pregnant, gave her bib number to Jody, and Ryan was on his own. He ran it, even finished without needing mouth to mouth, although Tracy was standing by, if needed. Then, the competition began.
Without letting Tracy know he was doing it, Ryan checked the half marathon web site every day until the results were posted. Why? Well, to compare his 2009 time with Tracy’s 2008 time and see who came out on top, of course. And the winner is…
Tracy, who ran 13.1 miles in 2:33:57
Ryan took an extra four minutes with 2:37:21
She won a fabulous tour of Canyonlands National Park and Ryan’s love and affection (which she already had). Next year, it will be down to the wire. Once the finish line is in sight, the pushing and shoving will begin.
(By the way, you can find some more pics of Ryan at http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=47887&PWD=&BIB=1349)

Ryan at the finish line.

Tracy gettting her prize.

Big News!!!

2009-03-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

New York, New York

2009-02-09T17:25:00.000-08:00

After a ten season Friends marathon, it occurred to us that, on our way to Italy in June, we would be stopping in New York for a connecting flight. We decided that, if we were going to pay for tickets to New York, we might as well spend at least a little time in the city. So, we decided to spoil ourselves (which we never do har har) and paint the town for one night. It took us half a heartbeat to decide what we wanted to do most. Ryan has been singing “Defying Gravity” in his head since Tracy came back from New York in 2007, so we hopped on line and bought our Wicked tickets (By the way, that’s really fun to say ten times fast. Try it.) So, if you want an I Heart New York T-shirt, a foam Statue of Liberty crown, or a snow globe of Times Square, let us know.

Wrapping Up the Year

2009-01-04T16:57:00.000-08:00

They say that when you’re getting to know someone, you should see them in all four seasons. Although we did date for a whole year before getting married, 2008 was our first full year married, and we certainly learned a lot about each other. For example:

In the spring, Tracy is energetic, playful, and a little restless.
In the summer, she likes to take advantage of every last second of sunlight.
In the fall, she likes to slow life down to a more relaxed, introspective pace.
In the winter, she gets crafty and likes to snuggle to keep warm.

In the spring, Ryan likes to get into training mode: swimming, biking and running.
In the summer, he likes to take his shoes off and run around bare foot.
In the fall, he gets into 5th gear and doesn’t slow down.
In the winter, he is Mr. fix-it around our home and takes long, luxurious naps.

As we come to the end of the year, we feel a little like it’s the end of an era because 2009 will bring so many changes. Tracy starts a new job. Ryan has applied to go back to school and will find out sometime in March where we’ll be in the fall. We’ll become “world travelers” when we take our trip to Italy in June. And, if everything goes as planned, we hope to bring home a new addition to our family sometime in the near future (This is NOT an announcement. We’re just making plans). We’ve made some exciting New Year’s resolutions, and we have a lot to look forward to. With everything we have coming up, it makes us feel a little melancholy to know that this stage of our lives is drawing to a close. We imagine that someday in the distant future, we’ll be sitting down with our grandkids telling them about the time when it was just Ryan and Tracy in a small condo in Springville dreaming about the future.

Sledding on West Mountain

Christmas Morning

Home for the Holidays

2008-12-07T15:39:00.000-08:00

Twas a month before Christmas
and up in Salt Lake
Temple Square was a glowin'
So we had a debate.
Do we brave the mad traffic
Do we wrestle with parking
To keep our tradition
Of Christmas light gawking?
Sometimes we’d say yes
Sometimes we’d say no
When it was all said and done
We decided we’d go.
So Tracy in her beanie
And Ryan in his hoodie
Loaded up the Accord
And packed up some goodies.
We turned down the heater
And unplugged the tree
And hit the road north
To see what we could see.
Parking was rotten
The crowds, even worse
Twas the first time in the marriage
That Ryan heard Tracy curse
But as we walked hand in hand
Through the colorful lights
We knew this was just one of many
Christmas-celebrating nights

We love this time of year. As part of our holiday traditions, we went to Temple Square, saw the Christmas lights, and spent the day in Salt Lake. We also attended a session in Our Temple. It brought back so many great memories of our magical wedding day. After the temple we went and visited good friends and did a little shopping. The day would not have been complete without shopping and visiting. We had dinner at the The Garden Restaurant in the Joseph Smith Building. After dinner we roamed around Temple Square and enjoyed the atmosphere. The lights were beautiful this year. The weather was perfect except for no snow on the ground. As you can tell by Ryan’s rhyme, the crowds were crazy, but we lived to survive.

Our New Car

2008-11-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

With Tracy driving to Salt Lake three days a week, we decided that instead of paying the equivalent of a car payment in gas, we might as well be making a car payment for a car. Our plan was to do a little window shopping and test driving, but those salesmen really know what they’re doing. By the time we left Stockton to Malone Honda, we were driving a 2008 Accord, and the Civic was history. Not to worry, though. Ryan haggled with them until they threw in free floor mats. For the next few months, you will be able to find us at the local car wash on Saturdays.

Our First Triathlon

2008-10-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

We have been biking and running all summer and decided to do our first beginner triathlon this fall in St. George with Jody. It was a blast. The weather was perfect. The course started out with a 200 meter swim, then transitioned into a six mile bike ride, and finished with a 1.6 mile run. We all finished under an hour. Woohoo! We plan on doing many more triathlons in the years to come.

The triathletes

San Francisco

2008-10-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

We’re back from five, non-stop days in San Francisco, and we’ve decided that we both want to move there (If everything goes well with Ryan’s grad applications, we just might). Our stay included a ride on the cable cars, a visit to Fisherman’s Warf for some clam chowder and fish & chips, chocolate at Ghirardelli Square, window shopping at Union Square, dinner in China Town, breakfast at the Ferry Building Fisherman’s Market, a stroll down Pier 39, a walk in Golden Gate Park, pictures at Lombard street, and the Alcatraz tour. Needless to say, by the time we were through our list, we needed a vacation from our vacation. We had an amazing time and can’t wait to go back some day.

At the bottom of Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world

The view from Alcatraz

Tracy in Alcatraz

Sunset on the coast

Benefit Gig

2008-10-05T16:30:00.001-07:00

Ryan usually has one guitar gig a year playing at his dad’s stake’s girl’s camp with his dad and sister. Well, the band must be moving up on the charts because they played two gigs this year, girl’s camp and at a benefit (as background music during dinner) for a little boy who needs a liver transplant. Maybe next year, they’ll open for Patty Loveless. :)

Cabin

2008-10-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

We decided to spend one last week-end at the Cabin before winter with Jody, Brad, Jack and Trish. It ended up being a beautiful weekend with the trees changing color. We started out watching scary movies (Goosebumps), digging out tree stumps, hiking, taking pictures, and of course eating.

Year o' Bliss

2008-09-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

Has it been a year already? Strangely, it feels like our wedding was only yesterday, but it also feels like we have always been together. How does that work?
We have decided to celebrate our one year anniversary in a variety of ways. We are having an intimate dinner at home on our official anniversary. We are also flying to San Francisco for five days of sight-seeing and oncology conferences for Tracy. And, last but not least, we are officially starting our blog (everybody’s doing it). Since we don’t want to miss a thing, we are posting some of the highlights of our first year as husband and wife. Enjoy.

Zion

2008-09-17T18:44:00.000-07:00

We don’t throw theme parties or have theme dinners. We are not “theme” people. We did make an exception, however, when we took a weekend trip to Zion National Park. Our first priority was to hike to the top of Angel’s Landing, a strenuous hike that ends with a breathtaking view. We arrived at the park just in time to hike the trail while every inch of it was in the sun (in the middle of June, by the way). Despite the heat and the sun, we reached the top smiling and drenched in sweat. It may not sound like it, but it was a blast. We got back to the bottom and checked in to our bed and breakfast. Our room was the Angel’s Landing suite. That was enough theme for us. We finished off the weekend with a little golf and Les Miserables at Tuacahn. We’re not doing any parties or dinners, but we’re thinking that our next big trip will have an Italian theme.

At the Emerald Pools.

Zion's gorgeous scenery.

Moab

2008-09-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

Some traditions are on purpose, but the best traditions just happen. It just so happened that the Moab Half-marathon drew our group’s name in the lottery, and that started what we hope will be a long lasting tradition. Tracy has been a runner for a while, and Ryan picked up the hobby in an attempt to impress Tracy. Before we knew it, we were training for a 13.1 mile and a five mile run, respectively. We both felt like we didn’t have nearly enough time to train. When March 8 arrived, we were nervous but excited. Almost the entire Anderson clan took the trip south to cheer on Tracy, Ryan, Jody, Trisha, Loren, and DaVette.
We had our running playlist (a combination of Black Eyed Peas, Bobby Darin, and Dashboard Confessional, etc.). We had our running gear, and we had butterflies in swarms (the figurative kind). The morning ended up being colder than we expected but warmed up nicely as the race began.Ryan’s race started at 9:30, Tracy’s at 10:00, both running down to the mouth of Moab Canyon and then into town. The treadmill doesn’t compare to running down the asphalt with the red rock surrounding you and the sky above you. Few experiences can beat the feeling you get when you cross the finish line with family right there cheering you across.

The runners.

Hiking to Delicate Arch.

Valentines

2008-09-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

Ladies, eat your heart out. Ryan went all out for our first Valentine’s Day. When a bouquet of roses arrived at my work, I was flattered. When I arrived home to find the house decorated with vines, flowers, stuffed jungle animals, and a “stone” table, I was surprised. Then, Ryan cooked me dinner in our little “Garden of Eden.” It was a wonderful day that I will always remember. I can’t wait to see what he’ll do next year.

Snowshoeing

2008-09-05T19:34:00.000-07:00

A long-held winter tradition for Tracy and a new, budding winter tradition for Ryan is snowshoeing. We’ve been up Payson Canyon and Hobble Creek a few times, but neither of us has ever come so close to freezing our noses off as we did during one snowshoeing trek in wild Wyoming. We were forced to wear ski masks that would have been more appropriate during a bank robbery. The pictures should say it all.

Snowshoeing in Hobble Creek Canyon.

The pine forest in Payson Canyon.

Christmas

2008-09-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

It’s the unexpected that makes the best stories. Take Christmas tree shopping, for example. Just across the highway, we noticed a real, down-to-earth, ma and pop tree lot, and we thought, hey, it’s quick, easy, and close. Only after arriving at the lot in our Honda Civic did we start to worry about how we were going to get the tree home. We easily pushed that problem to the back of our minds in the excitement of purchasing the tree for our first Christmas together. After searching the entire lot, we decided that we had, in fact, chosen the wrong lot altogether. You know how stubborn both of us can be. We were not going to give up. Propped up in a place of honor next to the camper door that served as the lot office, we found a beautiful, full, perfectly shaped tree. Neither of us would have been surprised if we had found R+T already carved in the trunk. It was perfect. We wrote out the check and hauled it to the car. Our original problem of getting it home was easily solved since the tree was only four feet tall. It fit in the back seat with room to spare.

Christmas morning!

Honeymoon

2008-09-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

This past year has been full of firsts, and the honeymoon was no exception. Besides the obvious, we also had our first cruise together, our first zip line through the jungle together, our first snorkel together, and our first on-ship all-you-can-eat buffet together. True, each of us had experienced some of these things on our own before, but from the moment we were married, we began to experience everything for the first time as husband and wife. It’s like seeing things your whole life in black and white and then suddenly seeing the whole world in color.
After a hair-graying encounter with Delta Airlines baggage claim, we boarded the Carnival Pride and began a three-day trip to Puerto Vallarta with one change of clothes and ten dollar toothbrushes from the ship store. Our luggage caught up with us in Puerto Vallarta, so when we returned from our jungle zip line adventure, we were finally able to wear clean clothes to dinner that night. Our waiters almost didn’t recognize us. After Puerto Vallarta, we cruised to Mazatlan for some diamond shopping, and then on to Cabo San Lucas for a day of sea kayaking, snorkeling, and cuddling on Lover’s Beach. It’s always nice to come home, even after a seven-day cruise. After landing in Salt Lake, we drove to our new home in Springville to begin the real honeymoon.

From our balcony in Cabo San Lucas.

Sunset from the ship.

Wedding

2008-09-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

If there was one moment in your life you would like to relive, to experience again, to repeat every feeling and every thought of that moment, what would it be? Before September 22, 2007, we may have needed a little time to think about that one. Since that day, however, we can answer that question in less than a heartbeat. We would relive our wedding day. Not because we would change anything, but because it was perfect just as it was.
We were a little behind schedule (Tracy’s hair and make-up took a few minutes longer than expected), so we had to make the trip from Orem to the Salt Lake Temple in 45 minutes. We drove it with the pedal to the floor while Tracy kept an eye out for lights and sirens. We made it just in time to meet our parents in the lobby. They were more nervous than we were. Everybody always talks about butterflies in their stomach on their wedding day, but once we were inside the temple, all the butterflies wandered off to bother someone else. From the moment we walked in, everything felt right. The ceremony was perfect. The sealing room was overflowing with people who loved us and supported us, and we will never forget how we felt during those moments. Despite the rain, our family and friends gathered in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to wish us well at our reception. When the evening was over, we waved our goodbyes from a horse-drawn carriage and began the adventure of living happily ever after.

Engagement

2008-09-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

With every good story, it’s always best to start at the beginning, and the beginning for Tracy and me was on an August day in 2006 on Utah Lake. The moment she caught the front edge of her wakeboard, face-planted in the water, and then came up smiling, I knew she was someone I wanted to get to know. In a rare moment of courage, I asked for her phone number and never looked back.
Our first date was a climb to the top of Mt. Nebo that nearly froze us both to death (it still surprises me that she said yes to a second date), and from there our story wrote itself.
We were engaged, unofficially, during a walk along the Provo Canyon Trail in the spring of 2007. We were strolling hand in hand and suddenly we were talking about marriage, making plans, discussing dates, and we were both surprised to find that we were serious about it. The engagement became a little more official when I bought her ring on May 22, 2007. I sat on it for a month an a half while her family and friends asked her if I had popped the question, and if not, then when. In July, we flew to Oregon to spend the 4th with my sister and her family. We went to a ball game, watched the fireworks, and cruised town in a rented Ford Mustang. On the morning of the 5th, Tracy found a rose in her room. Attached was a note that said, “Reason #12 Everyone who knows you or meets you instantly falls in love with you, including me.” It was the first of a dozen roses and the first of a dozen reasons why I wanted her to be my wife. She would stumble upon a new rose and a new reason all along our trip to the Oregon coast. I gave her the final rose as we sat on the beach at sunset. Attached to it was the final reason I wanted to marry her and a ring. She said yes as a party down the beach sent the last of their remaining 4th of July fireworks into the ocean.

Tracy with Mt. Hood in the background.

Ryan testing the waters.

At the Oregon Coast.