The Tales and Adventures of 2011

         2011 was great to us. Just a little recap: 

                                                          
                                 We got engaged on February 6

and married on April 23rd. 

Two days after our wedding we spent 24 hours STRAIGHT moving into our tiny little apartment. It took forever, but we eventually found a spot for our endless truck loads of stuff. [Stephan didn't realize how much his belongings would multiply when he got married. He definitely underestimated the amount of clothes a girl needs to have a complete wardrobe. :) ] 

Lucy enjoying the view. [only place that our tv fit... right in front of the bed! :)] 

After unpacking, we began our summer adventures with our honeymoon in Florida. --Best vacation ever!! [ you can see pics of the honeymoon/wedding in earlier posts ]. 

        

  The rest of the summer was filled with....

          40 hour work weeks. This is what Stephan's job entailed...Grounds                 crew -- serious business.

  nightly walks around campus and Provo

trips to Ferron, UT

A family get-together in Albequerque, NM (all thanks to the Anderson family!)

Lucy and I couldn't stay awake that trip. We fell asleep literally EVERY TIME we sat down in the car. 

hikes and bonfires in the mountains, 

lots of shooting (of course), 

and a final shebang in Zions.

         What a summer! Then reality hit, and we were back to school. Stephan had a fairly relaxing semester (minus a ridiculous Political Science class) while I hit the books hard. It was definitely an adjustment getting back into nursing, but I loved every minute of it! My clinical group/instructor were AWESOME! 

We had a blast, and I learned a ton. Stephan finished his GE's (what a relief!), and got ready to dive into his new major in the coming Winter semester. 

          

         After finals we jumped on a plane and left Provo as fast as we could. Evansville, Indiana had never looked so good! We were so fortunate to spend Christmas with both of our families. We are really grateful for the sacrifices everyone made to be there and for our parents and the huge effort they made to accommodate SO MANY PEOPLE! It's amazing how much our families have grown. 

 Just the 3 of us

Patrick Family Christmas Dinner

Lunch with Grandmother Schauss

Family bonfire at the Patricks

The Schauss boys + a few additions 

Thai food extravaganza

Attempted Schauss Family Picture. [No one was satisfied with any of them!]

         All the little ninos running around really made Christmas a delight. They have all gotten so BIG! It was great to finally be an aunt and uncle in person for a time.  

Me and Lucy. We have missed having her so close! 

"Grandpa Schauss" playing with the grandkids. 

Lucy is not one to keep her feelings inside. :] 

Cutest little cat I've ever seen! [Gotta love that little red nose]

Me and Maci. That little stinker is always smiling! 

Can't keep the kids entertained? Just make a 3 foot long straw to keep them occupied! 

Cute little Jackson. 

Hadley wishing she had gotten a light-up hat for Christmas too!

Addie meeting Great Grandmother Schauss for the first time! 

Christmas activities included... 

Gingerbread houses 

[Can't decide if this is a cry or one of Maci's funny smiles :)]

trips to the Zoo

duck feeding

 tales of the Beet Farm from uncle John

 Tater Hole Tourneys

[i don't have any pictures of these "intense" face-offs, so if you do, let me know! -- thanks]

and of course LOTS and LOTS of delicious FOOD! 

[Apparently, this was "the perfect plate"]

           2011 went out with a bang. Stephan and I made the fam Thai food. We had the usual Tater Hole tournament. And Dan made his famous Cherry Chocolate Chunk ice cream! 

We knew we were getting old though when we couldn't wait for 12 AM to come just so we could go to bed. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.. HAPPY NEW YEAR! Bring on 2012!! 

           

Zions Adventure

THE ALMOST FUNNY BUT NOT QUITE MISHAPS:

1. Forgot to get the free pass to Zions from the library = 25 BUCKS down the drain

2. Stephan had to go SHOPPING 

3. Stephan LOST his KNIFE in Wal-Mart all thanks to a cart

4. It took about 2 HOURS longer than we expected to get to Zions. 

5. We couldn't find the free camping area. 

6. Had to pay to camp next to a ZILLION people

7. Raw beef  + NO FIRES ALLOWED sign  = high priced sandwiches at the local bar

8. Tent but NO POLES 

9. Tarantulas, giant beetles, and wicked fast cockroaches but NO TENT!

10. Cheese, Chip Bagel a la Miracle Whip for BREAKFAST

WHAT MADE THE TRIP WORTH IT

1. Delicious sandwiches and fries served to us in AC and in minutes

2. An awesome ghetto-rigged tent that kept us cool and TARANTULA FREE!

3. Sweet hike up a mountain that had an incredible view the entire time.

 

4. 1500 YEAR OLD WATER squeezed out between layers of sandstone

5. Emerald pools of DESIRE

6. SCRUMPTIOUS turkey and cheese bagel sandwiches for lunch

7. A quick dip in the STREAM to cool off

8. French, German, Spanish, and English ACCENTS = unexpected cultural experience

9. A RELAXING car ride back to P-town

Summer Adventures

Well it's summer time again, and with that comes sunshine, green mountains, and hopefully lots of fun! This summer we have been pretty busy. Stephan is working on the pesticide crew, so between spraying trees, mid-day barbecues, and getting up at 5 AM his day is pretty packed. I'm still at the library with air-conditioning :]  It's not the most exciting job, but it is really flexible and ultra-chill. I'm pretty lucky to have it. This term Stephan is working full-time + , usually 8-9 hours a day, and I am working a little over part time. After work I go straight to class until 7 M-Th. I'm having a lot of fun taking cooking, weight lifting, and civilization. Stephan and I are also taking a tennis class together, which is so fun! I'm really impressed with how fast Stephan has caught on to the game. Pretty soon we're going to have to challenge Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to a doubles match. :] But besides school and work we have tried to fit in a few adventures...

Honeymoon to Florida! : At the beginning of May we went to Englewood, Florida. Thanks to the Zelnicks (family friends from Ohio) we stayed in a sweet beach house right by the bay with a 5 minute walk to the ocean. It was perfect! We had so much fun getting a tan, fishing, playing in the ocean, canoeing by alligators, driving a beautiful red mustang, and of course eating tons of GOOD food! :] It was the perfect honeymoon full of fun and RELAXATION!

May I introduce Frederico. This was by far the cutest little animal I have ever seen. He was abandoned at the duck pond and was not being accepted by the other ducks. So of course we had to rescue him. :] We took him to Stephan's brother, Ashton's house to be raised with some chicks that he had. Frederico thought he was thrown in a box with ducks, so he thought it would be a great idea to follow the chickens around and burrow under their butts for warmth.... Even though it was the most adorable thing you have ever seen, not the best idea. Ashton called us the next day...Frederico had been pecked to death. I guess the chickens didn't like Frederico as much as I did. RIP!

 

Hike to Stewart Falls! Great hike that ends with a waterfall. When we went though there was still a TON of snow and ice at the base of the falls. It was pretty cool. 

Stephan in an ice tunnel that formed from flowing water. 

Stadium of Fire! We went to Provo/BYU's 4th of July bash on Saturday. Stephan was on the clean-up crew so we got in for FREE 90 FREE! It was a blast. There were dancers with light-up gloves, parachuters that landed on the field, F-16 jets flying over, and most importantly concerts by David Archiletta and BRAD PAISLEY!!! Great seats, great show, great night. 

We went on a hike in Provo canyon last Sunday, and Stephan had to show off his skills with his brand new knife :] He wasn't too thrilled about taking a picture, but I had to document our first tree initial carving! 

That's it, but the summer isn't over. We're looking forward to more adventures!