MMB

Michelle making her yummy guacamole as Chris looks on

Today I had to say goodbye to a dear friend who is moving to Europe. Michelle Margetts Bingham is truely one of the best people I know. Her husband Chris got a job transfer with Medtronic AVE to Zurich Switzerland for 2 years. Chris and I grew up in the church together. But I didnt meet Michelle until college in hygiene school 4 years ago. She has blessed my life with her friendship. She has always been there to help in any way possible. Selflessly she helped Cohen with his first catering job and has always cheered on any success in our lives. In school we studied a lot together and I smile thinking of floating in her pool reading questions to each other. We share so many things in common and I can always count on her to have fun. If you haven't already met her I hope that sometime you will have the opportunity.

*Michelle & Chris good luck, travel safe and see you someday soon*We love you*

Goodbye dinner with the girls 6/23/10

9 years ago

9 years ago the day Cohen and I were married. It was a very busy day in the Oakland Temple. There are a limited amount of rooms where the marriage ceremonies are performed so we were taken into a huge, beautiful, white room to wait until our room/guests were ready. It was incredibly peaceful inside this room. We were both dressed in white and we sat on a soft couch. We were minutes from being married for all time and eternity. And we were totally calm. We sat hand in hand and leaned on eachother. I thought about what our future years would be like. I thought about how we would age and what are children might look like. It was incredibly special to have the short time together alone before spending the rest of the day with our guests. As our lives have gotten busier and at times extremely challenging I close my eyes and I think back to our time in that room together, hand in hand, dressed in white, poised ready to conquer the world.  It brings me peace.

Texas -> San Antonio and beyond

This past week I realized how much we needed a vacation. We were stressed out, tired of crying and in need of some time away. Lucky for us The Spencers in San Antonio opened their home to us on short notice. What are brothers for? : ) We arrived Memorial Day weekend and stayed for a week. We packed in a lot of sightseeing and day trips to nearby cities. Sam, Aubrey, Alex (4) and Dillon (2) were amazing hosts/tour guides and took the time to ensure we had a perfect vacation.

When we got off the plane at 10pm we were in shock from the heat and humidity. Sam had warned us that it would be hot but it still rocked us coming from our NorCal weather. Our first stop was at Rudy's BBQ/truck stop.

After we checked Texas BBQ off our to-do list we were just starting our lone star state experience.

Monday (Memorial Day) Aubrey competed in the Austin triathlon. After completing the olympic distance 1500 meter swim, 40km bike ride and 10k run she was greeted by her #1 fans.

Austin is the state capitol and is a must see on your trip to Texas. Its well known for the music scene, outdoor activities, resident bridge bats, Univ Texas-A, and celebrities Lance Armstrong and shirtless wonder MatthewMcConaughey. We got to see the inside of the pink granite capitol and I got a pic with George Bush.

Tuesday we went to Schlitterbahn Waterpark in New Braunfels. Years ago we saw this park highlighted on the Travel channel as the top waterpark in the nation. Immediately we knew it was our kind of place. There are 3 different parks that you shuttle between and with your wristband you have access all day to any park. We stayed until it closed at 8pm no surprise there. Sam told us about a restaurant that we should check out after for dinner. We enjoyed our meal at Gristmill River Restaurant. I found the experience truely unique. It was open air seating that backed up to a river. It was a hot night with crickets chirping and a local country band playing up a storm in the town hall next door.

Less magical was Cohen waking up that night with food poisoning and vomitting for 5 hours straight. We had to take that day off and stayed at the house. A powerful thunder and lighting storm rolled in that night and we watched it from the back porch. The next morning the news reported that it was the worst storm in 15 years.

Thursday Sam took the day off work and we went swimming at a river in the town of Bandera. The river was warm and we enjoyed floating downstream after hiking. It was a blast going off the rope swings.

Hanging with the locals

Friday I got sick with a fever but I tried to be a trooper and not let it slow us down. We went to the Cave without a Name in Boerne and to a German town named Fredricksburg.

Best of all (and a dream true for me) we went to see the Alamo. After touring inside I called my parents and reported I couldn't find the basement. I wish we could have spent more time at the downtown river walk - but I was over the heat and walking by that time.

Saturday we made one more stop to eat at the famous La Hacienda restaurant. We have seen it featured several times on the Food Network. We came to eat the puffy tacos but were more impressed by the beauty and family friendliness of the joint.

The end of our vacation came and we still had so much we wanted to see and explore with the Spencers. That will have to wait until next time.