Anniversary Week

We've now been married 740 days as of yesterday afternoon! I used to be scared of marriage because I thought that eternity was a long time. Now I see that eternity isn't long enough.

To celebrate our two years of marriage we had an anniversary week. Fortunately it happened to be Danny's one week off from school so every morning he would leave for work but then every evening we left the house for our planned activity. Instead of us going away for a romantic night or on our own family vacation getaway we decided to find activities to do around town which was great because Danny didn't have to lose hours at work and we were still able to celebrate everyday.

Monday

Danny and I had been wanting to eat at a restaurant that neither of us had ever been to. The rules were that we couldn't do any research about the place like looking up reviews or the menu. We had to just drive until we saw a place that was completely foreign to us. There aren't any restaurants in Mapleton where we live so we decided on Springville which isn't that much bigger but they at least have food options. We stopped at a restaurant shaped as a trolley car and went in. Apparently it was a tasty ribs place but we never got to taste the food. Long story short we walked out after twenty minutes of being ignored and a heated conversation with the manager. We almost thought to drop the whole idea about eating at an unknown place and just pick up fast food because we were so hungry but then we came across a Thai restaurant we had never noticed before. The food was amazing (it helped that we were starving). We ended up tipping very well based on how polite and professional their service was. We also took some take out menus home with us because we can't wait to eat from there again. The first night of our anniversary week started off rocky but ended on the upside.

Tuesday

The three of us celebrated the second day by going on a short hike to a waterfall near the Provo Canyon. Danny and I both took turns carrying Addie in the carrier. We got to sit down and rest while watching another hiker repel down the waterfall which was pretty cool. This hike made Danny want to take more nature walks as a family which I'm perfectly okay with that idea. Addie seemed to love the hike as well and would giggle every time she felt the wind on her face. 

Wednesday 

Danny has lived near the Art City Museum for nearly twelve years and has never gone inside so we all went for the first time together. Addie doesn't understand that some places ask for silence and instead took the opportunity to just talk and squeal away. Luckily the museum was pretty empty and we were one of the only few people there in the whole three story building so we felt better about Addie's loud behavior. In the museum's basement they had a play area that we enjoyed with a campground story telling station set up. Danny made up a good story on the spot about him being a young boy in Africa. I told a story afterwards and after maybe five minutes of me starting to share it Danny figured out that I was using the same plot from the movie The Goonies. Before leaving the museum we walked around their courtyard outside and looked at their statues.

Thursday 

On Thursday we all went to Jolly's Ranch in Hobble Creek Canyon for an end of summer ward party. We ate Dutch oven cooking and scones for dessert. We've been in our ward for a year now but since we work in the primary we don't really get to interact with anyone. We stayed at the party for awhile before leaving and then we relaxed with a movie at home. 

Friday

We've been wanting to go to the Hogle Zoo all summer so we finally went. Pollyanna and Aria also joined us and it was a lot of fun! This summer the zoo has a dinosaur theme going on (zoorassic park) so with Danny being such a huge dinosaur lover I knew I had to include this activity in our anniversary week. I thought Addie might be a little scared of the dinosaur robots because she hated the giant stuffed bear at Bear World but I was wrong. She loved every single dinosaur there! She even started laughing when she heard the T Rex roar. Both Addie and Aria loved all the animals we saw. We also watched the bird show and a huge owl swooped right over our heads. It was a little too close for my comfort but Danny thought it was the coolest thing ever and Addie seemed to love it too. The only thing that we missed out on was the gorilla and monkey exhibit. It was closed this day for repairs which was sad because Addie LOVES monkeys and I really wanted her to see them up close. Oh well. Other than that the zoo experience was pretty perfect and I'm glad that Pollyanna and Aria joined us. 

Saturday

This was our actual anniversary day and the ending of our anniversary week. We didn't set our alarms and all three of us slept til noon. We were in shock that it happened! Especially Danny because he's definitely a morning person. Apparently our zoo day had us all wiped out! Danny made a delicious lunch for us since we missed breakfast and then we got ready for our day. We dropped off Addisyn at Mike and Jill's house so Danny and I could go to a movie. The movie was great at the beginning but for the majority of it we both got pretty bored and we missed Addie a lot. Haha Danny would probably deny this but since my dad is probably the only other person who reads this blog I'm going to post this anyway... Danny teared up near the end of the movie because he was thinking of our daughter! Haha I mean I did too but that's no surprise. How cute is Danny though? :) We left the theater and picked up Addie before going out to eat as a family of three. Apparently Addie had a blast but then again she is obsessed with their dog Champ so we knew she would have fun.  She can say dog now and it's really cute. :) We ended the night at a baseball game. I have no clue who won or who was even playing because we mostly just watched Addie crawl around on the grass. She made friends with another baby which was fun to watch because they were only a week or two apart in age. 

It's now Sunday and I can't help but look back on our week and smile. I love being the mother to our Addisyn Rae and the wife to my husband of two years. Here's to many more years and many more memories!

I had to post one more picture because Addie was too cute today snuggling with her elephant she got from the zoo.

Links of our first anniversary:

Growing Love

A "Wicked" Good Time

According to Him. According to Her.

Danny and I have almost been married for two years now! I still can't believe how much has happened in the past two years. Something that I've learned about myself recently is that I love weddings. I think it's because I get so excited for the new bride and groom and the adventure that they are about to start. Addie is taking her nap right now so I started looking through our wedding pictures and I came across a picture that showed one of the center pieces that we had on our reception tables. I couldn't help but laugh at the description that Danny and I came up with for each other. It makes me curious to know what we would write about each other now after being married for two years. Hmm but then again maybe I don't want to know. :)

These center pieces were double sided and had these words on them . . .

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT HIM According to HER

Danny was born two months after Gina and loves to remind her about it. Danny is the world’s only Cleveland Browns fan and is not scared to admit it. He can always be cheered up with a plate of brownies. He has the voice of an angel and the moves like Michael Jackson. Tears only fall from Danny’s face if he’s watching a Glee episode. Danny’s pet peeve is when people text and drive. Danny learned how to be a hard worker while growing up on a farm and working at his family’s restaurants. Danny loves anything that has to do with water (fishing, boating, swimming, wakeboarding etc). Someone who has strongly impacted Danny’s life was Alex Burton and one day I will thank him for the life he had lived. Danny learned how to fluently speak Hiligaynon and learned the dialects Cebuano, Tagalog, and Samoan while serving the people of the Philippines Bacolod Mission. He is currently a student at UVU working on his generals and hopes to do something science related. Danny was shaking from head to toe when proposing to Gina from fear that she would say no.

Danny will spend the rest of his life from this day forward with his best friend (which is me – Gina Ferguson) by his side. :)

And on the other side . . .

THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT HER ACCORDING TO HIM

Heaven’s door was opened on an Easter weekend, the day Gina was born. Gina is a hater of cinnamon and being tickled (two of my favorite things).  Gina has a weird habit of neatly folding her napkins, wrappers and trash before throwing them away. She also drives an old person rocket ship, but I can’t really complain because it gets 50 MPG.  Normal people cry when they are sad, Gina cries when she is happy. Throughout Gina’s life she has gained a great love for traveling and has a collection of hotel cards to prove it.  John Stockton was her childhood hero. Gina is a red sweater wearing girl meaning she graduated from the U of U but will one day repent and convert to the blue side. Though the Ute fact is sad, it’s not as sad as the fact that Gina has never seen Star Wars (I’ll fix that). Gina has a love for service and after serving in the Brazil Belo Horizonte Mission she volunteered at a refugee resettlement center and is now a crisis counselor. Gina was once a dating queen, until I came in the scene (those 10 other guys had nothing on me). Even though throughout dating Gina avoided marriage talk like the plague I knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with me (who wouldn’t?).

Gina will get to spend eternity with her best friend which would make me (Danny Ferguson) the luckiest man alive. :)

Boy were we cheesy or what?

300 Days!!!

300 days (almost 10 months)

~ walks along furniture

~ hates the textures of hard solid foods

~ is starting to like the pool

~ loves peek a boo

~ likes watching Daniel Tiger

~ still loves to squeal as loud as possible

~ gives kisses 

~ loves to dance

~ waves bye bye

~ 5 teeth

~ hates the sound of fireworks but likes looking at them

~ loves playing with her daddy

~ prefers hardwood floors more than the carpet

~ gets excited over all animals

Our baby girl only has 65 days until she's a one year old! I'm not quite ready for that.

"Enjoy this . . . "

This past holiday weekend had its ups and downs. On a positive note Danny didn't have work or school so he was able to spend some well needed quality time with us. We set the alarm for 7:30am Friday morning (the 24th) so that we could get up for the Mapleton parade but Addie had other plans for us. We didn't get to sleep until 3am so when the alarm went off four hours later my desire for the parade was gone and my bed was too comfy to leave it. It was weird because the whole time that I was up with the baby not once did I get impatient or frustrated that I wasn't in bed. Instead I felt oddly calm and I had this thought come over me "enjoy this because others would wish that an unsleeping baby was their only struggle right now". 

I had no clue the huge trial that my sister was struggling with. My brother in law Shawn was involved in an accident Thursday morning and by Thursday night was put on life support with 1% chance to live. If I had known I would like to believe that I would've been there in person to support Kari during this ordeal. Ever since I changed my phone plan I haven't been receiving all my messages and unfortunately all my messages came through the next afternoon two hours after Shawn had already passed away. It hasn't even been a month since my other sister Camila unexpectedly lost her husband Eddie. I ended up calling Kari and offered to help with her little five week old daughter anytime she may need extra hands. 

After that phone call Danny said he wanted to take me out of the house. We decided to check out the 24th of July pioneer celebration at the Mapleton park. They had several food trucks there and were setting up concerts but it was unbearably hot! We walked around for a bit and almost bought some Hawaiian food they had there but then we decided to leave and eat at an actual Hawaiian barbecue restaurant in Provo. It was a smart choice because we got more food for the same price and got to sit in a very air conditioned place. Later that night we watched fireworks up at our secret spot. At least I thought it was "our" secret spot but apparently half of Mapleton knows about it. Addie likes looking at fireworks but hates the noises they make.

We spent most of Saturday at the Spanish Fork swimming pool with Jill, Jaina, Jon and the kids. It took Addie a minute to warm up to the pool but by the end she started loving it. We stayed there almost four hours and Danny and I were the last to leave because Addie was enjoying it too much.

Leaving the pool :)

We made it back to the house for a BBQ and then ended the night with more fireworks. The fireworks were too close for Addie's comfort but once she got to watch them from behind the window inside the house she loved it. That night she had no trouble sleeping at all and slept for twelve hours before we had to wake her up ourselves for church yesterday morning.

I know that not every day will be filled with fun activities and not every night will be full of sleep and I'll have to remember this thought "enjoy this because others would wish that an unsleeping baby was their only struggle right now". 

My Biggest Fear

My biggest fear is that something could happen to Danny leaving me alone here. Life just wouldn't be life if I had to live it without my best friend.

In the last thirty days two of my sisters became widows, both with young kids. I hope that if I'm ever put in a similar situation that I could be just as strong. 

I know that because of the gospel families can be together forever. I know that one day we will all resurrect with glorified bodies. I know that God's plan is a plan of happiness. 

With the passing away of both Eddie and Shawn I've become more determined to live life more fully with Danny and Addisyn. Life is to short not to. 

Yellowstone Fun

(Disclaimer: Picture Overload)

Last Saturday was the 4th of July (one of my favorite holidays) and it was also the last night Danny and I spent together before Addie and I went on vacation with some of my family. I kept going back and forth on my decision to go because I was nervous to leave without Danny (he had school) but now I'm so glad I went. It was such a blast! My parents planned this trip around Christmas long before they moved to Europe so it was nice to have them come back from Germany for this vacation. Not everyone was able to go but those who did were Pollyanna, Rick, Beckie, Jason, Jared, Melanie, my grandma, my parents, my nephews Caide and Kaleb and my nieces Aria, Kenzie, Abbie, Ellie and Olivia. Every night after Addie was in bed I wrote down just a little bit about that day.

July 5/6

Danny dropped us off at my parents place which was bittersweet. I started to miss him before we were even apart from each other. Addie was super tired so I made her a bed on the floor. During the night she would wake up confused but then I would lay by her or just place my hand on her and she'd fall back asleep. Around 5 I brought her in bed and she snuggled with me til morning.

July 6

Did great for the first four hours! Two of those hours she slept and then drank 6 oz of formula in one sitting. Miracle! After three months of refusing bottles she's accepting them! She played a lot with my grandma in the back seat and then was off and on grumpy for the last hour. The best thing is that she had no trouble with stranger danger today! I think she was just glad to not be in her car seat that she didn't care who was holding her once we got to the cabins.  We could have entered Yellowstone park today but everyone was fine with just hanging around the cabins. 

Highlight of the day: Addie did much better than I thought she would for the car ride to Montana.

July 7 

She slept amazing in the pack and play that Beckie brought! It was so much better than the night before at my parents. She was also the last one to wake up in our cabin. We entered the park and the first thing we saw was a wild bison. Such a cool animal. It caused quite the traffic jam and walked right past our car. Caide was with us and started freaking out by how big it was. It was so funny how terrified he was. Addie wasn't too impressed with Old Faithful. After watching Old Faithful Jared, Melanie and their two girls went their own way and Beckie, Jason and their kids went a separate way as well. Pollyanna, Rick, Caide and I stuck with Dad, Debbie and our grandma. We saw a lot of geysers today and did a lot of walking.  Addie didn't like the baby carrier at first until she realized she could take naps while I carried her. She also loved being pushed around in her umbrella stroller. I have been so amazed with how great she has been on this trip. For her schedule being upside down she has seldom been fussy and has been okay with being passed around from different people. I was pretty nervous that she would have stranger danger but thankfully that hasn't been the case.  :). Everyone today got a little sunburned. Sadly Addie did too. I felt horrible for forgetting her hat at the cabin. Tonight makes two nights in a row where she has been in bed by 9:30pm. Hopefully this continues once we're home. 

Today we saw a bald eagle, several elk and deer and drove alongside two bison. Fingers crossed we see a bear tomorrow. 

Highlight of the day: the sapphire pool was breathtaking.

July 8

Another great day! My wish was granted and we saw bears! A mama black bear playing with her cub. At first the cub was high up in a tree but then it came down and started rolling around with its mama before they continued on their way. About an hour or two later we saw what we think was a grizzly bear which was awesome. Pollyanna, Rick and Caide described seeing the same thing from their car. Jared and Melanie spent the day with our group today while Beckie and Jason went and did their own thing. We did a lot of hiking to several waterfalls, and it was cool how impressed Addie was with them. She was so fascinated and wouldn't take her eyes off the water. Personally I was preparing for her to be terrified by the water and loud noise but it was the opposite.  Once again Addie fell asleep in her carrier and I was 100% better with applying sunscreen and having her covered up to prevent any more sunburns. I still feel horrible that her little nose and both arms are pink. She's been such a sport on this trip! She did get a little fussy today in her car seat but then took a two and a half hour nap. She's instantly happier whenever I take her out of the car seat.  I hope her stranger danger doesn't come back anytime soon because I am loving how she is going to everyone here on this vacation. 

Highlight of the day: seeing a wild bear with her cub in the wild was pretty awesome. 

Baby bear in the tree. The mama was on the ground. :)

July 9

I wanted a head start on packing today so as soon as Addie woke up I gathered all of our things together. Jared and Melanie were the first ones to leave the cabins so we hurried and took a group photo before they left.

Pollyanna and I weren't quite ready for our trip to end so we convinced both of our groups to stop at Bear World on the way home. It was the perfect ending to a near perfect trip (it would've been completely perfect if Danny had been able to go). Right before Bear World my dad wanted to stop in front of the Rexburg temple. I don't think Debbie was too impressed with the petting zoo or the rides at Bear World but everyone else completely loved it! They had a lot more bears than I imagined they would and Aria and Caide were so cute riding the rides they had. I can't wait to take Addie back there one day when she'd be able to remember it but even she was loving it and was clapping and squealing over the baby cubs and other animals. I felt like a kid there myself which was fun. I could've stayed there all day but I think some of my group was anxious to head home so I was sad to leave but oh well, I will for sure go back. On our way home we made a quick stop at the Twin Falls temple for my dad. One thing that I love about him is that he loves temples. If there is a temple around my dad will go out of his way to visit it. It makes me proud that Addie and my future kids will know this about their grandpa. I'm glad that my parents and family were able to spend more time with Addie during this trip. Family is important to me and I'm all about traditions and creating memories. I'm grateful that Danny knows this about me and that he was understanding about us going on this vacation even though he wasn't able to come. He picked us up tonight at my parents condo wearing his softball shirt which is my most absolute favorite shirt of his. I enjoy the little things he does. Boy I love that man of mine. 

Highlight of the day: Bear World! Fun fact I learned today that Danny's relatives own that place. Small world. :)

Today

It's good to be with Danny again. Addie must have been exhausted from this week because her day didn't start until 10:45am. I was okay with that. Today is a great day to have a great day. :)