A Slew of "See Ya Later"s

We started off the week by taking off and going on a camping trip in Blacksmith Fork Canyon. Our friends Todd and Jame met up with us and we had a great time with them. On Tuesday the four of us took to the rock and spent the day climbing. The weather was perfect and we were able to get some great routes in.

The middle of the week we got in a little bit of studying, work, and class - nothing too exciting.

Come Friday we headed down south to spend some time with family and friends and get in a few "see ya later"s. First we had a chance to meet up with Aunt Naomi in Salt Lake. She took us to an authentic italian pizza place that she swears is the best pizza you can get in the area, and tastes just like the pizza that she enjoyed in Italy. It sure was delicious! We had a great time laughing and talking with her, but eventually had to leave for the night and head down to the Andrew Grandparents. We stayed up pretty late talking to them, but it is always so fun to catch up and hear their stories.

Saturday was a busy day for us. We had a great breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa, and they even let us use their laundry room free of charge! We headed down to Provo at 11:30 and met up with some of my old roomies and their significant others for a picnic lunch in the park. It was a riot! I have sure been blessed in the roommate and friend department and these ladies top the chart. After hours of laughter, memories, and chatter we finally split ways. It's so fun that we are still close after 4 years of not living together. I know I may be jumping the gun and making us sound older than we are, but it's fun to watch how we are all growing up. Most of us have graduated college, three of us are married, two have served missions, one has a baby with another on the way, and all of us have gone through the temple since we lived together. It makes me excited for the friends and memories that Anna and Jacob are about to make as they start school this fall.

The rest of the day Chris and I ran some errands to finish getting ready for Juneau, stopped by the Hansen's to drop off some computers to the computer genius Big Chris, enjoyed some more grandparent time, and went to the temple. We thought it would be fun to go back to the temple we got married in while we were down there and we are so glad we did. All temples are wonderful, but there is just something extra special about being in the one where you got sealed together with your best friend and other half for time and all eternity. I may have gotten more visibly emotional- I'm a crier - but Christopher is more sentimental than he lets off. It was truly a beautiful experience.

On Sunday we went to church with Grandma and Grandpa Andrew. I really do admire them so much. They are such a wonderful example of true love and service. After church we had another amazing meal and talked for a few hours. What a life they have lived! All weekend long Christopher and I were learning more about the life they've had together, and we are continually more and more impressed with the things they have done. It was a lovely visit and we are so grateful for the time we had to spend with them before taking off to Alaska. We got spoiled silly and probably gained 10 pounds each from all the tasty food they kept feeding us. If you're reading this Grandparents Andrew - We love you! Thanks again!

We then headed over to the Hansens to pick up the computers and we got stuck behind a driver that Chris could not believe was driving as slow as a snail. It didn't take us long to realize it was Grandma and Grandpa Hall! We followed them home and saw the renovations to the house. We had a short visit, but are really looking forward to the time we will spend with them next week right before we take off. We made it to the Hansens and had a blast playing with the kids. I don't know why Charlotte thinks Elijah is so shy - he kept calling me "mama" and was more than willing to share blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, and toys with me! He sure is the host with the most. We're so grateful for the help Big Chris gave us in setting our old computers back to their store settings so we can sell them. It was great seeing the whole family, and we are sure we will be back to visit next week as we will be staying just down the street.

Well, this is getting ridiculously long so I should probably start wrapping up! We are back safe in Logan and are looking forward for the week ahead of us to just be over! As much fun as taking final exams alongside packing, cleaning, and moving out of an apartment can be we really just can't wait to get on the airplane and start our new adventure together.

We love you all!

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

Cotopaxi Questival and this thing called Pneumonia

First things first let me apologize for our lack of an update last week. The truth is last week was awesome and we have a lot to say about it - it was this week that got us down and out and caused us to miss the post. So we will work backwards and end with the good stuff of last week.

This week I was sick as a dog, we think it was pneumonia, but still aren't 100% positive. The good news is I am feeling WAY better now, and I learned a lot from this experience. Here's a few things this experience made me grateful for:

1. I'm grateful for a husband who faithfully holds the priesthood. Christopher was a wonderful support to me this week and alongside doting on me hand and foot and making me food he gave me a wonderful priesthood blessing. I truly believe this is the only reason I didn't get bad enough to need to go to a doctor (which I really didn't want to do based off our current health insurance status), and also know this is the reason I am feeling back to normal already.
2. I'm grateful for a father-in-law who is in tune with the Spirit. Dad Andrew randomly sent us some immune system-boosting supplements in a package about a month ago "just in case we ever needed them". At the time we had no use for the medicine, but they seemed to contribute greatly to my health this week and seemed to be exactly what I needed to launch myself to the road of recovery. I guess this also means I'm grateful for a father-in-law who's a doctor!
3. I'm grateful for the family prayers that were sent in my direction. I just loved knowing that I was being thought of by those I love here on earth as well as up in heaven.
4. I'm grateful for the health I normally have! I can't wait to get back outside and start exploring again with Chris. I'm done being cooped up! 

Needless to stay I spent pretty much the whole week in bed or on the couch. Christopher continued to study hard, go to class and work, and took care of me. And that wraps up this week. 

Now for the fun stuff.....

LAST week was a blast! Our week started off as normal - work - school - studying - etc., but the end of the week was where the real fun came in. 

On Thursday Chris and I went to the Logan Temple to perform initiatories. The Duersch kids have done some amazing family history work and we were so grateful to be asked to be a part of it. We took the family names that they found and started and were able to continue to help our ancestors progress in their covenants.  It was also my first time doing initiatories since I went for myself and it sure was a beautiful reminder of my own covenants. (Also, for those keeping record, it was my first time in a while going to the temple and not fainting! Let's be grateful for those simple things in life.)

Now the crazy adventures for us started on Friday. Chris and I entered a competition called the Cotopaxi Questival. To set the record straight - yes, it was my idea. *Side note: Chris and I were talking a couple weeks back and he said something along the lines of, "Dani, if I ever have some crazy ideas it's ok for you to tell me we can't or shouldn't do them. Sometimes my dad has some nutty ideas and my mom has to be the level-headed one and nicely shut him down." Well this is great for mom and dad Andrew, unfortunately when it comes to Christopher and I we both have a little too much spontaneity and a little too much of a drive for adventure that it seems sometimes we don't have a level-headed part to our relationship and we do some crazy things because neither of us seem to say "no" and shut the other down in time..........* The Questival was a spontaneous adventure we randomly signed up for a few weeks back and Chris got a friend from work to join, who then brought in two more team members for us. On Friday night we went to a giant festival to start off a crazy 24 hour adventure scavenger hunt. It'd almost just be easier to tell you what we didn't do in the next 24 hours - such as sleep - but instead I will show some pictures (not all of them, that would take FOREVER!) in an attempt to give you a glimpse of the madness we somehow willingly signed up to do.......

Donating food to the Utah Food Bank

Eating food from a food truck

Watch a sunset

Share a dutch oven meal with another team

Visiting a museum

Drove all night....... to get to Canyonlands 

Watching the sunrise from False Kiva - we made the hike harder than it should be by bouldering instead of following the nice trail...typical...

Visiting Arches!

Bouldering

Eating fry sauce at a Diner

Take a picture of someone with a beard, flannel, and a dog

You can see the whole story (including some funny videos) at our team's website: http://questivalteams.cotopaxi.com/category/2015/salt-lake-city/24h-the-original-salt-lake-city/stoke-level-rad 
Warning if you choose to watch the videos: we make the cat food sound WAY better than it is - I definitely spit mine out the minute the camera stopped filming and we highly suggest to never eat wet cat food, it's disgusting.

Also, we fly out to Alaska in just 13 days! If any of our family in Utah (Sorry Brading family out in WI and Roylances in WA) wants to see us before we go and we haven't arranged a time to meet up let us know. We are planning on being down in the Salt Lake-Highland-Pleasant Grove area next weekend and the end of the following week for a bit and would love to hug everybody goodbye.

Remember to pray and remember to play but not eat cat food,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

Our First Easter and Conference Weekend

Christopher and I started the week by having an Easter themed FHE complete with dying eggs and watching some awesome Easter Mormon Messages put out by the church.

We forced our way through school and work and then headed down to Moab Wednesday night to spend the weekend with our Andrew Family!

Took Anna and Jacob climbing for their first time

From the top of "Tender to the Touch," 5.11a

Dani overlooking the Colorado River

Chris and his best buddy Jed hadn't hung out since before Chris started his mission, so we got together to go jeeping in Jed's new jeep with his girlfriend Julia. The trail we went on is a popular one in Moab, but it was the evening after Jeep Safari so it was relatively uncrowded.

At the top of Hell's Revenge

We had a good time between Saturday conference sessions going out near Ken's Lake and shooting with the family. Anna might be the best shot of us all!

It was great having time to just be with the family. We loved celebrating Easter with the kids, and are sorry if we ruined Easter by taking Jacob and Matthew too seriously when they asked us to hide their eggs HARD. Really it's their own fault that some eggs went missing. But honestly, we hope this doesn't detour the family from inviting us to celebrate this holiday with them in the future.

We also loved the opportunity we had to watch General Conference. We both favored Elder Holland's talk - how could we not when he used a parable that hit us both so close to home. Another favorite talk was given by Sister Burton. Maybe that is the newlyweds in us talking, but can we all take a second to look at what wonderful examples of true love many of the leaders in the church have given us. She eloquently spoke of love and tenderness as well as the divine roles and responsibilities that we have as man and woman, husband and wife, mother and father.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Brother & Sister Andrew ('cause we're feeling particularly church-y lately)