Utah/Idaho Pre-Wedding Trip

Hey everyone!

Just last week, Kiley and I travelled up to Utah and Idaho with my family. Our original purpose was to go and see my cousin Warren Lemmon's wedding in Salt Lake, but we decided since most of my Idaho relatives won't make it to our wedding, we might as well go visit them too!

First, here are some shots from Salt Lake. I can hardly believe that Kiley and I will be getting married in the temple in a week!

I really liked this photo in front of the Salt Lake Temple -- I thought it was really pretty, like a postcard! :)

After going to Warren's sealing and taking photos, we went to the Lion House Restaurant, and it was delicious! Super nice lunch. We ended up taking more photos by the temple, and we also saw the Cristus statue in one of the Temple Square visitor centers:

These awesome photos were a suggestion from Kiley. We found that the coolest pictures of the Salt Lake Temple can be taken from the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building:

After we made it to Idaho, we had a blast with all of our Idaho relatives! I am so grateful for the chance that we had to go and be with them for a few days. I think Kiley was a little apprehensive at first because it's tough meeting a ton of new people, but I am grateful for how willing she was to get out of her bubble to make me happy. It was so much fun! Kiley loved all of my family, and I am so grateful that she did. We had a wonderful visit. Here are a couple pictures from a hike that we went on:

We had a blast at Julie and Brad's house as we ate dinner and played games. We especially enjoyed the dancing game for the Wii! :)

We were also able to go through a session at the Idaho Falls Temple, and we even got to see where my mom and dad got sealed together! It was an amazing experience. Following that, we decided to take photos at the temple as a family. Fun fun!

To end our trip, there was a huge party at Grandma Hobbs' home, where we even had a piñata! I had so much fun being with family, and I'm glad that Kiley was able to join us and meet everyone in Idaho. At the end of the party, we were surprised by a mini wedding party with the family! We felt overwhelmed by the love we were shown as we were given cards and presents to celebrate our pending matrimony. We are so grateful for everything! Thank you!

I had such an amazing time travelling to Idaho with Kiley and my family. It was worth the time off of work and the LONG drive with a crying baby. I would do it again in a heartbeat! Thank you to everyone who made this trip so special for us -- I feel so blessed to have the greatest family EVER! :)

Kiley and I want to thank Jessica for letting us drive with her and with little Hudson, for my parents for helping us pay for a lot of meals and letting us tag along with the family and providing a hotel room, and for Jacob and Shauna. We also want to thank Dan and Tam for all that they did for us, for letting us sleep at their house, and being so willing to serve us and love us. Thank you, Grandma Hobbs, for letting us stay with you as well and for being so loving and generous! Thank you, everyone else, for being so generous to us and making our trip fun and enjoyable! :)

Only 20 Days to Go!

Wow, I can't believe there are only 20 days to go! Here are some crazy gangster/jumping photos to commemorate our 20-day-to-go mark:

A Trip to the Zoo

Hi everyone!

These have been some wonderful past few weeks, but it isn't without lots of trials. I'm so happy that Kiley and I only have 20 days to go! That means that tomorrow, we'll be in the teens. Crazy! :)

Anyways, school went really well last semester, but both Kiley and I were very ready for it to end. We were pleasantly surprised that both of us got straight A's this last semester! That was amazing, especially since it was the hardest semester that either of us had experienced so far.

Now that we're out of school, we are doing our very best getting ready for the wedding that's coming up. Kiley is frantically working with her family to plan the details of the wedding, and I'm helping where I can. I recently applied for and received a nursing position in a nursing home (Princeton Place) where I am working almost full-time. It was a great blessing to receive this job before Kiley and I are married so I can save up and be able to support a family. I am making $24.50 per hour, so I think this is my highest paying steady job as of yet! What a great blessing!

Sadly, I haven't taken too many photos. Kiley and I are pretty sick of being engaged -- we just want to hurry up and get married! The idea of eloping sounded very good to me, but sadly, I think we're just going to have to wait another 20 days or so.

One of the activities that Kiley and I did shortly after school got out was a trip to the zoo! We had a fun time searching for animals whose name started with each letter of the alphabet. Here's Kiley modeling our "f" animal, the flamingo:

This is the cutest, hugest rodent ever! This is a capybara, the largest rodent in the world:

The only bad part about going to the zoo was that we left a little late, since I had a meeting to go to that morning. Since the afternoon sun was pretty hot, many of the animals just wanted to lie around and do nothing! Hmmm.... Sounds like me! :)

Actually, the tigers weren't quite resting. They were roaring and clawing at each other after the female tiger got upset over a *cough cough*, umm, an unwanted encounter with her male counterpart. Then they were just hanging out in different bedrooms, angry at each other. Oh, the drama of the zoo!

Here I am pretending to be like this cool looking bird:

The polar bears were super funny! They had a little dance routine going on. Especially the one on the right. He would do the same thing over and over in rhythm, moving his head around, walking back and forth, and even doing a complicated "grape-vine" step where he'd put one paw underneath the other to walk. So cute!

Here's a majestic peacock modeling what just happens to be our wedding theme colors:

And of course, the future wife and husband to be, sitting on our thrones, getting ready to take the spotlight: :)

All of the cool animals made me feel like I was part of the Lion King! There were hippopotamuses, warthogs, hienas and lions (see above), and even beautiful cheetas!

The giraffe came so close to us I could almost stick out my hand and pat him on the head! He was looking for food to eat, so he extended his super long neck and tongue and tried to grab a branch that was close to me and Kiley. I think he succeeded:

This was really cute, too. This elephant was thirsty, so he stuck his trunk into the water and sucked up water. It then sprayed the water into its mouth. The cutest thing was the huge smile it had on its face and the fact that all of the water just poured out of the elephant's mouth while it was trying to drink! We nicknamed the elephant "Mason" for Kiley's little nephew, who always seems to smile and drools more than any other kid I know. It was the cutest thing! :)

Of course, ever since I was little I've wanted to ride on top of a dragon. Little did I know that the only dragon at the zoo was a komodo dragon! Kiley, knowing of my wish, tamed this wild komodo dragon with her sweet kisses so I could hop on its back and go for a spin!

And, last but not least, my favorite part of the zoo -- the gorillas! They aren't the cutest or the sweetest creatures, but they sure have personality! Just look at this one (I'm sure he's the one who angrily throws things at the crowd):

Thank you so much for taking me to the zoo, Kiley! I had a blast! :) I hope you enjoyed the photos!

How's this for an engagement photo?

Update on Life

Hi everyone!

I just want to give you an update on my life, though it's pretty stressful, as usual. We're getting into the last few weeks of school here at UNM, and the work is piling up. Not to mention the wedding plans and making homemade invitations! But I don't mind that part as much. It's more exciting! We already have our marriage license, and we're trying to finalize bridesmaid clothes, men's ties, the wedding dress, my suit, decorations, food, cake, and all that jazz. Crazy!

One of the most exciting things that happened was going to get our engagement photos taken! We went to the Botanical Gardens here in Albuquerque a few weeks back, and I think we went at the perfect time when everything was in bloom. Here are a few of my favorite shots:

Isn't this one just adorable? :)

This one's more artistic.

I love the waterfall in the background!

The bamboo really brings out the Asian in me, doesn't it?

This hollow tree kind of looks like a heart. <3

These are some beautiful blossoms! :)

Peek-a-boo!

Oh, I love my Kiley! She's such an amazing girl. :)

It is most definitely the most exciting time of my life. Can you believe that there are only 60 days left until the wedding? There's just so much to do!

I've decided, however, that I do not like being engaged. It's horrible! I know we need to plan and send out invitations and everything, but if we could just forget about all of that, I would marry Kiley right now. I love her with all my soul and am so grateful for the temple ordinances and knowledge that we can be together forever.

I love you all and hope to see you soon! Time is flying by so fast, we just have to make the most of every moment. :)