Why I love fall!

Fall is such a glorious time of year. I love so many things about it. The colors are probably at the top of my list. I love the reds, browns, yellows, and oranges that are found in the mountains mixed in with green and blue. I especially love Provo in the fall. The mountains seem to glow red with the changing leaves. I love the cooler weather that is so perfect for hiking and biking trips. And of course I love pumpkin anything.

I was able to go home a few weeks ago for a bike ride. We started in Yellowstone Park and rode down to Bear Gulch over two days. It was such nice weather and such a great bike ride. Dad, Cam, and I rode most of the way with Mom and Grandpa taking a few short rides as well. I think I logged about 30 miles between the two days. We had a nice time camping overnight at the lot in Island Park too.

 Here are Dad and Cam on the trail somewhere.

 There were some nice colors starting to come out along the trail. The trail is actually the old railroad that started in Ashton and goes up through Yellowstone.

 This is one of the prettiest parts of the trail. Also the start of the Big Springs float that we have done many times.

 So beautiful!

 Cam and I in front of the train tunnel. When I was little this was still open and we would ride our bikes through. It got so dark in the middle of the tunnel! I guess that there was a cave in a few years ago.

This was one of our favorite parts of the trail, it was super easy riding and so beautiful. Dad and I actually rode back up this part of the trail to get the car.

 So Dad was supposed to run a marathon this last Saturday but got super sick the day before and was unable to do the race. Hopefully he will be doing another one in a few weeks. Marybeth and I took advantage of the nice weather on Saturday though and went hiking. We did Y mountain again like last year. It was just as beautiful. These pictures are actually from my own little adventure earlier last week. I liked the effect of the fog and the colors.

Not sure why I brought the sunglassess! I didn't need to use them!

 Love it!

Wicked!!!

I almost forgot to mention one of my highlights from this summer. No pictures, but my parents and I went to Wicked when it was playing here in Salt Lake. It was such a good play! I enjoyed every second. It was a total production. Every costume was perfect and so unique and biazrre it felt like a whole new world. It was so much fun to go with my parents and we had a real nice night. The music was everything I was wishing for. highly recommend going if you get the chance!

Crazy Summer...

Well it's been awhile! Here I am posting again finally. Life is going really well. Just a quick update. I moved again. I like my new apartment and hopefully my new ward, despite the fact that there are about three girls for every boy in the ward. Lucky boys! Our summer has been very crazy and busy. It started the last week of May with a very nice trip to the Dominican Republic for family vacation. Then my family was in charge of the Christensen family reunion this year which was held around Palisades. But the biggest, busiest thing this summer has been two weddings. My best friend Marybeth Mack got married on June 30th, and my big little brother Eric got married on August 4th. Can you believe it?! I can't! I love his wife. we all met her on Christmas Day when she came to our house for dinner with my grandpa and our friends Arthur and Alina Hovosyan. Weddings are rather busy it turns out! 

So here is one of the cabanas that we spent an awful lot of time in on our vacation. It was very relaxing to look at the following view from the shade of a cabana, usually sipping a tropical drink of some sort!

Do you see the boat in the lower left? They would pull tubes and banana boats behind this boat. And we even saw some one attempting to waterski behind the boat!

Cam and I on the beach. We had a nice time swimming in the ocean every day and kayaking. Dad got his leg gashed open by a water logged kayak and narrowly escaped major infection! It was a little scary. Thank heavens for betadine and antibiotics you can buy without a prescription!

We rode a tram to the top of this mountain with this neat statue of Christ at the top. A local took a ton of pictures with us in front of the statue, and then wanted a tip of course!

Classic poses while hanging out at the resort. It was really nice. It was also fun for Grandpa Christensen to join us!

This is the beach! We swam in that water every day and took many long walks on the beach. We also rode bikes on the last day along the beach!

Grandpa and I dancing at dinner. We had a nice time. He means so much to all of us!

Eric, Grandpa, and I at the authentic Dominican restaurant on the resort.

The whole family at dinner with an awesome waiter that we told about the gospel. The people were so nice and friendly there!

 Marybeth and her new husband Andy! I am so happy for them. They dated/got engaged/and got married in about 6 months. It has been a slight adjustment having my best friend and brother married in the same summer. Let's just say I am good at being a third wheel by now!

 This is Marybeth's family. I love them all so much! They mean a lot to me and have taken care of me while I have been away from my own family.

 Cutting their beautiful cake. The reception was in Marybeth's backyard. It was beautiful. Mom also came and helped me host a bridal shower the day we flew to the D.R. It was so nice to have her help!

 This is the only picture i have of the two of us on her special day! Hopefully she has some more. I was there all day with her and it was so nice.

 Leaving the reception!

 This is our family minus Preston who is in Africa right now and was greatly missed! And minus Eric and Tasha who were inside getting ready for their grand exit from the Mt. Timpanogos temple.

 And here they are! They looked so great!

 Love that look on Eric's face. He was always so insistent that he wasn't going to get married until after graduation. It is nice to see him so in love and to have watched the process. Tasha is so good for him and so sweet. She really has pulled some good qualities out of him.

 This is our family and Tasha's parents and sister with her husband. They are all from Armenia and we are lucky they now live in Provo!

 My handsome parents and the bride and groom. My parents look really nice I think.

 Siblings-again minus Preston!

 close up!

 our friend alina, Tasha's sister Sona, tasha, eric, me, and cam!

 Nice picture in front of the temple.

 Their reception was in the Provo City Library and it was a party! Armenians are good at throwing parties! we had a real nice time and spent the whole night dancing.

 The cake that my mom worked so hard on!

 Dancing at the reception!

 Mom and son dance. So cute!

 My parents again.

Cutting the cake.

We had a reception in Firth a few weeks later. It was nice to see all the support for our family. It was much more low key, but we had a real nice time. Tasha's parents stayed with us and we had fun taking the boating and showing them Idaho.

I haven't done a ton of fun outdoor kind of things this summer unfortunately, but I am hoping for a mild fall to enjoy and maybe get some camping and hiking in. We have had some nice water skiing trips and let me just say that cameron is turning into quite the expert!

Catch Up...

It's been awhile. I have been doing bunches of lovely things, but life for the most part is pretty simple. Go to work, sleep, eat, exercise, hang out with friends and family, the occasional adventure. Stuff I don't really think is that intersting when I compare it to all of my friends blogs with their vacations and children and other fun and exciting adventures.

Basically I am still working at Timpanogos Hospital which I am still enjoying immensely. I love my coworkers and everything I am learning. I moved to a new apartment which I just decorated for Christmas and love very much! My roommate is a clean freak as am I, so it works out nicely. I am enjoying time with Eric who is back in Provo, Marybeth my dear friend who lives here, and other awesome people. I have a new ward which is awesome! I just got called as a ward missionary which is scary. I have never had a calling like this before and it is a little out of my comfort zone. I would love advice:)

We have had a lovely fall here in Utah County. Beautiful colors, nice warm weather, exciting BYU football games! Marybeth and I went on some AWESOME hikes.

Thanksgiving was spent at the hospital. A different way to spend the holidays, but I was so grateful the entire day for a good job, for my health, for the knowledge that the Lord has blessed me with. I was also grateful because I get Christmas off this year!!! I am one blessed, happy girl and I feel very fortunate for enerything that I have.

Preston is doing really well on his mission in Mozambique. He writes some pretty crazy experiences in his letters. Eric is surviving another semester at BYU in the hardest major on campus. Cameron is dating, yes actually dating! He has been on a couple of dates so far this school year. Mom is selling insurance again and is anxiously waiting for open enrollment to end. Dad is busy with work and finishing his MBA.

I am loving this time of year. Christmas is the best! I love the excess of love that I feel the entire month of December. I am going to continue the tradition that I started last year and read the Gospels through the month of Decemeber. This was an awesome experience last year because I got to think about and read about Jesus every day of the month.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of months:
Eric and I at a football game

 Marybeth and I at a football game

 Hike to Squaw Peak-beautiful!

 Hike to top of Y Mountain. We found this awesome flag at the top.

 Family came up for a football game...it was great!

New Boat, Mountain biking, and Bruises...

 So my parents bought a boat...finally! It is so much fun to finally have one. They have been boating a few times, but I got home the weekend before last to go on a boating/camping trip. My good friend Marybeth was able to come up to Idaho as well and we had a blast! We went to palisades reservoir. Above is a picture of a moose that we saw. We loaded up the boat with a tent and other camping gear and found an awesome campsite on the other side of the lake.

 The mosquitoes were horrible, so we kept a fire going most of the time we were at the campsite. This is the view from our campsite...gorgeous. We saw a deer hanging out by the lake as well. The campsite was great and there was even a pulpit and benches set up back in the wood which we attributed to scouts.

 Another view of the campsite.

 Cam, Dad, and me by the campfire. We caught some nice water that evening and everyone but Mom and Dad got to ski. It was a blast. We had some yummy tin foil dinners that we ate in the tent to escape mosquitoes!

 So peaceful! The next morning Marybeth joined us and we had a pretty full day of skiing, wake boarding, and just enjoying the sunshine!

 The water was rough in the morning and this is the best picture of me skiing. Not the greatest ski trip I've ever had, but it was fun!

 Here is Marybeth who was a pro at everything she tried! She got out of the wake on the wake board and handled it like a pro!

 It was a fabulous day!

 Marybeth also tried skiing which she said she hadn't done in years. Here is a pic of her dropping a ski! We were all shocked to see her try it because it took us years to get to that point. Look at how steady she is though! It was so much fun to have her around for the weekend! Thanks for coming Marybeth!

 Here is Eric cutting it up! He is getting really good! Other events of the weekend included watching the Harry Potter movie, and riding the horse, and playing games, and a kayaking trip with Grandpa at Market Lake which was a first for me. We saw a ton of beautiful birds and it was really cool. It was also my parents 26th wedding anniversary! Congrats to the best parents ever!

 This last Monday I went with my friend T to do some biking at Sundance ski resort. We rode the lift up and rode our bikes down on the most awesome trails ever! Sundance was amazingly beautiful and it was such a fun day. I learned a lot about riding my bike on tricky trails.

 Here is a pic of T and me on the lift up.

This is out of order, but here is Cam skiing. he is getting real good and even dropped a ski several times with some good success.

So despite my attempts to ride well at Sundance I did crash a couple of times, once in the gravel, and once on some wet grass. I came down harder than I realized and when I got home I discovered the bruising that was a result of the falls. You can't see it in the picture but this bruise on my leg was VERY swollen and painful. This is the first or second day after it happened. I am still recovering from these wounds, but I am no where near as sore as I was.

This is the smaller bruise on my other leg. Also rather painful, but it doesn't hurt at all now. It is still a nice purple color however!

Yet another picture of the big bruise. I have never had a bruise this large in my life!

And a finishing picture of Sundance area! It was so much fun.

This Saturday Marybeth and I are competing in a triathlon. I work the night before, so that will be a little difficult, but we are mostly doing it for the fun! It is a race sponsored by a singles stake down here. The swim is 600 yards, run 5 K, and bike 12.5 miles. If I can stay awake and I am not too sore from my bruises it should be a lot of fun! I will try to take pictures!