San Antonio

We did San Antonio in 2 days. I need to go back again...just not until it cools off a bit (Texas is hot!)

Our first day we did Sea world. Our first stop was the sea lions. I am sad I didn't have a better camera. Most of my pictures of the animals didn't turn out.

Addie was navigating us ;)

 Sea lion.

Next we went to catch the Killer whale show. Which we did get any photos of but was incredible. Some how everyone around us go super wet and we barely got touched (which I was thankful for.)

We rode a couple of roller coasters and then went to see the penguins.

Addie thought the penguins were super cute. Next we went to the kid zone. Addie did want to touch the wet area she just looked around and then went on her way. She did love the rope course and rode a couple of her own roller coaster!

 Me and Barrett hung out in the shade.

 We then went to see the dolphins. I wish we had come earlier in the day because turns out they rope off the dolphins an hour before the park closes (thus why we will be going again before we leave texas) We did get to go see them and a couple of them came super close, but we weren't able to feed them or anything :(

 

It was a great day. Exhausting, but great. 

Being the history buff I am, there was NO WAY we were going to pass up the chance to go to 'The Alamo' while we were in San Antonio. So the next day we did The Alamo, River walk, had dinner with some old friends, and then drove home.

We did an audio tour through and it was fantastic. If you ever go, I highly recommend it. You learn so much!

The tree was gorgeous. If I am remembering correctly, it was planted when the alamo was built and was something like 40 years old when it was transplanted there. 

Addie firing the cannon.

Barrett making a wish

River walk is so nice. I see why it a main attraction when you go. 

Our last stop before leaving was downtown to visit some old cathedrals. 

I wish we had more time. There were a couple of things I would do differently (They had an old movie theater you could tour. Wish I had known that! I would also make it a 3 day trip at least.)

5 years ago

 I was here.

With all of these people. 

I married this man.

It was the best day. 

I now have this.

and I thank God every day for the decision I made this day, 5 years ago.

Since we are reminiscing...

  From when we were dating.

 

Conference center while we were engaged.

our first engagement gift.

30 Things: Those who have ifluenced me

So we have been sick for the last two weeks. It was not fun. But I will be posting about our trip to sea world soon! 


These are those in my life who influence or have influenced me. When I started this I was wrote so much about each person (They are all such amazing people!) so I had to pear it down a bit. Try to keep it to a paragraph. I wish I could go into more detail but since I have mentioned these people in my personal journal I think this will suffice for now.

Family

1. My husband. Obviously. He is my best friend and my partner. Life is just better with him.

2. My children. Right now, probably the most influential people in my life. My whole day is planned around them. From what we eat to what we do, the decisions I make on a daily basis is influenced by them (good thing the are so adorable!)

3. My parents - Bel and Penny. I did a post earlier on how wonderful these people are so of course they are influential to me.


4. My Siblings - This goofy group of individuals are amazing. I love them so much, and even though I am sure I am not always the best sibling, I am glad they still put up with me.

-----------------------------------

Friends

5. Krysti - She is amazing. She is one of the kindest people I have ever met. She was one of the few friends I had after I moved high schools and the only one I have kept in contact with (no so good since having baby #2, :( sorry krysti) I love this lady so much and am so grateful that I met her.

6. Holly - (Okay, I know you read this blog - and I am sorry I have probably never told you how amazing I think you are. For that I am sorry. Love you rock buddy) I consider my relationship with Holly as one of the greatest I have ever had, not to mention easiest. We just naturally 'fell into step' with each other. I am pretty certain that without her influence, I would not have been prepared to meet my husband and marry him when I did. I haven't talked to her in forever and seen her even longer than that, but she will always be my friend. Of that I am sure of.

7. Ruth (On the right) - Another amazing lady! Amazingly kind and self sacrificing. You can't help but love her. We were room- roommates for a semester and we did so much together. She was always a true friend and I always admired her for the example she set.

After writing about Ruth, I thought I should mention that my roommates from that year were amazing (shown in the picture above are Sarah and Elizabeth). We had the greatest time and I love those girls. I will have memories from that year forever!

------------------------------------------------

Teachers

8. Kim Smith and Ashley Brunjes - Both were my YW leaders. They obviously put thought and care into each lesson and activity. The ways they influenced are numerous and I will forever be grateful for the hard work and sacrifice.

9. TheRedheadedhostess.com - Okay, this seems silly to me because it is a website, but she has forever changed how I do my scripture study, and thus affected my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I don't think there is a more influential thing you can do.

10. My religious professors at BYU-I - I did a lot of research with my religious professors before I signed up for the classes I needed. I did not want to feel like it was just another class, but I wanted good teachers that would help me learn and grow in the gospel. It was 100% worth it. Don't get me wrong, (1) I had some amazing teacher while at school and (2) those classes were not easy, however, I remember the lectures, paper, and projects of my religion classes with joy.



This was a hard list to put together, but I believe that this is the 10 ten most influential people in my life. I feel like so many other people should be mentioned but like I said earlier, this is good enough for now.