Busy Summer (Part 3) - Finale

 Me and Chris did a lot of fun things this summer so I will summarize it here. This will be a long post with a lot of pictures.

First of all, with my whole family here we had to do some Thompson Acrobatics. In this picture, we are making a table. It took quite a few tries, but we got it, almost.

Next we did a pyramid. The kids on top were chickens. Their parents will need to toughen them up so that next time we meet they will be able to stand on the top of the pyramid.

On their drive across the country, my sister, Jen, her family and my niece, Kiki, stopped by Utah. I was so lucky I was able to see them. It was fun playing with all the kids. Even though we only saw each other for an hour it was so much fun. And I bet the kids liked getting out of the car and running around for a bit.

 We also did a bit of hiking this summer. This was a short hike to a little waterfall.

In the summer usually I stick to hikes and stuff like that because I'm not really a daredevil or anything but this summer I've been doing some more exciting stuff. Chris and I went jet-skiing with our friends Doug and Mollie. Jet-skiing is so fun. The last time I went, I was 7 and wasn't allowed to drive it. So Chris and I took turns driving this jet-ski. It really tires out your arms.

 And an action shot.

We went Kayaking. The water was pretty calm in this picture but we came up to some pretty wild rapids. One of the rapids we went through, I almost drowned. Ok, that might be an exaggeration but it was pretty scary. We got turned sideways on the rapids and I was chucked out and even though I was wearing a life jacket, the water sucked me under. While I was under, the water banged me around some rocks at the bottom and I hit my head, knees and ankles. Finally, I got to the surface but at that point I had no choice but to ride the rest of the rapids just in the water. Once I was out of the rapids Chris pulled me back into the kayak, not sure how he stayed in the kayak and rode through it just fine.

We also went to the Utah Olympic Park. It has obstacle courses, ziplines, a toboggan track, and ski lifts. Chris and I tore up the obstacle courses. We did not plan enough time to get everything we wanted done. It was definitely worth it though.

The park also had a dead drop where you are attached to a rope and walk off a ledge. It took a little encouragement to get me to go. I know that it's super safe, but still it is hard to take that first step.

This has been the best summer of my life. Not only did I marry the most amazing man I have ever known but we have so many adventures together. We are constantly doing activities that are outside of what I would normally do but it's helping me overcome my fears. And it's great having someone who is there telling me it will all be okay. Basically, my summer has been amazing.

Busy Summer (Part 2) - Jamaica

For our honeymoon we went to an all-inclusive, adults-only hotel in Jamaica, Jewel Dunn's River Resort. I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone wanting to have a relaxing Caribbean vacation. And man, all-inclusive is the way to go. We drank juice from the minibar everyday and ate so much food. Now I'm craving some pineapple guava juice and a jerk chicken wrap right. It was so carefree and Jamaica is beautiful. The ocean was so warm. and the breeze was perfect. Also, bartering with shopkeepers was fun; we bought a lot of stuff.

We had a beach-facing room so the view from our hotel room was amazing (look at that view from our balcony and my hunky husband--you drink that ginger Ale). The water is so blue there and it's so relaxing just hearing the trees swaying in the wind and the ocean waves breaking. Also our room was in a very convenient location, in the middle of everything but still not noisy.

Every restaurant we went to at the hotel was amazing. We had a 5 course meal every night. And the service was so nice. Also, we usually went to dinner earlier than most people so there was never a wait.

We did two excursions. One is the Dunn's River Falls hike. It's a 900 ft cascading waterfall surrounded by trees, that you hike through. The guides scrub the falls frequently so that they aren't slippery. It was gorgeous and there were pools in between sections of the falls were you can just relax for a few minutes. We also went to a botanical garden that was just gorgeous and the flowers were so bright.

Did I already mention that our hotel was cool? Well, they left little heart shaped slices of yummy chocolate cake with a cute swan design in our room on the second day. It was pretty cute and a nice surprise to come back to.

Another excursion we did was a zip-lining package; which included: zip-lining, a bobsled ride, a vertical drop and riding on a ski lift up and down the mountainside. For some reason I decided to do my last zip-line upside down. It was terrifying yet fun. And riding the ski lift over the canopy of trees and seeing the ocean from high up was such a magnificent sight. Jamaica is probably the most beautiful place I have been.

 At the top of the mountain was an infiniti pool with a water slide. You can't beat that view.

Here we are just chilling. Oh, how I miss that place.

Busy Summer (Part 1) - The Wedding

Ok so i am way behind on posting stuff for the blog so this will be a long post split in three.

As everyone knows (at least I hope only people who know this fact are following my blog) I got married on June 8th to Chris John in the Bountiful Utah Temple.

The temple was absolutely gorgeous and the day was just perfect (other than the fact that I didn't get to have any crepes at my reception, I hear they were delicious). I am so lucky to have married Chris. He is an amazing man who is so incredibly sweet to me.

I'm so grateful for all the people who came and celebrated with me. I am so loved to have so many family and friends support me.

Tiffany and Priscilla

Karalee, Mollie and Michelle

I love my sisters

This picture turned out difficult to take

Not sure what is happening in this picture but I love it.

 The temple was on a hill and had a nice view of the valley below. It was a warm day so we took most of the pictures in the morning before the ceremony. And good thing we did because my dress had like 10 layers, at least.

 The Thompson Clan. It was difficult to get the kids looking at the picture.

 Here are Flip and my flower girls, Ali and Kat,. My flower girls were so sweet. They held my bouquet in between all of my pictures. Not to mention they kept telling me I looked like a princess. What more could a girl want on her wedding day?