New Year's 2015/2016

Okay, so I know today is the last day in January, which means this is a month late.  But better late than never right?  Here are the events of our New Year's celebration.

We had some friends over for New Year's Eve.  We had several couples, and then the most die hard couple, Jared and Breanna, stuck around for a sleepover.

As always, an important part of our New Year tradition is trying new foods.

The weirdest thing we tried was parsnip chips.  I don't recommend them.

Robyn was not a fan.

Jared was indifferent.

Breanna was also not a fan.

Various treats

Robyn talking to Jackie

Jared and the Barbers

Of course, for the die hards, the part continued into the morning.  Jared and Breanna joined us for breakfast before heading off to do some New Year's day adventuring on our own.

You know a party is serious when the Cthulhu mask comes out.

My BFF is Married

This past weekend was a pretty big deal.

Jared William got married!

I know, you didn't think it was going to happen, but it totally did.  The festivities started with the reception on Friday night.  You may be thinking that having the reception before the wedding was a secret ploy to get gifts without having to go through with the marriage.  But don't worry, they did in fact get married the next day.

The great thing about having a good friend get married is that I've never been to a wedding where I ran into more people I knew than I did with this one.  (I only got pictures of a few of them.  I'm a bad kid.) The first person I ran into was my friend Kayli.  The bride and groom were busy talking to people that weren't me.  (Who does that?)  But Kayli and I made sure to get a selfie with them.  Kayli even pointed out where Jared was so that any viewers of the selfie wouldn't be confused.

Isn't that some helpful pointing?

We did eventually get to hang with Jared and Breanna.  They even consented to a picture with Robyn and I which must have been difficult considering how many pictures they had to endure over a few days.

Do you see all the preciousness?

We also ran into our good friend Jackie.  Her husband wasn't able to attend, but we were glad to add to our selfie collection.

Jared showed me the most important wedding gift he received.  He got a totally legit Katana.  It's basically the second coolest weapon behind a lightsabre.

I had to get a picture holding it.

And I got a picture with the sword and the groom.  But we were looking at the photographer, since the pictures she takes are way more expensive than the ones with my phone.

Near the end, we helped clean up and we were awarded with roses from the tables.  So I took credit for it and told Robyn I got her flowers.

The next day was the day of the actual wedding.  It was in the Salt Lake Temple, and it was beautiful.  After the sealing, we all waited outside for the happy couple to emerge.  Jared dipped his new bride and everyone cheered.

The back of that kid's head will forever be an important part of the memory.

Between the wedding and the luncheon, we had about an hour so we decided to walk over to the Church History Museum.  I made Robyn pose next to a picture of the Nauvoo Temple, because that's what I do.

When we got to the luncheon, I got to give the best man speech.  I've never spoken at a wedding before, except for my own.  Jared told me I was the keynote speeker, so I took a good ten minutes and shared some stories about the happy couple.  I did my best to share both funny stories, and stories that illustrated who they are as a couple.

After it was all over, we decided to get a picture of all the friends that were in attendance.

Getting the friends picture meant that I handed my phone to someone else, which meant Dave got a hold of it and this happened.

It was a great day.  I was so happy to celebrate it with them.  I'm so happy to have Breanna as a second BFF.  Now they just need to get back from their honeymoon so we can all have some good times as married folk.

Donut Falls

As you know, (or at least should know) I recently had a birthday and turned very old.

My BFF Jared W generally doesn't get me a gift for my birthday.  Instead, he usually gives me an adventure.  We had planned on a longer hike to Lake Blanche but he wasn't feeling super well so we did a little bit shorter hike to Donut Falls.  I'm super glad we did!

I had only been to Donut Falls once before, and we had done a night hike so I couldn't experience the full coolness of the falls.

The thing about this particular waterfall is that to really experience the coolness of it, you need some light and you have to be willing to get a little wet and cold.

The hiking part of it is only about 3/4 of a mile each way, but to get to where it's really awesome you have to do another couple hundred feet of climbing through the river.

Jared striking a pose in the water

Just clambering up some rocks.

When you get up there, you can see that the waterfall is pouring through a whole in the rock that looks like a donut.  (Hence the name.)

Sometimes it's important to look precious in front of the donut.

However, the really cool part is that you can crawl inside the donut and see it from the inside.  However, doing so requires wading through 1-2 feet of pretty cold water.  It's way worth it, though.

Jared and Breanna were way precious next to the entrance of the donut.

After stepping inside, Breanna realized it was way too cold for her, so she fled back down the river to where Robyn was waiting (she realized it was way too cold for her before we even began climbing through the river.)

The donut from the inside

The donut being eclipsed by my preciousness.

With no womenfolk, Jared and I had to be the cutest couple in front of the falls.

But lest you think the womenfolk weren't having good time while we were getting really cold and wet, there are selfies to prove of the good times they were having.

Look at all that gladness.  (This picture also shows how many people were climbing up to the waterfall at the top.)

Ever since doing this hike at night, I had added "See donut falls during the day" to my bucket list.  So I got to cross off another item.  It was a great adventure.  Thanks be unto Jared W for a fabulous time!

Oh, and since Robyn was underrepresented in some of the pictures, here is a picture of her on the hike up standing in a meadow filled with preciousness.