McKay's USAFA Graduation

In honor of McKay being promoted to 1st Lieutenant today and the 2nd year anniversary of his graduation, I made him this little video.  I can not even begin to tell you what a happy, happy day this was for us!  

Congratulations my 1st Lieutenant!  I love you!

Getty

When I was in high school my family came out to California to visit my oldest brother.  Besides spending time with my brother, one of my favorite memories of our trip was visiting the Getty Museum.  I knew that one day I wanted to come here with my husband, I just didn't know that day would come so soon, or that my husband would be this sensational!  

As you take the tram up the hill to the museum, it feels like you are entering the space age, or as McKay put it, "Like entering the planet Risa from Star Trek."  

The best part about the museum is the free admission!  Thanks Getty for being awesome! 

The museum was unbelievable to me then and still is now.  I didn't even need to step inside the museum before I could appreciate the museum's amazing architecture, grounds and views of Los Angeles.  And by the way, I really love hanging out with this guy! 

The museum has many famous and wonderful works of art.  Below are just a few of my favorites.

This was McKay's favorite.

Look at this male model!  What a good looking guy I married!  Rrrarr, Baby!

Puppy Love

McKay and I are in love!  

Yes, yes, with each other of course, but also with these little pups, Milo and Emma!  We wish we could claim this little teacup Chihuahua and Great Dane pup as our own, but alas, we are only their puppy sitters.

Below is gorgeous baby Emma, the Great Dane puppy.  This was the face Emma gave me when I said goodbye to her and had to go into work.  It was painful, only for me.

Look at that little face and body!  I can't believe this one is going to grow to the same size as me!!!  Every time we go visit them at their parent's house, she has grown at least 5 inches!  Why can't puppies stay puppies!

Milo, the teacup chihuahua was definitely the dominant one, despite his size.  He would always drive Emma out of her bed.  Don't worry Emma.  When you grow up you can just sit on Milo.  

So, technically, McKay and I are not supposed to have animals in our apartment, otherwise we would have already got a puppy and like 3 cats by now, but its ok because it was just temporary.  I mean look at them!  At night, they would get so lonely and start whining and barking, which I probably should have let them learn to sleep through the night, but because we didn't want the neighbors to know and report us, I went out and slept on the couch next to them.  Yes, I know.  They had me wrapped around their little paws.  Every night, without fail, Milo would glare up at me on the couch with his puss and boot eyes, then pathetically attempt to jump up, to which I always grabbed him, snuggled him in like a teddy bear and feel back asleep.  It was heaven!  Or should I say doggie heaven!

McKay got pretty attached to these little charmers.  The best was playing with them until they just fell asleep in your arms from exhaustion.  I love how much little puppies sleep.

We even went for an outing to the beach, or at least tried to.  Every 10 feet someone would stop us with high-pitched exclamations of "Oh my!  They are so cute!  What kind of puppies are they?"  One lady even offered McKay $500 right on the spot to buy one of them!  Santa Monica and their dogs!  Shesh!  I must admit, McKay got even more attractive to me on this outing.  I don't know what it is about a man with puppies, but yum!

We definitely can't wait to puppy sit them again.  Hopefully it is not doggie sitting by then.  Emma, bless her big heart, might be a handful by then.

Somewhere in Time

Sometimes I feel like this would be a good title for most of my posts as I am still catching up, but it is definitely appropriate for this one.  Before our next excursion in Michigan, I sat McKay down to watch the timeless romantic, Somewhere in Time.  With Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour starring in this fabulous 80's treasure, how could it not be wonderful?  McKay loved it and was now pumped to see Mackinac island where this movie was filmed.

The only way to get over to the island is by these ferryboats.

When you arrive on the island it is as though you have jumped back in time to the early 1900's.  There are no vehicles on the island, only horse-drawn carriages...

...and a multitude of bikes...

...and lots and lots of fudge!

LOADS!!!!

The island was an important point of commerce during the fur trade around the late 1600's.  After the American Revolutionary War started, Fort Mackinac was built by the British, but did not see any battles until the War of 1812.  Since then, it has become a place of tourism, seeing almost 15,000 people a day in the summers!

While on the island, we bumped into my harp teacher, who was playing at a wedding.  Could you pick a more romantic place to get married?  Seriously!

Since there were no cars or motorcycles to travel around the island on, we rented some bikes and made the peaceful, quiet and calming trip around the island.  However, with Mr. Speedy here, sometimes I felt a bit like Sister Uchtdorf, from the story in Elder Utchdorf's most recent General Conference talk, where he explains his desire to become more competitive.I love how Elder Uchtdorf puts it though:

My wife, Harriet, and I love riding our bicycles. It is wonderful to get out and enjoy the beauties of nature. We have certain routes we like to bike, but we don’t pay too much attention to how far we go or how fast we travel in comparison with other riders.

However, occasionally I think we should be a bit more competitive. I even think we could get a better time or ride at a higher speed if only we pushed ourselves a little more. And then sometimes I even make the big mistake of mentioning this idea to my wonderful wife.

Her typical reaction to my suggestions of this nature is always very kind, very clear, and very direct. She smiles and says, “Dieter, it’s not a race; it’s a journey. Enjoy the moment.”

How right she is!

Read the whole talk here!  Of Regrets and Resolutions

Luckily, like Sister Uchtdorf, I was able to reign in my stallion and help him to worry less about finishing the ride and more about enjoying the moment.

I even got him to stop for some Zen time by one of the many rock piles along the beach.

Last Sunday, he taught a lesson in church from this exact talk and shared this experience explaining that Marielle was right.  He thanked me on Sunday and said, "I'm so glad I have you to help me enjoy the moments!"  How cute he is.

After a lovely dinner by the water...

...we hopped into a buggy and made our way past all the quaint houses...

...up to the most spectacular hotel of them all! 

The Grand Hotel

Many presidents and important people have stayed here over the years, but all McKay and I cared about doing was seeing all the places from Somewhere in Time.

We proceeded to reenacted all the scenes.  

This is the room where Jane Seymour stayed.

And this is where Christopher Reeves cried like a little baby...

...before the quintessential, reuniting kiss after the long run down the stair, which we did too.  It was quite fun...and romantic if I might add.

Below is our spoils of the day.  

You can't really leave the island without some fudge.  The fudge stores are everywhere and I swear they must waft the fudge's sweet aroma out onto the streets, begging all to come hither.

Goodbye Mackinac Island,

 Goodbye U.P. 

and Goodbye Mackinac Bridge!