Remembering Our Anniversaries

September 19th

Remembering our anniversaries

Written by both of us

Every year we are reminded of how lucky we are to have found each other. Stephanie has been such a blessing in my life, I don't know where I would be or who I would be without her. She is amazing and no matter how we spend our anniversaries together, the only thing that matters is that they are spent together remembering all the reasons that we were made for one another.

For our 1st anniversary Josh surprised me by getting 2 nights at the South Mountain Pointe Resort in Arizona. We were coaching Micah and Lucy's soccer teams at the time, and had team pictures, so Saturday we left the hotel - went to the games - took team pictures, and then later back to the resort.

For our 2nd anniversary we celebrated by going to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii. It was an all day outdoor event (and it poured on us half of the time - thank goodness they gave us poncho's). We had a blast and were even invited to go dance onstage during the luau because we were celebrating our anniversary. It was a very memorable day.


Our 3rd year we were living in our 2nd TVA apartment in Hawaii, but flew to Las Vegas (where we live now), and enjoyed the night on the Strip. One of the places we stopped was the M&M factory and we enjoyed the cool September weather of Las Vegas. That trip helped us to realize how much we would enjoy living in Vegas.

For our 4th year we had recently moved to Vegas because Josh was starting his job. Unfortunatly, this meant that he would be in training for the next three weeks. So we decided to celebrate early. We went to Claim Jumper for lunch before he left, and then Grandma Shamo took us to Milo's for dinner. Then on our actual anniversary date, I had gone to AZ while Josh was in California, so he had roses delivered to my parents door where I was staying. What a sweet husband.


This year, our 5th anniversary, we booked a room out at Lake Las Vegas at the Montelago Village which is 15-20 miles away from downtown. It was a very relaxing weekend. We ate at an Italian Restuarant for dinner, a little cafe on the lake for breakfast, went swimming, looked at some condo's that were for sale, and ate at Bistro outside over looking the stage while "Jazz on the Lake" took place. It was very sweet and romantic.

I truly am so lucky to have such a sweet and thoughtful husband. We have so much fun when we are together. Spending time with him reminds me of all the precious moments we have shared. Joshua is my best friend, and I love him with all my heart.

Hawley Lake

Annually Josh's family goes to Hawley Lake over Labor Day Weekend (yes we know that was two months ago, we just have been too busy to post). We rent cabin's up in Northern Arizona where we can relax, play games, and enjoy one anothers company. We had a lot of fun as we played games, ate tons of food and enjoyed the cool weather of the mountains. It rained a lot, but that did not stop us from having fun. This year a couple of new games were played. The first was for the little ones and it was called "Run around the cabin as many times as possible." Another game that was popular this year was frisbee golf through the forest, and the last game that we invented was throw the ball around and try to hit people when they were not expecting it. All great games. It was definitely worth the trip.

For more details on the trip check Jerry and Stacy's blog post on Hawley lake at http://barneymoments.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html

Pine Valley again and Visiting the Peltons

August 23rd and 24th I went to Pine Valley again, but this time my awesome hubby came along with me. On the way up we listened to an audiobook. It is a ritual and makes all our road trips seem quicker. Actually, we listen to them almost every time we are in the car. We have great discussions on the topic we are listening about. We started this back when we were engaged, and now any who rides with us gets to enjoy whatever topic we have chosen for that trip. Just a heads up to those who may hitch a ride :)

But back to the actual post. Pine Valley was beautiful. We know that some of our friends are spoiled with great weather during the summer but not here in Vegas, so Pine Valley is a nice get away for us.

My Dad, the Grill Master, cooked up a feast for everyone to enjoy. We even had Uncle Bud and Aunt Sue stop by for dinner, it was great to see them.

Josh and I played Aerobie for a few hours laughing hysterically as we tried to catch the aerobie under our legs and through the trees. We even managed to throw it back and forth at least twenty times without dropping it. Now that's talent :)

Later we played Settlers of Catan, one of our favorite games, and then we spent the rest of the evening talking and watching the Olympics.

This trip was extra fun because we got to see some old friends from Hawaii. Eric and Ginger Pelton, who went to school with Josh at BYU-Hawaii, now live in St. George. We were able to stop, have dinner, and catch up Sunday evening. My how time flies. Eric is coaching tennis at Dixie State and Ginger is starting up her own massage business. (We may be visiting more often now that we know that.) The kids had grown up so much it was amazing. Dinner was great and their house was so much fun. It had a room for everyone. From a pirate ship bed to home-theater, it looks like they are going to have a great home. Thanks for letting us stop by.

Aaron and Le Reve

On Thursday, August 21st, Aaron stopped by to have dinner with me on his way to Pine Valley. It was short notice but we had a good time and some yummy spaghetti, muffins and salad. I was glad he stopped by.

Friday August 22nd we went to the Le Reve show at the Wynn Hotel. It was a very good performance held in a round aqua theater. It was amazing to watch. We really enjoyed it!

This is what the stage looks like. The middle is a giant pool of water with moving stages that move up a down for each scene. Luckily, we were on the fourth row just outside of the splash zone.

You are not allowed to take pictures during the show because it could be dangerous for the performers (they were doing crazy stunts into the pool). We took this one after the show, from the top of the seats looking down at the aqua stage.

Pine Valley with the fam

Saturday August 16th I drove up to Pine Valley to hang out with my family at the cabins until Sunday the 17th. Josh still was on a client of his with a 6/30/08 year end, so had a deadline to meet, and he couldn't make it :(, and Aaron (my younger brother) didn't go up until later that week.

I had a great time with my sisters and was able to see Marianne's new tiny little puppy Davie! Davie was only 6 weeks old and adorable! She bought her after a grocery shopping trip where she was being sold by the door.

Let me just tell you that my family loves her!!! We grew up with Molly (our Golden Retriever), so we preferred big dogs, but Davie is just adorable. She is tinier than even small dogs -- she is soooo cute.

Saturday evening my grandma took us to the annual Pine Vally BBQ. My grandma is just awesome she is always doing fun things and we just love spending time with her. Oh, and I think she is very stylish too.

Sunday we attended church at the little LDS Pine Valley chapel which is the actually one of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints places to visit in Utah. This chapel is pretty distinct because the architect of the building was a shipbuilder. So the chapel was designed as an upside-down ship hull in 1868.  Check it out at http://www.lds.org/placestovisit/location/0,10634,1796-1-1-1,00.html

I love visiting Pine Valley with family!

The Dark Knight IMAX and Mindy, Sterling, Lynn and Travor staying

Wednesday August 13th Josh and I went to see The Dark Knight at the IMAX theater. I had already seen the movie with my brother Aaron, but Josh had not, so we used these free movie tickets that we had and went to see it at the IMAX. It featured six squences filmed with IMAX camera's which "marks the first time ever that a major feature film has ever been even partially shot using IMAX cameras..."

My family knows that I love lists, and have lists for all sorts of things that I want to do (I had a Stake President who once said "a goal not written down is just a dream," so I constantly write down things that I want to do) and one of the things on my list was to see a movie in an IMAX theater. I had never done that before, so we killed 2 birds with one stone. Or perhaps more than that. We went on a nice date, Josh was able to see the movie, and I was able to see it at an IMAX theater.

Thursday night August 14th Mindy (my sister), Sterling (my brother-in-law), Lynn and Travor came to stay before heading up to Veyo - near St. George - to climb (they love rock climbing).  In the morning we ate cinnamon rolls, and Mindy was great because I had to run off to work so she did those dishes.  She has always been a great older sister, and very responsible.  I love her a ton (and love Sterling too and am glad that he is in the family)!

AZ Wedding and Vegas with the Taylor's

Thursday August 7th my parents flew me down for a very quick trip to AZ for Joe (one of my cousins) wedding (Josh was on a client who has a year end deadline, so he had to stay and work). I had not seen my Grandma Grant who flew from Dallas for 4 years, so I knew that I needed to come.  I had a blast! There was a family get-together Thursday night, and the reception Friday night. I forget how hilarious my cousins are because we all live in different states. I always have a blast when I am with them and leave with a sore stomach from laughing so hard.

Saturday the 9th around noon I flew back to Vegas, did a little shopping and then Patrick and Crystal Taylor drove out to stay with us. We ordered Mimi's Cafe takeout and then just hung out at the house.

Vegas is a great place to live because we get to see so many people. The Taylor's are awesome and excellent parents to their daughter Kaiya! Crystal and I were able to serve together in callings back in Hawaii, and then we lived next door to each other in one of our TVA apartment. We use to have them over to eat cookies with ice cream, we would play Apples to Apples, and they would let us borrow their Season DVD of CSI. I am so grateful for all the good friends that we have made since we have been married. It was funny, back in Hawaii, to hear Crystal scream when a cockroach was discovered. Cockroaches are something that we will never miss about Hawaii. They were HUGE!

Road to the LPGA

Tammi came down to Boulder city over her birthday, so July 28th we got together to have dinner and to celebrate it. Later that week, Saturday August 2nd, Steph and I went to the Black Mountain Golf Course in Henderson, NV for our first round of golf together, and Steph's first round of golf ever. I have to say that she did quite well and there were a lot of people there that noticed. Or should I say a lot of elderly gentlemen who were "really" nice. It was something I had never experienced before. When we first got there we went up to the driving range and took a few practice swings. Steph attracted attention right away when the man next to her had no trouble in giving her advice, which was very helpful. Then while we were playing one of the course marshals kept driving by and giving her golf balls. She only lost one, so this was the first golf trip I have ever been on that I left with more balls than I started with. Needless to say I think that everyone there was very impressed with Stephanie and how good she was...why else would they be so nice to her? We had a great time and are planning our next outing very soon.

To Arizona and Back

July 19th through the 25th we headed down to AZ because Josh had his annual training in Scottsdale. Josh stayed at the Scottsdale Conference Center with an employee roommate, or I would have stayed out with him, and I stayed with my parents.

Sunday night we had dinner with the Schaeler side of the family at Grandma Schupples. It was a lot of fun to see family. We sang with the kids, taught Uncle David about Facebook, mingled and had a good time. Afterwards Josh headed off to the hotel.

Monday night I went to dinner with Josh's dad's side at Brio Tuscan Grill. I was impressed with Micah and Jackson's creativity with the balls of dough, and had a good time chatting with those on my end of the table. Later that night I went to the 10:00 showing of The Dark Night with my brother Aaron.


Tuesday my mom and I went searching for laminating film so I could laminate all of Josh and my nursery classes stuff, then headed to the store to get strawberries so we could make homemade Strawberry Jam. I had never made it before, but other jam doesn't compare, and Josh has even specifically asked for it from my mom - which she brought up to us in her suitcase when she flew up to Vegas. Then that evening my mom and I went to Paradise Bakery for Girls Night Out with their Enrichment group.

Wednesday night Josh and I met up at Crate and Barrel at the Scottsdale Fashion Square. Then we went to CrackerJax and rode the GoKarts (which I had not done since I was probably 15 or so). After wards we headed to Mickey's Hangover to meet up with the guys from Deloitte. I always enjoy meeting Josh's friends from work.


Thursday night I headed out to Scottsdale again and went to Josh's hospitality, and then we went to Old Town Scottsdale, most things were already closed down, but we were craving Milkshakes so we drove around until we found a place - a nice little local spot, Denny's (if you have ever heard of it :)

Friday night we headed back to Vegas. I was excited because we had cleaned the house perfectly before we left. It was clean with sheets washed, dishes done, floor mopped etc. I like to leave the house very clean. #1 - because I just like it clean, #2 - in case something terrible was to ever happen to us and we died, I would not want someone else to have to clean and go through my stuff, and #3- in case my house is ever broken into the police will be able to find fingerprints or traces of the burglar (I want to make it easier for the Las Vegas CSI).

Saturday we slept in late and then later that evening Josh took me out to Sammy Woodfired Pizza where we had some Thai Chicken Satays tapas which are tender marinated chicken skewers with spicy peanut ginger sauce (straight from the menu), and a LaDou's Barbecue Pizza (we debated about going to Archie's our favorite Thai Food Restaurant tonight as usual - but because we had a coupon for a free entre we decided to try something new). Afterwards we headed to Vons to grab some milk (a married date stop), then to Cold Stone for my Cheesecake Fantasy ice cream creation, and Josh got the Germanchokolatekake... Those who know me know that I do not like ice cream - except for this type at cold stone. This is the only type I will get. Josh always orders the same thing for me - (I love it that he orders for me when we go out --- he's a true gentleman). We ended the good evening watching National Treasure: Book of Secrets - what a busy week!

Rain, Magic and Family

July 16th was our 1st big rainstorm since we've moved into our house (way back in December). It was like Hawaii, where if you stood outside for two seconds you were drenched. It was a nice change for a few hours. I was so excited so I went out with my umbrella to watch but came back in soaked. Rain + Wind = Sideways rain.



July 17th we went to the Dixie Dooley Master Mystifier show. This was our first magic show and we had a good time. When getting the tickets they gave us 2 for 1 drink vouchers, so Josh and I (after much debate whether the bar would have anything for us) went to the bar and got ourselves some "virgin" Strawberry Daiquiris.



Friday night July 18th Melissa and Tyler Ward (some of my cousins) and their two kids, Ryan and Casey, drove through Vegas and stayed with us before heading out the next day to Utah. Josh went to bed around 11:30 because he had to work early while I stayed up and chatted till even later. It is always good to catch up with family.

Closet World

After months of needing some more hanging space, we had Closet World come July 15th and install a closet organizer in the master closet, and cupboards in the laundry room. The closet is my new favorite thing now! It just looks so nice and doubled our hanging space.

Before (not showing the space behind the door)


After


Closet with Josh to show the height


Before


After (although the room still needs to be painted though)

Aaron and DJ

As we have mentioned before that we love having people over. July 11th, 12th and 13th Steph’s younger brother Aaron, and his good friend DJ came to visit. Saturday Josh and the boys spent the morning and early afternoon wakeboarding and wakesurfing. Everyone had a great time and left without any injuries (just being sore).

Aaron DJ

After the lake they went to Capriottis (a sandwich shop here in Vegas) to get some much needed nourishment, and then headed to the home theater in the Shamo's basement for some Halo action. Aaron beat up on DJ and Josh. Even when Josh and DJ tried to double team him, their efforts proved unsuccessful and they were not able to. They took off Sunday afternoon after a good weekend. We enjoyed having them visit!

Stimmel's

On July 10th Leah and Taylor Stimmel (some of our good college friends from BYU-Hawaii) had a layover in Vegas on their trip to Florida, and Steph was able to pick them up to hang out for a few hours. We went to Jamba Juice (one of Leah's favorite places) and then to Josh's work so we could see him. Seeing old friends brings back so many memories, and is just fun! We love hanging out with the Stimmel's, and can't wait until it can be for a longer period of time because we can easily talk for hours! We will have to get together again soon!


Leah and Stephanie


Josh and Taylor

4th of July

The day started early as we drove out to Boulder City to meet up with the cousins and go to the Boulder City Parade. This year was especially awesome. There were a lot of politicians, which is our favorite part (not), some local businesses and then a lot of water. In Boulder it is a tradition that the last half of the parade is a big water fight where the people on the floats have water guns and the spectators do too. We sat across from a group that had four trash cans full of water! They really take it seriously out here.



Later on that day we had another fabulous BBQ which included great food and lots of it. The specialty of the night were the slushies that Jamie and Brandon made. After a good dinner the weekly croquet game got under way. This week was a little different as we combined two croquet sets together to make a giant course. Zach, the front-runner, was ousted from his top spot by Darrin. Zach said, “My game was off tonight and Darrin played exceptionally well. I’ll have to get him next time.” (Some skeptics think that Zach might have thrown the game - on account of it being Darrin’s birthday). After croquet we (of course) watched fireworks on the balcony where we had the perfect view and no traffic. What more could you want? It was definitely a busy but fun week, and we are glad to have made so many memories with our families - ones that we will never forget.

Disneyland

Shortly after recovering from our lake trip we headed out to Disneyland. From Las Vegas it is only a few hours drive, so we took off Monday morning June 30th and arrived at our hotel in the early afternoon. We were glad to be at Disneyland, and glad that we all got there. We had our doubts with such a big group... and we were lucky because only one car had to turn around to go back and pick up Chase who had been left behind. We stayed at the Grand California right there in Disneyland (thanks to Steph's parents). It was perfect! The best thing about it was that when we got tired, or wet, all we had to do was walk a little ways to change or rest. Since we had such a big group we decided that we should divide and conquer all the rides, and we all had a good time. The highlight of the trip had to be the Tower of Terror. Just like the last time we went as a family, we met up and got 21 people of our group together to go on the ride. For those of you who don’t know, the Tower of Terror is an elevator type ride and fits up to 21 people. We all got on and it was a blast and not to mention loud. After two days of non-stop action packed excitement, we drove home for some much needed rest.



We even bumped into some good friends from AZ there... (Cody and Jenny Goodman) What a small world.



I just wanted to compare some photos from the family Disneyland trip 2004 and 2008!

This was Tower of Terror 2008 with our group of 21



Tower of Terror 2004 with our group of 21



Here is us in front of California Screamin 2008



and in 2004




Steph was so excited to get a picture with Pluto because she thought she didn't have one 2008



but she did 2004



Josh and Aaron in line for California Screamin 2008



and in 2004



Marianne and Steph on the Teacup ride 2008



and Marianne and Steph (with Sterling and Aaron) back in 2004



And Josh managed to be in the front here on Splash Mountain 2008



and in 2004



What fun memories!

June 28th

We just barely started this blogging thing, and are already behind on all the fun events that have been happening. The past few weeks have been packed with family activities because everyone wanted to get together before my Uncle Larry and Aunt Jacque headed to Chili at the end of this month. Anytime the Corbridge and Shamo clans get together - it is nonstop fun.

Saturday June 28th we went out on Lake Mead. The family set up camp on an island beach in the middle of Lake Mead. We put a tent and trampoline/slide and we spent the day at the Lake - some were able to do some wakesurfing and then we played king of the trampoline. Christian and Caleb were tough as they competed against all the adults. We also invented a soon to be Summer Olympic event called rock diving. The basis of the competition is to find the biggest rock possible, hold onto it as long as you can as it drags you to the bottom of the lake and hopefully have enough breath to make it back to the surface for air. We would have never discovered it if it were not for the steep drop off just past our beach camp. Luckily we all came back up. What fun!



Later that evening we had a BBQ with all sorts of good food. Uncle Bud prepared gourmet burgers and hot dogs and others brought amazing sides. It was like a summer thanksgiving feast. We also played an intense game of Bocce Ball. While the red team jumped out to an early lead the green team made a serious comeback and ended up taking home the championship. Until next year red team, keep practicing!


The Line up.......The Toss


The Competition

Date Nights

Every weekend Josh and I go out on a date. When we first got married we didn't take the time to do weekly dates, and our relationship suffered from it. We didn't realize that dates didn't have to be spending a lot of money, just getting out and doing something. Since then, including the whole time we were in Hawaii (even when we didn't have a car), Josh and I have gone out every weekend. Hawaii was fun because I would get off work, and him out of class and we would change and walk down to the Laie shopping center and eat at one of the little restaurants there - taco bell, pizza hut or subway. When we ordered pizza, we would get those personal pan pizza's and some root beer and take it to the beach. Some of our best dates were our little dinners on the beach. When we had a car, or when we went out with some of our awesome friends, we tried so many other great restaurants and activities. In Arizona we always had things to do because we knew our way around. With us there is no set price. Some of the dates hardly cost anything, and others are a bit more. We just enjoy spending time together.

As for this past weekend, Friday night when Josh got off work we went and tried a new little restaurant Rice and Noodles. We just drove down the road until we found something that looked interesting. It was good. Saturday night we to the Luxor. We are trying to do a lot of the fun attraction here in Vegas, so we rode the Imax Ridefilm and went through the Kind Tut Museum.


As for Sunday, we went to Boulder City, had dinner with my grandma and saw the family. What a nice weekend!

Soccer Team

Josh and I live in a great area with a great ward (for those who don't know, a ward usually consists of 200 to 500 church members that attend the chapel at a certain time). There are lots of different activities and different groups that we can participate in from our church if we want. So Josh and I joined the soccer team. It is a co-ed team that plays in a local league in the evenings. It has been quite enjoyable even though I am extremely out of "soccer" shape and there are never enough girls to be able to sub out. Thanks goodness I have a hot husband who always manages to score multiple times during the game and saves me if I need some backup on the field.

Our season started out very cold (at least for my my warm blooded body) and then bam... overnight we have been playing in the 100's. We made it to the playoffs and our last game for the season was on Wednesday evening (it was 104 degrees according to the thermometer in the car). We lost, but it was still fun to play. I'm sure our team will continue to improve as we play together longer. We'll take the summer off so we don't die in the heat, but plan on playing some Calle (street soccer - www.callesoccer.com) in the evenings to keep in shape (or for me to not get any more out of shape than I already am).

I think that I lucked out marrying someone who grew up playing soccer like I did. Not only do I enjoy watching him play (when he was on BYU-Hawaii's team) but I understand the game. It has allowed us each to continue doing the things that we love - together. Josh and I definitely have our differences and have had our ups and downs, but he is my best friend who I can share and do anything with. We are truly perfect for one another.

It Starts

After much anticipation we have officially decided to start posting on our Blog. There has been much pressure and many sleepless nights trying to figure out where we should begin and what we wanted the world to know about us. We came to the conclusion that we just needed to start so that our friends would stop reminding us that we had not posted anything for the last 10 months. Honestly, what more do you need than a sideshow, I mean a picture is worth a thousand words so by having thirty one pictures that are posted, we have posted at least 31,000 words. But enough of the silly talk :)


After almost five years of marriage and close to 20 different moves we have decided to settle down, at least for the time being, in our new home in Las Vegas. We like our new home a lot, we were even featured in the Las Vegas Review Journal and in a local New Home magazine. We are not sure why, but I would be willing to bet it is because I have a Super Hot Wife, just a guess.


We really have enjoyed our time so far here in Vegas, there are so many things to do like kayaking,


wakeboarding,


the "Strip",


going to Archie's (our favorite thai food place),

golfing,


hiking, etc.


We have had many visitors in our short time here (the beauty of living in one of the top tourist destinations) and would love to have many more - even if just for a night.