Washington with the Hardys

We went to Washington with the Marcus' family for almost two weeks. It was a great trip-- the first few days were spent in Silverdale, Poulsbo, Tacoma, Seattle, and Everett going to the zoo, Boeing, Pike's Place Market, beaches, and more. We had a blast! I have hundreds of more pictures, but I only could post a few (our internet wouldn't last long enough to put up more). These pictures are all from the last week we were up there when we stayed in LaPush. Yes, Twilight fans, LaPush! We also visited Forks, so we do have many pictures of sights from the books.
This is what the beaches look like. They're truly amazing. You have to climb over the driftwood to get to the beach. It's scary and fun. The only weird part is that you have to wear sweatshirts because it gets cold! :)

To get to Second and Third Beach, you have to hike a little, but the pathways were amazing! Gotta love the green forest!

A view with some of the water. We tended to go at low tide because then we could see tide pools with starfish and crabs. At one beach, we saw a seastar with 22 arms-- it's the most feared tidepool predator!

On Marcus' birthday, we had brownies and ice cream. Umpqua ice cream to be exact :) (I had saved all year to get him an iPod Touch, which I gave to him before we left. He needed to put his music on it for the trip :) I wish I had taken pictures-- he was so excited when he opened it!)

The Hoh Rainforest-- it is totally worth the sickening curvy road to visit it!

More Hoh. If you can even see, Marcus decided not to shave while at LaPush... I guess he felt older :)

...but not old enough to skip out on playing on top of sea stacks with his brother Paden. Climbing up was definitely easier than getting back down, if you can imagine.

We enjoyed looking for eagles, dolphins, seals, and any other kind of animals we could see. We also collected rocks and shells (you'll have to come visit to see our treasures), flew kites, read, ...

We had a great time in Washington. Thanks Hardys! Hopefully we'll get to return sometime.

Cake!

We made a cake to celebrate! We've been married for a month, Marcus just turned 22 (and he didn't have a real cake on his birthday), and I have a lot of free time! So maybe I just wanted to make a cake because I have made brownies too many times in my life-- it had been a rough day with lots of job applications and whatnot, so sugar was a must :)

Marcus decided we should make a double layer round cake with our new pans. It was way fun!

Frosting the funfetti cake


And it's finished :)

Yum!

I was impressed with how well it turned out. Don't worry, we won't get too fat eating sweets-- there's a ton left! Want some???

The final wedding shindig

Here are a couple pictures from our Open House last Saturday night at the Hardys' house. It was really fun, and it went by super fast. We were lucky again because the rain held off, and it was another beautiful night.

The food!

Marcus and I both actually ate dinner this time... and it was great. There were sandwiches, fruit, and a tomato salad. Yum!

Marcus and I stood outside on the porch. It really was a pretty setting.

The bride and groom... sort of. :)

Marcus had to get something inside, so Rea filled in.

Marcus' parents (the amazing hosts)

my mom

I think she enjoyed just being able to talk with people and eat.

The Hardys

There was no way I was staying in my big, beautiful, poofy white dress forever! :)

-------

It is sad to have all the wedding celebrations over, but it is nice having life calm down a little. We really are lucky though- we had a great wedding, reception, and open house.

Home

Our new apartment. Trying to fit a TV, drum set, and cello in one little living room is not an easy task, but Marcus made it happen...

And we love having our music areas. It does seem busy in this picture, but I didn't notice it as much when I look at the real thing.

The other side of the living room. Just ignore the corner behind the couch. At least you know we have a vacuum! :)

Our kitchen- fully loaded thanks to amazing friends and family. (You know you're in Provo when you have three more wedding announcements on the fridge!)

Our bedroom, equipped with a desk for Marcus and the beautiful quilt.

umm, just in case you were curious, we have a toilet. And the clocks for the person who takes longest in the bathroom... Marcus. :)

Our first big meal on the snazzy new dishes. It was really good- Marcus made pot roast!

-------

And that's our first apartment... yay!

Our Honeymoon

From Sunday to Thursday, we were in California! We stayed at the amazing Disneyland Hotel, in the Wonder Tower. It was so exciting. Marcus and I both love Disney!

This is just proof. We were there! :)

Of course, we had to take a picture by the gigantic Mickey Mouse that is out by the entrance to the hotel.

And this is the building we stayed in- this shows the entrance with the huge water fall out front. It was beautiful!

Marcus and me standing by the grass Pluto, Mickey, and Minnie. I want to learn to cut grass into shapes :) If we had taken the picture the other way, you would see a gazebo where a couple was married- they "drove off" in Cinderella's carriage!

-------

Monday, we went to Huntington Beach for the day. It was a great day, but a little on the cold side. Don't worry, that means we did get sunburned because the sun came out before we appropriately applied sunblock. Oops.

Marcus was really cold that morning. While I walked around and collected shells on the beach, Marcus...

...Sat under the towel and ate a banana.

He tried several times to get a picture like this-- this is the one that turned out best.

-------

We spent Tuesday at Disneyland and Wednesday at California Adventures. We really had a blast walking around, eating amazing food, going on the rides, and watching all the 3-D shows. It definitely is the happiest place on earth ;)

California Adventures

one of the million pictures we have wearing 3-D glasses. What a stud!

me and my hero (I am finally taller than him, so I had to crouch!)

Marcus and his other girl

We really had a blast. I can't believe it's already over. We'll have to plan another trip to Disneyland soon... ;)

Our Reception

The reception was later that evening in the backyard of a family we know. The weather had been stressful because it kept looking like it would rain, but it ended up being beautiful! Their very green backyard was a great backdrop, and I must say I loved the purple accents with the tablecloths.

There were plants off to the right; the food was straight back to the right; the dj was on the left. It was the best place to have a wedding reception!

The backyard in action! Hopefully the Gardners are all having a good time in this picture :)

Of course, once again, Marcus and I took millions of pictures. Some were serious...

...And some were more ridiculous :) My purple converse inspired the photographer to take even more pictures. There are some great ones with the shoes showing, and some great ones where you can't see them too!

Our pretty cake!

This cake really was delicious! I only had one bite, but I thought it was great... and I don't even tend to like cake.

Right before my one bite :)

Don't worry, we were nice. No cake ended up on our clothes or the floor.

Soon after, we had our first dance. (shh- Marcus hit me in the head spinning me-- haha.) Then we had a father-daughter, mother-son dance. And the party was off...

Trevor and everyone else staring at the dancers.

Everyone seemed to have a great time. Someone was always dancing, even if it was just a tiny boy with my roommates :)

My dad dancing with my cousins

It seemed like everyone had a great time. We were able to see and talk with a lot of family and friends who came by the reception. I wish I could post pictures of everyone, but I don't think I have that much space. Plus, these are from my mom's camera, so she doesn't have any with her or the family in them. You will have to wait until we get some from the photographer. oooo-anticipation ;)

Our Wedding

The big day finally arrived! It snuck up on me, so Marcus had to help me get ready...

He did a great job. I wonder how much practice he's had painting fingernails :)

We arrived in Mesa around 9:30 A.M., and it was a beautiful Phoenix day, even though most guests admitted it was still too hot. But the temple looked amazing, as always.

My dad helped bring in my dress. I love this picture!

And all of a sudden...

Mr. & Mrs. Marcus Hardy

It was a wonderful ceremony, but it definitely was over before we knew it. And there we were, outside the temple taking pictures.

This was about how the whole day went. We walked and tried to smile while people followed us taking pictures and recording. This is actually a cool picture because it caught both photographers and the video recorder guy. Probably one million pictures were taken of us, friends, and family. I wish I could post all of them, but here is one with some family and one with some friends that my mom had.

This is one of the favorites- Marcus and me with all four sets of our grandparents.

My roommates from BYU. They're great-- they drove all the way down for the wedding!

It was an incredible morning, and it was fun to have so many relatives and friends there. With so much anticipation, you would think that the day wouldn't go by so fast! By 1:00 P.M. the family was at the Landmark for a luncheon. And don't worry, Marcus was the first person to spill as he knocked over his drink at the beginning of the meal. :)