We apologize we didn't get any Christmas cards out, so this blog post will have to do.
Here is a brief year-in-review:
January: Came home from a very lovely and much-needed vacation to England (take me back!) Started another semester at BYU-Idaho and Alice began her internship as the Public Health Coordinator at the BYU Idaho Student Health Center. Celebrated 3 years of dating on January 29th.
February: Samuel and four of his older brothers spent a week exploring in Mexico - DURING VALENTINE'S WEEK. Luckily, he was home in time to celebrate our two year wedding anniversary on February 19th :) We also got a dog (Toby, the cutest spaniel ever) during February, but only kept him for a few days. Some day we will get a pet and KEEP it! Alice was called to serve as the Relief Society Secretary in our ward.
March: School, work and more school took over our lives. Easter was at the end of March, which we spent in Rexburg with friends, eating lots of candy and going on Easter egg hunts. :)
April: We rang in April with an awesome General Conference session the first weekend in April. Of course, there were many great messages, but Ally's favorite talk was "Hope in God's Light" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Samuel loved "Four Titles" from Uchtdorf during the Priesthood session. Winter semester ended, and Alice only had 3 days off before having to go back to work and school for Spring semester. Samuel was called as Ward Mission Leader in our ward.
May: Alice finally got the chance to be a bridesmaid and went down to Modesto, CA for one of her best friends' weddings! Such a beautiful few days, and Emily made such a beautiful bride! Alice surprised Samuel with tickets to go and see the Piano Guys on May 9th! It was an incredible concert! Alice turned 22 on May 20th and celebrated with pinatas and a meatfest barbecue! We went on an adventure with the Martin's to Gilmore, Idaho for some Memorial Day fun.
June: Samuel began a new job as a Psychosocial Rehabilitation Practitioner - someone who meets with kids around the community who have social/behavioral issues and helps them to manage them. We had our first ward camp-out and it was awesome!
July: Celebrated July 4th with our awesome pals, the Persinger's and the Simmon's! Friends, fun and food! So good! Finished up the semester and headed up to Washington for the Wise Family Reunion 2013. We spent some weekends tubing with friends and getting our tan on.
August: WISE FAMILY REUNION! So fun. We spent a couple weeks playing sports, celebrating summer and birthdays, canoeing, and having all sorts of fun with the Wise's. Alice began her second internship teaching Health at the local middle school and continued to work at her other Health Center job during the summer break. More tubing.
September: Alice began her penultimate semester at BYU-Idaho. Melissa and Ammon came down to visit and we celebrated Melissa's birthday. Visited Yellowstone with Elias, Becky, Helam, Lily, Ammon, Melissa, Zeke, and the Martin's.
October: General Conference was an amazing start to our month. (Favourites include "Like a Broken Vessel" by Jeffrey R. Holland, and "Personal Strength through the Atonement of Jesus Christ" by Richard G. Scott ) Samuel took the GRE and began applying to graduate school! We finished the month strong by celebrating Samuel's 25th birthday with a fun costume party, Sizzler and the Ward Halloween Party. We dressed up as Superman and Lois Lane for Halloween!
November: The biggest highlight, of course, was Thanksgiving. The week before the blessed day we had Ammon and Melissa come down for a pre-thanksgiving meal, and then we celebrated the real thing with our buddies, the Simmon's. We hit up Black Friday and got some good Christmas presents... best of all, we finally got a new laptop!
December: Alice finished up her second-to-last semester of college, as well as her semester as the Health teacher at Madison Middle School - such a wonderful experience... crazy, but wonderful. She was also called as the Relief Society President in our ward. We spent Christmas in Sunnyside, WA with the Wise's and had a wonderful time! :)
This year has been so much fun for us. We have made so many wonderful friends here in Rexburg - it's going to be hard to leave! We have received so many great opportunities in terms of internships and jobs, and have been able to create awesome memories with our friends and family.
We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and we wish you health and happiness for 2014!
We love you all!
Love,
The Wise's xo
What a great year!! We are glad we got to see you guys a few times and hope we can see you sometime again soon! I hadn't heard that you were called as Relief Society president, Alice! That's a lot of work, but I know you will do great! Love you!
ReplyDeleteWe will definitely try and get together soon! This semester shouldn't be as crazy so we'll have to plan something :) Thank you - I was just called a few weeks ago but with the Christmas break and everything I feel like I haven't really gotten into it yet. It's definitely been a humbling experience so far though. Love and miss you!
ReplyDeleteYou are seriously the cutest! I just love you Alice! :)
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