ALASTAIR + LALEINIA

Natural Bridges, Santa Cruz, CA It has been decided that 2011 was officially the best year of our lives so far. So much has happened, most importantly getting married in the Oakland, CA temple in April. Since then, life has been wonderful and we have been blessed more than we realize. We really are thankful to our friends and family, and most importantly to God, our Heavenly Father, for a great 2011. Who knows what 2012 has in store for us! For New Years Eve, we decided that we would go down to Santa Cruz to see the Natural Bridges and celebrate a New Year. After the sun went down, we went to the Arcade by the Santa Cruz boardwalk to play some Skeeball and other favorite games. After burning through all of our tokens, we were amazed to see that it was only 8:30pm, and so we jumped in the car and drove to San Francisco for the New Years Fireworks. And what a decision that was. As we were stuck in the crazy traffic out of San Francisco, we talked and created our bucket lis

Following the age old tradition, December 27th had to be spent in the city of San Francisco. In true Wharf style, it was appropriate and necessary that Alastair would wear his yellow coat. He did. They didn't really do much, but being there was enough. Memorable moments include getting a coveted free parking space, miles away from their final destination, and eating at Chowders on Pier 39. However, it must be said that the time spent at the arcade was not only educational, but fun. Alastair and Laleinia spent large amounts of money ($8) that would make any parent cringe, but the games were so enjoyable that the cash was a small price to pay for the wonderful experience that was the museum of past and modern arcade history.

It was long, it was winding, and it was a road. That was our trip. We left Rexburg for Modesto making stops in Salt Lake City, Provo, St. George, Las Vegas and Barstow (for our sins). Some highlights from our trip: Salt Lake City: In the Tabernacle at Temple Square, Lain found this wonderful seat. We were trying to decide which seat would be the worst, can you imagine sitting right behind this pillar? We didn't get married in Salt Lake, but we got our picture here anyways! We were joined on our trip by Chris and Naty. Also worth a special mention was Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, which we saw in the cinema with Kip.  Las Vegas: Upon arriving at the Imperial Palace on the Las Vegas Strip, we were notified that we would be upgraded from a normal room to the deluxe bed chamber. Bounding into the room, Alastair told Laleinia that the view from their deluxe room would surely overlook the lights of the strip. Upon ripping back the curtai

Since Alastair is in Pocatello on some business class excursion and he woke me up really early and we haven't written in a while, I thought I'd give this blog thing a try! We officially have no place to call home. We are vagabonds, or nomads, whatever term you prefer! Personally, I prefer the word vagabond because I have no home and no job. Yesterday was my last shift putting away books and more books at D.I. When Alastair and I were both working, I joked that I was doing more manual labor than him (Alastair sat in front of a computer while I lifted many heavy objects and was constantly on my feet). Nonetheless we both pulled our weight and helped each other out financially!  Another thing in our life is finishing up this week... SCHOOL! Let me just say, I am so ecstatic that school is almost done! We have been so busy with projects, class trips, laminating, print jobs, tests, etc. Alastair is such a smart cookie and it amazes me! Words cannot describe how intelligent

Moving brings with it many challenges. The debacle over which shoes stay and which shoes go was an especially intense affair. It had to be carried out at midnight, and like ripping off a band-aid, Laleinia severed the emotional attachment with X-amount pairs of shoes. Watch the exclusive footage here.

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, the time has almost come to leave our first nesting ground. Just like the birds, we are soon migrating to a warmer climate in an attempt to escape the frigidity that is the Rexburg winter. In an attempt to immortalize our first home, and also to try out our new camcorder, we have put together this cheesy apartment video. To be honest, we don't expect anyone to make it through this six minute educational video, and that is alright. And before anyone asks, Alastair is not the Pianist in the song, nor is Laleinia playing the recorder. Or are they...

Well first of all it was nice to be back on the road with a chance of seeing something interesting together. What made it even better was being in our new car! We are getting rid of Burberry (the Land Rover) because we can't justify the lack of fuel economy any longer. We'll buy another Land Rover some day when we have tons of money! Back on the road. Anyways, we were smiling all the way there because we knew we were getting way better miles per gallon in the new car (which is yet to be named) than the old one. Living in Rexburg we are so close to Yellowstone. We really should go more often! First time in Montana together. We drove through and stopped quickly in West Yellowstone, a small town in the south-west corner of Montana, from which we entered Yellowstone national park. Good job we brought our own food since it was about $20 for food in that town! Alastair's first trip to Yellowstone  Alastair had never been to Yellowstone, which is one of Lalein

Denver, CO It was time for another Dragons road trip, the last and most adventurous of the season. School and work were missed on Friday as we hit the road at 6am from Rexburg, ID to Colorado springs.  In this car all weekend We got there about 90 minutes before the 8pm kick-off, and had a really good game. After 90 minutes the score was 1-1, and so we went to a shoot out. Shoot-out Everyone of the five Dragons players scored their penalty, and the game was won as one of the Colorado Springs players hit the bar with his. Get in! I'm going to pretend that we ended on a high and didn't get destroyed the following afternoon by the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY. Madison Dragons 2011 Because of Lain having to work in Rexburg, this was the first night that we had been apart since we got married! We don't want too many more of those!

Well here it is, the first six months of marriage in photos! We hope you enjoy it as much as we did! April 16th 2011 - October 16th 2011

Well we have been married for six whole months now, and so here is an update of where we have been together! We know it is pretty weak, but hopefully six months or a year from now it might just be a little better! We need to pick up the pace!

Hopefully one of the best purchases of the semester was the Starving Student card, basically a huge fold out coupon with deals from almost all of the decent businesses in Rexburg and the surrounding area. We decided to buy one and see how much money we would save after to the $25 that we "invested" in buying it. (Of course we know that perhaps by having the card we might be persuaded to eat out more than we would otherwise, but it is a decent experiment anyway.) Well, so far we have got a free dominos pizza and a free burger from Sammy's. So, here are the numbers... (Price of Pizza + Price of Burger) - Price of Card = Savings (6.00 + 5.29) - 25.00 = - $13.71 So as of right now, buying the card has lost us money, but the more we use it, the more we will benefit from it, and eventually it will be saving us money (or so we hope!). Anyway, we decided to wear the same clothes to go and eat at Sammy's. Blue hoodies, black sweatpants and Timberlands. We though

The 2nd Annual Zombie Apocalypse, Rexburg ID. It is Saturday the 8th of October, 2011, and you know what that means. Time for the Zombie Apocalypse. Literally hundreds of weird BYU-Idaho students and odd members of the local Rexburg community got together in the Walgreens parking lot dressed as Zombies, and then walked down Main St. You may be asking why, and so are we. As far as we know, they didn't raise any money for charity, it wasn't a political protest, it wasn't even someone's school project. The only real reason we could find on the walk's facebook page was "To infect the populace of Rexburg."Odd. Well we walked around Walgreens, started walking down Main with the group of groaning, limping, degree-seeking adults, and then called it a day. 

Work was over for another week, and summer was winding down for another year, but we still had just enough time for another trip to Utah. But this was no football or shopping trip, we were Utah bound to take Alastair's younger brother, Logan, to the Missionary Training Center. The car was packed, half of our possessions were carefully packed by Laleinia for the four nights that we would be away. To cut a 250 mile story short, we arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah, and were greeted by Hollie. Not long after, we got back in the car and headed to the airport and finally had Logan in our midst. When we weren't navigating our way through a drive-thru, or eating inside a fast food restaurant, we shopped. Laleinia was pleased to get her hands on a warm coat and rugged boots for the brisk winter that tip-toes closer with each passing day. Somehow, we did find a moment to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing in the Tabernacle building, and went to the Salt Lake Temple. We were also

You may be wondering where the Labor-day-Lovers were on the fifth of September. Well, Wyoming. And Idaho. They actually crossed the border a total of four times. And why you may ask? Camping, fishing, hiking and going to Burger King. It all started long after sunset on the fourth, where the traveling two joined forces with the bilingual bunch, Chris and Naty Jankowski, and jumped into the car looking for a green Wyoming pasture in which to camp. They thought they'd found one, but in the morning the truth was discovered. They had camped on a rocky spot of weeds, and now knew why the previous night was so uncomfortable. But that was nothing that a morning camp fire couldn't fix. Laleinia & Alastair recovering from a night on the rocks. After responsibly putting out the fire completely, Alastair and Laleinia took photographs and left tracks. A five minute Idaho fishing expedition was really boring, and so it was to Wyoming again, in search of the world famous Dar

You may be wondering what happened to August. August This is a picture of a grindstone. Alastair & Laleinia spent August at work. Alastair could be found at BYU-Idaho and Laleinia was spotted at Deseret Industries.

After finding out that Alastair's office was all locked up to observe pioneer day, Alastair and Laleinia went on a spontaneous fishing trip with John Leonard, a friend from the ward. After driving for a while, Laleinia took the role of Forester as she explained that we were in bear territory, and we would have to be careful. Deer ticks were also mentioned. After Lain picked up 2 sticks to beat together (to make sure that the bears weren't startled by us just showing up without warning), we set off down a steep trail towards the water. Every few seconds the bang from Laleinia's sticks scared bears away, and ensured our safety. However, Laleinia did fear for her life as three garter snakes were spotted, but somehow the team made it to the river safely. And it payed off quickly, as Alastair caught a fish with his second cast of the day! A mountain whitefish we think. Guts were removed on the scene, and the fish was kept cool in a plastic bag still in the water.

Hip-Hip-Hooray! The deed is done. Alastair has only been fishing five times, and has now caught his first fish! The biggest catch of the day came only half an hour into the Fiesta of Fish. The unlucky brown trout shot out of the water to try an evade the born and bred fisherman, but there was nothing that Jaws could do. Drama ensued. Another angler was summoned to help tame the beast. After an epic 25-30 second battle, the Fish-Fest was over. Here is a picture of Alastair and Nessie, right before mercy was exercised. Big. I know. The fish was released, as it was very early in the day and the fish was too heavy for the four fishermen to haul around. After proving his handiwork with a rod, Alastair showed his skillful side with the reel, by catching a mosquito in it. Mercy was not shown this time. Death happened. Try this at home. Arguably the best catch of the day happened a little further up stream. After fishing, fishing, fishing, Alastair found the fisherman's wife

The McKee family's first visit to Utah was a short one. It consisted of waking up at 3 o'clock in the morning, driving to Park City, Alastair and his team beating "Pepis" from Colorado 3-1, Lain shopping her heart out at the outlet malls, Alastair scoring the winner in a 2-1 win against "Park City Bums" from the penalty spot, eating at In-N-Out and then driving home. Idaho Falls Eagles Even though Alastair was far from playing his best Football, Laleinia was shopping on a tight budget, and they only got 15 miles to the gallon, it was a great day. I can't believe my Oxfords are in one of these bags!

The sun was shining, Johnny Cash was loaded on the iPod and off we went, due East to chase a dream. The dream: Jackson Hole, Wyoming. After gorgeous scenery of the Grand Tetons and a little too much of Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Tim McGraw and Neil Diamond, we had completed our navigation through beautiful farmland and steep mountain roads. We were greeted in the most appropriate way: an archway made completely of antlers. Jackson Hole was beautiful. The buildings looked like they were right out of an old Western film, and the sidewalks were wooden. We looked at awful T-Shirts, stuffed dead animals and even sat down and pondered with Einstein. Upon leaving the Hole, we stopped by the side of the road to pet some horses and stare at the mountains, all while a passing by Coyote trotted around the field in front of us.  Our artistic senses were tingling, so we whipped out some sketch pads and charcoal and went to work. Although close to call, it was decided tha