ALASTAIR + LALEINIA

We took a longer route back to Rexburg to check out what Oregon has to offer. We had to go to Portland to try Voodoo's Doughnuts, and that's pretty much all we did there. Right behind the doughnut shop, there was a football pitch, where Alastair had a kick about with some Portlandians. Marc and Jess arrived shortly, and we all sat and chatted while munching on some pretty interesting concoctions. It's always hard to say goodbye to family, especially when you don't know when you'll see them next. But we know we'll see each other again! The ride back home was long and tiring, but overall, it was worth it! We love going to Washington, and  we constantly gawk at the beauties that surround us. We really love that area. We were able to enjoy a few days off work and school and we were able to celebrate a wedding and an anniversary!

April 17, 2013 was absolutely wonderful! I was able to do Emily's hair and makeup, which I've never done an up-do before or even put makeup on another person. It was a first for me, but I think I did a great job! And I took their wedding pictures. I am in NO way a photographer or a makeup artist, but hey, I did it! The wedding was lovely and we all had a great time! Emily and Doug looked so happy, and that makes us all happy! Emily's family was so generous to let us stay in a condo for the night. No, the three couples didn't share just one condo, we all had our own condos! Words cannot describe how thankful we were for letting us all stay there. It was so nice that it was hard for us to get up in the morning to drive back to Rexburg! Many thanks to the McFarland family!

Our traveling has slowed down over the last six months, although we were on the other side of the planet for a good portion of that time, and right now we are in Seattle again for Doug and Emily's wedding. The only new place that we have been since October 2012 was Shanghai, China, which was incredible. We fell in love with that city pretty quickly. It was amazing to see the East meet the West in a quiet, peaceful city of just 23,000,000. Honestly, it was one of the coolest places that we have or ever will see, and now we have a goal to live there at some point in the future. Hopefully we will have a new place to report on in the next six months, although getting down to business in school is putting the brakes on the traveling for now!

Seattle's new ferris wheel Gum Wall Pike Place During our week off school, we traveled to Seattle, Washington to attend my little brother's wedding. Since they got married the day after our anniversary, we celebrated it in Seattle. We drove straight through the night. Very tiring, but we did it! Once we arrived, we went to one of our favorite spots, Pike's Place. We love walking around and looking at the stands and eating fish and chips. There's a new Mexican stand that sells delicious horchata. I've been craving some good horchata for a while, and it definitely hit the spot, especially with the delicious vanilla taste! After spending a few hours roaming the streets, we spent the afternoon at the Seattle temple with Emily's family and my whole family. It was such a special moment to be in the temple with my whole family, it was lovely! After the temple, we all went out to dinner, which was probably chaotic for the restaurant but we had such a

The sweet tast of victory! Victory tastes like apple juice.  The day is finally here! Words can't express how overjoyed I am that the semester is finally OVER! This had to have been the most difficult, stressful, busy, frustrating, and emotionally tolling semester thus far! With all the hard work and lack of sleep, we did it! I feel like we need an award for excellence. This experience was a definite testimony grower, because we've seen the Lord's hand work in our lives. I didn't see the end of the tunnel with everything that I had to get done (copious amounts of really important tests), but it was taken a day at a time and I was able to finish. By the way, I passed all my tests with flying colors! I'm not going to lie, I did pretty awesome! Even though this semester was rather busy, we did have some good times! We went on a few Winter excursions, found time to eat/hangout with friends, moved into our new "home," and Alastair turned 24! Life is b