A Sip From the Nalgene

St. George Temple

I was now Mrs. Avery Lawton. Just like most girls, I had already written those two names together so many times, I knew exactly how it looked best. Even so, I still wrote Avery Martin several times out of habit.
The honeymoon was wonderful. There was a lot of driving, but it was nice just to be able to talk for hours and hours without having to worry about being late for a class or work. We were at the Anniversary Inn in Salt Lake the first night, the next day we drove down to St. George for a night. Then made our way down to Oceanside, CA, where we stayed several days.

It was so fun to be on the beach! We were like little kids, splashing in the waves, building sandcastles, collecting rocks, tossed the frisbee back and forth, trying to see how wet we could get the other without loosing the disc. Took lots of pictures, and went on walks as the sun was setting. We went through a session at the San Diego temple (which was partially under construction), and Curtis finally got to meet my dad and his side of the family. We stayed a night in Las Vegas on our way back to good ol' Utah, and at last arrived at our little home in Heber. We were still in the newlywed/honeymoon mind-frame that we didn't care we were living in a basement. We had each other, and we were just as happy as could be. There were little adjustments we had to make, and we sure learned a LOT about each other. Even so, every little bit we learned just made our love for one another grow.

Finishing a room in our basement

That whole summer was a honeymoon. We still went on hikes, went to Moab with his old roommates, and played Ultimate Frisbee and Settlers of Catan. Who said you have to stop all the fun stuff once you get married? Curtis went to working as a rafting guide on the Weber River and I went right along with him. With an anonymous wedding gift, I was able to make money at the same time Curtis was, selling pictures to the people he took down the river. It was the greatest gig ever. I got to be with my man all day, while making money doing what I loved.

Didn't have a 26 pack of candles

Sad thing about seasonal jobs though, is that they end with the season. I found another job as a photographer on the Heber Valley Rail Road taking pictures of the tourists and selling to them. Not quite as fun as the river, but it was definitely better than sitting behind a desk in a tiny building somewhere. So that got us through the months when Curtis wasn't rafting, waiting for snowmobile guiding to start.

We received callings in our new ward. I was asked to be the Beehive Adviser and Curtis was put into the 11 year-old Scouts. Coming out of Young Women's just a couple years earlier, it was kind of odd going back and having to teach the lessons I had just been taught. I had such a blast though. They were My Girls, and I learned so much from them. I got to go to mutual again, and do baptisms at the temple. I felt like one of them.

On our way to visit family in AZ

Finally, we decided to add someone to our family. :) Ziggy the parakeet is one of the GOOFIEST birds ever. It's nice to come home to a dark house, turn on the lights, and have this little bird be just so happy to see you and greet you with his little chirps. However, once snowmobiling started for Curtis and I was working all day on the train, the poor little guy was just so lonely.... so we got him a friend :) Her name is Zoey. Now he is the goofiest and the happiest bird ever.

As it turned out, Ziggy and Zoey weren't the only new additions to our family. Sept 2010, I found out I was pregnant.
YAY! I was so excited! Every time before then, I'd see a little baby in church laughing, crying. sleeping, anything really, I would turn to Curtis and give him the puppy-dog eyes and say, "I want one." Now that I knew I was pregnant, I would turn to him with a huge smile and say, "I can't wait!" I wonder if they make baby Chacos...