Happy 6th Anniversary!

I can't believe it has been 6 years since our wedding day!  What is even more crazy is that we have been together for 8 years.....2 years dating and 6 years married.  Here's to eternity and beyond!

Love you JRW!!

It's the thought that counts.....right?

The big weekend (Broncos game) had arrived!  I dropped Ryan and and Jared off at the airport just after 8:00 am for them to catch their 9:16 am flight to Denver.  I told Ryan to text me when they got there.  Since we were already up and ready for the day, I decided to get my grocery shopping done early.  Smith's in the Ave's is totally dead at 8:30 am and it was the perfect time for grocery shopping with Nolan.  We unloaded and put away all the grocery's.  We were back in Nolan's room playing when I noticed the time and thought I should have heard something from Ryan by now so I went to check my phone.  The text should have said "Made it to Denver just fine." Instead it said we are still in SLC....my heart just sank and I immediately called him to find out if he was joking or serious.  Well he was serious. 

They boarded the plane on time and after being on the plane for some time, they were notified by the pilot that the plane's computer was malfunctioning and they would try restarting several times to see if the warning light would turn off.  After it did not, everyone was told to exit the plane.  The pilot mentioned, the flight to Denver next to them was overbooked so 'don't bother pestering them trying to get on the flight', adding insult to injury.  They got off the plane and Ryan wanted an update after some time had passed.  There wasn't anyone at the desk, so he walked back down the ramp to the plane and asked the crew what was going on.  One of the flight attendants said he had a lot of time to wait and he could go get some breakfast. 

After returning from picking up breakfast, they were told that a new computer was coming and the plane should be ready in 30 minutes.  After an hour or so, a Frontier employee at the gate asked anyone on their flight to line up to try to reschedule their flights as it no longer seemed likely the plane would be leaving.  This was at approximately 10:20 am.  Ryan and Jared waited in this line until 2:30 when they finally learned that they would not be able to reach Denver this day unless the original plane could be fixed.

During their time in line they were given no updates, security was called twice because customers were so upset about lack of information and misinformation that was being provided.  At one point were given tickets to a Delta flight, only to reach that gate and discover they had been put on a flight that was overbooked and they were not permitted to board.  This happened to several customers.

Another fun thing happened to them while they were in line.  They watched another Denver flight board right in front of them.  They had announced over the speaker that it was overbooked but they issued roughly 8-10 standby tickets, while paying passengers were still waiting for the flight from 5 hours previous.   Also a pilot cut the entire line, and was immediately offered a seat on the 'completely full' plane.

Once they were finally able to reach the counter the person at the desk really didn't have much to tell them.  A part was shipped over from Denver at some point, but that still hadn't worked.  Just before 5:00 pm Ryan called me and said that they were calling it quits and there was no hope of them getting to Denver for the game.

It was quite the day and I was really bothered that they weren't going to make it to Denver for the weekend.  Everyone involved was really looking forward to it and for it to not work out was horrible. 

The Utes lost to ASU and Denver lost to the Texans (i'm sure it was because Ryan and Jared weren't there).  It wasn't a good weekend for the Wallace's!

Antelope Island

A few weekends ago we ventured out to Antelope Island.  Ryan had been wanting to go there forever and I couldn't remember if I had been out there or not so we decided to give it a whirl.  Neither of us knew what to expect when we got there - in our minds we thought you would just drive around the island for an hour and then go home.  We were wrong....it turned into an all day adventure.  We stopped at the visitor center, drove around the island looking at buffalo and even saw an antelope.  We drove to the farm and enjoyed our time there.  We saw thousands of birds and Nolan loved that!  I loved going to antelope island and can't wait to go back there so we can see more of what we missed the first time. 

Birthday Weekend In Review

Ryan's birthday celebrations began Friday afternoon.  Ryan has been studying for his LEED GA exam for months.  He has taken a lot of practice exams, studied the material, had me quiz him on the material and been going to a study group at work to learn the material.  He was finally able to take his exam on Friday at 3:30 pm.  He had 2 hours to take the exam and I was was anxiously waiting for him to text me he had passed it.  I left work at 5:00 pm, went and got Nolan from pre-school and he still hadn't texted me.  I was beginning to think the news was bad and that is why he hadn't texted me yet.  I texted him and asked "So...." he immediately called back and said that he just turned his phone from having it off during the exam.  He did very well and had passed the exam.  You only needed to get 170 out of 200 and Ryan got a 192!  The score doesn't matter for passing purposes, but I was so proud of him for doing so well.  All that studying and hard work paid off! 

I picked him up from the U (where he was taking the test) and we headed straight to his work BBQ at Liberty park.  They were having Hire's burgers, chips, potato salad etc. along with games for the adults and kids.  We played Bocci ball, Nolan visited the fishing pond and we ran around the park trying to keep up with Nolan.  For dessert they had Creamies and when we let Nolan try it and at first he didn't like it but then when he was able to hold the creamie he loved it and we couldn't get it out of his hand.  He made such a mess and there was creamie all over him!  We stopped off at redbox to get a movie for after Nolan went to bed.  Ryan picked Sherlock Holmes 2 and it was pretty good - I was surprised that we were both able to stay awake!

Saturday morning we went to breakfast at Ruth's diner with his buddy Bryce from work.  We love going to Ruth's and this time it was especially enjoyable with the leaves changing colors all around us. 

At 3:00 pm we met up with all my family at the Salt Lake City Fair.  Who knew that the fair could cost $10 per person?! Yikes, well anyway we enjoyed it and Nolan loved seeing/petting the animals.  Ryan took Nolan down the giant slide and he loved it! 

We ate at Cafe Rio before heading off to the BYU/Utah game.  That game deserves a post all by itself, but it will have to fit in this one.   Before the game started when the Y players were running out on the field they had their flag people run out with them.  One of the flag people ran out and went right in the middle of the U and continued to wave his flag - I don't know why but that made me so mad.  Anyway, the energy that was in the stadium to start the game was so intense. Everyone was cheering and I was so glad that Utah scored first.  The score was tied going into halftime and I was so nervous.  Luckily, during the 3rd quarter we scored 17 points and I was a little less nervous at that point but still wanted us to score a few more times.  The end of the game is where everything gets crazy, the Y had caught up and the score was 24-21.  The Y had 3 different times to score at the end of the game.  Here is what an ESPN article had to say about the ending of the game, they say it a lot better than I could:

"Utah defensive tackle Star Lotulelei blocked Justin Sorensen's 51-yard attempt with 1 second remaining after the officials put time back on the clock following a third-down in completion.

The Cougars would get another shot, from 15 yards closer after the frenzied crowd prematurely rushed the field, and Utah was assessed a penalty.  Riley Stephenson's 36-yard attempt with no time left clanked off the left upright, sending the crowd back on the field for good to celebrate the upset."

What a game and it will be one that I will never forget!!!  Everyone was still in shock that we had won and were glad the refs didn't ruin it anymore for us.  We were so excited/drained from the game we couldn't fall asleep right as we got home.  We watched a few highlights on ESPN and PAC 12 network before attempting to go to bed. 

Sunday, we had Ryan's birthday meal at my parents with everyone.  Jared and Annie came over as well.  Ryan was spoiled with money, pink tampico and his favorite root beer.  Ryan's only request was that we didn't sing to him for his birthday - we couldn't let that happen and of course we ended up singing Happy Birthday to him.  :)  I love Sunday evenings with the fam.

Ryan had a great and busy birthday weekend!

The Big 30!

Happy birthday to my handsome hubby today! 

We have been celebrating all weekend and I'll post about that later. 

I did want to record what we got him for his birthday.  Back in April, I had the idea to surprise him with Broncos tickets.  I figured you only turn 30 once and I wanted it to be a fun birthday for him.  I talked with his brother, Jared to see if it was something he was interested in going to with Ryan for his birthday.  He was, and that is where the whole idea got started.  I had thought about having me go with him, but knew that he would have a lot more fun at the game with his brother talking about sports and soaking it all in.  It would need to be only a weekend and they would need to fly to get there, since the 8 hour drive wouldn't work for such a short trip. 

From that point on, I started stashing money away so that Ryan wouldn't see a huge amount come out all at once and get suspicious about what it was for.  He is so hard to surprise and I really wanted this to work.  I contacted a friend from high school who has season tickets to the games to see if they were selling them for a few games during the season.  We went back and forth for a few months and finally decided on game for them to attend.  We met up to get the tickets/money back in August.  When I finally had the tickets in my hand, I knew it was going to be hard to keep it from Ryan.  

I had Ryan's brother book the airline tickets and this is where the surprise was almost given away.  His brother emailed me and copied his mom on the itinerary.  I hadn't told his mom anything about the tickets and it was sent to an email account that she rarely checks.  In fact, Ryan's dad checks it more often that she does.  I was in panic mode and called his mom that night telling her what had happened and that she needed to keep it a secret. Come to find out Ryan's dad had seen the email and even mentioned to Ryan that he saw his flight itinerary for September.  Ryan didn't think much of it and brought it up with Jared - Jared had a good cover up and said that it must have been for their mom and their dad was confused.  When I heard about this I about had a heart attack!  Jared re-assured me that he thought Ryan was OK with the story he told him and wasn't asking any more questions about it. 

Ryan's parents were coming in town for Jared's white coat ceremony and I didn't want anything to leak out while they were here and Ryan was already making work trip plans and I figured I had to tell him about the present. 

One Friday after work, he was watching Bronco highlights and I thought that was the perfect time to give him his gift.  I went and got the tickets from my secret hiding spot and had them behind my back.  I told him to push pause on the video because I had something for him.  I handed him the envelope and he opened it up.  When he pulled out the printed airline itinerary first he was a little confused, so I told him there was more in the envelope.  He pulled out the tickets and was speechless!  It was just the reaction I was hoping for - he was totally surprised and he loved it!  He was so excited - the next morning he still couldn't believe he was going to a Broncos game.  I was so glad he loved his present (I knew he would) and that he was surprised.....I'll never forget the look on his face when he saw the tickets, it was priceless!