Celebrating a wonderful life

Last weekend, we received the sad news that my grandpa Perry passed away. Austin and I traveled home for the funeral last week and it was an emotional time for all of us. While we all will miss grandpa very much, we were able to reminisce about the great times and happy memories with the rest of our family. After coming home on Wednesday I wrote down a few of my favorites:

-seeing grandpa and Austin sitting on the couch sharing stories at each and every holiday we saw him :)
-driving a van full of grandkids to the cabin in Minnesota
-taking my cousin Whitney and I to the rodeo
-cheering for the bad guys in all the movies and musicals we watched, much to my dismay!
-interviewing him for an article I wrote about the zoo for my high school newspaper
-seeing him at all of my concerts, musicals, and my high school graduation
-crows at Christmas time...
-numerous cook-outs and hay rack rides in the backyard during October (and often times with a cake for my birthday!)
-running out to the barn to let him know coffee was ready, to see what he was building, or just to say hi

We miss you, grandpa, and we are thinking about all the ways to honor your life as we continue our own life's journey!


Grandpa and Grandma at honors night back in high school

Spring into spring

We got back home from Salt Lake City on Wednesday night after a great trip out west! Austin really enjoyed the conference and we both had a nice time skiing. The second day we had over 8 inches of fresh powder, which is the most that either of us had ever skied on! I'd be lying if I didn't say it was hard, especially after a full day on the slopes, but we had an awesome time despite our tired legs :)

It's spring here in Florida now, lots of flowers blooming and warmer, humid weather on the way. It will also be a busy season for the two of us as Austin tries to complete his proposal defense and gets ready for a summer in Japan while I try to get some experiments and lab work done. We've both been working together to get our wedding planning stuff done, we're making good progress and I don't think there will be much to do this summer while Austin is away.

More news and updates to come in the next couple of weeks, stay tuned!