2016 in Review

2016 in Review

Winter was filled with wonderful weather in Mesa Arizona.  We enjoyed the fresh citrus fruits and walking out on the canals behind our apartment.  In February we both started a project, going to Bike Saviour’s to rebuild our bikes.  It was a lot of work but very rewarding! 

Over spring break Mari went out to New York to stay with her brother Erik’s family.  She enjoyed spending time with Julie and Ezra, Isaac, and Ginny.  They had a ward member’s daughter Tenzin staying with them.  It was a lot of fun to be with family visiting!

In April we volunteered at a Special Olympics track event with the young men and young women.  We loved our time working with the youth.  In April we also went and visited one of Mari’s favorite places, the zoo.  We went in the afternoon and so a lot of animals that aren’t normally awake, like the lion!  

Leighton got his cooking on in April as we were very inspired by “The Great British Bakeoff.”

We trained all spring for the Iron Horse in the Durango-Silverton Colorado area.  Mari ended up getting very sick in the spring.  We finally got her to the right doctor and found out that she had whooping cough.  It was while she was still sick that we packed up our lives and moved to Kaysville, UT.

The end of May the Lindstrom’s cat, Kitty died which was very sad.

In June we went with some Davis cousins to Lagoon.  We had a blast riding all the rollercoasters, including the infamous “Cannibal.”  Mark and Mari thought they would be too scared, but they were tough enough and absolutely loved it!  We also went to visit Grandma Keeley with Mari’s sister Kirstin and Mom in June.  It was great to spend some time with family and take a break from remodeling the basement.

In July we went on a trip of a lifetime with the Lindstrom family.  We traveled to Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, places where the Lindstrom’s are from.  We were able to cruise the fjords in Norway, meet up with distant relatives, and have an incredible time.  Additionally Ma & Pa Lindstrom, along with Erik and Julie, joined us in Latvia to see where Mari served her mission.  After a day or two they left us and we continued, the two of us, exploring Lithuania, and then one of the highlights of the trip, Tallinn, Estonia.  We enjoyed spending time together, wandering around.

On our way home to the states we stopped in Miami Florida!  We rented a convertible and headed out to the Everglades to find alligators and manatees!  Leighton LOVED the fresh mango.

Mari started her new job in West Valley City at a junior high in August.  She completed a half marathon with her best friend the first of September.  They trained all summer and did very well.  

Mari killed her goal of a sub 2-hour half marathon running a 8:30 minute/mile pace.  She was 9^th for her age and finished 234 of 1062 overall.

We made a goal to visit more of Utah and started by visiting the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City.  We really were impressed by the site and loved this giant owl!

We were able to see the play “Mary Poppins” at the local high school and were totally blown away.

For Thanksgiving we went to Caldwell, Idaho to spend the weekend with Grandma Keeley.  We had a lovely time.

For our third anniversary we were able to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and perform sealings in the same room in which we were sealed.  Time has flown!

Mari has started having girls’ nights with her pregnant besties from high school.  They went up to Logan and got a giant FH’zookie!

We have been teaching primary in our new ward.  We taught the 5-7 year olds.  They kept us on our toes!

We were blessed to be able to go down to Mesa for Christmas.  We loved spending time with Leighton’s family and our friends in Mesa. Mari really enjoyed the cute new kittens that were Christmas presents for Jill and Eric’s cute girls.