It's safe to say we like Mondays around here

home is wherever i'm with you

Our new apartment! 

Living on the bottom floor is usually not ideal,

but it is when you are moving in four months and you

don't have to carry all your boxes up two flights of stairs!

We couldn't find where we packed our shower curtain and rings

so we improvised with hangers for the first night

Trayco's clothes all laid and ready for his first day of work :)

One Year Later & Happy As Can Be

A whole year!

It feels like we've haven't been married for a month, and

yet I can't remember what life was like before being married. 

I have never been so happy, 

had to say sorry so many times,

 felt so alive, been so upset, 

or had as many adventures as I have in the last year.

I love you Trayco Canon Ross, 

thank you for making my dreams come true. 

I love you and love our life together. 

You will forever be my always!

Thank you for being my hunny bunny.

I'm excited for the coming year and all the adventures that await!

on the road, AGAIN

We covered a lot of ground over a 5 day span! 

Quartzsite is right on the border of California and Monica and her family actually attend the Blythe Ward now because the Quartzsite Branch doesn't have primary or Young Women's. 

We had a long 16 hour drive to get from Arizona up to Denver.

The quickest way is actually to drive back up to Vegas and to Utah but we decided it was worth a 45 minute longer drive to see some new country and not have to back track all the way back up to Spanish Fork.

We stopped in Mesa and visited with Grandma Alleman

and Aunt Peggy. I somehow forgot to get a picture with them but remembered to take one as we drove pass the Mesa Temple.

I'm so glad we drove the way we did, we went up through the mountains of Arizona and then through New Mexico. The drive was so pretty! There were thousands of cactus's for miles and miles.  

We were rising and dropping so much in elevation that Trayco got a bad nose bleed. There was no where to pull over so he just kept driving and I kept scrambling trying to find napkins and we were both laughing so hard. Me because he was driving and trying to stop the nose bled and him because I was frantically trying to help him but there was nothing I could do. 

After enjoying the warm weather in St. George, Vegas, and Quartzite, we were welcomed to Colorado with snow (insert bawling emoji haha) 

Quartzsite- where our story began

Once upon a time, Elder Ross was serving as a missionary in Las Vegas and got transferred to the middle of no where, other wise known as Quartzsite, Arizona.

Elder Ross served in Quartzsite for six long months and continually asked Heavenly Father why he was sent there. He baptized a family (except for one of the daughters) and figured that must have been why he was sent to Quartzsite. Little did he know Heavenly Father had grand plans. Over the six month span of being in Quartzsite, he got to know the Branch President and his wife extremely well. After Elder Ross completed his mission, the Branch President's wife gave him a number of a girl and told him to ask her out on a date. Six months later they were sealed and lived happily ever after. 

About a month ago Monica (a less active member who Trayco reactivated and baptized her children) called Trayco and excitedly announced that Rhyianna finally wanted to get baptized and asked for Elder Ross to baptize her. Monica's husband died many years ago and has been waiting for Rhyianna to decide to get baptized so they can get sealed as a family. Three years ago as a missionary, Trayco taught and taught and taught Rhyianna but she never wanted to get baptized. She attended church and read her scriptures and knew the church was true but for some reason never wanted to get baptized. Rhyianna recently even received her Personal Progress award, when she was meeting with the Bishop to go over her award, he asked her why she wasn't baptized and then bore his testimony of joining the church and the blessings he has received in his life since getting baptized. Something finally clicked for Rhyianna after hearing the bishop bear his testimony and she called him later that day exclaiming that she was ready to get baptized. 

Ashton, Monica, Rhyianna, & Trayco 

The baptism was beautiful! I haven't felt the spirit that strong in a long time and I couldn't hold back the tears. Monica had all of the missionaires who have taught Rhiyanna over the years record their testimonies and she played it after Rhyianna was baptized. It was really neat and so funny because they all said the same thing, "Rhyianna, FINALLY!" She also asked Trayco to confirm her so we stuck around for church the next day and Trayco gave her a beautiful blessing. 

Ever since we got engaged I have been pestering Trayco to take me to Quartzsite and every time his answer was the same, 

"Quartzsite is not on the way to ANYTHING." 

It most definitely is not on the way to anything. It is a four hour drive from Vegas to Quartzsite and the entire drive is barren. If you ever need to bury anyone, the drive to Quartzsite is the perfect place to do it. It literally is in the middle of no where. 

Someday we are going to bring our kids here, just because it's a place you can't imagine until you've seen and experienced for yourself. 

The drive to Quartzsite, so bumpy and barren! 

We took a picture together in front of the 

same sign Trayco took one at as a missionary

Quartzsite is literally a desert full of trailer houses

This is the trailer that Trayco lived in as a missionary. 

 could not stop laughing when he showed it to me. Ghetto as all get out! 

Riding on the back of the Pace's golf cart, during their nightly rounds

At church the parking lot was full of golf carts, so funny!

We are eternally grateful for Dan and Kay Pace. We love them and are so glad they let us spend the night with them. Visiting Quartzsite was a perfect reminder to me that Heavenly Father is in charge and has a greater plan for me then I can even imagine.

London Bridge is falling down, falling down...

The next destination on the trip was to Lake Havasu City.

We ventured to the London Bridge, which is a bridge built in 1830 that originally spanned the River Thames in London until it was dismantled in 1967. The bridge was bought by Robert P. McCulloch who had the original bridge numbered and transported to America and reconstructed in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The bridge was completed in 1971 and now links an island in the Colorado River with the main land of Lake Havasu City. 

"Love locks"

Viva Las Vegas -the missionary way

Ever since I was little, I have imagined visiting 

my husband's mission...

but I never EVER imagined I would be visiting Las Vegas! 

We had an amazing time visiting Trayco's mission.

I was able to meet a lot of the people that he baptized

and we also got to do things that Trayco wasn't allowed

to do as a missionary, like visit the strip! 

He took be back to all of his area's and showed me

around and showed me where he lived as a missionary.

His first area covers the temple so we went and walked 

around. The Las Vegas Temple is beautiful!

I never thought it was one of the prettier temples

but being there in person changed my mind.

I have never seen temple grounds like it before.

There were so many trees and plants and

flowers everywhere. There is even

a beautiful garden inside the temple that we walked through.

For dinner, Paul and Crystal,

(two of Trayco's converts) took us out 

to dinner at a place called Gen's Korean BBQ.

At first we were a little weirded out but it quickly became the

coolest place we have ever ate at.

There is a grill in the middle of your table and you order

what meat you want and then you cook it yourself.

It was so much fun and the food was AMAZING! 

I can't believe that I didn't get get a picture of Paul

and Crystal. We stayed with them and they are so kind.

They truly think of Trayco as their son. And I'm pretty

sure they were more excited to me then Trayco's parents were ha!

------------------------------

The next day was full of adventures! 

I have always waned to take a picture in front of the Las Vegas

 sign so we made our way to the strip.

 There was a huge line of people waiting to get their

picture taken so we decided to skip the wait

and go to the side of it and take a selfie. 

We drove down the strip which is always a sight to see.

Trayco felt rebellious because as a missionary,

he wasn't allowed anywhere on the strip. 

We spent the rest of the day visiting more of his areas.

It was so fun to see where he lived and hear him

reminisce about all of the people he met

and all of the crazy experiences he had. 

Hacienda apartment

Trayco had to make sure his picture was still

on the wall from completing the XXX Fatburger Challenge. 

I only remembered to take a picture of one family, 

but Trayco is loved by so many people in Las Vegas.

Multiple people cried because they were so excited to see him

and then cried when he left because they didn't want him to leave.

It was amazing to see all of the lives he has made an impact on.

My favorite visits were to families knew very little

English so I sat back and tried to follow along.

I felt like a missionary again because everyone wanted 

to feed us and wouldn't let us leave until we ate

multiple helpings. And because I had to pretend 

to love everyone's dogs again :)

The Carvajals 

On our last night, Trayco took me to his very favorite spot in Vegas.

It's right up against the mountain and you can see the temple

with the strip illuminating in the background.

It was breathtaking and I have never seen anything like it. 

We both commented on how much brighter it is then "our" spot in Draper!

The pictures do the view NO justice but I had to snap a few for memories sake. 

I now know why Trayco gets annoyed when he tells

people he served in Las Vegas and everyone only thinks

of the strip when they hear Las Vegas. There are so many 

amazing people and places to see. 

And as Trayco says, we'll be back, #StateSidePerks