Highlights of the past couple months...

Although I am usually slammed with work or school, we occasionally leave some time for fun to keep us sane! Here are a few of the favorites!

THE LION KING!

The show was absolutly amazing!

NEW FRIENDS!

We met Jenn and Leo a couple months ago from volunteering at the hospital. They are a really fun couple! We started talking one day and all became instant friends! We love our friend time with them. :-)

THE BRAZIL FESTIVAL

We both had to work that morning so we were only able to attend the last hour or so, but it was a blast none the less! Also, no exagguration: I was the only blonde girl there...pretty obvious I was an outsider! haha! At least I wore my brazil jersey!

Another very important highlight was that we got to meet Nick Hexum from 311! I thought Mitch was going to faint! We got signatures too.

At the same event we got to meet Chris Carrabba, the singer of Dashboard Confessional. I am currently waiting on pictures of this epic event (long story) but i'll put those up in a later post when I get them!

Our anniversary is this Friday, October 8th. I cannot believe it has already been a year! It has gone by so fast but at the same time, I feel like I have always had Mitch and can't imagine how life would be without him. We are going to park city this weekend to celebrate. :-)

Update on our lives and Mitch's Knee Surgery!

Lately, we have been very busy! School has started for me and Mitch got knee surgery on August 25th. He had to take 2 whole weeks off work for it and I had to take one week off to take care of him. We stayed at Mitch's parents house for the first few days (so mitch wouldn't have to walk up any stairs) and so that his mom could help take care of him while I had to be away in class. They were such a big help and we are so blessed to have such a wonderful family!

So...here's the story:

Mitch injured his knee way back in May while playing basketball with some friends. We brought him to my work and I x-rayed it and we saw no broken bones, but his patella looked unstable so the Doctor said take it easy for a couple weeks and then go see an Orthopedic if there is no improvement.
Well...my husband has the highest pain tolerance known to man...so he walked around on it for more than 6 weeks before he even went in to see the specialist! He finally decided to go in because he was just walking on it normal and his knee completely popped out of joint and he had to pop it back in.
So he got an MRI...and sure enough, His ACL was completely torn along with both his lateral meniscis and his medial meniscis. (Again...how he walked around for 6 weeks with 3 torn ligaments blows my mind!) So knee surgery was scheduled and there ya go!

Now the fun part...pictures! :-)

This is at the hospital right before knee surgery...not scared at all! haha

Mitch had the pleasure of shaving his knee! oo-la-la!

Mitch: "Take a pic of me doing this!"

The nurse putting the IV in

IV's are hooked and ready to go!

At this point the Doctor came in and talked to him about what they were going to do. (They took a part of his hamstring to use to repair his ACL). Then they took him away for surgery and sent me to my private little "waiting room" for two hours. There was a little couch in there and I figured I could catch up on some sleep while I was waiting, but sleep was very difficult to come by! It's a weird feeling to just wait around knowing your husband is getting surgery. The chances of something going wrong is not likely, but of course but I still couldnt help but think about things that could go wrong with medication and stuff like that...Not to mention that I wanted to watch! It was very unnerving to have to wait and not see what was going on!

After two hours, the doctor finally came in and showed me picture of the surgery. Then I went into the Recovery Room where they brought me Mitch. He was still doped up on the anesthetic and it was hilarious!!! He said lots of funny things!

He told me he had a basketball game with Deron Williams that night (lucky him!), he also said "My legs fat! they didn't tell me there were going to make my lef fat!"

"Was there a little mexican lady in here? she was trying to take my bed!" (of course there was not).

Also, he talked alot about Daniel and a "really cute girl" he was dating up in heaven.

He also would randomly start singing Michael Jackson and there was one point where he started quoting word for word things from the temple session. I had to tell him to stop and he said "But I know it!" and I assured him I was proud of him for knowing it, but that we only say it in the temple.

It was hilarious. I could go on and on about things he said!

Mitch does not remeber saying any of this, so he still gets to keep his dignity. haha!

This is when they very first brought him out...still in and out of sleep.

This is the palest I have ever seen him! It kind of worried me.

I just HAD to get a close up when he opened his eyes... Haha!

Almost 2 hours later when mitch was finally coming back from his doped up land.

We went home and The first few days Mitch was really out of it and got nauseated a few times. Finally, on the third day we decided to try ibuprofen instead of the pain killers...and he was doing much better! Those pain killers are horrible! Mitch was pretty high maintanence the first few days because he needed so much, but I loved feeling like I could be there for him and be a good wife. I was lucky that I was able to find coverage at work.

Then...5 days later we went to the doctor and they took off the brace.

Here is his knee! Being in the medical field, I look at that and think it looks good and is healing nicely! Others get grossed out...

Compared to his other knee-just a little bit of swelling!

Now about 3 weeks later, Mitch is doing great! He is going to physical thereapy and is able to walk without crutches or a brace. He only needs to wear the brace if he is up on it a lot like at work.

Other than that our lives are pretty much the same-busy busy busy! When we have free time we spend it with family and occasionally we get double date time with our favorite couple Jenn and Leo.

We have three family birthdays this week so this Saturday we are doing a Birthday celebration times three!

Our anniversary is coming up too...I can't believe it has already been almost a year! People always say the first year is the hardest, and if thats true I can't wait for the years to come because this past year has been absolutley wonderful!

The Hubby Survey

1. When is you "Engagement" anniversary?
Just had it! July 24th. :-)

2.When is your "Marriage" anniversary?
October 08, 2009. Its coming up! Anyone have any cheap but fun anniversary ideas?

3.How long have you know your spouse?
I'd estimate about 2 1/2 years

4.How long did you date/court before you were engaged?
Dated for 4 months, engaged for 2...what can I say? we just knew. :-)

5.Where did you meet your spouse for the first time?
At Zions peak ward, thanks to an ex-boyfriend. Things happen for a reason! :-)

6.What is your spouses full name?
Mitchell Garrick Holladay

7.Do you have any children yet?
nope! not quite ready for that yet

8.Do you have any house pets?
We have a cactus names Jose. His side kicks are Miguel and Carlos.

9.Do you own a house or rent?
We are renting

10.Do you live in the country or town/city?
Murray City

11.What is one of your favorite activities together?
Hiking! Or getting dressed up nice to go somewhere sweet. But we love spending time together, even if its just watching TV!

12.Do you have a favortie vacation spot?
Cabo! Vegas!

13. How many siblings (including inlaws)?
2 on his side, 3 on mine.

14.What church do you attend?
The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but we are currently serving the patients every sunday at the U of U hospital and we love it!

15.Is this the church you were married in?
We were married in the Jordan River Temple, by my grandpa. Very special because my mom got married there, and my grandpa served as the temple president there.

16.Do you work or stay at home?
Work full time and school full time. busy busy!

17.Where did you honeymoon?
Mitch surprised me and took me to Hawaii. My dream honeymoon. :-)

18. Leave a piece of marriage advice:
Never go to bed upset, and give at least four loving touches a day. (a kiss, a hug, a cuddle). Studies show that this keeps marriage long lasting.

World Cup!

Mitch and I have been having a blast watching the World Cup games!

Unfortunately the United States are out now, but Brasil is still in and going strong so we are wearing our colors!




Happy Cheering! Lets hope these refs don't ruin it for us since they have ruined it for so many other teams...

Our trip!

For the end of may and the begining of June, Mitch and I were able to take a 1 1/2 week long trip! First we headed to Las Vegas to see Jeremy off to London and go to the Hampton family reunion, and then we headed to St George for the Holladay family reunion.

It was a really good experience seeing Jeremy go. It was sad and I miss him so much, but it was happy at the same time because Jeremy was so excited! He is now serving the Lord in London, England for 2 years of his life. These pictures are from the evening before he left. We all met with the stake president as a family and we all got to say our thoughts to Jeremy and then the stake president set him apart as a full time missionary. It was incredible and will go down as one of the best spiritual experiences of my life.

This was on the front porch before we went to the stake center

Here is silly Nathan...luckily he still has awhile before he goes! haha!

AFTER he has been set apart as a missionary. (notice the name tag) :-)

The whole family, Grandma and Grandpa Hampton were able to come too!

The last picture I took of Jeremy before he left...he makes a good missionary! :-)

While we were in Vegas, we did make a night to go to the strip. We went to the Belagio and also to the new city center to check it out!

The garden at the belagio had giant bugs!

Some really expensive art at city center...we just had to touch it!

Sisters :-)

Even MORE expensive art...why am I not in the art business? I could tie a bunch of boats together and call it "art" and be set for life!

City Center!

This guy was completely passed out...only in Vegas...people were taking pictures of him...haha!

Unfortuanly, I didn't get any pictures at either of the family reunions, but I plan on snagging them from family members!

Here is one picture of some of the hampton cousins

While we were on our vacation, we decided to go to both the Las Vegas and St George temples! (Yes, Las Vegas in NOT only the city of sin.)

The Las Vegas temple

Also, while we were on vacation, we spent lots of time in my parents backyard at the pool! Everyone else here in SLC was wearing jackets while were were burning up in 100 degree weather!

The hot tub flows into the pool

The pool!

And last but not least, The St. George temple!

Now that we are back, a lot of things are changing really quick! We are moving into a new apartment and that project officially starts on Monday, although I have already started taking some things over there by myself. Lots of work, but I'm excited to be able to go through junk and throw it away. Our apartment is much bigger, and it has a pool and fitness center! I will miss the University student ward that we are in though and will miss serving the patients at the U of U hospital every Sunday, but this is where our lives are taking us right now. It will be great to live so close to Mitch's parents, the Maxwells, and both of our jobs.

Mitch's Birthday and Mother's Day

Mitch's birthday is really close to Mothers Day. It makes it really fun because there are so many festivities in just a short time!
Last Sunday for dinner we celebrated mothers day and then after that we ate birthday cake!

Mitch's momI couldn't ask for a better mother in law. Lisa has been really great and we are so blessed to have her in our lives. She does so much for others and I have never seen her act stressed or angry. I owe it to her for raising Mitch to be such a wonderful person and a great husband. She has been so sweet welcoming me into the family and treating me as her own daughter. We love it that we live so close to them and get to see them frequently. Family time on Sundays is one of our favorite times! We love her very much!

The girls

It was really hard for me to be away from my mom for mothers day, but I we will be seeing her in just a couple weeks! My mom is so great! She tries hard to make us happy even though she is so far away, and she succeeds! Everything I have learned about responsibility, love, life, hard work, appreciation, kindness, and laughter I owe to her. I miss the long talks and her fun personality that can keep me entertained no matter what is going on. She has raised me to be the woman I am today and I couldn't ask for a better mother! We love her very much!

Mitch loved his cake! I had it decorated in a Utah Jazz theme. Yes, we know they lost, but we are true fans and we will always support our team!

Then on wednesday we went to the Paris Bistro on 1500 S. and 1500 E. It was a fun little place to eat. For his birthday I got him a Jazz Polo, tickets to the Coheed concert (purchased early, per mitch's request haha), and an Avatar DVD. I don't know which he liked more!

Happy Birthday Mitch! Thank you for being the best husband in the world and making life so much fun! I love you more than words can say! I am excited for the many more birthdays with you to come. :-)