2005

2005 was a BIG year for us.  

Ethan was born April 26th!

Party of 3!

Taylor's parents came to meet him.

And grandma Tina came to help/teach us how to survive with a newborn.

We blessed him in our ward in Chevy Chase.

Taylor graduated from GW with his undergrad degree in Economics and a minor in Jazz Studies.

He and Dave Heacock did it together!

Graduation on the white house elipse was pretty amazing followed by pictures downtown DC.

Ethan tried solid foods and deemed all of them good- except anything with sugar !?!

Ethan met grandpa Wally- his namesake.

We went to lots of Bees games.

And Taylor tried to teach Ethan the finer points of playing water polo.

Hiking with Grams in the Canyons.

And a wedding for Kelli!

All dolled up for the wedding.

Too bad Ethan's too skinny to keep his pants on.  Sorry kid- this will be a lifelong problem for you!

And thank heavens for Aunt Jess.  She cleaned up more throw up and more stinky diapers and gave more loves and hugs than any other person I know.

Woodbury family portrait- summer 2005.

And Ethan met Grandpa Bill and Grandma Reva.

And he met the rest of the Kitchen cousins:  Ammon, Madelyn, Ian, and Noah.

These pictures are included because they make me smile (now that I'm not living there anymore).  Here's the apartment we called home for 4 years of graduate school- 2 bedrooms, 2 large closets, 1 tiny bathroom, 1 small kitchen, a living room and a dining room.
The bathroom:

The living room:

The kitchen:

The dining room:

The redeeming part of the apartment was it's location.  10 minutes in the car to GW, across the street from the library, a grocery store, down the hill from the GW shuttle, and just up the hill from these amazing walking trails right on the river.

Ethan was Harry Potter for his first Halloween.  I even managed to sew this by hand (before deciding I like sewing and should buy a machine).

Harry's a wizard???

Christmas with the Woodburys in Texas.

And of course the infamous dog 3 times the size of the child!  It took up an entire bag of luggage- thanks Mack!

In the Beginning... 2003 and 2004

In the beginning... there was no blog.. so there is no blog record... so I'm adding these in- 8 1/2 years later.

Taylor and I met at institute in the fall of 2002.  I graduated from BYU that spring and left Utah specifically so I wouldn't end up living in Utah the rest of my life.  DC seemed like a great place with a best friend living there too, plenty of teaching jobs, and a great institute program.  Taylor finished his mission the summer of 2002 and came back to GW to finish his undergrad.  We started dating in January of 2003 and were engaged by June and married July 29th.  A bit fast, but when it's perfect, you go with it!

General Conference in the Barlow Center.

Engagement pictures on the Tidal Basin.

Reception in the Kitchen backyard: July 28th, 2003.  Followed by our wedding the next day in the Nauvoo, IL temple.

A good man- following instructions to not mess the dress!

Grandpa Wally, Sonia, and my dad.

Honeymoon in Nevis, St. Kitts in the Caribbean.

Overlooking the bay where we scuba dived.

Visiting a fort- that little yellow speck is Taylor riding on the cannon.  Can we say deserted?  This island was empty.. and warm.. and perfect for a honeymoon.

Plus it had a brand new Marriott on the beach- lots of relaxing!

I taught school in Prince George's County for 3 years at New Carrollton Elementary.  Look at my cute kiddos.  Fasukuwa is the bottom right.

Sunday dinners with friends in the ward.

Taylor got to play Santa Claus for the ward Christmas party.  I guess that makes me Mrs. Claus!

With the Olsen's who introduced us by having "couples" dinners at their apartment.  We actually had come with other dates but this was the first time we really talked to each other at all.

Lots of hanging out with friends.

And lots of things to celebrate those first years!!!