England

It is hard to explain the thrill, excitement/nervousness of leaving the USA for the first time. For me, it has always been a dream to go to Europe. Thank goodness my hubby loves to travel to, so we said what the heck, lets spend ALMOST all of our savings and go to Europe baby!!!!
Since the Lounsbury family has very close ties with the British, London was our first stop. Wow! What an incredible city! It is filled with energy, history and a whole lot of diversity! Finally arriving there after a 5 hour lay over in Vegas, and then another quick 14 hours in Minneapolis, we were finally on our way to conquer our first set of dreams. It was quite comfortable laying down in business class on ALL of our flights. A huge thank you to Uncle Aaron! You saved our behinds and made this entire trip possible for us! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Flying stand-by isn't all punch and cookies like everyone says it is... I've never been so stressed in my life! When, yet again the plane took off without us, my heart dropped, and we sat some more... But not to complain too much, because it was the most glorious feeling when they called our names for boarding tickets!

It is remarkable to be able to experience a place so close to my heart and finally being where I have always longed to go. Being in the same places that my beautiful Grandma Doreen May ran around as a child, seeing where her and Grandpa Chet met, the home she grew up in was breath-taking. I felt so close to her while we were there, and wanted so badly to come home and tell her all about it. I know she feels the love that I have for her.

Our trip wouldn't have been so sweet if it wasn't for Linda and James. They are so fun, kind, loving adventurous Brit's; they showed us all that Great Britain has to offer. First order of business, Lin made sure that Chad or "Chaz" (She called him that from day one hehe), never went hungry. We ate, and ate. And ate! She made yummy quiche, veggies, chocolate cake, sausage rolls, sandwiches, Sheppard's pie, and introduced us to the best fish and chips on the planet! They taxied us around the rolling hills, cities, and back ally ways. We had the most wonderful time with them. As they took us to Bristol to get on the plane to Amsterdam I felt like I was saying good-bye to Grandma all over again. Lin is so much like her, I can see Grandma through her eyes, she is so lovely.

We were blessed to meet Brian's adorable new wife Angela. That girl is wild! Well, she knows what she wants and no one is going to get in her way. She does hair for a living, but in all her free time she loves to help with charity organizations and take great care of her family. It was a delight to see Brian and his girls again. We went to a fab play in which Amber Rose had the lead roll. "Romp" and that is was.. Let's just say good ol' Tuacahn won't be putting this play on anytime soon. Chad and I had a great time getting acquainted with English humor. Jess is such a doll too! They were nice enough to take us to the Cotswold's, and a few other places. We got to ride in Brian's sweet ride and have dinner on the river.
Angela had many questions about our beliefs, standards, and views. It truly made me so grateful that I know my Heavenly Father, and I know that I can spend eternities with my family! It is such a comfort.

Places that we visited in Great Britain:
London: Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, London Bridge, Big Ben and Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, drove passed St. John's Cathedral.

England: Stroud, Gloucester Cathedral, Bourton-on-the-water (and other Cotswold's), Bath (loved this town), Oxford University, Wales ( St. Fagin's Museum) Warwick Castle, Drove to Bristol.

Ring them Bells

Planning our wedding was delightful, it was one of the most enjoyable times for me. It helped that I already knew the colors (light pink, gold and ivory) my photographer ,and my dear cousin Jennifer to make our cake. From the moment I laid eyes on Colin Cowie on Oprah, I bought his wedding book and planned my wedding around a lot of his great ideas. Our wedding was a special day. I felt so much love for Chad and was so excited to start our lives together- it was the most perfect day!!!!! We had awesome food catered by a dear friend Lisa Shaw. I could taste her love in every bite I took. Thanks to the Blake Family our location was incredible. I always wanted an outside wedding and they were so generous to make my dream come true. It was a blessing to have so much support from our family and friends. I thought that the day would never come, now its gone and passed with 5 months behind our belts. 'Captured by Mikki Photography' were so amazing to work with. They gave us the perfect "captured" shots. Thank you to my Mom and Shela for doing sooo much! Shela made all of our table cloths, and they weren't necessarily easy! I'm so happy I was able to share the most beautiful day with my man!!! Thank you all for coming.

Home for the Holidays

Christmas time is my most favorite time of the year!!! Me and Chad had such a fun time together. Everything is better when you're married. We slept over at my parent's home (because I'm a baby ha ha) but I think Chad had a OK time too. Santa even woke us up in the morning! It was way fun sleeping in my old twin bed with him... Just a little small for the two of us. We went up to Pine Valley to cut down our Christmas tree with Brady and Becky. Man, we got 2 perfect trees as it started to get way dark, my toes about ready to freeze off and..... the saw didn't want to start! I thought we were going to have to pull a Griswold.

The Mission

It's hard to believe that this October marks 2 years since Chad's been home!!! We've been taking about Spain a lot lately since we are planning a trip to go there this summer. I can't wait to see all of the beautiful places Chad served in!

Our Story

I still get butterflies looking back at being 15 and first meeting the love of my life, Chad. It all started in high school. Yes, I was a bit young to have a boyfriend... in that same breath, I don't regret one thing! I was first aquanted with the strawberry blonde hotty that wore flannels, and always hanging with his five goofy friends, in the halls of SCHS. After a couple hello's and hanging out here and there I asked Chad to Preference. ' I wouldn't miss dancing with you for a 100 grand'. That was his response... melted my heart! We enjoyed looking at the stars late at night, hanging out with our friends, watching lots of movies, going to Zions, trips to the lake and skimboarding. We were always together! Going back to school my junior year, I thought I was going to die being there without him! Chad swept me off of my two little feet many of times, a few fresh on my mind: Setting up a romantic night at the golf course with a rose and Nielson's frozen custard (our favorite!). Bringing my roses on Valentine's day, and dinner to follow. Reserving shot gun in his car for me, with a cute sign to go along with it.Matching stockings for Christmas, surprise drive by's on his motorcycle, and much much more. The greatest thing about being young, or any age at that matter, is not knowing what will come next. Life is an adventure, and I'm sure glad that I have Chad by my side. He makes it beautiful for me.