Year Two (May 2010-May 2011)

Our second year of marriage began with a summer in the midwest.  Jon got an accounting internship with John Deere in the Quad Cities area and we moved to Davenport, Iowa the first week of May 2010.  I was nervous to move to the midwest.  I happen to be terrified of natural disasters, especially tornadoes.  However, despite the humidity, cicadas (an incredibly annoying and loud bug- sounds like a broken power line or something), and the heart attack I had every time the tornado sirens went off, we had a really great summer!

Grounds at the World Headquarters in Moline, IL.

I needed to get a few credits out of the way so that I would be able to stay on schedule and graduate the next Spring with Jon, so I signed up to take Statistics through Independent Study over the summer.  Considering that Stats is a pretty tough class in the first place, I was trying to basically teach it to myself, and I have a tendency to be a perfectionist, I ended up spending a good 5-6 hours every day, all summer, on that class.  As one can imagine, this made for an incredibly fun daily routine.  Thankfully we had a nice pool at our complex which gave me some much needed relief each day.  I ended up being pretty tan that summer...

Jon spent the summer working internal audit at a couple of the different Deere plants in the Quad Cities area.  He spent some time at Davenport Works and some time at Parts Distribution Center in Moline.

We also were able to explore the area on weekends and evenings when Jon got done with work early.  We went to some parks, walked along the Mississippi bike trails, went to some drive in movies, went to Nauvoo, and lots of other fun things.  I was called as the Girl's Camp Director for the summer and was able to spend a few days camping with the Young Women.  Jon also joined us one evening as the priesthood holder.  It was a fun calling.  We also participated in a John Deere intern volleyball league.    That was super fun!  There were about six or so teams made up of summer interns at Deere.  Our team was basically the BYU interns with a few extra people.  Our team did really well and we ended up winning the tournament at the end of the summer. 

The World's Largest Truck stop is only 15 min from Davenport!

Showing our Iowa pride by the Mississippi.

Nauvoo Temple

Enjoying one of the many crazy rain storms!

Jon pulling his moves on me at the drive in movie theater.

Jon and I after winning the volleyball tournament.

Our volleyball team!

Since Davenport, IA is only four hours away from Rochester, MN (where Jon grew up and some family still lives), we were also able to enjoy spending some weekends with Jon's family.  Some of the fun memories include Mall of America with Phil and Chantel, running my first 5k with Jon and Phil on Memorial Day, Valley Fair Amusement Park with Phil and Chantel, and a 4th of July family get together.  Steve and Krista's and Russ and Heather's family joined us in MN for the 4th of July and we had a fun time going to dinner, having bbq's, playing games, and swimming in the local reservoir.

Me, Jon, Chantel, Phil at Valley Fair Amusement Park

On a crazy water ride!  I'm the third from the right and Phil and Chantel are next to me on the left.

Phil, Jon, and Me: Memorial Day 5k

Mall of America

The internship ended mid-August and we headed back to Utah to finish our last year of school.  On the drive back, we visited Carthage, Illinois, Nauvoo, Mt. Rushmore, Winter Quarters (we actually met up with Mike and Lisa's family here- they were on their way home to MN from UT), and the Wyoming visitors center near Independence Rock and Martin's Cove.  Mt. Rushmore was neat to see and all of the pioneer and early church history sites were very interesting and great testimony builders.

Carthage Jail

Joseph and Hyrum, and Jon.

Inside the jail- the window Joseph fell out of when he died.

Nauvoo, Jon pretending to be a cow.

Nauvoo

Winter Quarters Temple

Standing by a dresser that belonged to my 4th Great Grandfather Charles C. Rich at Winter Quarters, NE.

During Fall semester 2010, I did an internship coaching volleyball at Provo High School.  I assisted with all teams, but mostly with the Freshman- since their schedule fit with mine better.  It was such a blessing to get my coaching internship so close to BYU.  Jon and I were still sharing a car at the time and it made it so nice to be able to walk to my internship after classes each day.

Jon, Me, Becky, and Isaac at a BYU football game.  Fall 2010.

We co-captained a Rec League Co-Ed Softball team again in the fall and, again, had a lot of fun.  We had some of the same family members and friends as the year before on the team as well as some new ones!

Our Softball Team 2011. My sister Becky, BIL Aaron, and friends Stacy, Mimi, Mike, and Jessie were new additions this year.

Me at First Base.

Jon at bat.

We love playing sports together!

Me and my sister Becky.

The massive bruise I incurred during our last game when I got slammed by a million mile per hour softball!

Late October, Jon and I found out we were expecting our first child.  We were very excited and nervous all at the same time!  We told our families over the Christmas holiday, which we spent in MN with Jon's family.  We spent Thanksgiving with my family in Idaho.  We were kinda nervous because my little sister suspected that someone in the family was pregnant and had been bugging us about it.  It was still early and we didn't want to tell people yet, but she was getting more and more persistent.  Then, over Thanksgiving, my sister Kristi announced that she was pregnant and it took all the pressure and suspicion off of us.  It was great!

Me with my proof of pregnancy! (I look a bit ridiculous!)  Jon was sweet and got me some flowers and candy :)

Ski, Kristi, Isaac, Becky, Me, Jon, after the First Presidency Christmas Devotional 2010.

Our Christmas card 2010.

Winter Semester 2011 I did my student teaching at Lone Peak High School in Alpine, Utah.  I was paired with another student teacher, Talese Stephan, and we taught Health to sophomores 6 of 7 periods a day.  I was skeptical at first of how a team placement would work, but it turned out to be a huge blessing!  We worked really well together and were able to do a great job!  We were both kind-of perfectionists so we made our lessons really good, but since there were two of us it only took 1/2 the time.  Having Talese there with me also helped to take the pressure and stress down, which was fantastic considering it was my first time being pregnant and my body was already stressing me out enough!

Mine and Talese's teacher posters!

Student Teaching- Oh the joy!

In February, Jon and I went in for an ultrasound to find out if we were having a boy or a girl.  Secretly, we were both kind of hoping for a girl.  I felt like I would have no idea how to raise a boy and Jon kinda felt the same since he had mostly nieces.  When we found out it was a boy, I was a little scared, but it felt right!  It was such a neat experience to see our little baby for the first time.  It really made everything sink in.  He was just so tiny and precious!  We even caught him on the video doing a big yawn and waving a little bit.  We immediately fell in love with our little boy!

Our sweet little boy 2/17/2011.

At the end of March 2011, my Grandpa Rider passed away.  He was 93 and the last of my living grandparents.  My grandma Rider had passed away a few years prior from Alzheimer's disease and my grandpa had really been missing her.  It so wonderful to know about the plan of salvation and forever families when facing death.  My whole family, except for Jenn and Kallan's kids were able to make it down to Kanab for the funeral.  Me and my sisters sang, "I know that my Redeemer lives" at the funeral and my dad gave the eulogy.  There are six of us sisters and three of us were noticeably pregnant at the time so we felt a bit ridiculous all standing up there together!  It was interesting to hear all of the stories about my grandpa and the funeral was nice.  The downside of the trip was that the weather was terrible.  It was freezing cold and blizzarding most of the time that we were there and especially on the drives there and back.  It was awful.  I am so grateful we were all able to travel safely!  At the graveside they did a 21 gun salute and a little military tribute since my grandpa was a World War II veteran.  I was very proud to be both the granddaughter and daughter of veterans. 

On April 22, 2011 Jon and I both graduated from Brigham Young University.  (More details to come!)  That evening my sister, Kristi, got her endowments in the Salt Lake Temple.  It was really neat to be there and it was my first time doing a session in Salt Lake.  It is such a gorgeous temple!  The next day Kristi and her husband Ski were sealed in the Bountiful, Utah temple. 

Graduation Day!

We spent our second anniversary in St. George again.  We just love that place!!  We spent some time swimming, relaxing, playing mini golf, seeing a movie, and lots of other random activities.  We also were able to do some sealings in the St. George temple.  We were the only ones in our room and it was really neat.  It is such a beautiful temple!