Family Fun!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Engaged!

Well, it's old news now but still exciting to me! Cody and I are totally super excited to get married on February 19th :) Life is crazy here in Provo and Rexburg as we make a bajillion plans for the wedding and everything. We had fun taking pictures with our favorite Rachel Merkley in Provo and San Diego over Thanksgiving, so I just thought I would put up a few of them on here. We're SUPER excited for Ty and Christine to have Baby Oakes and we are also SUPER excited to go back down for Christmas when M&D and Dan&Ann will be there. I hate this snow so I'm already excited to leave it again for a couple weeks and play with the fam in the warmth. Anywho, Love and Miss you all :) Happy December!

Magical Time by Christine

What a magical time we had in Washington D.C. and the surrounding area! It all started with a wonderful dinner at Ann's Parents home in Virginia-it was great getting to know her family and having a yummy meal. That same night, we were able to walk around the Lincoln Monument and some of the War Memorials. On friday, thanks to Sharee's great connections, we got tickets and a tour of the Capital Building. Saturday was THE BEST starting with the beautiful sealing at the Washington D.C. temple. Dan and Ann looked so happy and it was great to be able to share the day with them. We enjoyed a delicious meal at the Olive Garden-compliments of Mom and Dad Oakes-where the families mixed and mingled. The bride and groom also gave a gracious speech of their appreciation to family and friends but most importantly, they spoke of their love for each other. The reception later that night was GORGEOUS located in the Colton home. It was fun to send them off with sparklers and a TP covered car! The next couple of days, we got to explore more of D.C. including riding the metro, the Holocaust Museum, Air/Space Museum, Library of Congress, Botanical Garden, and the American Indian Museum. And there are so many more places we would have wanted to go! We were very blessed with mild weather and good health. Thank you Mom and Dad Oakes, Grandparents, Ann's family, and the newly weds for a wonderful trip. We are looking forward to the San Diego reception this next weekend and hope to have more blog entries as we now have a working camera:)

Too Busy to write!

Is it true, are we too busy to write about the most amazing things that are happening in our family?

San Francisco

Hi! So none of us have put anything up for a while, but I have a feeling thats just cuz we are so excited for Dan & Ann and we love that post about their engagement. I just want to put up some pictures of our trip to San Francisco! Mom, Dad and I, as well as grandma and grandpa Oakes and our cousin Steven all drove up to help Tyler and Christine move :) It was SO much fun. I thought San Francisco was sooo cool and I can't wait to go visit them and see more of what we missed this time. We had a very busy few days as we helped them move in and do sight seeing. Some of the things we did included walking about 10 minutes to the beach from Ty&Christine's apartment, noticing a fish mysteriously missing from the fish tank right after ordering one for dinner in China Town, getting crab at Fisherman's Warf, having hot fudge sundaes at Ghirardelli Square, going over the Golden Gate bridge, driving down Lombard Street 3 times in a row, and of course (for me) finding the "Full House" Painted Ladies :) The picture of Lombard street that I put up has dad's truck in the front, it looks like a ford commercial or something, haha.

Anyway, we are very excited for Christine and Tyler and their year ahead, and we can't wait to hear how things go up there. Here are just a few of the pictures I took throughout the trip!

I got ENGAGED!!

Dear family and friends,

I know that many of you have already heard the news and others have not. Please forgive me for not spreading the news quickly or evenly. But I wanted to tell the story here so that everyone can hear and SEE what happened.

On Sunday morning, April 4, 2010, I got engaged to Ann Margaret Colton. This is my story and I’m sticking to it.

Last year, one of our first dates was to go see the Cherry Blossoms and we had such a wonderful time. I knew that I wanted to propose to her at the Cherry Blossoms. The Cherry Blossoms are a famously beautiful spring fixture in Washington D.C. (as a gift to the United States from Japan) and visitors from all over the country come to view and celebrate the Cherry Blossom Festival each year at this time in D.C. The Tidal Basin is flooded with photographers and viewers during this two week time.



I was glad when, early last week, Ann told me that she was arranging with some friends to go and walk around the Tidal Basin to see the Cherry Blossoms on Sunday before conference. She asked me to come along and of course I said I would. I thought this would be the perfect time to propose because she wouldn’t expect a proposal – after all, she had planned the trip. Or so she thought.

In preparation for the event, I went to go stake out a good spot for the perfect proposal early on Saturday morning. I walked the entire tidal basin two times around looking for the best spot. The Cherry Blossoms were COMPLETELY OVERRUN with people.(1)



By 8am on Saturday the entire place was completely crowded and I could hardly find a spot where I thought we could have any privacy at all. Luckily, I finally found a place, the “perfect spot,” on the east side by the Roosevelt Memorial, right off the path, where I thought there would be enough space to get away from the crowds. I took pictures of the view from the spot, including the ID tags on the trees that surrounded me, as a way for my helpers to identify the location where I wanted it to be set up.



After Ann made all the plans to go to the Blossoms, I enlisted the help of Katie, Ann’s closest friend, and her husband Dave, who were supposed to meet us Sunday morning. (Katie and Dave’s wedding last July was the reason for the Ann’s first visit to California).



On Saturday evening, I drove up to Maryland to give Katie and Dave instructions on how to find the “perfect spot” and to give them the things to set up. Also late Saturday night, I had Katie call Ann to tell her that she and Dave were not going to be able to make it to the Blossoms, but that they would meet us for brunch at Ann’s house before conference as previously planned. After the other people in our group also pulled out, it was just me and Ann left to go see the Cherry Blossoms. Ann thought it was a bummer that her plans had fallen apart, but she was still very happy to go with me to the Blossoms because we had so much fun the year before.

I picked Ann up at 6:30am and we headed down to Washington, where we arrived around 7:00am and made our way down to the Tidal Basin. My helpers were to stake out our place and set everything up before we arrived. We leisurely took pictures as we walked around the Basin, in the opposite direction from where they were setting up.



It was a perfect day! Even at 7am I didn’t need a jacket, and there were no clouds in the sky as the sun came up. There were even many fewer people out that morning, likely because of the Easter bunny. We enjoyed a stroll past the Jefferson Memorial and through the Cherry Trees. Our pace became maybe a bit too leisurely. It was nearly 8:00 before we made it all the way around to where the things were set up.



When I saw the things, I told Ann that we needed to take a picture and I pulled her off the path into the grass between the trees where she could see the blanket and the roses set nicely off to the side. We walked back up off the path to see this.



We sat down and I gave her the roses. Then I pulled out from my backpack a book that I had created, with pictures from throughout our time dating and a story which I wrote about our relationship and experiences, all in simple little rhyming pairs kind of like a children’s book.(2) I pulled out the book and slowly read it to her. There were a few very heartfelt words and we both had tears. She cried a little bit :) but I was very surprised at the moisture in my own eyes, given the fact that I don’t have tear ducts.(3)

After reading her the story, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me.(4)



SHE SAID YES!!! We hugged! We kissed! I put the ring on her finger and she loved it! There was cheering from anonymous strangers in the park! And then after a few minutes of smiling and hugging, Katie and Dave magically appeared at the Cherry Blossoms and took some great pictures of us with our big grins on.



It was just such a great day and I could not be any happier. I really do love Ann so much and I am glad that we had such a memorable day which we can happily look back on to mark the moment that we decided to get married.



We finished our day watching conference and making phonecalls to family.



A last note of great importance! I hope you will forgive me, for everything else, and also especially for two things.

1) I have finals beginning in 12 days, 9 hours, 54 minutes, and 51 seconds from this very second. That is actually true I have a very ominous countdown timer on my browser. I have TONS of work to get done between now and then, and therefore, making all the necessary calls is just not possible. Please forgive if you did not get a personal call. It is not that I don’t love you, it is just that I probably will be doing nothing but studying and eating sporadically until those tests are done.

2) There are several constraints on our possibilities for wedding dates. I have a job that runs until the end of July. Ann’s parents are getting back from a mission in July. Ann’s brother moved to London and will only be in town for a certain period of time. PLUS the DC temple is going to be closed during the most convenient week for all of us. It seems that we are going to have to schedule the wedding during the start of the Willardson Family Reunion. It makes me sad that we have to do this because we definitely would like for everyone who is able to and wants to come to be able to make it to the wedding. Unfortunately, since many have put down deposits and rented vehicles etc. it will not be possible for many in the family to come. I sincerely apologise and wish that we could have everyone there with us, but it seems that it might not be possible to find a date that is good for everyone.

However, we will likely schedule a California reception for right after the family reunion, and we would LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE for everyone to come down and be there to celebrate that. Dates and time are forthcoming, but I would love for everyone to be able to make it to a reception in CA.

Thanks for reading and I am the happiest man on this side of the Mississippi. Maybe, even this side of Mars.



Love,

Dan (and Ann)


Notes:
--------------
(1) I actually have a REALLY funny story about walking that morning in the crowds. As I was crossing a bridge, walking through the masses of people, my foot accidentally brushed the heel of a gray-haired older man walking in front of me. He immediately turned around and gave me a horribly mean look. As I was just going with the flow of the crowd, and kind of taken aback by this man’s demeanor, I accidentally touched his heel AGAIN only a few steps later. He stopped, turned around, and started getting angry, loud, and in my face asking me what I was doing touching his shoe like that. Needless to say, I was completely shocked. This man that could be no younger than 70 was rearing to FIGHT ME! I said that I was sorry but there are 50,000 people out here, we were all scrunched up on this bridge, and that it was an accident, but he kept yelling at me completely making a scene. Finally I said, “I’m sorry that I touched your shoe. What do you want to do, punch me?” He said, “no, do you want to punch me?” I said, “of course not!” People were staring at us from every angle, like a 20-something and a 70-year old were going to throw down right there. Finally he walked off, cursing under his breath. I continued to walk, but this time several paces behind him. It was one of the weirdest things that has ever happened to me.

(2) Parenthetically, Ann is a kindergarten teacher and she also happens to enjoy children’s books. We often will read each other children’s stories for fun.

(3) Just kidding. About the tear duct thing.

(4) This is a real-time picture of the proposal. Katie and Dave were hiding from sight but managed to get this picture during the moment I popped the question!

Lets get ready to RUUUMMMMBLLLLLLEEE

We have been feeling the rumble here yesterday and today as the largest earthquake to hit Northern Mexico hit on Sunday afternoon.

Shauna and I counted to 75 during the quake. It was for sure, the longest we have ever felt. Shauna says that the Whittier quake felt stronger but this one was scarry because we were in the upstairs room of the house on the third level. It looked like the TV was going to come out of the wall unit.

The Libster got rumbled and worried about half way through the quake.

Although it never stopped for 75 seconds it did seem to come in 3 waves.

We also felt 4 of the aftershocks on Sunday and then two this morning before we got out of bed. It was quite a ride here on the homefront. Shauna had just secured the Christ statue on the mantle by the fireplace about a month ago. ESP!!!

We hope that we have had enough shaking for a while. They said this fault was not even active and has not had any real activity since 100 years ago. Her is a cool link for the earthquake site LINK

I think that right about when Grandma Oakes was talking to Dan and Ann about some earthshaking news, the ground in California started to shake.

Thin Mints to the rescue!

I am so board with my life today - all I seem to do is work! I drive to work and sit in front of a computer three days a week, I work at home for another three days, work, work, work! I was simply in a pity party mood today.

Then I remembered that I still had one pack left of Thin Mints in the freezer!

My life is still boring, but for these next 5 minutes while I am eating my allotted 3 thin mints, everything seems right in the world!

Some Cool News

The cool news: two graduate students and a couple professors from my major are doing studies with autistic children and these new robots that some engineering students made specifically for this project. An important part of the study is the video recording of the interactions between the child and the robot. In my major there aren't really any research assisting opportunities for undergraduates, you're VERY lucky if you have a chance to work on anything practical as an undergraduate because most opportunities are given to other graduate students. I was informed by one of my professors of this opportunity to work as somewhat of a research assistant for this project and jumped at the chance. And I got it! It's just a volunteer thing so it's not a job but it's an incredible opportunity for me to work with a couple of my professors and graduate students and be a part of this new study with a couple of awesome kids. :) I'm so excited! I had all my training today and I actually start on Monday so I'm hittin' the ground running for this one but I can't wait to learn so much and have a great experience. Only a VERY small number of my classmates and I get to do this so I'm excited for what's next.

Snowpocalypse Yesterday

For the last few days, everyone in the DC area has been freaking out about the end of days that was to come in the form of a BLIZZARD! Seriously, everyone was talking about this storm and I was kind of thinking it would be a letdown because there was just so much hype. But ALAS it was all that I was hoping for AND MORE!

I meant to go to the store on Thursday night, but I couldn't make it. I ended up going on Friday morning at 7 am thinking no one else would be there. WRONG!! I had to wait in a checkout line for about 30 minutes and the shelves were totally depleted.



I had a responsibility at school on Friday, but I was able to get out of DC around 5 pm and get back to Virginia before the whiteout. I holed up and waited for the snow to pass! While I got some reading done, it is really hard to do anything when the world is ending by snow right outside your window, you know?

After the 30+ hours of straight snow started to calm down, Ann and I decided to go and check out the damage.

Exhibit A: Ann's Car



Yeah, I dug her car out last night thinking that it wouldn't be as as much work the next day. WRONG AGAIN!!

Exhibit B: Dan's Car



Yeah, I dug part of my car out last night thinking that it wouldn't be as as much work the next day. WRONGGGGGG!!

Exhibit C: The entrance to Ann's Apartment Complex



That's not going to melt until May.


While we were out, Ann and I decided to venture about a half mile to see if the store was open. We got someone to take a nice picture of us sitting on the bench.



THERE WAS NO ONE AT THE STRIP MALL AT 6pm on Saturday night!! Only this 12 foot mountain of snow that was built by the bulldozers clearing the parking lot. Of course I am going to climb to the top. Ann and I just had a good cry together as we saw this video in its final form. Inspiring barely begins to describe it.



It was a great trip out and on our way back Ann and I walked through some pristine, knee-deep snow. I tackled her.



In the end, we survived the storm, had some great fun, and church was even canceled so I don't have to teach Elder's Quorum so I can fully concentrate on Super Bowl. On the downside, do I have to try and dig out some cars tomorrow. And the next one might be here before next week.

Check out a few more images of the storm below:



Dan

AAhhhhhhh the relaxation!

A Fabulous Trip to Cabo
And so before the new job we flew away to be lost on a desert island paradise (for a glorious week). Cabo was a fantastic getaway.
Highlights:
Doing absolutely nothing but reading and sitting by the pool.
Walking around the harbor until we decided what we wanted to eat.
Sitting on the beach with the pounding waves and the sunset.
Scuba Diving at 60 to 100 feet.
Sleeping in to 10 AM if necessary.
Chasing Crabs only to have them evade us.
Boat Ride to Pelican Rock and Lovers Beach (can I say that?)
Crab Ceviche and chips with lemonade.