TWENTY SEVEN

Yesterday, was Clynn's 27th birthday! Birthdays have always been so special to me. When one in my new immediate family rolls around (ie, me or Clynn...no, we don't celebrate the pups birthdays, but we do acknowledge the year turn over around the months we tried to figure out they were born. haha) I just get SO EXCITED! I have so much fun planning birthday parties and I love attempting to spoil the people I love most.

Clynn's Birthday Interview!

Biggest Accomplishments of Age 26:

• Bought over $1000 in Magic the Gathering cards and was able to piece them out, sell some back (for around a $200 profit), and still has plenty to play with. 
• Has placed 3rd, 2nd, and even 1st in MANY MTG card tournaments! (I put allot of pressure on him to win. haha)
• Three (almost four!) quarters closer to his BA in General Mathematics with an emphasis in teaching. 
• Started running again (and is kicking butt!)
• LEFT RENTON (this, he views as his biggest accomplishment...I agree. We're NEVER GOOOING BACK, THE PAST IS IN THE PAAAAST!!!! #wehaterenton)
• Decided to join the U.S. Army Reserves (this fall) to help pay back student loans, save up money to buy a duplex, pay off the car, get trained as a laboratory technician, and have the means to begin Options Trading for Maverick Trading Co. full time in a couple years. (We will be happy if we can meet just a couple of those goals, but we'll be reaching hard for all of them!)

Goals for Age 27:

• Leave the University of Washington
• Start paying back student loans
• Survive Basic Training
• MOVE TO TEXAS!
• Lose 20lbs (I think he'll lose that in training! Though, that Southern food is pretty freaking delicious!)
• Practice monetary stock exchange
• Relax more, stress less
• & be an THE BEST husband, of course! ;D

I am so proud of all the things Clynn has accomplished sense we started dating. He has learned and grown in ways I never would have predicted. I love him a million times a gazillion and can't wait to see what age 27 has in store for him!

BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!!!

Clynn's birthday party was so much fun! We had a gathering at Clynn's parents house. He had so many great friends show up. We had a nacho bar, watermelon, and lime-aid for dinner, watched nerdy (though quiet amusing) educational T.V. shows, welcomed a new foreign exchange student, ice cream cake, backyard fire, played a fun game called Mafia, lots of funny visiting, opened presents, and called it a night! Thank you to Kelsie & Mike for helping set up, Clynn's parents for opening their home and supplying most of the food, and to all of Clynn's friends who took the time to wish a great man a happy birthday. :)

NACHO BAR!! 

The Birthday Pineapple

Quickly becoming a Wilkinson family tradition.

Lisa tried to find the least girly bags possible in her stash. haha

He got new basketball shorts, two new shirts, & a pineapple!

Make a wish!

My aunt Sandy & Uncle Mark's ice cream cake 

recipe was a real hit!!!

I just LOVED this moment. 

You love on my puppies and I love you! 

Max loves Andy <3

Clynn explaining the game. 

We had so much fun!

Goodnight! <3

(This is where Clynn said no more pictures! 

I was happy to have made it that far. Sneaky sneaky!)

Thanks again for all the support of family and friends in another year down and another year ahead for this amazing son, grandson, brother, husband, and friend. 

WE LOVE YOU CLYNN III

Wyoming July 2014

This is a long time coming! Sorry for the wait. Our temporary lifestyle hasn't been very easy on my regular routines. I am quickly learning that a Jackie out of her element...isn't really a Jackie at all...More on that to come. haha

Soo, We spent a week in Wyoming at the beginning of the month with Clynn's mom's side of the family! It was a blast. Clynn's family has a very active outlook on vacation. Jam packed schedules and ongoing new experiences! When it comes to vacation, Clynn & I prefer a week laying on the beach or alone and quiet in the woods with our pups. We like to keep the crazy adventures sprinkled randomly throughout our every day life, but we were grateful for all of the back to back adventure!

WYOMING ACTIVITY LIST

(remember...we were only there 1 week...)

• Yellow Stone Park
• Pioneer Rock
• Star Plunge Hot Springs Water Park in Thermopolis
• White Water Rafting
• Waterfall Hike
• Visit our family owned Doughnut shop...too many times...so many free doughnuts.
• Pioneer museums & sites 
• Visit, Brother in Law, Neal's, work site and where he's been living.
• 4th of July BBQ & Fireworks 
• aaaand I'm sure I'm missing some things...

This is the only photo I have from the Yellow Stone area.

I figure everything else you could see better googling Yellow Stone images. 

It's really something you just have to experience in person. Oh, and it's all really stinky.

But this sunset made my top three EVER. 

Wyoming is VERY rich in LDS (and others) Pioneer culture! Monument after site after story and handfuls of missionaries dedicated solely to sharing stories of the pioneers. I'd be lying if I didn't say I cried...allot. So much sacrifice and love. So many miracles and blessings. So many lives lost fighting for a cause. That always hits home for this soldier. I am very sensitive to these moments and feel very connected in certain places of history. As a result, I don't have many pictures of most of these places due to my own personal outlook on sacred grounds.

The following are photos from Pioneer Rock! This rock was a goal point for many Pioneers. A place where "WE MADE IT THIS FAR!!!" emotions awaited. It became a tradition to climb to the top of the rock and carve your name into the rock when you made it! There were professional carvers who waited there and would etch your name on the top of the rock, for a price, if desired. Today, anyone can approach this rock, climb to the top (=0 SCARY!!), and see names of the pioneers who came through along with dates or small sayings. People still are adding their own names themselves today. :) I like to think these additions are mostly sentimental. So AMAZING to stand where Pioneers were so happy to pass through, and then, to put INDIVIDUAL NAMES to them. Amazing.

See the little people at the top? 

It's much higher than it first appears!

This is my sister in law, Emelia. 

She rocked this no problem!

I, however, stopped for many breaks. Barefoot for better traction. 

Turns out I gained a fear of heights somewhere between age 15 and 23...

Take note of the tiny people walking up to 

get an idea of how high I actually was.

We ALL MADE IT!!!! Very windy up there.

RANDOM STORY: WE LOST MAX!!!!! Clynn and I were SICK looking for him all over the neighborhood on the fourth of July. We had the help of Clynn's immediate family and I'm pretty sure the whole town new we couldn't find him. Turns out, he had somehow locked himself inside the green house in his grandparents back yard!!! SO happy we found him and that he hadn't been in there for long. We were checking up on them SO FREQUENTLY after that and didn't leave anything up to chance. We love our little family so much. <3

Family Photo on the 4th after we had found Max! <3

These guys are pretty awesome. 

HIKE PHOTOS

This hike was really cool and really fun. 

We met tons of super nice fellow hikers, 

got a great work out, and saw some seriously beautiful sights.

I LOVE this one. :) 

Stopped here for a little while just to watch.

SHOUT OUT TO THE COUSINS: It was a blast to get to meet so many of Clynn's cousins and get to know them better than the times we've briefly seen each other in the past! I'll be the first to admit...I'm not that great at meeting new people and definitely verging on socially handicapped at times...but I still enjoyed having them around and listening to them talk while trying not to say anything too weird... :)

This is the only photo I have from the Thermopolis water park. 

Star Plunge is a small park, fed by water from a naturally heated water spring. (STINKY!)

I just couldn't stand this cute little girl and her squishy baby legs. <3 

That's baby Leah, her momma Lindsey (Clynn's cousin), 

and another one of Clynn's other cousin's daughter.

On our last full day, we went out to see where Clynn's brother, Neal, had/has been working and living the past 6 months or so. We had a BBQ with his boss's family, (Wyoming is just like that...) got to see some of his fun equipment, and visit his home IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. Seriously, this kid might as well live in the middle of the ocean...

except he can grow food in the dirt.

These are some geese I chased around his bosses house. :) 

They're so cute. WADDLE WADDLE. Three Amigos.

My favorite picture of Clynn from the trip. 

He was so cute manly playing around in that thing. haha

AAAAND LASTLY.

WE SPENT SOO MUCH TIME DRIVING (OR RIDING) EVERY DAY!!!!!

We didn't want to get back in the car for at least a week after we got back to Wa.

Thank you to Clynn's parents for loaning us the guest bedroom for a bit!

I'll do a separate post later on the white river rafting trip. 

That was definitely THE COOLEST thing ever. haha

Overall, it was a very exhausting and great memory making trip. :) Thanks to everyone who helped make it memorable and were so welcoming to
Me, Clynn, & our sweet puppies. <3

Love,

The Wilkinson's