A Year With Chase & Joni
~2010~
January
 |
| Here is Chase (on the very right hand side) with brother Brady & brother-in-law Paul at the annual Detroit Car Show. It was the 2nd year Chase has attended...I guess he likes Cars! |
 |
| Here is Chase and me (Joni) enjoying our annual New Year's Day Bowling with Chase's family! |
 |
Here we are again enjoying one of my most favorite winter activities~ ice skating! |
 |
| A visit from Chase's brother Drake who came out from Idaho after his return from a two year LDS mission in Ukraine. |
 |
| Having a nice Valentines Dinner at home with yummy Italian Sodas! |
 |
| Eating at Steak & Shake with Family! |
 |
| Chase getting ready to take his Ph.D Qualifier Exam. |
 |
| Celebrating St. Patty's day with friends! |
 |
| Donating my hair~ This is the shortest its been in a long time! |
 | ||
Chase finished up all parts of his PhD qualifier exam and passed! Now he can continue on with his studies!
|
   Being crazy! June The beginning of June we began a new adventure! We packed our little car full to the brim and headed to Oak Ridge, Tennessee for a short 6 week internship.  We broke up the 7 hour drive with a few stops along the way. One was at the Ohio Falls State Park.  One of the first weekends in Tennessee we headed to Gatlinburg for some weekend fun! There was lots to do and see.  We also celebrated Chase's 26th birthday with our friends and landlords, Christy & Eric.  During our stay we also explored some awesome biking trails.  Another weekend we headed to Nashville, TN and attended the LDS Temple there. We hit up the Tennessee State museum and explored some other sites the area had to offer. July Celebrating 4th of July - Independence Day- a yearly event!  The next day we went white water rafting on the Nantahala River in North Carolina with our friends from Tennessee. What fun!  Another weekend in July we went camping in the Smoky Mountains. It was one of our favorite outings in Tennessee.  And of course you can't go camping and not hike too! We hiked up to this waterfall. It was quite pretty and a good hike.  Another day we went into downtown Knoxville and explored the World's Fair Park and some other cool sites.  Another weekend in July (Man- July was busy wasn't it?!) we visited the Mayfield Dairy Factory in Athens, TN and also Chattanooga, TN.  In Chattanooga we went to an IMAX theater which was pretty cool as well as visited the Chicamauga Battlefield from the American Civil War (see below).   One of our last days in Tennessee, we went to Shakespeare in the square in downtown Knoxville. It was sad to say goodbye to our good friends and the beautiful state of Tennessee.  Right after driving home we headed back out to southern Indiana to go to a theme park called Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN with some of our good friends.  Once back home and settled, Chase got right back into work doing his research.  Towards the end of the month we headed out to Nauvoo, IL to see my (Joni's) family perform in the Nauvoo Pageant.  August  August wasn't as busy~ thank goodness! Usually our summers are pretty busy with family and friend events. Its the way we like it! After heading to Nauvoo, we brought my (Joni's) family back with us and showed them the sites of Indiana. One of the days we headed up to Chicago and spent the time in downtown seeing all of the cool sites.  We also went tubing!  Later in the month we got our second helping of Holiday World! The first time we got rained out and got vouchers~ so we had to use them of course! Some other highlights of the month include a visit from my cousin and her family, a visit with our friends who are living in China currently, and some other get togethers with family and friends. Chase also returned to classes at the university.  At the beginning of the month we were able to attend the blessing of our nephew.  For Labor Day we went to the Indiana Dunes State Park. Second year in a row...maybe we will make it a tradition!  I started working on my first ever quilt!  Had some visits with family- here is Chase trying to master the unicycle. Didn't quite get there but it was fun in the process!  The end of the month Chase headed back to Tennessee for a week-long conference. Here he is on one of the weekday excursions. Hiking in the Smokies. Toward the end of the week I drove out so we could both meet up with our friends from Tennessee. October  October was a busy month! The last part of September and first part of October Chase was in Tennessee for a conference. I joined him the latter part of the week and we spent the weekend with our good friends Eric & Christy from Tennessee. One of our excursions together was to a hot air balloon festival.  Also during the month of October we had the privilege of having a visit from Chase's grandparents. We were able to have them for a day and showed all the sites!  A fun excursion that we went on during the month was to the Broadway musical Legally Blonde. Chase was so good to go with me!  Another fun excursion was to a local corn maze with some friends. It was pretty complicated but fun!  The month wouldn't be complete without Halloween! This year we were our favorite Wii characters- Mario & Luigi! Can you guess who picked out our costumes this year?? November  November was a good month that went by too quick! We celebrated the first part of the month with my 26th birthday! Chase made me an ice cream birthday cake and did a great job!  I also helped out with a baby shower for my friend and made a cake!  Got family pictures with all of Chase's family!  Hanging out with family lots! Chase's parents and brother flew in for the week of Thanksgiving! It was so fun to be with all of Chase's family. Here is Chase with our two newest nephews on his side.  Then of course we celebrated Thanksgiving! Here we are on Thanksgiving day! December is always so full of fun and joy! We enjoyed many fun times during family, friend, and church Christmas parties and outings throughout the month!  Here we are at a family Christmas party before heading out to be with more family for Christmas.  We had our own little Christmas before flying back "home" to be with family. Chase loves tools!  I got a new camera! So excited!  One of our yearly traditions is decorating "gingerbread" houses with Chase's family...so here we are decorating away!   Christmas Eve dinner with family!  Christmas morning!  Another favorite past time at Christmas time is baking and making lots of goodies to eat! Chase loves it- can't you tell?! (He really does!)  |
Another favorite is spending time with family! (Here is Joni with one of our nieces)
During our time with family we also made time for good ole sledding!
And visiting Chase's grandparents...
And going to a 3D movie with nieces and nephew...
And just having lots and lots of fun being with family!
Here is Joni with most of her sisters!
What a wonderful year it has been!