Our First Home

Our Life In Clovis

Life with the Reynders is never boring. There is always something going on. School and work take up most of our time, but I also coach basketball at Clovis High and we both have callings to fulfill. I am the Faith in God Leader for the eight and nine year old girls, and I love it! The girls are always full of excitement. They love to learn and have fun, I can honestly say my calling is never boring. David is an assistant teacher in the Deacons Quorum. He actually taught his first lesson two Sundays ago. He loves his calling as well.

Our apartment is slowly coming to feel more and more like a home. We have more pictures up on the wall and we put up curtains last weekend in our kitchen and living room. We love our little apartment. Above are some pictures of our cute little home.

We had our first guests for dinner on Saturday. We invited the missionaries over for dinner. It was really nice to have them in our home. I made sweet and sour chicken with pineapple and rice. It turned out pretty good, I think. It was the first time I attempted to make it by myself. I added some red and green bell peppers for some more flavor and color. I know the missionaries liked it, they each had about 4 servings! Man those men can eat. Anyway, we love our home here in Clovis, it is a nice place to escape from all the distractions in our everyday lives.

Sorry it has been a while since I last wrote. Our lives have been pretty busy. School started for us at Fresno City College on the 18th of this month. I guess that is just last week, but it seems like it has been longer. Also, this Monday, the 25th, David started his new job at Liberty Elementary as an instructional assistant for the autistic children. We both enjoy school and work, but David and I have conflicting schedules, so it is kind of hard.

On Mondays David doesn't have to work, he just has one 2 hour class at night from 6:30-8:30pm. I work from 9am-6pm on these days, so we don't really get to see each other until David gets out of school at night. Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays, David has work from 8am-3pm then he goes to school from 3:30-8:20pm. I go to school from 8am-5pm on these days, so once again we don't get to see each other until late at night. On Wednesdays David gets out of work earlier, he gets out of work at 1pm and doesn't have school until 6:30pm and I work from 9-6pm so when I get off work, David leaves for school. On Fridays David just has work from 8am-3:30pm and I work from 9am-6pm so we have the evening after I get off work. This is our new official temple night. With all the chaos of our schedules during the week, it is nice to have a break.

We are verry happy, even though we have these busy scedules. We feel blessed for the jobs we have and the opportunity that we have to attend college. Life in the Reynders shoes is busy but enjoyable. We are still verry much in love and striving to do all that we can now to prepare for our future. I attached one of our engagement photos just because :)

Seasons of Life

Last Friday, August 15th, my cousin Peter married a wonderful young lady. They are so cute together, in this new season of their lives. He is almost twice her size though. My cousin is about 6'2" and his new wife, Mia, is about 5'0". We attended their wedding reception Friday evening. It was real fun, the theme was Asian, because Mia is Hmong. We enjoyed all of the decorations and interesting food. And of course we had some fun dancing.

On Saturday David and I had the opportunity to travel down to Lancaster for a mission Farewell. David's cousin, Tommy Blair, will be serving in the Houston, Texas mission. Tommy is going to be a great missionary, he has a great love for the Lord and for the gospel. While we were there celebrating Tommy's new season of life, I got to meet some more of David's family. I love having all of these new, fun relatives. I love Family! New and old, it is so wonderful. Anyway I posted here a picture of David, Tommy, and I. We had a great time at the Blair's home. They are great people and I am happy to now be part of their family.

Family Reunion

Last weekend David and I attended the Thorley family reunion in southern Utah. Grandpa Thorley and his brothers own the top of a mountain above Zion National Park. It is covered with beautiful aspen trees. I think that the aspen is now my new favorite tree, they are so amazing. I didn't know that they grow off of each other, all of the trees that cover the top of the Thorley mountain are actually just one big plant. I find that fascinating. Anyway, we had a fantastic time at the reunion. We slept in a tent, ate delicious food, built a mini cabin, danced, four wheeled, hiked, laughed, cried, and enjoyed our wonderful relatives.

On Sunday at the end of our church meeting on the mountain, we had the opportunity to be with Kate as she opened her mission call. It was a real sweet experience. Kate will be serving the Lord in Winnipeg, Canada. Kate is a wonderful person, we know she will be an amazing missionary. From what I see, she already is. We love Kate and are so excited for her.

We have attached a slide show of pictures from the reunion at the cabin. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so these pictures are ones that I stole from Annie and Jo Linda (thanks!). We had a wonderful time. I must say, I am pleased to be a part of the Thorley/Reynders family. I love everyone I have met and I am looking forward to getting to know them better.

The Best Day of Our Life

The Reynders Family was officially established on June 28th, 2008. David and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Fresno California temple on this wonderful day. We are excited about life and have high hopes for our future together. For all of you who weren't able to make it to our wedding I put together a little slide show of pictures from our wedding day.

The Hike Up Half Dome

David and I hiked half Dome before we were married. Even though it was a while ago we still wanted to share our experience through a little video we put together. We had a great time and it didn't take us that long. We thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the Lords creations. There is a breathtaking view from the top. You can see it in the video, but it is so much better in real life.

Our Honeymoon

David and I went on a honeymoon to Monterey. We had a great time! We stayed in Pacific Grove in a cute little lodge. While in Monterey we visited the Bay Aquarium. It was amazing! I had never been there before so I was just taken back by all of the wonderful things we were able to see. We also went kayaking in the bay. We got to wear wet suites and splash jackets so we look real professional in our photos. While kayaking we saw many of God's beautiful creations. We saw sea otters, sea lions, many birds, but the coolest animals we got to see close up was a pair of dolphins. They came up real close to our boat! It was a fantastic experience.

After a few days in Monterey we decided to travel up the coast a little farther to Santa Cruz. We found a nice hotel close to the beach and boardwalk and stayed there for one night. We spent a day on the famous Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. We had a wonderful time. We went on many rides, David got a little nauseous after a couple rides, but we enjoyed ourselves. We lost our keys on one of the rides too, luckily we were able to find them. After we had enough rides we laid out on the beach, it was really peaceful, we didn't want to leave. But we were happy to come home and open our many wedding presents.