A wonderful man

Today we received the sad news of Eric's Grandpa Matthews passing. Although his health has been declining quite rapidly the last little while, it still came as a shock. After hearing the news, I started to look though some pictures we took when Eric and I went to visit his Grandma and Grandpa Matthews in Seattle last summer, and wanted to share some of them.



I was so excited to meet Eric's grandparents. I lost all four of my grandparents when I was young and the moment I met Grandma and Grandpa Matthews, I felt like I had grandparents again.

Some things I learned about Malcolm Matthews (grandpa) while I was there:

1. He loved planes. He worked for Boeing until retiring, but his passion for planes did not retire. One of the must-see places while in Seattle? The Museum of Flight. He had been there dozens of times but was quite ready and willing to go again.


2. He absolutely loved ice cream. Dairy Queen to be exact. He knew every Dairy Queen between Seattle and Provo. (a drive they would frequently make).

3. He had a wonderful sense of humor. Even though he seemed quiet, he could really make you laugh.


4. He had a special red hat he wore when the family would go on road trips. No ordinary hat would do, it had to be the red one.


5. He was amazingly talented with wood. His hobby was carpentry and he built numerous things over the years. My favorites that I have seen are some beautiful wooden Christmas tree ornaments.

Obviously, I didn't get the chance to know him as well as his family does, but meeting him and hearing stories about him, I could tell he was one amazing man. I know Eric has always looked up to his Grandpa and loves him.

We will miss you Grandpa.

Best Year Ever

Yesterday, Eric and I celebrated our first year being married. One year ago, on June 27, 2009 we were married in the Los Angeles LDS Temple. It was a beautiful day. The best day of my life, the day I married my best friend.


It's been an amazing year. Lots of exciting things have happened and we have been able to go to some incredible places. But it has been amazing because through all we have done, we have been together. Sometimes, people talk about how hard the first year of marriage it is and how big of an adjustment it is. I don't think I can say the same thing. Being married to Eric felt wonderful, comfortable, and just so right from that very first day. If the first year is the hardest, well then, we have some incredible years ahead of us.

We were able to spend some time together this weekend to celebrate our anniversary. On Saturday we went to Boerne, a small town nearby to eat at a small Mexican restaurant and walk along the river.


This was a very unique Mexican restaurant, complete with elaborate Fourth of July decorations, a juke box, antler on the wall, and red barn wall paper. But the food was good!

After dinner we walked along a river that went through town. It was a beautiful area. (Have I mentioned that I love Texas? It is so beautiful here!)


The place we went to walk around had a lot of ducks and geese. We thought this little family of ducks was cute. Especially since they seemed to have a self-appointed goose body guard. That goose followed the mamma duck everywhere and made sure all the little duckling stayed close by. If we got too close, he gave us the evil eye.

I woke up the next morning (our actual anniversary morning) to flowers and Eric making me breakfast. He is so sweet!

Later in the evening we had a picnic in a nearby park. A nice, simple way to end our anniversary. It was wonderful just to spend time with Eric.



I have an such amazing husband. I can't imagine being any happier than when I am with him. I love you Eric!

1 year!

And it couldn't have been better! It's not hard to say that I am the luckiest guy alive. At least, I couldn't imagine being any more lucky. Happy one year Kiersten! I love you!

Another thing to love about China...

Matching Shirts.


Whenever we were out walking around in China, we would always see couples wearing matching shirts. I thought it was great. Eric didn't think so, probably because most often than not, the shirts weren't the most manly in color or design. (we didn't get any really good pictures of those ones) We laughed over these matching couples the whole time we were in China but it wasn't until our last week or so that we tried to get some pictures. We would alert each other whenever we saw a couple with matching shirts and then try to follow them and, as discreetly as possible, we would get our picture. Hence, the collection of the backs of matching couples.





I was finally able to convince Eric to match with me before we left China. We should have started earlier, maybe we would have blended in a little better.:)

And, now, in America, we are still matching!


Funny, though, no one else seems to do it...

I am married to a star!

Eric is famous! Well, he is in this Taiwanese news clip, at least. It is about a new commercial that uses Mormon missionaries and their refusal to drink tea or coffee (and eat french fries-- where they got that from, who knows) to advertise instant noodles. Somehow, they got video footage from when he was in a mission in Taiwain four years ago. He is in the first picture they show after talking about the commercial, on the right in the yellow helmet and then later on riding his bike in front of the mission home.

Check it out.

He is giving autographs for those interested.

Happy Father's Day

It has been great to be able to be with both of our fathers in just the last couple of weeks. We've got to have two of the most wonderful men as our fathers. I am so grateful for my own father and the example he is to me. I remember that when I was first starting to date Eric, part of the reason I was so attracted to him was that in so many ways he reminded me of my dad. And I knew that any man who was like my father was a keeper.

We spent today with Eric's father. All of Eric's siblings are in town right now and it has been fun seeing them all with their father and hearing both them and their parents telling stories of their father and of growing up in the Anderson home. Like when Gary, Eric's dad, fell through the kitchen ceiling and Neil, Eric's little brother, who was sitting at the kitchen table simply looked up and said, "Uh-oh!" Or how Gary missed both Eric and Brittany's births- one because of an earthquake and one because he was at church. Watching them all laugh and talk together, I could tell how much they love each other.

Getting to know both of Eric's parents better over the time that we have been here has been such a treat. They have welcomed me into their home and I feel like I have truly gained another set of parents.





We love both our dads so much! I hope they feel that love every day of the year.

Here is to two amazing dads!

Our final China travels: Hangzhou

Now that we have been back in America for over a week, its finally time to get some pictures up of some of our last China travels. We are missing China so much already and looking back over these pictures made us miss it even more!


We went to Hangzhou a couple weeks before leaving China. We had heard about how beautiful it is and people were not exaggerating! It was so pretty and such a nice break from the big city.

Hangzhou is most famous for its West Lake, which is a beautiful lake surrounded by trees, hills, mountains...


and of course, several awesome looking towers and pagodas.



I had done tons of research on the city before we went and so I thought I was super prepared. I had my lists of things we should see and places we should go. But no trip of ours would be complete without getting lost at least once. This was no exception. This time, my oh so carefully selected maps took us on a long detour hiking over a mountain. As the roads and paths slowly disappeared as well as all other people, I knew I had officially gotten us lost. As usual, I started having a breakdown, worried that we would never make it out. And, as usual, Eric stayed his calm, happy, optimistic self, and found us a cool cave to explore.

Eventually we came out on a road and found some people we could ask for directions. And, only a couple hours after starting, we finally made it! Destination? The Jade Emperor Hill. And it was beautiful.

Some more fun places we visited:


Longjing Tea Fields- apparently the best tasting in China. So they tell us...



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And, I had to throw this one in too. This little guy was outside of the restaurant we ate at for dinner. Isn't he adorable?