One Year Together--Happy Anniversary!

Bryan and I hit our one year anniversary of being together today. It seems so long ago now that we were first dating, so unsure of our future together. Here we are one year later married and enjoying a new life together. It has been quite the ride this past year and, for me, the best year of my life. I just want to let Bryan know how much I love him and how grateful I am for him. He brings so much joy to me each day. He's, surprisingly, just as silly as I am (or either he's just playing along for my sake :). There's so much you can't know about a person until you're married to them. Bryan has been such a pleasant surprise and so much fun to be with. I wouldn't trade him for anything :). I just wanted to list a few reasons I love Bryan (to further embarrass him). I love you Bry! Happy one year anniversary!

1. He's always coming up with new inventions. He has a lot of great ideas. Hopefully we'll put them into use soon!

2. He's very talented both with music and writing. He plays both the piano and guitar very well and I just enjoy laying on the couch listening to him play.

3. He has a love for culture/literature and learning. He's always studying something about history, woodworking, etc. I am inspired to learn from his example.

4. He fights waking up each morning and fights going to bed each night. He loves to stay up late as it is "his time" to read what he wants to, and to do what he's been waiting all day to do.

5. He is my best friend and has been for a long time now. He listens, helps, and loves me.

I could list a million other reasons I love my husband (of 3 months now!). I am very grateful to be with him and to be our own little Bryner family. Life just keeps getting better!

Happy Anniversary Bryan!

Body Worlds Exhibit--Art or Horror?

Matt and Leticia Bryner came up to Salt Lake City for Matt's Dental seminar and they stayed with us for the weekend. It was fun to have company and to, of course, play games (as Bryners often do :). We also had the chance to go out Friday night to the Body Worlds Exhibit at the Leonardo Museum in Downtown SLC. This exhibit displays the anatomy of the human body, piece by piece. They had statues which are, in fact, cadavers that have been plasticized.

A lot of the exhibit was fascinating, like the fact that our heart pumps 1800 gallons of blood through out our body per day! We saw regular working lungs, then lungs with emphysema and other diseases. They also had other organs like the heart on display. They showed the first artificial heart that was made and also the first artificial heart design that worked in 1982. It was actually a very educational exhibit. The thing that got to both Bryan and me were the statues. They were supposed to be educational/artistic, but to me, it was a little bit scary.

We left feeling a little woozy and grossed out. I had to write about it because, for one, it was very unique, and, for two, I think it will haunt my memory for many years to come :). Matt and Leticia enjoyed it a little more just because of their medical background, but I think we all agreed on the fact that it was a bit disturbing. So, is the body literally supposed to be displayed as art or should we just rely on the painters and photographers to do their artistic calling and spare us the nightmares of "Body World"? I think the latter would be best, at least for my sleeping patterns!

(If you are still interested, after this compelling article, in seeing the exhibit you can visit www. bodyworlds.com)

Arches and The Bryners

This past weekend Bryan and I were able to go down to Moab, UT and go to Arches National Park with Matt and Leticia Bryner. We drove down to Price Friday night and then drove the rest of the way Saturday morning. We met up with Matt and Leticia shortly after noon and started our adventure into the park. The weather was perfect (considering we were coming from SLC where it just snowed the previous Wednesday). It was about 55 degrees and sunny skies. We wore long sleeve shirts and had a jacket just in case. The best part was that we were able to meet up with Matt and Leticia and spend a lot of time with them. They are now living in Grand Junction, CO so we don't see them as often as we'd like to :).

We spent the day hiking to the different arches (I'll try to remember the names of them). We stayed in the park all day and all of us were pretty worn out by the end of it. We hiked three or four different trails to the arches. Some of the hikes were more strenuous than others. All in all we estimated that we hiked about 6 miles on Saturday. As you can guess, we were all sore as we woke up on Sunday morning :).

Arches National Park is absolutely beautiful! It is amazing how God carved out such beautiful structures for us to enjoy on earth. I had never been to the park before so it was so fun to see all the different arches and just enjoy the beautiful weather. It was such a fun weekend!

I, of course, brought my camera and took lots of pictures. Here are the arches we saw:

The North and South Window Arches were the first hikes we did. I believe the first two pictures are showing the South Window. They were very close to the parking lot so the hikes only took probably about five minutes each.

Here is Bryan on his way to the South Window Arch.

Matt and Leticia on the stairs to the South Window Arch with angelic lighting from the sun.

This is the North Window with Matt and Leticia in it!

Bryan and I in the North Window. It was huge! This picture is from far back too and we still couldn't get the whole arch in it!

Here is the North Window from farther back.

The Double Arch. The first one is huge and the second one is in the background on the left.

Bryan pondering in the double arch. I love this picture! Bryan is the best :)

Taking a rest in the Double arch. The hike up to this point is actually pretty steep so we needed a few minutes before we proceeded.

This is one of the Arches that Matt and Leticia didn't want to hike down to. I forgot the name of it, but the sun was shining right through the middle of it. We'll call it "sunny arch"This is Pine tree Arch. I don't think those are pine trees under the arch, but we just went with it anyway.

This one is Bryan's favorite. It's called Landscape Arch. It is VERY long and skinny. Pretty amazing that it can hold up after all these years! This was a tough, long hike and it wore us out, but we were determined to see this last arch. It's the one on the Utah license plates.

Delicate Arch! We hiked up to see this one right at sunset. There were a lot of people there to see the sunset. I can see why! The sun hit the red rock so perfectly and it illuminated to vibrant colors. This was a tough hike! It was 3 miles round trip and it is a gradual uphill slope all the way there. It was fun to hike to because you come around the corner and you get to see this arch just sitting there by itself--steep cliffs surrounding it on all sides. The hike was worth it to see this one!
Bryan and I under the arch. This gives you an idea of how huge it is! It was absolutely amazing!

And here are the triumphant outdoorsmen (and women) with the Delicate Arch behind us.

We went out to eat that night at a cute little Italian Restaurant called Pasta Jay's. Cristie Bryner suggested we try it out. It was just the carbohydrates we needed after a long day of being active. Bryan and I stayed the night with Matt and Leticia in Grand Junction, CO afterward. Bryan bought some two-way radios for us to use for our trip and we kept in touch with Matt and Leticia as we drove to CO. Thanks to Ryan Kump for the Cabela's gift card! It was the only "non girly" present we got for our Wedding.

We were able to go to Stake Conference with Matt and Leticia and then we played "Puerto Rico" with them afterward. All-in-all it was such a fun weekend! We were able to get a lot of time out in the beautiful weather, spend personal time with Matt and Leticia, see the town of Grand Junction and Arches National Park, and use our walkie-talkies as we caravanned back to Colorado. Good times with the Bryners!

Trials

As I sit here pondering this rainy Sunday morning, my mind turns back to the difficult trial I went through last month. It was a hard time for Lindsay and me, but we've definitely learned a lot from it and have grown closer to each other.

It all ended last Friday at 2 pm when the judge adjourned the case after five very long days in court. I had spent the week in Price, Utah trying a very complicated case involving oil & gas mineral rights with other attorneys from my office. Although I spent the week away from Lindsay, the demands on my time began long before the trial when I had to put in many weeks and late nights of intense preparation, writing and researching. Lindsay was such a wonderful supporter for me - she even got me excited to make objections and cross-examine witnesses. (She's very good at those too.)

The judge ultimately (or, more accurately, ahead of time), did not rule in our favor. But I still had a good experience. I examined two witnesses and did the closing argument. It was a great experience, but the time demands and stress it caused were more than I had bargained for, especially for just my second month of marriage. I hope Lindsay will forgive me for it and realize that cases of this magnitude are not of a frequent occurrence. Now if only I could have her inject some of her humor into this post. . . . I think the trial dulled my sense of humor last month, but Lindsay is getting me back to normal very quickly.

Who killed Mr. Anton Powar?

There was a murder (mystery party) at Powar Films Studio Saturday night. Mr. Anton Powar, the owner of Powar Films Studio, was murdered in his apartment. There were multiple bullets in the apartment but only one hit Mr. Powar: one that ricocheted off the bronze statue. All the actors, writers, and producers were gathered into one room (over a delicious dinner) and talked over what went on the day of the murder and the weeks prior to it. There was murder, intrigue, scandals, and inheritance attached to mystery. Mr. Powar was a greedy man and was using his power to get gain.

Eight of Mr. Powar's closest associates were suspected in the murder. They were all invited to the dinner that night.

Denise Ann Dayer (starring Lindsay Bryner) was Mr. Powar's niece and was going to inherit the studio upon her uncle's death. Hack Ryder (played by Bryan Bryner) came from Paris as a young, poor Bohemian writer who found his fortune in Hollywood. Rumors say he was in a bad contract with Mr. Powar, but that Hack had some malicious secret that he used to blackmail Mr. Powar.
The niece and heir, Denise Ann Dayer, and Hack Ryder, the Bohemian screen writer

Savoy Fayre, the British actor who starred in many of Mr. Powar's early films, had a beef with Mr. Powar about his dying acting career. Mr. Powar had some dirt on him. Tat Eltale, a gossip columnist, was previously a star but her alcoholism diminished her career to nothing. She quit before she was fired to start her gossip column.
Savoy Fayre, the British actor, and Tat Eltale, the gossip columnist

Heidi Voltage was the newest star in Hollywood and was the lead in the newest film, "Powar and Greed". Stu Dyron, the "Carrie Grant" of Hollywood, had a way with the ladies and Mr. Powar had it out for Stu.
Stu Dyron, the "lady killer" actor, and Heidi Voltage, the rising star

And, finally, the director of Mr. Powar's films, Sel U. Lloyd, came along as well with his own arguments with Mr. Powar over contract agreements. Mr. Powar's greed seemed to extend to each of the people involved. Ivonde B. Alohn, the Swedish actress brought to America, had a long career as the star in many of Powar Studio Films. Ivonde was losing stardom though due to a few of the other rising starlets.

Sel U. Lloyd, the director of Powar Films and Ivonde B. Alohn, Swedish actress

After a couple hours of deliberations and accusations the truth came out. Mr. Powar was poisoned by the jealous Tat Eltale, whose career was destroyed by Malissa Ann Greede and Mr. Powar. She poisoned him well before he was shot down in the apartment. He was dead before the shots rang out. Hack and Danise planned to kill Mr. Powar and run away to be married with the inherited fortune in their hands. Ivonde was in his room when the bullets flew. Heidi accidentally killed the butler while firing shot into the room. Everyone was on their way to get him, but Tat Eltale got to him first.

And so the mystery was solved over a three course meal. It was a night full of scandals, intrigue, and dessert.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Last Sunday the weather outside was frightful! We received our first snow on Oct 12th after having a week of highs in the low 70's. Impossible, you say? Not in Utah! It was cold by Friday and snowing by Saturday night. We received an inch or so of snow and this is what we woke up to on Sunday morning:

Brett has been in town the last couple of weeks finishing up a Calculus class and has been staying with us over the weekends. We all woke up that morning singing Christmas songs and Bryan even played a few songs for us on the piano! There's nothing like a good Christmas in October :). It was fun while it lasted (which was only a few hours. When the sun came out all the snow melted quickly). I think it may be foretelling our Utah winter this year. It's going to be another long one!

We're back in the high 60's, low 70's again....for now!

Bryan's going to Trial! Dun Dun Dun!

Bryan has been working very hard lately in preparation for the big oil and gas trial they have at the end of the month. He's scheduled to be in court, along with a few other lawyers from the firm, from October 27-31st. In an effort to keep him pumped up for trial I've found a few comics! (some funny, some just silly.) Go, Bryan, go!

Getting to know you

So I've decided to post a few great getting to know you questions since some of the family still don't know me or Bryan very well. These are pretty basic and shallow questions, but it is important to know favorite foods, colors, etc :). Bryan isn't here by me so I'm going to guess his answers. (He'll probably edit it later)

What’s your name?
L-Lindsay Elizabeth Bryner
B-Bryan Clark Bryner

Do you know why you have the name you’ve been given?
L-My parents liked it. I have always told everyone that I was named after a Dr Lindsay; my middle name comes from my Great Grandmother Elizabeth.

B-Also, parents liked the first name. Clark does have some origin within the family. Bryan will have to update that one.

What city were your born in?
L-Farmington, NM
B-Provo, UT

Where do you live?
L and B-in Salt Lake City UT in the Holladay area

Do you like where you live?
L and B-It's a great place to start and we've enjoyed the area thus far. We even have a cat that has adopted us.

Do you know your ethnic heritage (European, African-American, Native American, etc…)? If so what?
L-English/British Isles from my mom's side; Paiute/Navajo from my dad's side
B-Swiss from the Bryner side; I believe the Hutchings side is English (again, Bry will have to verify it)

If you were given 1 million dollars what would you do with it?
L-I would pay for the rest of college, put money into savings, go on a second honeymoon with Bryan to some warm island, and buy a house.

B-I'm sure he has a lot of ideas for his million dollars. I know he'd follow up with his inventions and get them into production or he could just start a business to sell all his inventions. I know he'd want to either build a house or buy one too.

What’s your favorite color?
L-Ocean Blue and Yellow
B-Blue

What’s your favorite food?
L-Mexican food and Chips and Salsa
B-Italian food and cookies and milk

What’s your favorite drink?
L-Water. Bryan laughs at me because I always have a water glass by me and multiple ones throughout the house.
B-Bry loves milk as long as it comes with a couple cookies

What’s your favorite type of music?
L-Country is a new favorite of mine. It's clean, upbeat, and fun to listen to. I also love Jack Johnson, Michael Buble, and David Archuleta.

B-Country. Bry also loves old cowboy country songs that I've never heard in my life. :) He will start singing them at random and I can't quite follow him. He also loves classical music.

What’s your favorite movie?
L-probably "I am David". It's a great story about a boy who escapes a work camp just after WWII.
B-He doesn't really watch movies, but I know he loves "Tommy Boy", "Zorro", and "Night at the Museum"

What TV shows do you like to watch?
L-I don't watch a lot of TV but I always try to catch an old episode of Matlock. Law and Order is also great.

B-He'll watch ESPN-Baseball games, football games, and basketball. Typical boy :)

What’s your favorite game?
L-I like Scattergories. It's a lot of fun and interactive.
B-He loves all types of games. He likes to play Scotland Yard and Ticket to Ride a lot lately. But he'll play sleuth, boggle, and card games and win them all.

What’s your favorite sport or sports?
L-I love to run. I also love to play volleyball, basketball, and tennis.
B-Loves all sports, but loves to play baseball, softball, wiffleball, football, and basketball. He also enjoys tennis and ultimate Frisbee.

Do you like to read? why\why not?
L-Yes I do, but it takes me awhile to read.
B-He absolutely loves to read! It's his way to wind down and relax.

What was the last book you read?
L-I'm still finishing a few, but 1776 is the one I'm working on right now.
B-He finished 1776 and is reading a couple as well. I think right now he's reading Founding Brothers.

So, Bry, you'll have to fix the responses if I'm completely off. I hope everyone feels a little closer to us now that these questions have been answered!

Jackson Hole WY--the Land of Moose

Jackson Hole Wyoming--Honeymoon 2008!

We went to Jackson Hole for our honeymoon from Aug 31-Sept 5th. It is a gorgeous little western cowboy town (ski resort town in the winter). It was so much fun! It was a little chillier up there than what we were used to, but still fun to be outside hiking, biking, and canoeing. We stayed at the Aspens resort close to Teton Village. They first gave us a 1 bedroom condo, but there were a few concerns we had with it so they upgraded us to a 3 bedroom/3 bathroom townhouse style condo!

The kitchen in our honeymoon suite

The living room, dining room, and kitchen area

This was our living room area. The view outside the windows was absolutely beautiful! We had a perfect view of the mountains. So we were living the high life in Jackson Wyoming. We did a lot of fun stuff while we were there:


We went out to eat at fun little restaurants in downtown Jackson.
We also went to the Mangy Moose at Teton Village!




Bryan took me mountain biking at Teton Village Resort. I haven't been bike riding in a LONG time, so I was a little bit nervous (to say the least). Bryan was kind and patient with me and taught me how to handle the bike. I didn't crash so I count it as a good trip!

Bryan is looking good!


We went to see the famous Bar J Wranglers perform and ate a delicious Chuck Wagon BBQ dinner, just like the old cowboys did on the range. They are AMAZING singers and hilarious too. It was my favorite thing we did in Jackson Hole.
At the Bar J Ranch, just before the show

We also had the chance to see wildlife in Grand Teton National Park. We went hiking and canoeing in the park. Our first day in the park I was really excited to see some moose, but we had no luck whatsoever. All we saw that day were some squirrels and a couple birds. Nothing too exciting. (We did almost have an encounter with a black bear while hiking, but were warned by the hikers ahead that he was heading for the trail. We decided to turn back!)

The next day we went back to the park to go canoeing in Snake River and we came across a few things along the way:



Mr. Buffalo was taking a leisurely stroll across the road when we drove right by him.
Here's my Moose! He was eating brush down by the stream with his moose calf. This is the best picture I could get of him.
Look to the top left of this picture and you'll see the great American Bald Eagle! I was SOOO excited to see this one! He flew over us while canoeing on the river and perched in the tree right above us! ...And we even ran into Sasquatch! He was nice enough to let me take a picture with him. He's a big celebrity these days.


Grand Teton National Park was breathtaking! This picture is in an area where Moose are usually found, but not for us I guess :). It's a great picture nonetheless!
We went hiking this day right around some of the Lakes in Grand Teton National Park.

Bryan is pondering our future as he stares off into the distance....or he's considering a swim.

We also had a crazy schedule so there was plenty of times where we just took naps :). Bryan caught me on the couch, huddled up and covered while taking a midafternoon nap.




We went canoeing (it was actually a kayak) down the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park. It was in an area just past the dam called Oxbow Bend. We were searching for wildlife (I kind of got an obsession with finding wildlife. Bry was nice to play along!)

Bryan was the lead canoesman (is that what they're called?)
Taking a break from all that rowing...that Bryan was doing!

Both of us in the kayak. It was a colder day, but just perfect for being out in the water.


We made it back to dry ground!






On our last night in Jackson Hole, I booked a play/dinner show at the Jackson Hole Playhouse dowtown. It's the oldest building in Jackson and has been converted into a theatre. We ate in an old saloon setting and the servers sang songs as we had dinner. We sat with an older couple from New Jersey. It was fun to visit with them. We saw the melodrama "the Ballad of Cat Ballou" and were on the front row. It was a hilarious musical! We really enjoyed it!

Eating dinner at the Jackson Hole Playhouse

.... and we went to the saloon afterwards for a few drinks....okay, not true. The playhouse used to be an old saloon.

All in all Jackson Hole was the best honeymoon ever! We had such a great time together and did alot of fun activities while we were there. It's a time in life we'll always remember!

Bryner Family established 2008

Due to the overwhelming peer pressure from everyone else we know who has a blog, we have succumbed to blogspot.com. We are excited to start our first blog together as a family and even more excited to have people actually read it :).

So, welcome to the Bryner family's first blog together! Any questions or comments can be sent to lindsay.bryner@gmail.com. We welcome any comments, but if we don't agree they will be promptly censored and/or deleted.

Happy reading!