Val & Benda's 50th Aniversary

On September 8, 2008 Val & Benda celebrated their 50Th wedding anniversary. What a great honor is was to be able to celebrate such an occasion with them. Mark & I along with John, Tracy, Aaron, Aidan, Addison, Paul, Catherine, Hallie and Phil took them out to dinner and then had cake and ice cream at the home with some of the extended family.

They are a wonderful example to all of us. Their testimony of the Gospel is such a strength to each of us and I so enjoy learning from them as we share so many wonderful experiences with them. They have been such a great support to me with the passing of my parents and I am truly grateful that I have them in my life. They have been such great parents two 5 wonderful sons and one beautiful daughter. I have been truly blessed to have married into such an awesome family.

Our fun did not end there, a couple of weeks later we went on a cruise. We sure missed having Phil and Emily along but hope that next time they can join in the fun. Those of us from Utah took a midnight flight out to Miami were we met up with Dave & Kelly and Nate & Nancy. Our first day was spent on the ship cruising to our first stop. We spent the day eating, relaxing by the pool and enjoying time together.

Our first stop was the Grand Caymans where we swam with the sting rays and did a little snorkeling. The ocean was so clear and beautiful. It was so awesome being out in the middle of the ocean being surrounded by such incredible fish. Some of us were a little leary of doing it but loved every minute of it. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me.

Our next stop was the beautiful island of Roatan, Honduras where we took a van tour of the island and once again did some awesome beach time in the Caribbean Ocean.

Then it was on to Belize City, Belize. We spent the day doing a lot of awesome shopping. I loved bargaining with the locals and getting a taste of the wonderful culture there.
From Belize we headed to the beautiful resort island of Cozumel, Mexico. There we spent the day a a great beach resort where we snorkeled, ate yummy food, did a little sun tanning and swimming in the pool. After spending most of our day at the beach we headed into town to do some more shopping. What a great time we all had at the beach enjoying the last of the swimming in the Caribbean Ocean.

Our last day on the ship we celebrated the anniversary with a little cake at dinner. It was an honor to be able to spend the week with Mark's sibling and spouses but most of all to be able to honor to of the most amazing people I know - Val & Benda Neuenswander. Congratulations on some many wonderful years together and many more to come.