Celebrating 9 years together

There's so much to celebrate in 9 years. 4 children, career changes, multiple moves, several different callings, each that have stretched us differently, many new friends and old friends too, new talents to find.....like becoming a cowboy!!!

Check him out! This look is good for him, right? I love it! I am a total country girl at heart. Aaron surprised me with an absolute night to remember for our 9th wedding anniversary. We went out to dinner where he gave me a gift of my favorite perfume that he lovingly refers to as "Melissa" and he also had some pictures of him taken with Joe that I absolutely LOVE! This is one of my favorites.

After dinner we drove around Provo to where we first met, our first kiss, where we both lived. It was so fun! I haven't been back since we met, so it was truly a walk down memory lane. And all those ooshy gooshy feelings we had came flooding back instantly.

The last part of the date I couldn't have expected in my wildest dreams. He drove me up to the base of the Y hike and parked his truck. Told me to hang tight while he set things up. He brought out Christmas lights and started making a large square on the ground with them. Once he was done, he turned on some country music and then offered his hand to me where he proceeded to swing dance with me. This guy of mine has secretly been taking swing lessons so he could dance with me that night. I about died!!! We've come a long way in 9 years! This is the guy who never liked country music, didn't know how to country swing (one of my favorite past times), never wanted a truck, and probably always made fun of the guys dressed up like he was that night. He knows how much I love all of those things and so has taken the leap to my side! What a guy!!! I couldn't adore him more.

Best night ever!

It's happened

I've known we probably wouldn't escape it. There seemed to be ample opportunity for it to happen. I tried to predict how I would react when indeed it would happen. Today it finally happened. Nathan cut the hair of a cute neighbor girl. I should have known since I did know they were playing barber shop, but I had no idea that he even had scissors. And when he came to me and said that Mara needed a hair cut, I immediately said, "Oh no. Please tell me you didn't really cut her hair".  To my horror, he did. This picture doesn't show just how much he cut off.

Fortunately I think it's fixable. And thankfully, I didn't blow up! In fact, it was pretty hard to get too mad at Nathan since he really had no idea that this was wrong to do. When I told him that we never ever ever ever cut someone else's hair, I could see the weight bear down on him and he felt so bad. When I called Mara's mom to tell her that her daughters struggle to get her hair to the length it was, might need a bit of a hair cut to even it up, she was all laughs. What a good friend. "Hair grows" she said.

The most surprising thing about all of this was that it was Nathan. I really thought this would be Abigail's doing. Still could be I guess. Knock on wood.

1st day of 1st grade

Hannah said her favorite thing today was the play ground, with lunch being a close second. She is quick to make new friends and "boy" friends. Sheesh! This girl is going to kill me with her childhood crushes. And there are many!

Summer Highlights

School started today. Today! How on earth did it come so quickly? More on that later. I think we can say that this summer was full of random fun. Plenty of swimming, lots of farm country and splash park fun. We spent lots of time at our library, read lots of books together, went on bike rides or leisure walks, played with cousins, cleaned and organized the house umpteen times, grew a garden, and enjoyed dance and art lessons.

New for us this year was the jello fight at Thanksgiving Point gardens. Hilarious! I mean, why wouldn't you want to throw bright, red jello at each other and get all sticky?

Abby's dance lessons. Didn't get any pictures of Hannah. And in Susan's words, "this is the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my life".

Aaron took Hannah and Nathan on multiple camp outs this summer. I was super jealous.

Some of the kids art work this summer.

And most recently, we took a quick trip up to Idaho to see my sister and her family and also our good friends. We had an absolute blast and didn't want to come home.  I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard and so much. Good for the soul!

Now it's back to the grind. Looking forward to structure again. Sort of.

Preston's Wedding

My cute nephew, Preston, got married last week. He sure is a cute kid (man) and he married an absolutely darling girl. They both register a tad on the shy side. In my book, they are a perfect match!
Wedding Dinner

The next day was their wedding ceremony. Lauren was a beautiful bride and their ceremony was wonderful. We all came away with lots to think about and reflect on. I sure love the temple. That evening was their reception in my brothers back yard. Hannah was over the moon excited to see Lauren in her wedding dress. On the way to Trent's house we passed by the Temple and Hannah was thrilled to learn that that is where they were married.

The kids loaded up on the ice cream bar and danced till their hearts content.

I so remember being Hannah's age and dreaming of my own wedding day, just like her. It's so fun to see her eyes sparkle when she looks at a beautiful bride. For a second, she thought that Lauren might give her her bouquet of flowers.

She was pretty happy just to hold them. Weddings are so fun.

Nathan was nowhere to be found. He was busy keeping himself full of ice cream and hiding under tables. Such a boy!

10 weeks

Bah! I can hardly stand all this cuteness from this little guy.

And, what else is there to do when you're nursing but to take pictures? I'm sure I don't know.

My little runt

I'm reading Charlotte's Web to the kids right now and so I have a "runt" on my mind. (if you don't remember, Wilbur was the runt of the piglets born).  I took Nathan in for his 5 year old check up and he easily qualifies as a runt. I love it. Nate's stats - Weight: 36lbs, 14%.  Height: 40-1/2", 6%.  He's my runt and I love him!!!!

a Chunker

Joe's two month appointment confirms that he's a chunker! Just how I like him!!!!

Weight: 10lbs. 9oz.

Joe's Smiles

Honesty

Nathan's dinner prayer went as such:

"Please help me have the spirit so I'll be nice 'cause sometimes I'm not nice. Like when I pulled down the blanket and it fell on Kamryn and I hurt her and didn't want to say sorry, but I did."

Oh man, I should have a camera going when my kids pray because I learn so much about them and because they say the funniest things. I love how honest they are.

8 Weeks Old

No. Stop. How has 8 weeks gone by so quickly? Joe is pure joy! Loving on him is easy to do.

He's become a near perfect pro at rolling over. Yes, at 2 months he rolls over just about every time we put him on his belly. The first time he did it he was 3 weeks old. He's super strong.

Things Joe likes and doesn't like:
-Loves to be held
-Loves his pacifier
-Loves to smile, coo, and spit up

-Doesn't like to fall asleep and is super cranky falling asleep
-Doesn't like a wet or messy diaper
-Doesn't like to be on his belly

At 8 weeks you pretty much still just eat, sleep, and poop, but.......your sleeping during the night is starting to show signs of stretching into the 5 hours of sleep at a time. Hooray! We're obsessed with you!

24th of July

In honor of the Mormon Pioneers, who settled in Salt Lake City 165 years ago, we went for a hike as a family. .

And went to a splash park. (Aaron took Nathan to a Water Park....fun daddy/son time.)

And ate some dutch oven cooking. And played games with the funnest people I know.

It was a happy Pioneer Day for some well rooted pioneer families. 

Silly is as Silly does

Sometimes when I'm tired I'm cranky. And sometimes when I'm tired I'm silly.

Just the two of Us

It's a tricky balance to find time for some one on one with my kids. So when Aaron asked if I'd like a "night off" the other day, initially it sounded great, but then nothing sounded more boring to me, so I grabbed Hannah and off we went! I've been wanting to take her on a bike ride and she's been DYING to try the rock climbing at Trafalga.

 Pictures along the trail. I love where we live!

I was so impressed with how well Hannah did rock climbing. It wasn't easy to get all the way to the top, but she was determined.

I loved just being with Hannah. She is such a sweet girl and LOVES the personal attention too.

This World is Crazy

Suzie with some of  her nieces and nephew

 7 weeks 

Mess makers

 Stealer of Sleep

I miss my husband. We are busy raising kids and I miss him. Sometimes I dream about dating him again. It's good to be raising our kids, but I miss him. 

 High's and Low's. Up's and Down's. Joy and Sadness. These are the emotions I've been having lately. To be expected, right? Probably.  I keep reading about so much of the sadness and madness going on locally, let alone in the world.  I find myself thinking, "this world is crazy" all too often. It's almost more than I can bare when I think of the parents who've lost a child recently (doesn't it seem like there's been many)? Or some of the other unspeakable acts that have happened recently. So, so sad. Like, so sad that I shouldn't think about it, but I do.

I have a desire to focus more on my family. Less on the media. Create more fun memories. Care less about a messy house and care more about meeting the needs of those humans of mine above. Read more books, or just finish one of the three I've started. Reach out to more friends. Eat more ice cream. Go for more walks. Call my mother in law more often. Call my own mother more often. Pray more. Ponder more. Sleep more. (not likely to happen anytime soon).

Sometimes it's good to stop and realize this life is all about people. I'm so grateful for the people in my life who love me and support me and buoy me up, especially when this crazy world can bog me down.