5 YEARS!

*warning, this is like the longest post of my life. But it was necessary.

Happy Anniversary Baba!

5 years! This is our first landmark. Way to go! I am so lucky to have fallen in love with such a great guy. You are thoughtful, considerate, friendly, kind, patient, giving, loving, genuine, helpful, fun, spiritual, warm, trustworthy, and the list could go on, and on... To me you are everything that I could have hoped to find in a husband. You are the perfect person for me to share this life with. You teach me how to be a better me. Thank you for that. Thank you for being you and making my life so happy.

Looking back over the last 5 years that we have been together always makes me smile. We have been through a lot together and always come out on top. I really believe that together we can take on the world and win! I love you with all of my heart, and can't wait to see what the future holds for us!

I LOVE YOU!

Here are some pictures from our wedding/engagement/bridals...

OUR STORY

For those of you who don't know our story, I thought I would share it with you. Since it is our 5 year anniversary. Because when else do you get the opportunity to talk about yourselves if not on your anniversary?

Steve and I met at Utah State University (the best school in the state) in 2003. I was a senior and Steve had 3 semesters left. I don't know if you could call him a senior, he did school a little longer than some ;) We met at our student wards first family home evening for that school year. We were in the same family. I remember that we went to our high councilmans house who lived like 30 minutes away. That is the way it is in Logan. They call people to help with the student wards from all over the valley. Steve was brave and jumped in my car which was also filled with two of my roommates, Erin & Jessica. I don't even want to describe the conversation that we had on our way to the high councilman's home. I was completely embarrased and thought "this poor guy is never going to talk to us again!" and "I can't believe we are making this kind of impression in a ward we are brand new to!" I was dieing. I did a lot of turning red and gasping. Erin and Jessica did a lot of laughing, and as I remember it, so did Steve. That is one thing I remember most about Steve, his laugh. He laughed all of the time, he still does really. You know you've got him going when he covers his mouth when he laughs. You know it really got him good when he does that.

Sorry, where was I?

Well, that wasn't really where our romance started. That is just where we met. We became friends that socialized on Sundays and at ward activities. I really thought Steve was great, but knew he had other interests in the ward, so I didn't really think much of going out with him. (those other interests are fabulous stories, by the way. Remind me to tell you about them at some other time.)

As the year went on and we became better friends, friends that hung out on the weekends and outside of church activities, I really began to like Steve. My little crush was growing and he was clearly oblivious. I decided that there was no reason to keep my crush a secret. I mean, what did I have to lose? If he didn't like me, he didn't like me. We were good friends and the school year would end and that would be the end of any wierdness I would have created. So I basically told anyone who was associated with Steve what a great guy I thought he was and how I wished he would ask me out.

This never happened.

There was no request for a date or any other signals that indicated he knew I liked him at all. He was completely the same towards me. Then... One day... we were watching TV and a commercial came on about some snowmobile thing that was happening at the Delta Center. He became entranced by this commercial. Like he was overcome with some great desire. I looked at him like he was crazy. I mean, what's the big deal about a bunch of snowmobiles riding around in circles, on dirt, inside a building? I didn't get it. But he was hooked. So I told him that I could get him tickets if he wanted to go. (my dad has some connections and I didn't think it would be too difficult to scrounge up a couple to this weird event). He was so excited.

It happened to be during spring break so I called him with all of the information he needed... the tickets were at will call in his name... time and date of the event... etc. As we were talking he was surprised that I wasn't going with him. This was never in the plan. I was getting HIM tickets. Plus, I had plans for Spring Break to drive to California with some friends to watch USU's Basketball Team play and go to Disneyland. I really wanted to go out with Steve, but not enought to stay home from my trip. As I explained my plans, he sounded genuinly disappointed and said he wanted a rain check. That was great by me!

So about a month went by and things seemed to be just as they had always been. A lot of hanging out and not a lot of anything else. I kept waiting for this rain check thing to happen, and it never did. So one day I got brave and told him he owed me a date! He immediately turned red and said he knew he did and that he just didn't think I would actually want to go. I was shocked! How could he think I didn't want to go? Didn't his roommates tell him how much I liked him? Couldn't he see by the way I acted and talked with him at all the different functions we attended? Apparently not. Steve is blind. Come to find out, his roommates did tell him a number of times that I liked him, and he just thought they were crazy. That's Steve for you. He takes a long time to realize and act on just about anything.

About a week later we went on our first date, that all of his roommates bailed on, by the way. So it was only the two of us, which was actually quite perfect. a week after that we had our first kiss. A few weeks after that I went to Europe for 3 weeks and missed him like crazy. And about 3 weeks after I got home he told me he loved me. And probably about 3 weeks after that we decided we wanted to get married.

We were engaged at the end of August and married on December 17, 2004 in the Manti Temple. It was a beautifully freezing day. Perfect.

We have spent the last 5 years growing in our marriage, building a home, raising a family, and sharing it all with those we love.

I have it pretty good, and most of it is due to a pretty great guy who finally decided to ask me out on a date. Thank you for doing that, baba. It was the start of a pretty great life.

I love you!

Happy 5th Anniversary!

New Blog Header

It's about time, I know.

I'm sorry for leaving that old header up there for so long! I have no excuse, other than I couldn't come up with anything better.

That is until I saw what Josie had done to her blog.

Then I knew it was time for a change.

So I begged and begged Jo to help me out and create a new header for me. I told her I would do ANYTHING! (I mean that, Jo, I owe you big time now!)
As you can see, she obliged me.

Look at what a fabulous job she has done!

I have to tell you all sorry for one small thing...

Because it is sooooo very cute, I think it may stay up here for a long time. That means you guys get to deal with the holiday header for awhile. Sorry. (I'm not really that sorry).

THANK YOU JO!!!

Crew's Port Surgery

Time just keeps on tickin' on...

We have been talking about getting a port put in Crew for what seems like forever, but what is actually like 6 months. And this week we finally did just that. We knew this day was coming up, but it really kind of snuck up on us.

Let me give you a little briefing on what we had done, as some of you may not have a clue about this kind of thing (I sure didn't until we had our little man). As you know by now, Crew has Hemophilia which requires him to have regular infusions of factor 8 when he gets bad bruises on his little body. The factor must be given into his vein. This has meant a lot of visits to Primary Children's Hospital to have an IV placed and factor given. You can imagine that it is not a fun day when Crew gets hurt. Basically everything you wanted to do that day gets scrapped and you spend a day at the hospital and come home with a club fist, at least that is what we call it when Crew has an IV in his hand.

So... the solution to this is the port. A port is a little quarter shaped thing that is placed just under his skin on his chest. This port is connected to a vein so that we can easily access it to give him his factor. When the port is in place we can give him his factor at home because we don't have to find the vein when poking in the needle. We just feel for the port, put on some numbing cream, and poke in the needle. Then we give him his factor and pull the needle out. Done. Doesn't that sound like a dream? It does to us!

So... that is what we did this week. Crew had the port surgically placed under his skin. It was a very long day... I will spare you the awful details, but once we finally got Crew back with the doctors, the surgery went great! He is such a champ! I am constantly amazed at what this little guy has to go through and how quickly he recovers from it all.

Here is the Sir-man at home right before we left for the hospital at 9:30... He had no idea what was coming...

This isn't to show you how cute his little tummy is, although it is very cute. I wanted you to see what he looked like before the port was placed...

Here is what we found when we were able to see him after the surgery at about 5:00...

He was completely out! There was no waking him! But that probably had to do with the fact that he hadn't gotten a nap and was given some major sleeping meds. Oh, but isn't he sweet?

I just wanted to pick him up and hold him. He looked so peaceful and I wanted to rub some off on me!

Here is what his chest looks like with the port in and accessed. Accessed means that the needle has been poked into the port and we can give him medicine into his port.

It looks kind of scary, I know. But when we are done giving him factor in a few days, we can take the needle out and you will only see a little bump on his chest where the port lies. It really is a miracle that they have discovered this for people like Crew who have to get poked so much.

As I told you, Crew was OUT. We tried to get him to wake up with no avail. So the nurse told us to give him about 10 more minutes and try again. Steve and I sat down and started waiting and all of a sudden Crew opened his eyes and sat up. He was AWAKE and he didn't want to be in that bed or hooked to the monitors any more! It was so funny. We couldn't get him to lay back down or leave the monitors alone. He was done and ready to go. The nurse needed to see that he could drink a little bit of juice and keep it down before we could leave so she got him a sippy cup, but he didn't want it. He wanted to leave. So she tried the popcicle. He didn't want to eat that but he did want to hold it. The juice suddenly became appetizing and he downed the whole bottle. When he realized it was gone he chucked the bottle accross the room because he wanted more. The nurse refilled it and he downed it again and wanted more. At this point the nurse was nervous that he was going to throw up and didn't want to give him any more but filled it and said to wait until we were on our way home. Well, Crew never threw up and finished that 3rd bottle without blinking. He was thirsty! Poor kid! It had been a long day with no food or drink and he needed to make up for it!

Love this kid...

Sometimes I wonder why this sweet little guy has to go through so much. I don't know the answer to that. But I do know that he is stronger than most his age and will hopefully have a sensitivity to others that most will never understand. I know I am starting to see others and their struggles in a different light and I'm not the one who has to go through it all. I hope he takes this awful trial and makes himself better for it. We love you Crew!

Missing Bear

One week ago, on Thanksgiving day, we came home from our dinner to find that our family friend and Steves best pal had passed away. Not something you ever expect or want to find and I can tell you that it wasn't a great ending to an otherwise nice day, it was awful actually.

Let me tell you a little bit about Bear, in case you didn't get the opportunity to meet him. Bear is the sweetest most gentle dog I have ever come in contact with. He always let our kids play with his fur, his ears or his tail without much resistance. Crew and Reagan absolutely adored him. In the last few months Reagan had learned how to get Bear to do tricks like Shake and sit, so every morning she started her day giving Bear treats as he listened to her commands. This is a cool thing to see a 3 year old do. Crew just wanted to play with Bear every chance he got. Crew would chace Bear around the house and grab his tail. If I were Bear I would have been bothered, but he never seemed that way. It always seemed that Bear enjoyed the attention.

The one quality that stood out the most to me about Bear is loyalty. Bear was extremely loyal to Steve. He and Steve have been best buds for almost 11 years, long before I came into the picture, and nothing seemed to be able to seperate the two of them. Bear never left Steves side, day or night. If Bear thought Steve was going somewhere he would throw a fit trying to get out of the back yard and into the car with Steve. I think the worst part of Bears life was when Steve wasn't home. I think if Steve had his way, he would have had Bear with him at work, or on his errands, or whereever it was he had to go. He loved Bear that much too.

We are going to miss Bear tremendously and do every day.

Steve's sweet mother wrote a poem about Bear that I want to share with you...

Missing Bear

His warm fur against my feet
His doing a "trick" for a special treat
His big, brown eyes that understood
All my frustrations and efforts for good.

The "Wildness" in him that stirred my soul;
This "silent" friend that accepted my goals.
His soft, low "growl" when he wanted "out",
And the extra nudging with his snout!

He was "Dasher" and "Dancer" all rolled into one!
Our walks on the beach; the chases, the fun!
Brushing his "coat" until it just glistened!
He'd stand there and love it and listen and listen!

He's walking ahead of me now, on the trail;
Shaking his collar and wagging his tail
Checking to see if I'm close with the "truck"
Knowing "his" presence assures me of "luck"!

We love you, Bear, and hope you are happy. We miss you and can't wait to see you again!

Thanks

Tis the season to give Thanks

As I have been reading all of my favorite blogs and websites I have found myself feeling a little jealous of all the holiday cheer that is being spread and shared among these really great people. I can't seem to hold on to this feeling that they are so willing to share. This has stumped me, because I LOVE this season and I want to be exuding the same joy.

I have decided it may be because I need to be thankful. There are so many things that I am thankful for. I hope that if I say it out loud my spirit will catch on and start spreading those around me.

Where to begin...

1- I am so thankful for Steve. I know I have said this a hundred times, but he is the greatest thing to happen in my life. I am thankful for all that he is. Thankful he is a great dad, thankful he is an excellent husband, and thankful he is my best friend.

2- I am thankful for my kids. I have the sweetest kids who are so cute together. They are little buddies and that is all I really wanted. I am a lucky mom.

3- I am thankful for my family. Thankful for my parents, thankful for my brother, thankful for all of my in-laws. I have the best family and I am thankful for that.

4- I am thankful for my testimony. I can't imagine how hard life would be if I didn't have a testimony of a greater plan. Where would our little family be without the blessings of the gospel? I am so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

5- I am thankful for photography. Thankful to have a passion, thankful to enjoy something for myself, thankful for the support of many family members and friends.

6- I am thankful for our home. Thankful for the great neighbors and friends who surround us and thankful for the memories we have made here.

7- I am thankful for my friends. Thankful they are always there for me, thankful I can share my life and my kids lives with them, thankful to have such good people in my life.

8- I am thankful to be pregnant. Thankful he is healthy and growing well, thankful to be adding to our little family, thankful for the excitement that a new little one brings.

9- I am thankful for little notes, messages and emails. Thankful for the quick lift they bring, thankful for thoughts and well wishes of those I love, thankful to know we are all connected, if only in a small way.

10- I am thankful for gratitude. Thankful to feel the spirit of the season, thankful to know how very much I have, thankful to be thankful.

First Snow of the Year!

Ok, so it's not OFFICIALLY the first time it snowed this year, but it is the first time that we got to go out and PLAY in the snow... and boy, did we LOVE it!

I'll just say it now to get it out of the way... sorry for the picture overload. There are a few reasons for this... 1- I couldn't narrow them down because I think my kids are so freakin' cute. 2- I want to document this fun day when I publish my blog, the more pictures the better in my book. 3- I know all of you out there who weren't with us that day really wish you were so I wanted you to feel as if you were. So, here we go!

This last weekend we packed up the car with a load of stuff and, of course, the kids and headed north to the Lake. This had been on the calendar for some time, but as it drew nearer our weekend at the Lake slowly got chopped to our 24 hours at the Lake. Sorry Steve. But I must say it sure was fun! We drove through Logan, so I was happy enough with just that. But then we woke up on Saturday morning to it completely SNOWING outside! And not just snowing, it was really coming down! It was beautiful! I just wanted to stare out the window.

Steve had some things he needed to do outside so the kids and I played inside while he tried to get it done. But the kids wouldn't wait long. They were just as excited about the snow as I was. Crew kept bringing me his jacket, wanting me to put it on so he could go outside! It was extremely hard trying to hold him off until Steve could come and take them out. I do have snow clothes, but they don't really fit right now. (no smart comments please). I decided I couldn't put it off any longer so I started getting the kids dressed in their gear with the hopes that Steve would soon be coming.

I got lucky and he came in and was able to help me get them all ready to go. Here are the kids before they went outside.

But Crew soon became upset and we finally realized that he wanted goggles like Reagan. So here he is with the goggles we found for him...

They're a little large, wouldn't you say? Well, he thought so too. So the sadness didn't really end. Reagan tried to comfort him...

But it was no use...

Finally Steve just switched their goggles. That seemed to solve the problem. So, outside we went...

Like I said, it was really coming down out there.

Reagan was too excited to stop and pose for pictures. She just wanted to get on the vroom-vroom.

Steve ties the sled up behind the 4-wheeler and pulls the kids around the yard. They LOVE this! Can you really blame them? So fun!

Here are the kids playing in the snow after they were done with the 4-wheeler...

It's amazing how Crew can go from this:

To this:

To this:

Love this kid. And Reagan did her first snow angel...

Gobble Gobble

What a great way to spread the Thankful spirit for Thanksgiving!

On Wednesday Steve got home from work and dropped this on the counter. I asked him what it was for and his reply was that it was on the front porch. (I am guessing someone rang the doorbell and I didn't hear it. That happens a lot around here.)

Was I ever surprised!

And excited!

Someone had left our little family a Thanksgiving treat.

I don't know who that someone is, but whoever they are they have made my month!

As I read the outside of the bag I couldn't help but smile, this is the cutest idea and I think the Halloween Ghost really has a run for its money on this one.

Inside the bag was an array of homemade goodies and I will tell you that each one was yummy. We got cookies, rice krispie treats, and a variety of breads. So yummy.

The best part is knowing that someone was thinking of us. It's always nice to know that someone cares about us enough to give us a surprise.

It made me think of all the people that I care about and need to let them know, especially at this special time of year.

Do any of you do something special for the ones you love during the Thanksgiving holiday?

I'd love to hear all about it! I want to keep this feeling all season long!

Closest thing to sisters that I will ever get...

I have the best cousins ever.

Ever.

Think I am exagerating? You're wrong. I'm not.

They are that great.

I love these girls like they were my own sisters. At least I think that is how much I love them, seeing as though I don't actually have any of my own to compare the love to, I love them A LOT.

Growing up in this family was a dream. Really it was. We spent summers sleeping at each other's houses and begging our parents every time we were together to let us stay just a little bit longer! We played and pretended and as we grew we talked about boys and the dates we went on. Then one of us brought home a "special" boy. The ONE for her. And it was so fun. And so sad. It felt like things were changing as we began to get married. I, especially felt like I was losing them as they made this step in their lives and I cried like a baby at their weddings. I was the last of us all to tie the knot, so you can see how much crying I did.

Although I thought marriage and knew spouces would be the end of our little sisterhood, I couldn't have been farther from the truth. As our lives have changed and our little families have grown, we have been involved in eachothers lives. The love is just as strong as it was and I look forward to seeing and talking with these girls every chance I get.

Like I said, they are the best.

There were 6 of us that grew up all around the same age. A couple of my guy cousins have gotten married and their spouces have easily become a part of us. 4 of us are pregnant right now. Is that cool or what? I love it! 3 of us are having boys! So cool! I am psyched! One of my cousins, Amy, is the glue that reminds us it has been awhile since we have gotten together and the time has come to get together again. It was based on this inspiration that she decided we needed a baby shower. So she threw an impromptu shower and we were ALL able to attend! That is sometimes a rarety, but it actually happened and I had the best time! Here are some pictures of the fun event...

We had a breakfast shower and I think that is the best way to go.

I made these Cheesecake pops. I got the idea from my good friend Robin's blog and they were delisious!

Gram made this great fruit medley.

Here is my mom with Sky's girlfriend, Heather.

My aunt Trish.

My cousins, Rachel & Amy.

My Grandma Brown, oops, I mean Grandma Day (she just got remarried!) Isn't she a beauty?

My cousin, Jackie.

And here are all of us. (sorry girls, this is the best one I got)

Back row: Amy, Jackie, Me, Heather, Mckell

Front Row: Rachel, Tara, Lauren

So now you know some super special people to me. I feel like one lucky girl to be associated with them, let alone related! I love you guys and can't wait to see you soon!