Happy Be-Lated Anniversary~

Well we've officially achieved the 2 year status as far as anniversaries go!...which is so nice to officially have surpassed what people consider the 'honeymoon stage' and good news~we still love each other and actually enjoy being around each other. I feel like we qualify as a 'real' married couple because of this~which is odd I know. But everyone who is in the same relatively newly married boat knows exactly what I'm talking about; people only think that you enjoy being around each other because you've still yet to complete one full rotation around the sun together while simultaneously living in the same house and sharing the same shampoo. So here's to you my dear Beaver Pelted Man~I love you and look forward to many more 'qualifying' anniversaries:)
Some things we've done together this past year in their respective categories:
Most death defying/stupid:
Dangled our feet over the edge of the Grand Canyon
Lone Ranger:
Crossed 8 states together, living in 3 for the summer
Most responsible:
Got our very own cell phone plan
Got our very own insurance policy.... thank you Dad for keeping us on yours for so long:)
Least Responsible:
Still haven't combined bank accounts
the list goes on and on in this category:)
Most Domestic:
Melynne made 2 quilts...well really half of each, so 1 quilt let's say:)
Least Domestic:
Had our very WORST meal-Melynne charred some chicken in the crockpot (who knew that could happen)-more like incinerated-our entire apartment smelled like we'd cremated someone.
And a whole lot of 'new experiences'
Held our first child Bridger; laying his sweet little body to rest in the Angel Gardens in the Provo City Cemetery
Welcomed home a dear missionary:)
Got a fake christmas tree (can you believe it?) but hey, it was free:)
Both computers died/got eaten by an apparently deadly virus,
Became official mac users,
Met and made many new friends that we hope to keep for our lifetimes,
Strengthened some family ties that we will be forever grateful for,
Enjoyed an overwhelming amount of blessings that came in many different forms...
Ok the list goes on and on....but suffice it to say that without you babe, things wouldn't have been nearly as exciting. Happy Anniversary Love!

BABY SHOWER SURPRISE!

Surprise Surprise! There have been some busy bee's up here in Montana this past week-and by that I mean Jamie, Abby and Maria.:) These totally sweet friends of mine threw me and baby boy Barron a surprise baby shower this past Friday. They were very covert in this operation using the cover of lunch and a movie...brilliant-what pregnant woman doesn't want to go out to lunch?:) And of course with such great company? Ally-you were very much missed!
I was entirely caught off guard and didn't even know what to say, I mean they even made a darling diaper cake complete with little baby accessories...DaRLiNG! I am honestly so touched by their thoughtfulness and am so grateful for their kindness. THANK YOU LADIES for spoiling us, that was such a sweet surprise!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Happy Father's Day! To My Dad~anyone who knows him know's that he really is the gentle giant...though don't tell my little sisters' boyfriends~the intimidation factor is still important there....Anyone who also knows my Dad knows that he is always helping others. I can't tell you how many times around dinner time that my mama would send one of us kids out to scout the neighborhood to find Dad-it was simple, look for whoever is knee deep in dirt digging a trench or a sprinkler system or maybe changing their brakes or whatever auto part~my dad was there, whether as the brute strength or brains of the operation...or both. People around the block and down our street and throughout our ward counted (and still do) on his 'jack of all trades' abilities. So in light of that, here's the following poem~

The following poem should be sung to "row row row your boat":)
"Thanks, thanks, thank you Dad
Thanks for all you do!
Hugs and Kisses, Hugs and Kisses,
Come from me to you!"

Thank you Dad for all that you do and all the time you spent (spend) working your brains out to provide for all of us wee ones. Thank you for the hours at the track working on starts/drills/running or time spent showing me how to lift 'properly'. Thank you for the advice and support that you've given me throughout my life time, thank you for your encouragement as we'd all travel across the country for various athletic events:) Thank you for making it possible for me to go on all those trips! Thank you for fixing my car up all the time so it will pass inspection:) Thank you for your quiet manner and patience. Thank you for listening, and most especially thank you for loving me and being a one-in-a-million Dad. I love you and hope you had a great Father's Day!

I would also like to include my Father-in-law in this post; thank you for all you do for the two of us and most especially~ Thank you for raising the son that is my eternal companion....to your credit, he's one of a kind:) I love you...little champ is still swimming laps in there, if you can believe it:) No hints of basketball being played yet while in-utero:

Memorial Day

I've put off doing this post for the sole reason of inadequacy. Inadequacy in relaying my feelings of the day and most importantly inadequacy of being able to write a memorial to our little angel baby that could ever sum up the complexity of feelings we have of his being a part of our family. Growing up, a conversation surrounding the topic of true love could always be surmised with one sentence, "you don't understand now, just wait until you have your own children..."
Growing up we had an evening ritual, brush teeth, rinse with 'swish-swash', prayer, kisses, then off to bed. We'd call goodnight as we'd make the trek to our beds leaving mom and dad to enjoy being adults for a few minutes of the day. (Or sometimes choose this time to unleash the news that we'd need 2 dozen cupcakes by tomorrow morning for a class party or something...in this case it was more of a 'retreat' to bed:) While still in earshot, I would follow with three words/phrases, "Goodnight, Love you, See you in the morning," even into teenage years-which brought mixed remarks from my parents-mostly chuckles with what I'm sure were mixed with thoughts of exasperation. And though it was a daily ritual and can be viewed as less than genuine, it always brought a sort of closure and peace to the day for me-that my parents knew that I loved them and looked forward to seeing them in the morning and that by saying those words, they knew that would always be the case.
I think that in this case, this memorial day, I would like to say to our little Bridger, our Angel Baby, "Goodnight, Love you, See you in the morning."

Thank you to all of those who supported us and visited his sweet little resting place, it is appreciated more than you realize.

HE'S BACK!!!!

My younger brother Michael is HOME!!!! He came home on Wednesday May 19th from his 2 year mission to Orlando Florida~Haitian Creole Speaking. I can't even say how excited I have been the past few months knowing that he was due home soon and now that he's finally back it's so fantastic! I have to say that with him being gone a real part of our family has been missing-though we couldn't have all been more proud of him and his decision to serve~it is obvious that he was an awesome missionary and truly loved by the people he served, he's such an example of goodness to me and I'm so proud to have him as my brother and dear dear friend. I Love You Michael and so glad to have you home!

She's alive

Ok so I went swimming today and can't help but share this~
I had just completed my sad little 'work-out' at the local pool and in an effort to take advantage of the unpredictable sun as well as recover from my effort to 'exercise', I layed down on the pool deck....literally for about 7 minutes. A few minutes into my 'beaching' I hear a conversation that was destined to go down in my post-athletic history.
Little girl about 5 years old: "Do you think that girl (me) is dead or alive?"
Mom: "Well, I think she's alive..."
Little girl sounds doubtful....
I get up, chuckling to myself thinking, oh dear...but the redeeming comment came as I was trudging to the locker room.
Little girl: OH! She IS alive!

Needless to say, I'll be taking a few days to recover before going to swim again.

MAY 17th~HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Ok so it's no longer May 17th but I didn't want to post something else and 'fretend' that Brigg's birthday was not post-worthy....I mean come on, it's not every day that you turn 24 years old-really only once in a lifetime you could say.
Just a side note: personally I hate it when people write sappy things about their loves but I think that a birthday is a day where this can be excused, with this being said, I'll keep it to a minimum.
Happy Birthday! In your honor Brigg, here are just 24 things that I love about you, in no particular order of course.

1. You make me laugh, sometimes until 'my eyes are crying'
2. You can appreciate my crazy hair for the masterpiece that it is and the effort that it takes to create it (a pregnant's night sleep)
3. You work harder than most everyone in the entire world
4. You are so easy to please, "cereal, again?"
5. You are a good compliment giver
6. You are competitive-very refreshing-even though I kick your trash in most everything:)haha
7. You are an optimist
8. You are 'unique' in your crazy psycho ways:)
9. You wear socks to bed:)
10. You are willing to go just about anywhere and do just about anything with me, Joann's fabric, running, swimming.....the list goes on.
11. You're willing to try my creations-what a gem:)
12. You sing your lungs out in the shower
13. You make up your own words to songs while singing them-I swear you're the best impromptu singer that I've ever met
14. You have a deep voice, perfect for being a dad:) and being an intimidating scripture reader
15. You are fun to be with pretty much always even if we're just 'vedging'
16. You have the best beaver pelt in the world
17. You are a confident person, but always the first to claim fault-even if it really isn't yours to claim
18. You tell it how it is-also very refreshing
19. You love 'playing'....I married peter pan-which I LOVE
20. You allow yourself to be my pillow for my ever growing body and belly-I'm sure you don't sleep well because of it, but you never complain~thanks love
21. You always have been the king of leaving me sweet surprises, all growing up and that hasn't stopped even though we're old and married:) The surprises just get better:)
22. You are one of the only people that I know of who always writes in cursive, oddly impressive
23. You are truly my best friend
24. You are my better half
Here's to another year of 'days of birth' babe, I love you!