Five Years into {Forever}

...and how do we like it? We {Love} it!!!

Five years ago today (on April 28th, which is technically tomorrow, but I want to post it today), we shared with family and friends one of the most precious days of our lives. Totally and Completely in love, we were married in the Logan, Utah Temple, for Time and All of Eternity. It was a beautiful day, complete with fully bloomed tulips filled with four inches of wet snow.

We've laughed, we've giggled, we've talked, we've shared, we've disagreed, we've cried, we've shouted for joy and we've prayed. We've enjoyed life thus far, and we're looking forward to {Forever}, because we know that's where we've decided to take this marriage.

Here's to a Happy Five Years into {Forever}...

We are still completely and totally in love...

I love you, sweetheart!

Numb3rs

Here's a quick re-cap of our fantastic weekend get-away to Utah for my little brother's graduation from BYU Marriott School of Business in Finance.

3 - the number of times Taylor threw up the night we were packing to leave. (See? we're already off to a good start.)
4 - the number of cavities Tanner got filled the morning we left, and the number of stops we made on the way down, as well as the number of times I climbed the stairs at the Marriott Center (and Tricia saved us seats on nearly the front row. Awesome seats BTW.)
5 - the number of hours it took us to get to Springville Thursday morning (it usually takes 3 1/2 hours).
6 - the number of people we stuffed in our car from Orem to Springville.
7 - the time we arrived at our cousin's wedding reception Thursday evening.
2 - the number of fingers that took a swipe at the bride's cake at the reception.
1 - the number of cupcake-thingie-desserts our three-year-old threw at my dad.
8 - the number of times I threw up Thursday as well as Clorox-ed the bathroom after each episode. (and yes, I stuck to one bathroom. Pat-on-the-back)
9 - the time we left to be at the temple for our cousin's sealing ceremony (yes, the reception was before the wedding).
10 - the number of times Taylor has thrown up total this weekend. Including the time he barfed all over my little sister and her shoes and clothes and my aunt's house.
0 - the number of times Tanner or Ryan barfed - neither one of them ended up sick, throwing up or with diarrhea (though there was much dry-heaving on Ryan's part as he helped clean up at home). Weird. (the part that neither of them ended up sick. The dry-heaving was normal.)
11 - the number of people who ended up sick because we were too dumb to stay home and too prideful to miss my little brother's graduation, which by the way, was awesome.
4,239 - the number of people whom we came in contact with, as close as I can guest-i-mate as well as the number of apologies I owe.
3.5 - the number of hours Ryan got us home in, and that was with a stop in Malad for us all to stretch our legs off and play for 15 minutes.
17 - approximately the number of times Tanner pumped laundry detergent onto the washer and dryer this morning (in my defense, I was cleaning the bathroom, and Ryan was getting ready for a meeting when our little angel decided to help us do laundry.)
a gazillion - the number of times we've washed our hands and the hands of our children this weekend. Apparently it wasn't enough.
1 - the number of people from our family who is attending church today. (Obviously it's not me. I've been washing barf, poop, and germs from every surface in our house. I've also done 4 loads of clothing, 3 additional loads of sheets, 1 load of towels, pulled out the washer to mop up detergent, and edited 2 photos from the weekend, which can be seen below. I'd say I've quite broken the Sabbath. But just maybe I'll be forgiven for not giving this bug to everyone at church! )

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Congratulations, Keith!!! We are so proud of you and your fantastic accomplishments! We love you so much, and your beautiful wife, Tricia. We do hope that neither of you get/got sick from/of us. :) Tricia is graduating from Utah Valley University in Dental Hygiene May 1st and from BYU with her Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science in December. Below is their Graduation Announcement that I had such a blast making!

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Needless to say, I think it's going to be a LONG while before we show our face in Utah. A LONG WHILE.

***Ryan visited with our pediatrician/Bishop today (we hate asking medical advice at church but He started it by asking where the rest of us were). We apparently had a stomach virus, not influenza. I am not sure exactly what the difference is, but Google is a great resource...check it out!

Lazy Saturday Afternoon

After driving to Roberts, Idaho on Saturday looking for a bird refuge, we finally found it, but thought we'd have more fun where we could actually look at all the 'wild life'.

So, we ended up at the Rexburg Nature Park. No friends. No in-laws. Just us. And you know what? We had a fantabulous time together as a family!

Here's a documentary of the things we saw that afternoon:

We saw eight turtles. They were from four to seven inches in diameter. Ryan didn't see the "No harassing the Animals" sign and taught our sons how to throw rocks into the water so they could watch the turtles swim instead of sun-bathe on the logs. What a cool dad!



Once Ryan found these, everyone and their dog had to look. But, we found them first (at least out of the dozen people there enjoying the sunshine!) Tanner wanted to take them home and color them for the Easter Bunny.

And for dinner? We {love} the Backyard. It's so tasty!!! Forget McDonalds and TacoBell. This place rocks!!! And if you're not on a budget, they have yummy custards. I don't even want to talk about calories. But, they make it all fresh, does that count??? I'm pretty sure they even had to slaughter the pig that night because we waited for at least 17 minutes. It was worth it!


I practically licked the checkered tissue paper after eating my gourmet hot dog...it was that good! (And their fries are to die for. If you can't stomach the thought of a hot dog, at least get their fries!)

***Um. oops!***And we ended the day on a good note, watching the Chronicles of Narnia, eating popcorn and topping that off with a small bowl of ice cream. And yes, it was only one-an-a-half scoops (2 servings, mind you!) THIS SO DID NOT HAPPEN ON SATURDAY!!! WE DID THIS GREEN PART ON SUNDAY!!! ON SATURDAY, I WAS AT THE BONNEVILLE COUNTY JR. MISS EVENT!!! MORE ON THAT LATER!!! :) I can't believe I did that! I was reading through this post, and was like, "No, I SWEAR we watched that movie on Sunday!" LOL!

And just in case you're all wondering? Yes, this is my new haircut, No, I'm not watching my weight (though I should be) and No, I'm not pregnant. Ryan keeps asking me, because I crave hot dogs when WE'RE expecting...I just think these ones taste really, really, really good!

You MUST see this. I think I'm in love.

Be sure to stop Jim Brickman at the bottom. Sorry, I'm obsessed with pretty music, to put it lightly.




link, just in case the video doesn't work...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3d6SFcDys

WalMart Funnies

So like any good family, we headed to WalMart for Family Home Evening to pick up some random things. (Actually, we planted some kitchen herbs in a little pot as our 'garden' until the ground is ready for our actual garden, some time in June, probably.)

While there, I thought I would stock up on some feminine hygiene goods since we're headed out of town this weekend and next. As we're approaching the end of the toothbrush/toothpaste isle, Tanner yells out, "Look mommy, Pink Band-aids! Can we get some?" To which I reply, "Don't worry son, mommy is definitely getting pink band-aids." And he refused to put down my package of pads until we checked out.

As we are rounding the corner, Ryan is looking at nose-hair clippers, as someone apparently placed miracle grow up his nose and tiny scissors just aren't cutting it anymore, Tanner spots the Tums. While holding my pink band-aids, he exclaims, "Mommy, can I have canny?" I quickly explain to him that that medicine is for mommies having babies in their tummies, and that those mommies, like our friend Stevie, is pregnant." Tanner is pretty quick and says in a kind-of sad voice, "Mommy? My tummy hurts. I have a baby in it." Yeah, right! Maybe you should just eat your dinner, kiddo.

And to top it all off, we head to the back of the store to pick up some baby finger-nail clippers, because we can't seem to hold onto a pair for more than three months and my boys need clipped almost weekly, if not more. As I'm dragging Tanner and Ryan is being a good sport pushing the cart behind us, Tanner sees this cute teenage girl (maybe she was 17-ish) wearing daisy dukes and a spaghetti strap tank. As she approaches us with who I assume was her mother, Tanner opens his mouth once again, with a, "Mom. (matter-of-factly) That girl is nekkid!" Finger pointing and wide-eyed. I had to literally pick up my chin off the floor and dash around the corner and pretend I didn't hear what my son practically yelled at this poor girl. I don't know, maybe she was poor and couldn't afford any more fabric to cover herself with, but I wasn't about to correct Tanner on that one! He pretty much nailed that one.

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And seriously, I'll get some pictures of my hair up, but I am just tuckerd out tonight. I haven't really taken any, but this weekend, maybe I will. Rest assured, I like it curly. I'll try it straight on Wednesday and THAT will be the test!

coming up...

I'll try to get pictures today...I actually washed the hair this morning, and shouldn't have, because it's not as curly...whatever she did yesterday worked really well! But I tried, and it's not too bad, so maybe when Ryan gets home from playing ball with "the guys" (Elder's Quorum=Glorified Church Ball) I'll have him snap a shot. Guess I'd better get myself dressed and under some makeup!

I'm totally excited!

Tonight, Ryan and I are going on a date! For the first time in MONTHS we're getting a sitter so we can spend time together. {sigh}

One of my "StrongWomen" gave me ticket vouchers to the Idaho Falls Symphony, and so I called in today to 'redeem them'. I am so excited!

Oh, and I went to my favorite place to get my hair cut, and once again, this girl did a FABULOUS job! It's SUPER SHORT (between an inch to four inches long) and curly...totally different, but I think I'll like it! :) So far I do.

Well, since I'm in a better mood and it's turning warm outside, I suppose I should update my background to something bright, cheery, and spring-ish! Maybe this weekend.

Hope you all have a GREAT weekend!

Fair Representation

I'm ready. For Spring. These colors hopefully won't last long, but it's pretty close to how I feel about the weather right now.

I want my space heater back to put under the desk to warm my feet. I want a big cup of hot chocolate. I want it to be warm enough to wear sandals. And strangely enough, I'd like it warm enough to go out and play.

There. I'm done whining. That's it.

{one} is the loneliest number

...and how true is that! I couldn't make just one of these...

...because we are going with all my siblings (minus Elder Crandall serving in Cambodia until August) and my parents on an Easter Picnic!

Growing up we would always go to the winter range in Nephi, Utah, to camp out...okay, really we only camped over Friday night about four or five times that I can remember, but we'd always have such a blast hiding behind the sagebrush, looking for eggs we had colored the week before, and just being kids.

This year, we are going to carry on the tradition of having an Easter Picnic, complete with egg hunt, sloppy-joes, pistachio salad, chips, and these yummy treats (one even has a quarter in it for a big prize...a bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs)!


They are really fun to make and don't take too much time. After making your batter, just divide it into how many colors you want, color with food coloring, and spoon small (very important, or else they end up WAY too BIG and funny lookin') quantities of the various colors into your cupcake liners...bake as directed. Frost with your favorite frosting, top with green colored coconut and add a little sumpin' in the grass...in this case, it's Whopper Malt Eggs...it could be those cute marshmallow bunnies, or jelly beans.

After our picnic, we'll clean up (as best we can in the middle of nowhere) and head to Pocatello to the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo...My boys' first EVER rodeo, including Ryan...should be a fun day!

As much as I'm looking forward to riding four-wheelers and skeet shooting and delicious food, I'm way more excited to see my family. I just love 'em so much!!! My sisters and I are almost giddy...every time we think about it! ♥♥♥

Grade AA FHE

Can you guess what we did for Family Home Evening tonight? Tradition had it growing up to color hard boiled eggs the Monday before Easter as a family...Granted, Ryan and I skipped a year or two, but we (read I) decided to start up that fun and eventful Family Home Evening again! It went really well, no spills, and Tanner had so much fun deciding which color to make his eggs, while Taylor had just as much fun watching them crack when he threw them!
Am I just not the luckiest mom on the planet? We did this RIGHT after dinner, so the kitchen didn't get a good 'dish-doing' before hand...but trust me, it's all cleaned up now! My darling thought those funny shaped spheres were balls...What a silly little boy!


And this handsome guy adored his blue eggs. "My eggs are bwoo, mom! They're bwoo!" I love seeing the joy on my childrens' faces as they discover new and exciting things! Magic like this is never forgotten.


This is just one of many family traditions, but one that even makes a mother happy to clean up after!

Your turn...What traditions do you do with your children for the Easter holiday?

{My ♥ is full}

What a wonderful weekend of inspired instruction!!! I'll add more later, but really, my {heart} is full. I have so many improvements to make, yet I know it'll be okay. My ♥ is calmed, and my ♥ is thankful.

This is a good one...

...I'm sure you've at least heard it or maybe been a main character?

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anyone could have.

~Author Unknown

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Hope everyone had a great April Fool's Day! Anybody get pranked? Anybody get to prank? I want to hear all about it! :)