10 years????

Well, today is a very special day in deed. Chris & I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. As I was going through pictures to post of my honey, I was having some major difficulties. There are just so many hot pictures of him, it's hard to choose one! (That was for you Mom, he,he.) We still have to get out to celebrate our anniversary, the actual day turned into other stuff....like exchanging our rental for one that didn't have a check engine light on.

Chris and I have known each other for a very long time. We had the opportunity to be best friends! I first met him when I was about 11 1/2. We were in the same branch together when I joined the church. Now, some of you may be thinking - "HS sweethearts" but that was NOT the case. Actually, we had to defend our position of being just friends. We never dated during school, just hung out as friends and did stuff. He graduated a couple years before I did, so he came to many of my school things - like plays & dances & stuff.

This was taken at his missionary farewell.

Then he left for his mission in Los Angeles. I was not a great writer - so he received the occasional letter from me during the 2 years he was gone. (Sorry about that!) I am not sure when it was, but while he was gone, I had seen some pictures of him & for the first time I thought...hmmm, he is looking good. Now just before he was to come home I was getting nervous, counting down the days and pretty much wondering "what the heck?"

I had gone to the airport the night he returned home. Still feeling bad that I wasn't such a great friend by not writing and just showing up there with his family. Turns out I was the only non-family member there. Luckily his mom asked if I could take the pictures, I gladly accepted. Even though I still felt weird and nervous being there, I was glad to have something to do. (As I am typing this, I am actually feeling the same way I did that night!)

Shortly after that things definitely got interesting. I was having "more than friend" feelings for him and it just came on so suddenly. We spent so much time together and before we knew it, we were talking about marriage. He got home in November and by December we had decided to get married. Now, the engagement....that was something.

Chris didn't have the money for a ring and I understood the importance of saving for it. In February we went out for a date to celebrate my birthday. We went to a movie - remember Titanic? - and to Red Lobster for dinner. After that we went back to his home for dessert. (Now don't get any bad ideas - he actually made me a birthday cake.)

After a little dancing, yes he was very romantic, he had me sit down, he got on his knee & proposed. Of course I accepted! I was actually surprised since I wasn't planning on the official proposal for a while later. He then made a quick call to our parents, who were just a few minutes away eating at Friendly's Restaurant, to tell them to come back and celebrate with us.

There is something I love to share when we tell our story, it is what happened with Chris. Remember back to when I told you how I was feeling before he returned home from his mission? Well, this is what he was experiencing. Before he was to return, he was pondering what he should do with his life when he gets back. He had thought of moving to LA to live & be a cop. Whenever he thought about his future, for some reason, he would think of me. Then when he was in the San Diego Temple, he was again thinking about it. He came to a spiral staircase and at the bottom there was a newly married couple and as she turned around - he said it was like he was looking at me! (Super cute, huh?) THEN, after all these things had happened, he was writing in his journal while on the plane returning home. In essence, he wrote "If she is at the airport, then I know I am going to ask her to marry me."

We were married in the Washington, D.C. Temple on August 21st.
(This is my favorite picture from our wedding. My sister took it.)

So after 10 years and two beautiful daughters later, I am still very grateful and blessed to have him. Granted we have had some rough patches and battles, but everything has turned out pretty good, pretty darn good.

Future Gymnast?

With the Olympics going on, our youngest has changed her aspirations a little. These were taken in Hershey Park while we were waiting for Chris & his mom to get off a ride. This is a play by play documentary.

Before any great moves can occur, you need to be all chalked up.

All gymnasts need a good running start to do any flip, so here's the start.
Building up speed.....

She completes a triple flip! (Before you get too impressed, these were done as she did this skipping thing with her legs.)
"I did it!" Her end pose to all the adoring judges.

She continued doing this for a while & I was laughing so hard! I couldn't pass up this photo opportunity. Later on that day, I asked her what she wants to be when she grows up and she said this, "A police officer, a ballerina and a gymnast." She is going to be one busy lady!

SaWeeT Hershey Park!!

Oh yeah! We have spent the last 2 days sucking up all the chocolate fun & goodness. Whenever we get back home, this is a must for us. My legs are aching but it was sooo worth it. This time was even better for a few reasons.

Christianna was tall enough to go on more rides - the Super Dooper Looper & the Comet...those roller coasters were her favorites. This is her on her first coaster ride EVER. She was scared, but.........in the end, it was awesome and she wanted to go again.

She was bummed that Victoria could go on more coasters than she could, but she got over it. It was funny, after day one, Christianna woke up and asked if she was now a Hershey. (They have different chocolate candies at each height level for rides. She was a Reese's.) Sadly she didn't grow over 5 inches over night, but I found it humorous that she thought she could.

Chris's mom came with us day 1 & both his parents came on day 2. This is always great since they take the girls on rides so we can hit the coasters ourselves.

Victoria has turned into a coaster freak! She loved them & went on as many as she could. We broke her in pretty good too - we tried to get in the front of all the new coasters she rode. This is the Sidewinder & the picture below that is on the Comet with Grandma.

They have a new coaster too! The Fahrenheit! Awesome! This baby is a “vertical lift inverted loop coaster” which ascends 121 feet before plummeting down a 97-degree drop. Our first time on the ride, we waited for the front row. No words can describe how awesome it was! Then, the next time there was a sign for single riders & it was a very short line - you only go when there are odd numbered riders, so we tried that. Chris got on two coasters before me & I was so lucky to get in at the FRONT again!!! It saved us over an hour wait in line. Check it out on http://www.hersheypark.com/ and plan a trip out to see it. It will be so worth it - especially any of you who think that Lagoon in Utah is awesome. (Sorry, but it doesn't even compare to Hershey.)

As you may have noticed, there aren't many pictures of Chris. He was the one with the camera, so her are some that I was able to get. This was actually our first ride in Hershey. He wasn't exactly thrilled about it in the beginning, but as you can see, even he enjoyed the carousel.

He is actually on that coaster, right up front with his mom.

We did alot of other stuff, like eat like there was no tomorrow. (I am not looking forward to stepping on that scale.) We even got to see a few shows too. All in all we had a wonderful time & are looking forward to the next time. And when you drive through Hershey, you can be on the lookout for these. The lamps are Hershey Kisses! Every other is wrapped like foil.

They actually prompted an interesting conversation about how awesome it would be if they were made of real chocolate - but we all decided that it would just be really messy if that were the case.

A Time Out

Well everyone, I wasn't sure we would have email access while away, so I am delighted to report that we do! Believe me, I was getting scared to see what my email accounts would look like after being gone for 2 weeks - a truly nasty sight. For example, after just about 2 days, I had over 50 to go through.

Anyway, we are about done with week one and it has been great. We started the first day in Vegas. We took the girls into a few different places, had to shield them from some things - or if we were not quick enough to shield - we had a little discussion or shared a face of "yuck, they need more clothes on." They loved the Belagio fountain show & the M&M store was a big hit. Yes, I know, not a likely vacation location..but we flew out of Vegas to save over 600 bucks vs. SLC airport! That got us into Philadelphia and saved the headache of flying into NY city.

We got "home" by 4 am on Thursday and slept until after noon. We just spent time with Chris's family that day. Friday we spent time at my old home. Technically, the house is well gone but being there on the old property brought so many memories back. The new owner has built 2 beautiful cabins and it is a little rustic resort in a way.

We also took a walk down our back road - what we called it. It eventually leads to the Lehigh River, but we just go back a little to where the waterfall is. That's right - we had our own beautiful waterfall to see right by our house. Some may be wondering why I would leave that & move to the desert - I was really wondering that myself that day, it really is beautiful - but we were meant to move there and can see the Lord's hand in that.

We found wild blackberries along the road. They were very tasty.

What is a trip with out the bugs? Too bad we left the repellent at his parents house. OOPS!

We also made a stop at my old schools. That was something that would blow your minds! All the schools k-12 are in the same area. The elementary is connected to the middle school & the H.S. is across the street. We were in a very small school - graduated with about 33 others.

GO WRECKERS!! What an awesome mascot, huh? How about this cheer - yes, I dabbled in cheerleading... "We will, we will, WRECK YOU!"

There we so many tow trucks, aka "wreckers" painted on the streets around the schools.

That leads us to my school reunion. The main reason we came out here in the first place. I was pretty nervous since I hadn't seen anyone for probably 10 years! I have talked with a select few through the years - you know who you are - that are pretty much life long friends of mine. But the amazing thing was how we still are the same in a way & I felt like we were never away! Have you ever met an old friend in a random place, you catch up quick & then wonder what else to say?? You end up leaving in a kinda awkward way....well not here. We spent practically the entire day together & it was fabulously fun. Chris even had a good time. Since we were friends for so long, he actually knew a good amount of my classmates from various activities & things we all did together. Life is funny. We are getting older, getting married, having kids and pretty much growing up. It is weird to think about it sometimes. Thanks Stace for getting it all together.

Memory Lane

We are heading out for vacation & will not be able to post for a while...so I decided to move this one up to the top. So, please add what you will & I wil have alot to catch up on when I get back!

I saw this on quite a few blogs lately and loved the idea. Here is what you do:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! (Chris or Nicole)

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.EVERYBODY PLAY! (which means I tag everyone)

I want to see what memories you have!!

Quackers anyone?

"Hmmmm, excuse me sir....is that for me?" said the duck. "Are you serious?" responded Chris, a little dumbfounded. I mean, since when do ducks talk? "Yes. I am serious. I am feeling a little hungry and those pellets are really good." Upon collecting himself, Chris answered "Well I guess they are for you."

"Oh, don't give any to this guy, he is a little aggressive."
Oh my gosh! This was so hilarious! We went to the pond at Red Butte Gardens to see the Koi and it turned into a very entertaining 20 minutes. That duck seriously waited at the bottom of that dispenser every time to get any pellets that fell. Then they were eating right out of their hands.
Victoria is saying how brave she is since she didn't pull her hand away when the duck pecked at the food. Can't you just hear her? "I wasn't afraid."
This would be my honorable mention for our trip today. Can you see it? That little boy is....well what does it look like to you?? (Like the kid needs more water. He obviously has trouble keeping it in. he, he Note the mom pouring more into him, almost like he is a living fountain himself.)

Welcome to the Sprout House!

Today we went for a family adventure to Red Butte Gardens. This was the first time Chris had been there with us. We took the girls there to attend a special Hummingbird class. It was awesome! They started out sitting on big bean bag chairs while Megan - the instructor, taught them all about the cute little birds. Did you know that Hummingbirds can flap their wings 60-80 times PER MINUTE????? Victoria is trying to flap her arms as fast as she could. She got up to 8 times in 5 seconds! Now that's fast.

After that, all the kids found seats at a table and they made hand held hummingbird feeders. They consisted of a plastic tube and a couple red pipe cleaners. Then they were filled with sugar water.
We all then had a procession into the gardens. We tried to find hummingbirds brave and willing to eat out of the feeders. All you have to do is stand really still and quiet with your arm out, holding that feeder, and wait. I kinda thought it was funny since we all know how easily kids can do all of that for long periods of time - like 20 seconds?? We tried at a few different locations and then headed back to the Sprout House.
After all that, there was even more! We all went back and planted a Pineapple Sage plant. So, they ended up getting a very informative lesson, hummingbird feeder & a plant!

Rock Stars

"You should've said no, you should've gone home, you should've thought twice 'fore you let it all go..." Many of you may know this song by Taylor Swift. Well, today I was updating my SaWeet Tunes and the girls came flying in our room when they heard this song. They love to come in and sing. First they started just singing and dancing, then they would occassionally employ the balls on the footboard of our bed as a microphone. (It is the perfect height for them to sing into.) Finally, they went to the sleek pencil-mic. They were actually at the point of singing that specific line I quoted at the beginning when I took the picture. They really get into the emotion, huh?

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

We often go the the Bees games. This time, we decided to invite another family from our ward to go with us. Meet the Newey's. They also have 2 little girls and they all get along so well together. Downside to 4 little girls? About 10 bathroom trips, where they each have to "go" again throughout the game. Chris had to work this game, so except for the occassional appearances - one with the gift of popcorn - he was not with us. It was a good game & they won! WAHOO! Unfortunately I missed the last hit, the one that ended the game. I had just left to run to the bathroom - again - but this time it was because a cup of melted ice cream had just been tipped over and spilled all over my right foot. Have you ever had that happen to you? Yucky ice cream oozing between your toes in your lovely flip flps? I heard the cheers as I had my foot up in the sink under the water & figured out what happened.

Here are three of the girls. Victoria is chatting it up with Travis. (Pretty much she will be chatty with anyone willing to listen to her.)

Here is Lillian & the fourth little one, she had a hard time sitting still for any length of time - much to the dissappointment of the not-so-polite-lady behind us.
Just thinking about that makes me grrrrrrr.Me and my girls.

Ok, I need to describe these next few. There were firworks after the game & then they let all the kids run the bases. Victoria & Christianna love to do this. Normally Christianna is first to start, but Victoria always takes her between 1st & 2nd base.
They just rounded 3rd base & instead of letting her sister go farther, she has to hold onto her. Well, she is starting her slow descent to the ground...
...notice how Victoria's shirt is off her shoulders? (Christianna has an iron grip.) Well, needless to say, she totally spilled right there. Too bad I stopped taking pictures to make sure she was ok...'cause that would have been funny to see the final landing.
But, as you can see, she was up and running in no time. She seems pretty happy. (I was laughing at her, so maybe that is why she didn't have a major cry at the time.)
To end the night, they all got a picture with Bumble.