Wedding Day...

Tag.
Saw this cute tag on KAMI'S ADORABLE blog and thought I'd play along...

1. Where did you and your husband meet? We met while we were working for the summer during college. We were SO YOUNG! I was 19 and he was 21-CRAZY!

2. How long before you kissed? Ummm, on the SECOND date. BUT, we'd known each other for several months, does that make it better?

3. Who kissed who first? He kissed me! I still remember what I was wearing, where we were, EVERYTHING, it was great.

4. How long from the time you met until you were engaged? How long from the engagement to the wedding? We dated for THREE years before we were married. We started dating in July 1998 and we were married in June 2001! I think that must be some kind of record in Utah! We were engaged for 5 months to the day, we got engaged on January 15 and were married on June 15.

5. How did he propose? He was still going to school in Logan and I went up for the weekend. We went to Lava Hot Springs with some friends and got back to Logan on Sunday night. The next day was Martin Luther King Jr. day and he took me to Hardware Ranch up Logan Canyon and asked me to marry him on the hayride. He had an awful, hideous FAKE ring and tried to trick me into thinking it was real. It was a great day, so much fun and one I will NEVER forget.

6. Did he pick out the ring or did you? We did together after we were engaged. I let him have a lot of say in it though ;)

7. Do you still like the ring? Yes, I love it and I am so glad that I do. For our 5 year anniversary he added a diamond anniversary band to go underneath it and I LOVE it.

8. Where was your wedding and reception? We got married at Gardner Village in the garden and had our reception in the reception center called the Gathering Place. A great place for the GATHERUM's to get married eh? Incidentally, another day that I will never forget was March 30, 2005 when we were sealed together in the LDS temple with our two little boys, Gage and Boe. Crazy how things come full circle.

9. How many bridesmaids did you have and who was your maid of honor? I had six bridesmaids, my three sisters, Neal's little sister, my friend Courtney and friend Melissa.

10. What color were your bridesmaid dresses? Light Purple, it was actually called shimmering plum or something like that.

11. What was your bouquet made of? White roses with some purple and sage green accents and highlights, but mostly white roses.

12. Who gave you away? My dad. I agree with Kami's answer on this one though, since she had to deal with all the stress, my mom did too :).

13. Did you cry during your wedding? Yes. So did Neal. Like a baby! Loved it!

14. What style was your dress? I loved it and still do. Very classic and simple, made of raw silk with very little embroidery or beading.

15. Was your wedding kiss sweet or sexy? Short and sweet.

16. Who caught your bouquet? My friend Melissa practically tackled my sister Kaylee to get it!

17. What flavor was your cake? Oh gosh, it was like 3 layers and each one was a different one. I think the one we cut was carrot/spice cake, it was delicious and I am still sad I didn't get to eat more of it!

18. Did you smash the cake onto each other's faces or feed it to each other nicely?
Heck no! And Neal is lucky he was nice about it. Seriously, I have major issues with people who are mean to each other with the cake. Don't think it sets a very good begginning tone for a marriage!

19. What was "your song" that you danced to at your wedding? When you say nothing at all by Allison Krause, but we had lot's of good music.

20. What did you serve your guests to eat? Oh geez, this was a nightmare. The reception center messed up on our menu. I don't remember what the outcome was except that my mom was a frenzied mess and I was too done at that point to care. I do know we got a hefty refund from the reception center because of their mix-up. I think we had the traditional food...honestly, I don't remember.

21. What did your friends do to decorate your car? We took a limo, thus avoiding the dreaded car situation.

22. What was your favorite wedding gift? Gosh, I don't know. We got a lot of good stuff, my parents pretty much furnished our first apartment. My mom's best friend made us a "wedding" quilt that I still love.

23. What was the worst wedding gift you got? a box of DI stuff from one of my parents WEALTHIEST neighbors, oh geez gotta love Gloria! I am not kidding, it was a box of mismatched "STUFF" I don't know how else to describe it. We were laughing hysterically going through it!

24. Where did you go on your honeymoon? Florida and Grand Bahama Island. It was awesome.

25. Looking back, is there anything you would have changed about your wedding? Oh hell, I wouldn't have stressed near as much and wouldn't have worried about all the little details. So lame because as witnessed in the above question, I don't even remember now what we served. Other then that though, it was a dream of a day. I loved it!

Now I'm breaking all the rules...I am tagging all my blog buddies that want to play this one. Tag...you're it!

Thankful for...

him and the pure love that a child brings into a home. I am thankful for all three of my kids equally, but today is this little guys' 4 month birthday! He is rolling over from back to front and LOVES his exersaucer. He loves to eat and is still a dream baby. We love HIM. Here's to wishing YOU a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving Holiday with your families!

Thankful for...

His birth and all it promises us. This year, more then ever, I am looking forward to the holiday season and the peace and comfort it brings to the world as we remember and celebrate the single most important event in history.

Thankful for...

family. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better one. Wouldn't want to be on this journey without any of these seven. Love you all...

Thankful For...

these four. I don't know what I'd do without them. In these times of economic strife, uncertainly, war, turmoil and sadness, it is easy to forget about ALL THE GOOD that still exists in our world. Love you...

Snow Day...

Here are my two cute little snowmen waiting intently to go play outside in the first snow of the season...Love them!

Family Pics 2008

We got our family pictures done a couple of weekends ago. We went up MillCreek Canyon and don't worry, there was SNOW! It was beautiful though and I love the way they turned out. My friend Jennifer Kamp did them, check her out at www.jenniferkampphotography.blogspot.com, she is really good. Anyways, my oldest two were HYPER and NAUGHTY-ofcourse they were, we needed them to be good right? And Ryder has started doing this thing where he WON'T smile when the camera is on him. He will be cooing and smiling and then you put the camera up there and bam, the smile's gone. Oh well, even with the shoddy subjects she had to work with Jenn did a great job! Here is a sampling...

Man I'm Cute...

Just had to post a couple of these pics of Ryder. What a little chubs. Love him. Ryder is sitting up pretty good on his own these days, he is laughing, talking and totally interacting with us. He also learned a new trick this week and can now hold up his own bottle-YAY Ryder! We are just L-O-V-I-N-G this little guy.

Boe's Hooky Spooky...

Boe's preschool had a Hooky Spooky Halloween Program. It was so cute! Each child had a part, either a joke or a trick. Boe had a joke. It was: Why do mummies make such great empoyees? Because they get all wrapped up in their work! HAHAHA! Boe did a great job and knew all the songs! We love you Boe-Boe!

Boo! It's Halloween...

We had a fun Halloween, well, all of us except Gage. He got sick on Tuesday of that week and got better on Saturday and literally missed out on all the fun. I felt so bad for him! Gage and Boe were firemen, but Gage REALLY wanted to be a vampire, so as I mentioned in my previous post, Kim made him an awesome cape and I told him that if he posed for pictures for me at the fire station, he could be a vampire on Halloween Day and Night. He was so excited but was still too sick to go to school on Friday. He slept most of the day and woke up at about 4:00 on Halloween afternoon, feeling much better. We got the kids all ready, Boe made a "Brave" and adorable if you ask me, firefighter, Ryder was cute and cuddly as a Dalmatian puppy, and Gage was literally UNRECOGNIZABLE as a SCARY, blood thirsty vampire! Kim, my dad, Ashlee (who came into town for her fav holiday) and Johnny came over for Chili and cornbread and then we took the kids out trick-or-treating. Gage only made it to about 10 houses and then he was feeling sick again, so we went home and Neal took Boe out for another hour or so. I always know when my kids are sick because they will lay around and veg and sleep. If they aren't sick, they aren't laying around! Anyways, we had a great time despite Gage's ailments and I am happy to report that he woke up Saturday completely on the mend. Don't worry, I've already planned my "themed" costumes for next year. Since my kids are getting older, I have to plan around them and their interests. I think Boe will make a splendid Darth Vader, Gage will be the perfect Luke Sky walker and Ryder will complete the picture as Yoda! Hope you all had a fantastic Halloween!

The Birthday Boy!

Gage had a fantastic Birthday Weekend. We started the festivities Friday night with a "Spooky Sixth Birthday Party." We played lot's of games and had lot's of food. Gage got a lot of fun gifts. It was a ton of fun. On Saturday we woke up early and got ready for "Boo at the Zoo." This is the 4th year we have gone and each year gets just that more crowded. It was a BEAUTIFUL Fall day and the animals were out and about but as far as getting in some good quality trick-or-treating, I'd say it's better to stick to the neighborhoods on Halloween Night. It was fun though and the kids loved dressing up. We came home and got ready for our family party. We had the grandparents over for Potato Soup (Gage's favorite) and then all the cousins came for cake and ice-cream. I made Gage a Jack-O-Lantern cake and we had vanilla ice-cream (again, Gage's fav). Gage again made out like a bandit and got some awesome gifts. He loved the Ben 10 toys he got and his Star Wars Light Saber, but he ABSOLUTELY LOVED the cape that Kim made just for him. A little background. I am not gonna lie, I bribed my kids to be firemen for Halloween so I could dress Rydes up as a Dalmation and it would be a cute little theme. Gage REALLY wanted to be a vampire, so I told him we'd ask Kim if she would make him a cape and he could be a vampire for Halloween night. We talked to Kim and she said she would of course help us. Life is busy and I didn't want to add anything else to her plate, plus, I forgot to talk to her about it. Anyways, she showed up on Saturday with his gifts along with this beautiful vampire cape. Gage was so happy and couldn't wait to wear it for Halloween. It's 100 times better then anything I was thinking of in my head! Thanks Kim, we love it! Happy Happy Birthday Gager, we love you SO much!

Our Trip...

I am so behind on blogging. I need to document our Disney trip, which I am going to do in this post, Gage's birthday weekend and Halloween, plus a variety of other little activities. This is going to be a MASSIVELY long post, don't feel obligated to read, I am mostly documenting it for myself. Here we go with our awesome trip:

Day 1 (October 15):









We got into Orange County at about 4:00 and went to our hotel. We stayed at the Portofino Inn. It was nice, not luxurious by any means, but clean and nice and it had a pool and hot tub, which is all that matters to my kids. It is really close to Disney Land and although I wasn't super impressed, it was good. We unpacked and then set off to figure out our game plan for the next day, which was our first day at Disney Land! The kids LOVED the airplane ride and Ryder was awesome. We spent the night exploring downtown Disney, eating dinner at McDonald's and playing in the swimming pool.

Day 2 (October 16):

We got up and went to a character breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at the Paradise Pier Hotel. I would totally recommend this one, it was really good food and we saw pretty much all of the characters. Lilo, Stitch, Goofy, Minnie, Daisy, Donald, Pluto. There were fun activities for the kids to do with the characters and we were able to spend as much time as we wanted to with each of them. It was a great way to INTRODUCE Disney Land. As soon as breakfast was over, we took the monorail into the park. It dropped us off in Tomorrow Land and at first, we were kind of lost. Neal and I felt like two new kids on the first day of Junior High. We have both been to Disney Land multiple times, but it has been YEARS. Anyways, we had to get our bearings and then we were off and let me tell you, we didn't stop for THREE whole days! The favorite rides of this day were Space Mountain for Gage and Peter Pan for Boe. We went on both DOZENS of times. We also got to meet Mickey Mouse. It was seriously one of the main highlights of the trip. Boe just ran up to him and threw his arms around him like they were long lost friends.

It was one of those moments where Neal and I both realized that it was definitely worth the THOUSANDS of dollars that a trip to Disney Land costs, just to see our kids so happy and JOYFUL! .
We were pretty much able to get through every ride in Disney Land. At about 7:00 Boe was exhausted as was Ryder, so the three of us went back to the hotel and Neal and Gage stayed out until the park closed. They were able to hit all of the "big" rides that Boe was either too small for or didn't like. They had a lot of fun. My dad, Kim and Kaylee came into town that night and we were super excited to get back into the park the next day.


Day 3 (October 17):
We started off the morning with a good (HUGE) breakfast at IHOP. We then went into the park. Gage and Boe were so excited to have my dad, Kim and Kaylee with us. We went back into Disney Land and showcased all of the kids favorite rides, which pretty much means we went on just
about every single ride AGAIN! The favorite rides of this day were The Matterhorn and Space Mountain for Gage and Buzz Lightyear and Toad's Wild Ride for Boe. They both liked Star Wars as well. It's hard to narrow down the rides into favorites, honestly, they loved the whole park! They were such good boys. So sweet and so not bratty. I saw so many horrible over indulged children and I was appalled. I was really proud of my kids for not being like that. Anyways, we watched the Parade on
Main Street that night and had DELICIOUS HUGE corn dogs for dinner. I am still craving those things I tell you. They were so good! After the parade, my dad and Kim went back to the hotel and me, Neal, Kaylee and the boys decided to hit the park again. It was so incredibly, ridiculously crowded it almost wasn't fun. Thank goodness for Fast Passes! Kaylee and I took the kids on Splash Mountain and Gage was IN HEAVEN. Boe wasn't so sure about it, but it was a good time. After that, we went on a couple of Boe's rides in Fantasy Land and then he was spent.
Kaylee, Boe, me and Ryder went back to the hotel, but first we stopped for some DELICIOUS caramel apples, and Gage and Neal closed the park down AGAIN! When they got home the three of us were already zonked out!

Day 4 (October 18):









We started off Saturday in California Adventure. I have to say, from the perspective of a mom with a little boy (Boe) I wasn't too impressed with it. He wasn't big enough for most of the cool rides and since Gage was, Boe didn't want to go on the "little" kid rides, so we spent a lot of time waiting for the others to do the big roller coasters and such. Me, Neal, my dad, Kaylee, Gage and Boe were able to go on Tower of Terror and let me just say that Boe takes after his mommy. I hate rides like that and so does he! He was petrified! So was I! You should see the picture! So we spent a good amount of time in California Adventure. We ate lunch at a really good Mexican place, but I have to say, it doesn't hold a candle to Cafe Rio!










After lunch, Boe was ready for a nap so all of us except....you guessed it, Neal and Gage, went back to the hotel to hang out and rest. We went up to my dad and Kim's suite and it was nice to just relax. We met up with Neal and Gage a few hours later and prepared for our last night in the park. We were all so sick of eating out at this point that we ate Subway for dinner and it was DELICIOUS! We then went back to Disney Land. We went on Pirates for the 10th time, we all got a chance to go on Indiana Jones, we took turns watching the kids and went in shifts. I was very unlucky on this ride in that Neal broke my sunglasses and I lost my cellphone. Oh well, those were the worst catastrophe of the trip, so I can't complain. After Indiana, we split up. Gage and Neal went off and Me, Kaylee, Dad, Kim, Boe and Ryder went back to Fantasy Land and went on a bunch of fun rides with Boe. Then we met up and switched off again. We all wanted to do a little shopping. We let the kids pick out a souvenir for themselves, I wanted an ornament for my tree. Every year we get an ornament for the year and try to get something that represents our year, I thought a Mickey Ornament would be perfect for 2008. I found a really cute one. We got Ryder a cute little t-shirt and Kim and my dad got a bunch of stuff. After shopping, we watched the fireworks. They were really good. I do love me a good fireworks show! We decided that we were all going to stay in the park until it closed down since it was our last night. Neal and Gage went on Splash Mountain again and since it was close to closing time, they let them just keep going and got to go 2 times in a row! Boe wasn't as lucky. He wanted to go on Peter Pan and I was shocked when we walked up to it and found that it was about a 1/2 hour wait at 11:15 at night! We waited though and he was happy to end his first Disney Land experience with it. We went back to the hotel after that and Neal put the kids down and Kaylee and I headed over to IHOP for a little Midnight Snack. I had such a great time with her on this trip and I am so glad she came. Even though we are 7+ years apart, we get along and are such great friends. She is a very wise women for being so young and I love talking to her. We got back at about 3:30 in the morning. Man, I don't remember when the last time was that I stayed out so late!

Day 5 (October 19):


We woke up and headed over to IHOP again for breakfast. Kim, my dad and Kaylee were flying out at 11:00 so we only had a couple of hours to hang out. We had a relaxed, long and lazy breakfast and then said good bye to them. I was sad to see them go. It was really fun with them and it was so great to have them there to help out with the kids. After they left, Neal and the boys got into the pool for a while. We then all took a 3 hour nap! It was so awesome! We then played in the pool again and ordered pizza to our hotel. It was so great to just spend a day relaxing.

Day 6 (October 20):

We woke up and Neal went and got us breakfast at Subway. Did you know they did breakfast there? It is so good and non-greasy, which at this point is ALL I wanted! The kids and Neal played in the pool while I packed up.

We decided to rent a car to drive to the beach and then to the airport in since our plane left at 4:00 that afternoon. We drove to Newport Beach. We took the beautiful, scenic drive and I am wanting to go there next year and rent a beach house and maybe go to Disney for just
one or two days or something, it is so beautiful. Gage and Boe were a little wary of the ocean at first and then they started warming up to it. As soon as Gage ventured into the shoreline, a HUGE wave came and knocked him FLAT on his back. Neal and I just lost it laughing. He was mad, that is what these pictures document. The first one is just as he is about to fall and the second one is of him crying and being mad at Neal and I for laughing! Neal and I both LOVE the ocean and the beach. I really think we could live there! We walked to pier and it was so nice and beautiful. I just feel at home at the ocean, it's weird. Anyways, we spent a couple of hours at the beach and then it was time to change and drive into Orange County to catch our flight. We were sad to go, but ready and excited to get home. We had a great trip and can't wait to go again!