Kinda crazy to think we just celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. How time flies! These past 8 years have definitely been the happiest, best years of my life. I am so lucky to have somehow found and married the man of my dreams!
For our anniversary, we dropped off our kids at Kim and Cam's house (thanks so much you guys!) and we headed to Ruby River for steak (Mark's favorite). After dinner, we went to "Stomp" at the Capitol Theatre (which was amazing) and then stayed at the Peery Hotel for the night (thanks to Ben for hooking us up with a sweet room and deal). The next morning we spent a couple hours (no joke) at Little America's breakfast buffet where Mark ate at least a hundred dollars worth of berries and other fruits (his other favorite food), making the $16.95 a plate seem outrageously cheap! After we "rolled" out of Little America, we walked around at the Gateway and did a little shopping. It was such an awesome little getaway.
I decided to jot down a list of things I love about Mark. When I got to 5o I realized I could easily do another 50. He's just so easy to love. I'm not trying to say that he's perfect in every way, but for me, he's the perfect guy. Love ya babe!
50 Things I love about my husband
He…
1. always has a positive outlook on life.
2. is trustworthy. He has never done or said anything that would make me lose any trust in him.
3. is my best friend. I’d rather be with him than anyone in the world.
4. still treats me like he did when we were dating.
5. is funny. Always makes me laugh with his hilarious dance moves and sense of humor.
6. is dependable in every way.
7. is the best dad anyone could dream of.
8. is a hard and fast worker. He can clean so much faster and better than I can.
9. is a total hottie.
10. loves the outdoors and being in nature.
11. is such a fun person to be around.
12. gets along great with my family and friends.
13. is so determined. If he sets his mind to something, he will accomplish it.
14. is laid back and easy going.
15. gives me a kiss right when he gets home from work.
16. can’t wait to get home to play with our girls.
17. is really handy. He can fix pretty much anything. If he can’t, he’ll learn how.
18. is always willing to help others.
19. is very confident. Not cocky, but knows he can do most anything he really wants to do.
20. keeps the girls’ fingernails and toenails clipped
21. is good with money. He takes care of all our finances and paying all the bills. (something I used to do and hated)
22. loves sports and is good at most all of them. Loves biking, tennis, backpacking, water skiing, snow boarding, and climbing.
23. does dishes and cleans the house with me.
24. is always ready for a challenge.
25. will play hide-n-seek with Alyssa and Katelyn for hours.
26. is such a good listener to my long, detailed stories or problems.
27. When I’m pregnant, he massages my legs in the middle of the night when they cramp up.
28. He is committed to making our marriage the best it can be.
29. is so good to his mom.
30. I love when he holds me tight in his big arms.
31. I am so proud to call him my husband.
32. is full of integrity. He only does things consistent with his beliefs and values.
33. My heart skips a beat when I see him after we’ve been apart a couple of days.
34. He gets up with the girls and lets me sleep in on Saturdays
35. He’s NEVER too busy for his family.
36. He never complains.
37. He leaves work at work.
38. I love how he is so supportive of any girl’s weekend I plan. He even just planned one for me.
39. has never raised his voice or yelled at me.
40. He’ll bring home a fountain drink for me just cause.
41. He loves me despite my many shortcomings.
42. He will ALWAYS keep his word.
43. Sharing is easy for him.
44. He has a strong testimony and faith.
45. He lives life to the fullest.
46. I love to cuddle with him.
47. He has written songs for me on the piano and guitar.
48. He changes all the light bulbs.
49. He makes me feel safe and secure.
50. I love him more than I did the day I married him.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
8 amazing years!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
What we've been up to...
I know, I know, I'm lame. I say I'm going to start recording memories and then don't post anything for months. I guess when life gets busy, getting on the computer is the last thing on my list. I'll try to do better. Well, these last couple of months have been busy and fun. Here are some of the things we've been doing...
Alyssa and Katelyn are taking after their dad and starting to love to hike. They are constantly asking, "can we go climb that mountain?" every time they see a mountain or hill. Here we are hiking the Crimson trail up Logan canyon. It was beautiful and so good to spend some time enjoying the outdoors.
Dipping chocolate covered strawberries. Definitely one of the girls' favorite things lately. Mainly because we let them eat the whole batch that night. 
Monday, June 9, 2008
Mother's Day
I feel so blessed to be a mother of three beautiful, sweet little girls who mean everything to me. I realize that I am so lucky to have the opportunity of raising these precious children who bring so much joy and happiness into my life. 
Mark and the girls were so cute to me on Mother's Day. Alyssa and Katelyn sung to me in church, decorated the dinner table with all sorts of candy, and colored cute cards for me.
We LOVE Powell
We went on our annual Lake Powell trip a couple of weeks ago and had an amazing time! It was beautiful as always and we lucked out with perfect weather for the whole week. The more children we have, the harder it is to get away on vacation for a week without them. It's always stressful figuring out who we will leave the kids with and making all of the necessary preparations. On years that I've had a newborn baby or have been nursing, it is especially hard to think of leaving such a little one home, and I have to start mentally preparing for it way in advance. Even though it is always a struggle to get off on the vacation, once we get there it is always so worth it! I am so grateful that my parents started the tradition of taking us to Lake Powell every year, and I love that everyone in my family makes it a priority to be there. Since we all leave our kids at home, this is a time for us to really catch up on each others' lives and act like kids ourselves. I am so happy that I get to spend this time with my awesome family each year. Although we had a great time, this year was just not the same without our cute parents!
(They are holding up the dry erase board to show that their team is kicking butt in points- Too bad for them I didn't get the scores in the picture)
Me with my sisters and cute brother. Todd was out doing some late night fishing and Junior wasn't able to make it this year.
Oh, we also lucked out and were able to get the best couple to take care of our kids while we were gone. Alyssa's old preschool teacher (aka teacher Jenny) and her husband came to Logan and stayed at our house with the girls. Before Jenny came, she sent a card and stickers to the girls telling them how excited she was to come play with them. I had also taken them shopping to stock up on new craft projects to work on while we were gone. Needless to say, we knew there would be no tears shed by our girls when we left. Every day they would ask, "How many days til teacher Jenny comes?" The day we left I gave them big hugs and told them I would miss them. They truly couldn't contain their excitement and kept saying, "we're NOT gonna miss you guys!" Oouch! Actually, I'd way rather have it that way than leave with them crying and sad!
We were so excited to get home and see the girls and to find out that everything had gone well. Here they are in front of the door they decorated so cute to welcome us home.
Memorial Day
We went to the cemetery with the Parkers to visit my sister Kristen's grave on Memorial day. It was nice to be able to be there and tell the kids a few memories of her and her cute little personality. It was raining so the kids had a great time playing all around in the rain and getting their pants all muddy. We had a fun day spending time together with our family and playing games.
Later that night Alyssa came to me crying and said that she was sad that she didn't get to meet Kristen. I assured her that she had been able to be with Kristen before she came to our family and that she would be able to be with her again after this life. She immediately cheered up and said that she was excited to "play with her" again. What a blessing to have this knowledge which brought such comfort and peace to my sad little girl.
Preschool Graduation
My little Alyssa has graduated from preschool and is moving on to Kindergarten. Ahhhh! It scares me and makes me a little sad to be entering a new stage of life that has come way too fast. Anyway, she loved Melody Lane preschool and her fabulous teachers. They will be missed!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Lost touch with reality
If any of you have been wondering why you haven't heard from or seen us for the past month and a half, it's because our schedule has been packed so full every single day. This is how it goes...
7:30 p.m. SHARP- girls in bed
7:31 p.m.-start popping popcorn, break out the treats, put in DVD
7:35 p.m.- hours upon hours of "Lost" episodes begin.
9:30 p.m-bathroom break and re-stock treats and drinks
11:00 p.m.-decide we will just watch "one more"
11:45 p.m.-same as 11:00 pm
12:30 a.m- vow this will be our last one
1:15 a.m.- wonder what the heck we're doing and how we will function the next day!
I know, it's pathetic, but it has been so much fun! Neither of us had ever seen the show, so we started from the beginning of season 1 and we have now watched 70 episodes. We have just completed season 3, so we are almost caught up with the regular programming. I don't know how we will be able to stand waiting a whole week between shows once we get caught up! It is seriously the best show! They do such a good job of leaving you hanging right at the end so you can't wait for the next episode. Anyway, although our nights of laziness and pigging out are about to come to an end, we're kinda excited to get back to having somewhat of a normal life again.
Oh, this was cute- Alyssa has been a bit jealous knowing that we are having "parties" every night after she goes to bed. One night Mark says to me, " Are we gonna watch a little L-O-S-T tonight?" In a snotty voice Alyssa says, "A little S-T spells lost! And I know it! No fair!"
