Ten Year Anniversary

I can not believe Nate and I have been married for ten years. Its crazy to think about how fast it went by. We have created so many memories, and have four children. To think that ten years ago I was just nineteen, getting ready to start a whole new life. I have done a lot of reflecting back to that day so many years ago. We were married, went on a honeymoon and then started our new life. I remember so clearly having our babies and all those "first" new experiences. Our first new home, my first delivery, first new baby, first new car, first family vacation, first new ward. Experiencing all the changes in life. Trips to the hospital when I have been in labor or kids needing stitches. The good times and the hard times. All of it shaping who we are today and our love for each other. So profound and woven together by all of the trials, tears, laughter and happiness we have experienced together. Its amazing to look back and see where we have been. And to imagine that we still have so many more things to come. I look forward to the future with a husband who is always by my side, supporting me and loving me unconditionally. To think that it all started one night at a dance. I asked him to dance. I was only seventeen then. To know that one dance would lead to a life with someone so special, and someone who I would create so much with is pretty amazing and indescribable. I love our story, our lives, and our children. Specific just to us. Something only we know and share. This was a wonderful anniversary for me.

To think, it started ten years ago. Just us. Nate and I. And now we are a family of six.

Nate had to work on our actual anniversary. Even though we celebrated it the weekend before, I really wanted to make it special for him. I planned a really nice dinner. With candle light and everything. I explained to the kids that it was an extra special occasion. And that if they wanted to be invited to the dinner, they had to be on their best behavior. It was as if we were eating at a really nice restaurant. They were thrilled beyond measure that they were included in this wonderful date. As my plans were progressing in my head, I had a wonderful idea. I wanted to get in my wedding dress and surprise Nate. I was not expecting to fit into it. I did, so that of course mad me very happy. The girls were heaven. Seeing mom all dressed up. They ran and got in the flower girl dresses they had worn for my cousins wedding. When Nate got home, it was perfect. He walked through the door and saw me standing there in my dress. I was not expecting the emotions that suddenly ran through me. I got very emotional. He just stared at me. He said he was not expecting to come home to anything special. And was very caught of guard, in a good way. We ate our dinner in the candle light. It was so incredible. There was a silence as we ate for a bit. It was as if we were all taking in the magnitude of how amazing that exact day was ten years ago. All that it meant then and what has become of it. After dinner I told Nate to stay where he was. I turned on the song we danced to on our wedding night. Faith Hill and Tim McGraws "Its your love". The kids sat so quietly watching. They were memorized. It was so indescribable having us all there. It was so perfect to me. I remember so clearly the night we met, and the day we were married. There is a look in Nates eye that I often see. I saw it when I met him, married him, and still see it today. Its like I can see through him and know he is home to me. Such a great anniversary. We have been through so much together and it seems there is a magnetic force that pulls us to each other. I love him. I loved having the kids with us to celebrate such a special event.

Ten years baby, eternity to go.

Nate did a great job at planning our getaway. He had everything planned as a surprise. I was very impressed. He had everything arranged with his family to watch kids and carpools to be driven. Down to every last detail. Friday morning he told me to pack my bags and pack something warm. I have been wanting to go skiing SO badly. He took me to get skiing at Powder Mountain. Then we went straight to my favorite place. The Alaskan Inn. We got cleaned up and went to dinner at Maddox. We had never been there and he wanted to surprise me and take me somewhere new. It was SO much fun.

In the lobby of the Alaskan Inn.

I really liked this wooden picture because it says that these bird mate for life. So I am being Vanna White.

Baby Blessing

My little nephew Kamden got blessed. This is my brothers family. Brady, Gena, Keegan, Kamden, and Kennedy.

Ember and Katie

Aspen, Drew, Uncle Scott, and McKenna

I love this baby boy. And he is loving his baby biscuit.

Update...

Things are going really well for all of us. The kids got their report cards and all had practically straight A's. Only one B+. We were really excited about that. They have all been taking school a lot more serious this year. We have been so impressed with how they are staying on top of their own responsibilities with out being nagged.

Sage is really loving Brazilian Ju Jitzu and piano. He is doing so well at both. He is memorizing two pieces for Federation this month. He is really into this big silver dollar he has. It is pretty funny. He always has it with him, he cleans it and flips it all day. I have to guess heads or tails all day long. I am so grateful that he is the oldest. I never knew a brother could love his siblings as much as he does. He will do ANYTHING for them. He is so sweet to them and his parents. He has an extra amount of love to give. We all hear "I Love You" at least several times a day, seriously. He is always coming and hugging me while I am cooking or cleaning and just says "mom I love you so much." Its pretty touching. And my favorite is hearing him play with the girls, and out of the blue hearing...I Love you McKenna. He is always telling me he thinks Aspen is so cute and pretty. And oh how he loves his brother. I am always amazed how quickly he makes friends. We can go anywhere and he will end up with kids just falling in love with him. He is so nice to people and knows how and what to say. He has a way of making people feel SO special and important. I love my time with him. Sage out of all the kids needs my time at night. I love to lay in bed by him and talk. He could talk for hours. I will always treasure the time we spend together talking late into the night. I am so grateful for Sage.

McKenna is still her same sweet self. I have people telling me all the time that she is the sweetest child they have ever met, with the best manners. That is so accurate. McKenna just radiates sweetness. She has a gift for being grateful. She prays every night with lists of what she is grateful for and for people. Bad guys, people in Haiti, and never forgets people who are handicapped. She has always been so sensitive to people with handicaps. I will not be surprised if she does something with them as a career later in life. McKenna is SO smart. She is ahead in math and reading. She hates if she has to miss school and spends alot of time making sure her homework is perfect. McKenna has a great sense of humor. She makes us all laugh. She gets into trouble for this sometimes. Sage can't go to sleep because she is just SO funny. I go try to get her to stop but I just end up giggling too. She is a great second mom to Drew. She is going to be a Fantastic mom one day. She is only seven, but takes care of him like she was twenty. She cries if she has been too busy to spend a lot of time with him. She is a great big sister. She is a great example to her family. McKenna is pretty busy with dance and piano. She has struggled with the piano but will not give up. She has improved so much and has been working hard for federation.

Aspen has a new nickname..."Skippy". She is so full of life and energy. She is always skipping everywhere. But once its seven p.m. with out fail she only skips and hops. It seriously happens every night with out fail. It is hysterical. She is my more serious child. She is very particular and likes to be on task and organized. She has a lot of qualities I wish I had. She is very diligent and you can count on her word. She will do what she promises in a timely manner. She is doing great in school and is ahead in her math class. She worked hard to get to first grade math (she is in kindergarten). She is taking dance and gymnastics. Her couch pulled me aside and told me that she can spot natural talent and really thinks Aspen has a talent there. I was excited, she is the youngest in her class and has not taken very long. She gets discouraged because other kids can do so much more than her. But her coach assures her it is because she just started and they are older and have an extra year of practice. I was thinking about this the other day.....Aspen is only five but she NEVER has gotten into things that she shouldn't. Even as a baby, she never got into cupboards or makeup or anything. She is so responsible. She is also very dramatic and can get pretty bossy. We often laugh at how worked up she gets, its so cute. She thinks its her job to keep me on task. She reminds me in the car to put on my seat belt and asks me to mop, and do laundry. She is very structured and needs thins in specific ways. When we tuck her in at night, it is the same exact routine. If Nate and I try to deviate we are quickly corrected. She has a nac for redecorating. She recently got this big idea in her head how she wanted her room. She planned it all out. So we moved everything where she wanted it, and of course it looks better than how I did it. She is very creative. She loves her "purple room" and needs a good two hours at least in there alone each day to play by her self. She looks forward to it when we are out and about. When we get home she runs up there and closes her door and starts playing. She needs her alone time. I love her spunk that is packed into that tiny little body.

Now our baby Drew. I can not believe how much light and joy he has brought to our family. He touches deep parts of all of our hearts. Everyone is so in love with him. Every time I go out, I have strangers ask to hold him. He is so adorable and lovable. He is so HAPPY and draws attention for this all the time. People are amazed at what a good baby and how good natured he is. A lady at the doctor office yesterday fell in love with him. She said "I bet he is the star in your family right now". She is right. They kids rush in from school asking for him. My favorite thing is when Nate is sleeping during the day after working nights, and when he hears Drew. It doesn't matter how little sleep he has had, or being woke up by him, he wants a quick hug and kiss. There is definitely something very special about Drew. He is different than our other babies. He does everything faster and different than what we were used to. It has thrown Nate and I off guard. He does not require alot of sleep. Our other kids always took long naps. He gets by with one or two quick naps a day. He does sleep a good ten to twelve hours at night, which is helpful. He does wake up in the middle of the night from time to time. Bummer. But when he wakes up at seven he is in full force ready to go. Our other kids loved to sleep in. Not Drew. He is doing everything a lot faster than we are used to. January was a big month for him. He started crawling at the beginning of the month (just barley seven month old!!). And the same day he started pulling himself up to things. He is so tiny to be doing this. He also has two teeth now that just came in. He is so alert and BUSY. He is easy in the way of attitude. But hard because he is so busy, I'm not used to this. I moved Bodies dog food, but of course he figured out where it is and quickly makes his way to it multiple times a day. He started crawling up stairs yesterday. He just turned eight months. He is saying mama and dada and nighnigh. He is VERY ticklish and loves to have his head rubbed. Oh I love this boy. He has brought Nate and I alot closer. He is truly a huge blessing that I am so grateful for.

Nate and I are doing good. We are having a lot of fun working out together. Nates work is going great. We have realized what a huge blessing this job has been for us. I am SO grateful to be at home with the kids. And so grateful Nate works so hard to let this happen. I love that he likes to spend time with me. When we tuck in the kids, Sage needs his time (as I mentioned before.) But Nate will always come down and say "Sage you have had her all day, Its my time with mom." I love that he wants to spend time with me every night. We are of course busy trying to be good parents and staying on top of four kids. It seems we can't stop having car problems, but makes us grateful we have cars. We have a lot to be grateful for. The earthquake in Haiti has made us both realize how blessed we are. We have been talking about service alot and what we can do to help people.

Well hopefully I will get caught up to date and can post shorter more frequent posts in the future. Its not a news flash that I have horibble grammer and can not spell to save my life. It is often pointed out to me, but I guess I would rather post and be judged than not post at all. I think documenting our life will be important to my kids one day. And hopefully the good of it will out weight my spelling and lack of writing skills. Hope you are all doing well.