20 years and counting.....

Just a side note before anyone goes on to read this post - I don't know if I have proper words or feelings adequate to express the way I feel about my guy - I tried my hardest to put it down on paper, so to speak.... I don't know if I have ever said this before on my blog or not, but I have the best husband in the whole world!! He is always wonderful and amazing, but this last weekend he went above and beyond for me!! He is a blessing in my life that I am thankful every day for - my life would not be the same without him in it. He is my dream come true and I feel so lucky to have him all to myself! This last Saturday, Feb.20th was our 20th anniversary. It is unbelievable to me that we have been together for so long and that I am as happy today as I was on the day when I married him all those years ago.

We went to Cancun a month or so ago, I thought for our anniversary celebrations, but he also planned out a small weekend getaway for us. Saturday morning we got up and left the house early, 10:00 and headed out the door - How lucky am I that I know that I can leave and my babies will be in good hands with the 2 big girls. Morgan and Brenna are awesome!! We spent our day shopping at Gateway, eating a delicious lunch and having a couples massage. Later on that day we checked into 'Little America' where we spent our honeymoon night, just 2 decades ago (yikes!!) J.D. spent the whole day surprising me with little gifts, a short book about the 20 years we have spent together through his eyes and a bottle of my favorite perfume (all the way from New York). He told me that we had dinner reservations that night and off we went. Much to my surprise - probably the biggest one of my life with him - he had invited 20 of the people that I love most in this world to spend the evening having dinner with us. I cried like a baby when I walked into the restaurant and saw my whole family sitting there waiting to celebrate with us. You would have thought from my reaction that I never see any of them! He is just usually not able to keep any secrets from me and so this was unusual for him. We had a great dinner together and enjoyed our night out!

These are the pictures of all the people who joined us... My uncle Bob and aunt Sandy and my cute mom and dad.

Janeen and Corey Anderson, Jana and Trent Williams
Both of my sisters were just little girls when we got married!

Mike and Jill Wahlquist and our good friends Adam and Becky Osthed

Blake (who was only 6 months old on our wedding day) and Brad and Christina Hackwell

Brian and J.D.'s mom, Pat. She brought a whole album full of pictures of us on our wedding day - what a fun thing to look at and needless to say, we have changed!!

My cute cousin Michelle (who was my maid of honor) and her husband Nate. They are so fun to be around, she was the first person that I saw when we got to the restaurant - I looked through the window behind her and thought to myself - 'weird, I wonder what she is doing here??'

Chocolate covered strawberries and sparkling cider in our room - one of my favorite treats!! We brought the yellow rose home to Ella and that made her day, this is a girl that loves flowers. Hopefully her husband can keep up with her girly-girl taste!!

I can only hope and pray that each of my girls get their Prince Charmings like I have. I hope that they are learning how they deserve to be treated when they grow up and I hope my boys are learning valuable lessons on how to treat women. J.D. is an amazing example of love to all of us.

I hope I have another 20+ years with him!

Hey look what I can do!.....

Here we are February 17 and dear baby Jiles is officially 10 months old! Where in the world did the time go? I cannot believe my little dude is nearly a year old. Since he has learned to crawl each day holds a new adventure for him. He is constantly bonking his head on the railing, the floor, getting stuck under the kitchen table and a whole host of other places to get hurt. Now that the stair climbing has started I cannot leave him alone for even a minute. I just follow him around the house and hope he stays out of trouble. He really is proud of himself for learning such a fun new skill and will be nearly all the way up before I even realize he has left the kitchen. So far he stays away from the top of the stairs and has not tried falling down the stairs yet...do I dare hold my breath?

My bath tub.....

As I sat in the tub the other morning I started looking around. I am in my bathroom, but by the looks of it, you would never know it. I am surrounded by little kid shampoo, 2-in-1 with a monkey on the bottle that smells like coconut....baby shampoo, smelling like babies.....a Sponge Bob razor, mirror and shaving cream.....a white rubber ducky.....a Hello Kitty loofah.....a handful of different sized cups for rinsing, dumping and 'making shakes' as Ella and Jensen would put it....2 little pet shop fish that often end up joining me in my bath. I think "this could drive a person crazy" - but as soon as the thought enters my head, I am quickly reminded of how fast the time goes. How someday when I am sitting in a tub that I have all to myself with all my grown up lotions and potions how sad it will be, that I will miss these moments. Being a mom teaches you to share - everything in your world, from your bath tub all the way down to the daily diet coke.

I wouldn't trade these little reminders for the world.

A month full of simple pleasures.....

Morgan, Brenna, and Drew dressing up 80's for a YMYW activity - according to Brenna she wishes she could always dress this way!! I say a 'no way' the 80's were not a good look for any of us. Good music I will admit, but for the fashions I say eeewwww!

After having a sleepover with cousin Leah and coming home more exhausted than she could even handle - falling asleep on the stairs on the way up to her room. Bless her tired little heart!

Yummy!! Cute Jiles eating licorice for the very first time. This little guy loves to eat - he instantly drops his binky out of his mouth whenever any of us put anything up to our lips. He doesn't know how to drink out of a straw yet, but he pretends to just by putting it in his mouth, imagine how surprised he will be when he finds out there is something else on the other end of that funny little plastic tube!

Sweethearts for Morgan - I told her I thought she looked like a little cupcake. My only wish is that Valentines day didn't have to have such pressure for teenagers. She had a fun time at the dance with 'Zach from Lehi'.

Spending a school night in the hot tub after dinner and homework were done. Ella loves to get in, it is just hard for her to find willing participants sometimes. She is always up for a quick swim and is so happy when someone will get in and play with her.

New Years Resolution.....

Well, it's official we have all made it through another January. January is one of those months that is both good and bad. Good for it's a chance to reflect, make changes in your life and make any number of 'resolutions'. You all know the typical, loose weight, stop gossiping, making more meals at home or cleaning the toilets on a more regular basis!! Well, this year I thought it would be meaningful for me to do something that I have never done before, I have decided to read at least 1 book every month.

To some, this probably doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but to me it is.

Having 6 kids keeps me busy - I have decided though, there is a lot of downtime...waiting for kids in the carpool lane at school, dance lessons etc.

Here is where the story gets good....I have officially finished 3, yes 3 books for the month of January. Thanks to a 6 day vacation to give me a head start and a realization that reading is quite enjoyable. It gives me a chance to escape the real world and use my imagination!! What a concept - "The Hunger Games" - "Beautiful Creatures" - "The Lightning Thief"

All of these books I would recommend, I would also love any recommendations, with a side note, I read for enjoyment, not to cry, become depressed or scared...