I Tried to Warn Them

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!

Jay and I were married eleven years ago today! It has been the best eleven years of my life and I don't know how I ever did without him before that. I scanned these photos in from our scrapbook today and I can't believe how young we were! I never imagined we would ever look any different from what we did then. We may look older, but he just keeps getting more and more handsome with each anniversary we share.

Each day has been great, but here is a list of eleven highlights from our eleven wonderful years together:

1. Our wedding day, of course...happiest day of my life to that point!

2. Moving to and living in Syracuse, New York...what an adventure!

3. Arrival of our first son, Zachary, in 1999...he was the epitome of bouncing baby boy.

4. Edible car contests at ISU...(memorable because I beat all the engineering students. Jay was so proud!)

5. Arrival of our second son, Owen, in 2002...sweetest, smiliest baby boy.

6. Graduating from ISU, buying our first house, and moving to Wyoming...brrrrr...

7. Arrival of our last child and first daughter, Avery, in 2004...our family never felt so complete and soft...and full of PINK!

8. Remodeling our home, selling it, and moving to Boise...much warmer!

9. Our kids getting older and enjoying time with them.

10. Our ten year anniversary cruise last year...best date ever!!!

11. The previous items took time to think about and they are just events, but the best part of our eleven years together is the feelings that accompany those thoughts. We have had our ups and downs but one things is always constant in my mind...Jeremy's love and tender heart. He is always there beside me steadfast and sure. I am one lucky wifey!

Happy Anniversary, my love! I can't wait for our date (he is planning the whole thing...and I love surprises!)

BYU and Slime

The kids each get to have a big birthday party once every other year...and 2009 is the year of the parties! We all love BYU football so Owen picked his party theme to match. Here is one of the invites we came up with. He LOVED giving them to his friends!

Nonna got this Slime project for the kids to do with Dad. He really got into it with them!

They mixed the correct compound and waited patiently until it was just right. This "slime" is actually pretty cool stuff. It feels wet but you can bounce it, break it, mush it, and then it all congeals back together when you let it rest. Each kid got a piece to play with for a while and found lots of gross things to do with it.

The joys of being boys (or so they say!) Avery and I are going to go shopping now.

M'lis Detox

I have had lots of requests for information on the detoxification program I have been on since last week. This really has been amazing and I feel great! Here is the link:

http://www.mlis.com/nu_detoxification.html

Flowers or Weeds?

Sometimes life is a lot like Dandelions.

Every single one of us goes through trials and times of lengthy hardship. When those little trials end, we think to ourselves and may even say out loud, "I am so glad that is over!" When those little trials turn to big trials that seem to never want to finish, we feel to cry, "When is this going to end?"

Trials remain sometimes with seemingly no signs of letting up and it is tempting to allow the feelings of weariness take over. There is no desire to give in to such temptation but it appears to be just too heavy to carry anymore.

There is strength beyond momentary weakness that begins to whisper to that soul in need of desperate hope. It reminds of a simple truth, "There is a purpose in your strugglings." Knowing that other trials along the path have created the witness and testimony now held dear only brings more hope to which to cling.

We are not alone as we journey through our lives. There is great purpose in all we do, in all we experience. There is One who knows beginning to end and He has great things in store for those who follow Him.

How grateful I am that when I think I have been handed a bunch of weeds, the Lord shows me instead a lovely bunch of flowers.

Tooth Fairy Schmooth Fairy

Do you believe in the tooth fairy? If you live in my house, you might be doubting by now.

A little while ago Owen had to have five teeth pulled to make room for some crazy teeth coming in. After his appointment we received a call letting us know that we had forgotten his teeth that the dentist had pulled. Okay, so a "little while ago" really was nearly a month, and I just picked them up the day before yesterday. Needless to say, Owen was sooo excited for the tooth fairy to come and leave him a whopping five buck-a-roos.

Yesterday morning I went in to get the boys up for school and found Owen sulking on his bed. I wondered what was wrong as Zack was asleep still and couldn't have possibly given him his morning pounding yet. I quickly glanced down to see that he was holding his little container full of teeth. OH CRAP...I did it again! (Sadly, this is not the first time the tooth fairy has failed him...or Zack for that matter.)

Scrambling I encouraged him to go use the restroom and then when he got back we would look for the treasure together-maybe it had fallen from under his pillow when he was sleeping. Sweet, he bought it! I ran to my purse where I knew I had 2 dollars and then remembered the other two a friend reimbursed me with the night before in my jacket pocket. Stink, I am a buck short and I totally owe him interest! I scrounged through Avery's piggy bank, I can't believe I am doing this and I hope she doesn't wake up yet, but only quarters, nickels, dimes, and pennies.

Just then my hubby saved the day with a one in his wallet. He's been holding out on me! I snatched two of Avery's quarters (that interest Owen totally earned) and threw it all under his bed just as he was walking into his room. Phew!!!!!! Boy, was he excited! He wondered to where the container with his teeth had mysteriously disappeared when Zack, now awake and in on it all, saved the day by telling him the tooth fairy took it. I love that kid! This whole time I was secretly wondering how and why lying to our kids became such a fun tradition...

Owen stashed his cash away with the rest he has been saving (that kid is one good saver!) and beamed the rest of the morning. Tragedy narrowly avoided...

...but wait, there is more...

Last night Jeremy I got to go on a date (it's been a while!) and we were so excited to get out of the house and spend some quality time together. Just as we were leaving we remembered that we needed two dollars to get into this mountain bike trade show. Neither of us had any cash...hmmm...what to do?

Poor Owen. He still hasn't noticed his two bucks gone missing, so the Tooth Fairy had better remember to replace it before...well, at least before he loses another tooth.

I Love Photoshop Elements

My mom, Nonna, writes a personalized story for each of her grandchildren and I get to design and print them for her. I just finished her first book and Shutterfly's printing program only gives you the option of printing 20 or more pages...no less. So, I had five pages left at the end of the book and (wanting to get it finished today) created five simple, but cute scrapbooking pages in a jiffy! If you are looking for a great digital scrapbooking graphic design program, I highly recommend Photoshop Elements...and a mac...Happy Scrapping!