5 Years!

5 years ago...August 11, 2006 - The beginning of our eternal family.

Seems like a lifetime ago, yet just the other day all at once. I am extremely lucky to have found the perfect guy for me, my best friend and the love of my life. We have been through so much in just 5 short years. To me it seems that since we married later than most of our friends, everything has been crammed into a shorter period of time. Here are some of the highlights of the last 5 years:

~ 7 job changes between us in the first year of marriage.

~ Bryan went back to school and finally graduated.

~ Bought our first home.

~ Had our first baby girl just 3 days after our 2nd Anniversary.

~ Added a baby boy to our family 20 months later.

~ A job loss and new job within 2 months of having a new baby.

~ Moved to Sandy, then back to our house in Cedar 10 months later.

~ Lots of laughter, tears, stress, and joy!

I love you Bryan. Thanks for the best 5 years of my life so far.

Here's to eternity...

Princess Room

When we moved back into our house I knew I wanted to make it feel more like home, especially for the kids. So when there was a really great paint sale at Sherwin Williams we decided we should buy paint and decorate. Because Lexie's room was the only one really organized we started with her. She wanted us to paint her room pink, but I am not a fan so we went with a really pretty purple and decorated with princess stickers and pink princess bedding with a pink valance for the window. It turned out super cute! The pictures don't do it justice but it gives you an idea.

We got an amazing deal on her dresser and the bookshelf was built by one of my brothers and we painted it to match the dresser.

Lexie and all her animals love her new princess bedding which we got for an awesome price!

The shelves and nameplate we painted for Lexie before she was born and they match the room great! The valance is cute too and I love the picture of Christ with the children.

Princesses everywhere!

We haven't been able to paint and decorate Hoyt's room yet, but hope to get to that very soon.

More July Fun...

July was a busy month full of activities and hot weather. Here is an overview of some of the activities. We decided to check out the July Jamboree and it seems to be getting more crowded every year and harder to even walk around so it's probably not something we will be doing for a while...especially with kids. But they did enjoy the balloons they got from SUU Athletics.

And Bryan enjoyed seeing some fancy cars...

My awesome friend Kirsten and her 2 kids came to stay with us on their way to CA. I didn't get pictures like I wanted because I had a huge sinus headache and wasn't thinking clearly. Lexie wanted to sleep on the floor with Britton, but we told her she had to sleep in her own bed. These two are so cute and like to play together.

We got a steal on some new shoes and Lexie was trying to jump and show off her sparkle shoes that light up. I should have done a video because they pictures don't do justice to how cute it was.

This day we were shopping and were getting paint at Sherwin Williams for the kids rooms. While waiting for them to get it mixed for us, we decided to grab some lunch at Top Spot. Lexie had hit her breaking point and wouldn't wake up to eat her food. But Hoyt was wide awake and ready to dig in!

For me it's just the little moments with my kids that make life worth while. Sometimes I get my camera out and take a picture like this day when she was using her basket as a hat. Love this girl.

For Pioneer Day we decided to try and not be boring and check out the Cedar parade. Um, for the most part big mistake. This was our favorite float...the Dutch Oven Drum Corps. :)

My kids were just not enthused and it was hot and the parade was slow with huge breaks between things so they lost interest pretty fast.

I also enjoyed the 9th Ward Kazoo Band.

Lexie got her Frisbee then she was ready to go. We left the parade early and went to the store to get popsicles and headed home since Bryan didn't have the day off and had to work.

We also decided to take advantage of Lexie still being 2, so we took the kids to see the new Winnie the Pooh movie at the theater. I'm pretty sure that's the last time we'll be doing that for a while. It's a good thing the movie was just over an hour because Hoyt was done about 10 minutes before the movie got over. Lexie loved it and said "Pooh Bear was HUGE". I thought the movie was sub-par and not near as good as the original. We got a picture of Lexie and her Pooh Bear by the big sign in the lobby.

Lexie, Pooh Bear, Hoyt, and Bryan.

Overall we had a crazy month. We were supposed to go north to a wedding reception for my friend Cindy and do some other fun things, but the kids had fevers for a few days so Bryan went up alone and worked in his office since we had already paid for a hotel. We still love being back in our own house and have had such a fun summer!

14 Months & Running

My little guy is already 14 months old! Around my birthday, he finally started to act like he was going to walk by taking a few steps on his own. About 2 week later, he really took off. These pictures and videos were taken the day he turned 14 months. I forgot to post his stats at his 1 year well check. Because of the move, we didn't get him to the Dr. until a few days before he was 13 months. Here they are:

Weight: 23 lbs 8 oz (54%)

Height: 31 inches (77%)

Head: 18.25 inches (43%)

Such a handsome little dude!

Every time I tried to get a video he struggled. He is just running everywhere now! Because he started walking so late, when he decided he would rather walk than crawl he could walk clear across the house.

Hoyt was being so silly with this pretend mushroom from the play food. He actually plays more with Lexie's kitchen and toys than her.

I just can't believe how fast my baby boy is growing up! He is easy going and not in a hurry to do things. He's been slower at everything than Lexie was, but just moves at his own pace enjoying life and having fun. He brightens my day with his hugs and is such a cuddly guy who likes to smile and laugh. He is a little OCD at certain things like he has to close any door that is open. He will sit and open/close things for hours. He also loves to climb anything and everything. He hasn't shown any interest in talking at all, but he loves to sing and can sing most of the ABC song and parts of many other songs as well.

We love our little Hoyt boy!

Independence Day Weekend

My family tending for my birthday date worked out perfect because we were already heading over to spend the weekend for the Independence Day celebrations. Saturday we went swimming with the kids and had a great time, but I forgot my camera so I didn't get pictures. Later that day we decided to go to the playground. I knew it was hot that day, but it was in the high 90s and when we got to the park it just seemed way too hot to want to be out very long.

Resting in the shade.

Even with the heat, Lexie had to try out every slide.

And the girls had to swing too...

Sunday we just went to church then had dinner in Kanab with family.

Monday was the 4th. We got up and Bryan made waffles with my new waffle iron, then we all went to the parade. Here is our little family all decked out in our patriotic gear.

Hanging with the family....

This picture shows the entire parade in one shot...pretty short one.

My sister was in charge of the games at the park so she enlisted the help of my entire family to run everything. Luckily my parents had 9 kids and 6 of us, plus Bryan and my Dad went to the park and helped the kids play games until we were out of prizes. Nate was helping with the slip'n slide and Lexie had such a great time!

After we were done at the park we headed to Kanab to have an awesome Dutch oven dinner and watch fireworks with all the extended family. It's a yearly tradition and my aunt and uncle own a house right across from the city park so their lawn has the best view of the fireworks in town.

We went over to the park during the entertainment before the fireworks and Lexie played with Ta'Kara in the splash pad. Lexie wasn't sure about getting wet, but after some encouragement she finally got wet and had a great time. Hoyt wasn't as happy to be strapped into his wagon, but he did great for the most part.

After getting dried off and into a change of clothes, Lexie HAD to go down the slides again and again. If kids weren't going down fast enough she would just get ahead of them and go. I do not understand where she gets her energy from, but she had fun!

After a long, hot day it was finally time for the fireworks. I was worried Hoyt would freak out and hate them because of the noise, but he seemed to do fine. Lexie liked the pretty colors, but as you can see in this picture she was super tired by this time.

Pretty...

I love the fireworks in Kanab, just like in Cedar because of the loud echo from the mountains. You just don't get that everywhere and the show was really great this year. Family, Food, Fun and Fireworks...the perfect 4th of July!!!