8 Years Together

I felt like there were a few things I didn't give enough attention to in my Las Vegas post so just a couple additions:


Adjacent to the Monet Exhibit was a gallery by a photographer named Jeff Mitchum's.  While Aaron appreciated Monet he really loved this artwork.  It makes sense it's breathtaking.  We decided we'd have to combine Monet with Mitchum in our space so we could both have something we truly love to look at in our home.

As for phantom I grossly under played how fantastic it was!  It was spectacular!  It was like watching the movie but live which just makes it that much more amazing. Aaron saw it on Broadway once and said this was much better in Vegas.  The theater itself was awesome!

We were home just long enough to saturate our children in love and attention before we dropped them off at my Mom's and headed to Park City for 3 days away to celebrate our anniversary.  We privately rented a Condo from an Owner at Westgates Canyons Resort.  Having access to a kitchen saved us a lot of money and we had fun cooking together.  We planned to do the zip line, go for a hike, run on the great trails in that area, just be together and have fun.

Before we left we took the kids to Tucano's Brazilian Grill for lunch.  It's one of Porter's favorite places to eat.  He also had to ride the escalator several times and it was just so sweet.



I made this little game in a jar that was filled with random questions we could test each other's knowledge with.  We knew the exact same information about each other which meant there wasn't a winner.  The questions we couldn't answer about each other made for some good conversation.  

 

I ALWAYS come up with an excuse to not eat Thai food: "I'm pregnant and that smells terrible, I'm nursing it will upset the baby, The kids aren't going to eat that."  Well none of those worked on this trip so I wo-manned up and agreed to try it.  It was good and I can see why people like it.  I think it will take me a little while to acquire the taste, but I think I will.  

 Once we got our grocery shopping done, our food put away in the condo and I got a chance to relax it became painfully obvious to me that I was sick.  I ended up in the slowest clinic of all time (the staff kept sneaking off to watch the Olympics...DEAD SERIOUS!)  I found out that I had a Kidney infection and that was just sad news all around.  I was so ticked off at myself for not catching the infection before it reached my kidneys and I was in a lot of pain.  I'm fuming, just thinking about messing up our plans.  

There were a few positives to the situation however the biggest one being a compassionate and caring husband who didn't mind.  He just wanted to spend time with me and took very good care of me.  While I sat in the clinic for hours I kept trying to get him to go on a hike, but he refused to leave me.  I would have felt a little less guilty if he had gotten to do some of the things we had planned but it's also really nice to know you're loved like that.  The second perk was being able to nap and sleep without interruption.  It was a much easier going weekend then we planned, we still make the most of it though. 

 

We wanted to try a new dessert recipe together so we decided to try cheese cake, only to find we had to do it without an electric mixer.  It took hours to prepare, but opening ceremonies were on so we didn't mind.  Licking the bowl was so yummy. 

I forgot to pack a brush and with hair this long I really needed to do something to make it workable so I used what I had on hand.  A girls got to do, what a girls got to do. Aaron teased me about being Ariel using her dingle-hopper.  He was very assumed.  He bought me a brush later that afternoon. 

I was also surprised with this beauty after an evening swim in the relaxation pool...which was so nice.  We don't do surprises very often so 2 huge surprises in one week was a lot.  I was completely shocked he got me an Ipad.  It's something we've talked about doing for 2 years now, but we've never agreed that it was the right thing to do.  I was so excited when I opened it.  I love it and even more so the Kids LOVE it!  

 

We had a little time to kill before dinner on our last night and decided to go explore the Olympic park.  Where we got to watch skiers practice Aerial Skiing off the ramps and into the pool.  It was so impressive and we were lucky to catch them practising.

We had dinner at Loco Lizard and it was scrumdiddlyumptious!  It was also a very enjoyable patio dinning experience. 

They get major props for the bucket of chips instead of just a little bowl.

This is our first attempt at cheese cake... go ahead laugh.  We sure did!  It's so dang ugly!

But look at the middle.  We did a little trimming off the top and tada!

Tasty!  We'll keep working on this skill to see what we can do about our cheese cake beautiful .

Not pictured: 

We saw Chicago preformed by the local Egyptian Theater.  It was good, but oh so much racier then I remembered.  I was a bit uncomfortable through the whole thing. 

Once we got home we continued watching the Olympics and our lives are just getting back to normal now that the games are officially over. 

That pile of luggage right there is the worst part of coming home.  My mommy is awesome though and sent the kids home with only clean clothes, which was a huge help.

After only being home 4 days in 2 weeks I was ready to spend time with my little darling children!  Amazing what taking a little break from them did to renew my energy though.

I felt so spoiled getting so much time with my handsome husband.  It was so great to just be best friends.  We share lots of responsibilities in our marriage and just having a little time to just be us was really nice. 

8 years in a strong and happy marriage :) and I'm looking forward to many more with the one I love!

Be Better, Not Perfect

I had a hard working, busy day at home yesterday with 2 kids fighting the sniffles.  I didn't feel like that though.  I felt like I was dropping the ball in every area of my life and it ended in tears for me.  This morning I'm starting with some strong reminders of where I can find the peace and strength I need to do my best, forgive my shortcomings and have faith that Christ will make up the difference.  I have faith in my Savior Jesus Christ but where Satan gets me the easiest is in my opinion of myself. 

And when I compare myself to others believing that their children never fight, their homes are spotless, they know everything about educational therapy for their child with down syndrome and do therapy like ALL the time, and they know exactly how much money is in every budget every single day, their laundry doesn't pill up, their legs are shaved and they got a shower this morning. I start to wonder what's wrong with me. I have to say to myself, "Even if others can do all of those things...What does that have to do with you? Nothing!" My path, my life, my children, my responsibilities are uniquely mine. The best piece of advice I could give myself is "Try to look at yourself through the loving eyes of your Heavenly Father." Still a little discouraged this morning I said my prayers and had an overwhelming feeling that my family members, particularly my Grandma Lynda, were praying for me because they have faith in me. Thanks for the prayers guys! Let me wrap it up with another song, because music is such a strength to me.

Aaron Turned 30

July 24th Aaron turned 30 and to him it was, "The surrendering of his youth".  I noticed some very negative thinking about this event in his life and I thought about the fact that I've had those moments that seem a little silly to others but on a personal level they shook me so I decided to help him remember he has many more youthful years ahead of him.  I want to add that one of the contributing factors to this feeling for him has been his knee injury.  If his body were 20 it's very likely he wouldn't be having trouble, but ironically we didn't have time for marathon training in our 20s.  I'm pleased to share that for the last 3 weeks Aaron has completed double digit runs without any knee pain. He's not going for any PRs this summer, but he will likely be running his marathons without a problem in a few weeks.

For a month I planned, lied, deceived and was sneaky in an attempt to surprise Aaron with a trip to Las Vegas on his birthday.  The trickiest part for me was leaving less than 48 hours after getting home from girls camp.  As I tried to secretly pack and keep up the regular day-to-day I had to decide between being inexplicably rude to Aaron or surprising him a little earlier than I planned.  I decided that the latter was a the better choice.

In a card that had a joke about ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, LIZARD, SPOCK (a game we play often) he found this
We're leaving for here tomorrow

 

 and seeing this: 

 His reaction:

 

 The surprise stressed Aaron out a bit... not really, he was just sincerely surprised.  After he was filled in he was more than happy to work with me to get everything prepared for the trip.

 A 7 hour road trip without the kids was still long but so nice.  We kept the conversation light and just joked around the whole time.  At one point I said to Aaron, "Should we be taking advantage of this time to talk about serious things?" our decision... NOPE!

 We took a lunch break at Dairy Queen in St. George.  Aaron's first job was working at this restaurant.

 Creepy confession:  I was just staring and admiring this super cute older couple who were having lunch the same time as us.  I watched them and thought, "That's going to be us one day.  Awesome!"  While I don't want to rush through anything in our marriage it will be pretty fun to retire with Aaron. 

Back on the road. 

 

We checked in a started looking for a restaurant Bellagio-lake-side for dinner.

 We stepped out for just a few minutes and came back with our room set up for a more cozy enviroment...nice!

 Dinner before the show at a scrumptious Italian restaurant. 

 Dancing fountains while we waited for our food.

 Aaron's birthday truffles

 After dinner we headed down the strip to the show.

 We got this picture before being scolded because they charge for pictures that have to be taken by a professional... haha we win!  If you look close you can see the massive chandelier behind us.

The one thing I just couldn't pass up was the Monet exhibit.  Aaron was a great sport and agreed to go with me.  Once we got in he was listening to every segment about each piece.  When I told him we could rush he told me, "When I do something I do it."  I love this man, he ended up enjoying it.  Maybe I'll have a new art gallery buddy for life.  I discovered a favorite Monet painting I'll need a print of in our home one day.  

 Largest Chocolate Fountain in the World... I just want to stand in there!

 

Gardens at the Bellagio. The frame I'm in from of is a plant representation of one of Monet's pieces...amazing! 

 Mesmerising

 We had a nice swim in this pool :)  The hotel had lots of little pools so we had it to ourselves for an hour. 

 Yes one of the most important things in my mind for a good vacation is the food!  Pizza Factory on the way back in St. George.

 We were in a storm for an hour of the trip, but it was worth it for the double bow rainbow! 

We had an amazing time, but coming home was great as well! 

 Aaron's sister Karli made this little 30th celebration possible.  She also captured the moment I haven't been able to: an unprompted hug from our children.  So grateful for loving family who care for our children in our absence.

Thanks for a great time Aaron ;) 

Girls Camp 2012

 I got to go to girls camp for 4 days in Star Valley, WY.  I was with some of the most incredible women and perfect young women.  It was an incredible and fun experience.  I got to teach and share in those amazing spiritual experiences like only the youth of the church can facilitate.  Who makes a 4 hour car ride bearable?  These cute girls!  And Teresa :)

 One of my responsibilities for camp was crafts so I learned how to make paracord survival bracelets.  They we're very popular with the girls and way fun to make. 

 The rest of the photos are from a little hike we did.  This area is beautiful and I'm looking forward to taking our little family back to do some camping with friends (if we can find the time, crazy busy over here).

 One annoying thing about the car ride: singing in the walkie talkies...yeah.

When I got home exhausted and started working on the mountain of laundry all I could think was... yes my callings in life are a lot of work, but I am so glad it's MY work!  I like it that way!  

*It should be noted that with my new washer and dryer I was able to do all of that laundry completely in ONE DAY!!!  I didn't know such a thing was possible.  I still think it's amazing every time I do it.  LOVE!*