Father's Day 2012

Saturday night Aaron wanted to drive reeeeally far up American Fork, Canyon to have a cook out in the middle of nowhere. It took us an hour to get to our destination...and involved 4 wheel drive. Also involved a wife getting carsick. But all for the love of a Father on his big weekend!

The spot

The view out our window on the way up. Gorgeous, eh?

We weren't allowed to make a fire up that high on the mountain, but our handy camping stove did the trick and we had some great burgers.

Here's the boys...

And then here's the girl. Hiding out in the car.

Can't say I don't blame her. The beautiful "spot" up above was COVERED in humongous (I'm not exaggerating here) red fire ants. They were everywhere. It was not pretty. Neither were the huge flies and bees that swarmed as soon as we brought the grub out. Ya, not exactly the cookout we were envisioning....

But we did manage to scarf down our food, clean up so the bugs might go away, and we walked around a bit and did a bit of exploring.

We figured the only way to guarantee fire ants weren't crawling up us was to KEEP MOVING!

All in all, the night was kind of a bust. But we laughed about it later and made a memory...so who can complain? Oh, and I drove home down the mountain this leg. No carsickness for me when I'm boss! Lesson learned.


Sunday morning began with the traditional breakfast in bed. Spencer insisted on a breakfast burrito with jalapenos.

Dad loved his over sized card this year. Leda insisted on it. One funny thing I want to remember: I asked the kids to write something special for Dad. Told them they'd have lots of room to write & draw pictures. Chase was done in about 15 seconds. Spencer even shorter. Leda however, was there for about 20 minutes. Oh the difference between boys & girls!

Inside the card:

One last hug before getting ready for church. I made Aaron wear the Father's Day shirt we made him back before Chase was even a part of the family.

After church photo op

Spencer age 9, Leda age 7, Chase age 5

And I love this picture, truly. But I joke with Aaron that he looks bald. He shaves his head every 8 weeks or so cause he has SO much hair...but his blond really shows through when it's butched. Hence the shiny head. Silly husband.

We had a nice visit with my parents best friends, the Smiths here for a few hours from California.

Then Aaron got to do one of his favorite things in the world: watch golf

Only by "watch" I mean "fell asleep" (which he hardly EVER does). Happy Father's Day to him!

Grandpa loved the tie we gave him!

Later on the rest of the family came over for dessert. And talked to Aaron's Dad in Montana. I was thinking about something during Father's Day. I am blessed to have felt unconditional love from some pretty exceptional men in my life. My Grandpa's made me feel I was their favorite (even though clearly they loved all their grand kids), my Father has ALWAYS been there for me and lets me know often how proud he is of me, I have the best in-laws in the world with a Father in law who is a hoot and a half....who raised an incredible son who loves me and our family. What more could a girl want? I'm so blessed. And so grateful my kids have Aaron for their father. I knew I was marrying a good man....but an added bonus was how easy it was for him to be a good Father. Happy Father's Day indeed!

Friday Night

This past Friday night, Leda & Spencer (& cousin Carter) were invited to a sleepover at Uncle Robs & Aunt Bs. If you do the math, Chase was left over. It was a little much to have four kiddos over and we understood. So Aaron & I got a special night out with Chase and had a great time!

Dinner at Kohinoor. AMAZING Indian Food. Can I just say that I love that my kids like any and all foods? Chase inhaled his dinner.

I asked him to take a pic with me, and he pulled the "thumbs up" out at the last minute. He must have been having a good time!

Then we came home, popped popcorn and watched Nanny McPhee.

Theeeeen came the phone call from Uncle Rob that they thought Harvey (their puppy) had broken his leg (again) and I needed to hustle on over there ASAP as they went to the vet with Harv. Ended up he only broke his toe (thank goodness)....but needless to say, the sleepover was cancelled and we had three VERY upset kiddos. So before leaving the house, I insisted that they think of something nice to do for Rob & Blythe since obviously they weren't having the best night themselves. So they came up with wanting to leave a note for them on their board in the kitchen. Thoughtful and sweet kids!

What an adventurous Friday night!

T-ball happy moment

I had a little happy moment tonight at 

Chase's T-ball game when I realized this:

Happiness is when your most stubborn and "independent" child, turns to look back at you at every base...just to make sure you're watching him. 

And it reminded me that although he acts so big and tough, he still needs me.  (duh, of course he needs me. But ever mom knows what I speak about when it's nice to be reminded from time to time)

And boy does it feel good to be needed!

Good day

You know you're having a good day when your five year old son swims up and offers to give you a foot rub poolside...

wordless wednesday

The week of June 6, 2012 (and some randoms from earlier)

A trip down memory lane...

Last weekend we had the opportunity to take a little trip down memory lane....literally.

A two-night, three-day trip back to Logan, Utah. Where Aaron and I met 14 (gulp) years ago. FOURTEEN! And thank you to Grandparents who so lovingly watched our kids (and dog) so we could go!

It was pouring rain when we first arrived on Saturday. Our first stop was up to walk around campus. Where we attempted to get some pictures of ourselves.

Aaron's eyes shut

 and Marcy's eyes shut. A for effort though!

Then we drove through town. Stopped at Kinko's where I worked for three years full time through college.

And our apartment where we first met. It was too rainy to get out...so a shot from the car will have to do!

Bottom left is my apartment. Upper right was Aaron's.

I hardly remember living without Aaron. It was a little strange to be back at a place where we lived our lives separately---since these memories are more and more distant as the years move forward.  And I was thinking back to how I felt impressed to move into Aaron's apartment complex and ward. What a blessing! We don't have a perfect marriage, but honestly being married to Aaron IS fairly easy. And fun. And during this trip, I recalled how I received the confirmation in this little apartment that I should marry this good man. How grateful I am for that answer!

I met Aaron one summer after a very difficult break up. And had asked in prayer for help. Help to move forward from a relationship with a man that was not right for me. And so I moved to Glenwood apartments with a new job and a new outlook. And I began dating. A lot. Never in my life had I dated so much! I met Aaron about the first week in my new ward, and was determined NOT to get serious with someone else so fast. So I dated all summer long (Aaron, among other guys) and after four months and one final date with a good guy named Dustin, I came home to this apartment, called Aaron (who was upstairs and had watched me leave on said date with Dustin) and said, "So, I'm ready to not date anyone else...if you'll have me." His reply? To hang up, knock on my door, give me a big hug and we moved forward with our exclusive relationship over a bowl of Cincinnati Chili. Done and done! And here we are happy fourteen years later. So Glenwood,and this apartment where I spent my last days single, will always be special to us!

We hit Indian food that night. Um, the BEST Indian food we've EVER had. And funny that it was a little restaurant attached to a gas station around the corner from our old apartment! Haha! We'd decided that it was probably for the best that this little place didn't exist back in the day. I doubt we would have ever cooked for ourselves.

Seriously? Attached to a gas station? But SOOO good anyway!

Our first stay was at a 100 year old place called The Riter Mansion. A cute little B&B where we stayed in the guest room.

We loved the flooring in the bathroom

The grounds outside were gorgeous

The weekend continued with shopping, eating, meeting up with my old roommate Steph...

...more shopping and THREE movies! We hit the good old cinefour first. This place was built the year before we moved. It was the first cheap movie theater in Logan and brought back such good memories for us since our first year married we were poor of course!

Then we visited our first married apartment where we lived for one full year and then moved from there to San Clemente, CA. it looked exactly the same!

Our second night we stayed at a local motel. Nothing fancy, but nice, and we got to sleep in and that's always a plus!

Then we made our way to one last walk around campus where it stopped raining a bit and we could get some good photos of Old Main.

I'm grateful for such good memories of beautiful Logan, Utah. And that we were able to go back for the first time in 14 years and really explore our old stomping grounds together! LOVE Logan, Utah and definitely LOVE this husband of mine.