Snackin'

We got back from swimming one night and Aaron and I went to change, and Jaylen walked out of the room. After being quiet for awhile, we walked out to find him relaxing on the couch with a bag of frozen peaches he got out of the freezer by himself. He was laid back, just munching. He's getting to be such an independent cutie!

CANDY!!!!!!!!

Do you remember eating candy necklaces as a kid? I sure do, so I was super excited to see this one on a grocery shopping trip recently. Jaylen peed in the potty twice so he got to eat this one as a treat! He didn't know what to do at first, but very quickly went to town on it! Such a cutie. We love how he really loves and gets into things now days- can't wait for the 4th of July!

Rocking to Sleep

Love these two! They're just too cute together!

Father's Day 2010!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY AARON!

Father's day is a whole lot more fun now days, since we have Aaron to spoil and celebrate what a good daddy he is.

We ate some yummy french toast before heading off to church...

Jaylen kept singing, "Happy Birthday to Father's day!" He didn't quite get why we had a "cake" but it was sure entertaining.

After getting home from church we had Aaron's favorite meal- Chicken and Broccoli Crepes

Since Jaylen was so excited about the cake, we sang, "Happy Father's day to you" after the tune of Happy Birthday. Aaron let Jaylen blow out the candles. It was cute! Jaylen picked out a cute book called, "Just Like You," for Aaron that is sooo fitting for the two of them. Loved it..

Aaron is a SUPER DAD!

Aaron is the best Dad ever. He's never hesitated to help change diapers, feed a bottle, put to bed, and do any parenting type chore. He is a very supportive Daddy and loves to spend time playing and being with Jaylen. He makes time to be with Jaylen and make him feel special and loved. I couldn't have asked for a better father for our kidos! Aaron, you're awesome!


As I was crawling into bed, I saw Aaron was reading a memory book on his dad, so I decided to pull out my dad's personal history and try to read some. I haven't touched it since he died- too hard for me still. BUT, I read through the first 10 pages or so with tears in my eyes, but inspired to be a better person like he was. I have SO much to thank my dad for- his incredible work ethic, his contagious laugh and smile, his playfulness, his love for sports, his testimony and unwavering quest to have the spirit with him, and for always doing what he felt was best for the family. I love this man. As Jaylen grows up, it gets harder and harder for me to swallow that he's gone. But, I am determined that Jaylen will know his Grandpas and their lives will be shared with him.

I love and miss you Daddy.

TRX workout with Jaylen

I was doing my TRX workout after I got home from training and Jaylen was so cute. He kept saying, "My turn! My turn!" and tried to do whatever I was doing. It was funny seeing him trying to exercise..

Pike..


Deltoid Y


Power pull

Cute little boy!

Lobo League Volleyball

Ahhhhhhhhhh, I love sports. I get such a kick out of it. Our stake does a sports night- and also a competitive volleyball night every month or so. I really enjoy the competitive night- its coed and 5 straight hours of good volleyball.

The lady who organizes it (in the blue shirt) asked me to join the Lobo League during the summer. We played 2 games tonight and won them both! Its a fun, talented group of girls. I look forward to playing more games throughout the summer!

Here's some of the fun from tonight..



Serving..

Cutest cheerleaders ever...

Jaylen brought me out my water during breaks. So sweet!

Singing Nursery Songs

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Jaylen's stage right now? WHAT A CUTE, SWEET KID! His little personality is so fun, cute and adventurous. He loves singing songs, and we finally caught some of him singing tonight- just ignore the scary voice in the back ground and listen to our sweet boy singing the best he knows how...

I am a Child of God..


Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree...


Itsy Bitsy Spider



Funny Jaylen stories:

On the way home from work last week,
Jaylen- "Mom, where's Daddy?!"
Me- "He's at work sweetie."
Jaylen- "Well, GO GET HIM then!!"

Jaylen is getting good at counting to 15. Its really cute!

Aaron and I were resting on our bed, Jaylen comes in and grabs Aaron's keys, points out the scooter key, and walks out the room saying, "Bye, bye Daddy! Going to ride scooter!" We waited, and next thing we know he opens the front door, walks out and slams door- really going to go ride the scooter by himself. Silly boy- he's getting more and more independent!.... Wait, was he ever dependent?

Also to note- Jaylen ate his own whole hamburger tonight! What a big boy he's becoming..

6 years!

It's hard to believe its been 6 years, but at the same time it feels like we've been together forever and done so much!

*Married for time and all eternity in St. Louis temple- June 12, 2004
*Moved to Utah with 3 bags each on an airplane
*Lived in a Beehive home, taking care of old folks for a year
*Moved to Wymount while attending BYU
*I graduated from BYU
*Moved cross country to Virginia
*Got my first official full time job
*Aaron graduated from Southern Virginia University
* Had our baby boy, Jaylen
*Moved to Maryland for the summer
*Decided Aaron was to attend grad school
*Moved to New Mexico
*I got the job of my dreams
*Aaron got a position with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds
*Moved to a new apartment
*Aaron graduated from University of New Mexico
*Living the dream, looking for our more permanent home

This year was fun, because our anniversary was on the same day it was when we got married: Saturday. Aaron and I popped in our wedding CDs and reminisced on 6 years ago...





It's so amazing how much we thought we loved and needed each other then. I really didn't know how lucky I was, even though I thought I did. Our love and appreciation has grown so much since then. Aaron has, hands down, been the best thing that has ever happened to me. He has been so supportive, loving, patient, and just plain FUN! Married life has been such a fun adventure, thanks to my amazing best friend.

I loved spending our anniversary, just the 2 of us. We love Jaylen to pieces, but ultimately we agreed that we're each others #1 priority and want to make sure that throughout our experience raising children, we keep our relationship strong and keep each other #1. I love being in "the fox hole" with my sweetie!

"The shortest word in the world is 'I,' the sweetest word in the world is 'love' and the only one for me is 'you.'"

6th Anniversary Weekend!

Wow. We sure were spoiled this weekend! Steve and Ellie were so nice to take Jaylen for the weekend so we were able to spend the whole weekend, just the 2 of us! I dropped Jaylen off at Steve's office Friday afternoon and we took off to play 9 holes of golf at the Arroyo Del Oso golf course. It was BEAUTIFUL weather. After we finished up we had a yummy dinner at Sweet Tomatoes.



I realized I have NO golf swing and no patience when it comes to golf...




Saturday included some time at the pool, a little bit of work for both of us, and a hike up the La Luz trail. 8 miles to the top of the Sandia Crest- It was LONG, and we got to 4.6 miles 2+ hours later and decided to turn around. It was absolutely beautiful views and a lot of fun, but 4 hours later we were happy to be off the mountain and headed to food...







We had a yummy dinner at Texas Roadhouse and came home to wonderful, uninterrupted night's sleep. Man, we were so tired by the end of the day.

We got to sleep in this morning, went to church, and picked up Jaylen after church. We were so ready to get him back and really happy to see him. We sure missed him, but we had such a fun time together all weekend. Aaron is the best and I couldn't pick someone better to spend my life with!

Jaylen slept all through the night both nights at Steve and Ellie's. They said he didn't cry once, didn't get in to anything, and was really good. I couldn't believe it- He had 5 dogs at his disposal, a large back yard to roam, and 3 people ready to play at any moment. I can't believe they were willing to do this for us, and we really, really appreciated it. After we got home, I opened his suitcase to find a couple new outfits and new shoes for Jaylen. What a sweet family, and we're glad they're our friends!

For the love of food

When I was back in Kansas, my sister's husband, Jake, made us a tomato avocado sandwich and I was in heaven. So this has been my lunch for the past week. It is SOOOOOOOOO good! Just some mayonnaise, salt and pepper, tomatoes and an avocado on whole wheat buns. YUMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!

Playing around in Kansas

What a good time in Kansas. Here's some fun that happened the rest of the weekend.

Miranda is 13 and when I was in high school, she sat with me during church, came to my house for smoothies, sent me cute cards of us holding hands and such in college, framed my senior picture by her bed and I just love her to death. Why she loves me so much, I don't know, but I sure love her- she always has such a special place in my heart for her cuteness and unwavering love and support towards me.

Saturday morning I picked her up and we went to breakfast together. I wish Chipotle was open, but it was right across the street from Ihop, where we ate.

Love this girl! I keep thinking that as she gets older, I'll become boring to her, but she is still just as cute with me as she ever has been. I played 21 questions with her, and I asked her where she would go if she could go anywhere in the world. To that she replied, "To New Mexico to be with you." She melts my little heart.

Had to stop by the city sign of where I grew up for a picture-

The weekend involved kids, kids and more kids. Life is so fun with plenty of adorable nieces and nephews to play with. This hammock was quite the hit at my mom's house.

I laugh when I thought the only good thing about not bringing Jaylen with me was that I'd get to relax from taking care of kids. HAHAHA! Ya right! I had a niece or nephew crawling on my back every minute of the day. Definitely not restful, but fun and satisfying none the less.

Nieces and Nephews!


Jared's oldest, Kylee and Jessica's youngest, Kruse

Me and my twin niece. She is a spunky little thing- always trying to pester someone, just like I was growing up! Rach took us all to Backyard burger to grab some food- it was nice to have some great food together!

Oh, I love this girl...

Playing games out in my mom's yard

Addie

Love these girls!

When Rach and I flew in, we met Jessica at the plaza in Kansas City to eat at a favorite restaurant of Rach's, Houstons. It was awesome! It was a nice, upscale place that had excellent salads, juice, chicken fingers, red cabbage, and terrific hot fudge sundaes. Rach was so excited, it was entertaining. I loved being with sisters and enjoying each other.

Jared and I also spent a few hours over at Scott and Tamera's place Saturday (they moved to Emporia and need help fixing up their old place that needs LOTS of work). We painted, weeded and did whatever else they needed. It was super hot and humid, but was satisfying to help.

Also, had a fun Saturday night with Ellen Dokos, eating Chipotle! Yum. I love Ellen. She is like a sister to me. Everytime I see her its like no time has gone by- she is as sweet and cute as ever.

It was fun seeing old pictures at my mom's house- This one I love. Its our house in Spring Hill where I grew up. So many fun memories here..

On Sunday morning we made it up to Jake's house to see Jake and Jenn's family. They flew in from a dental trip from Honduras Sunday morning, so it was fun to see their pictures and videos of the fun they had. Jen is such a beautiful girl- it was so fun to see her gorgeous kids and see Jake's parents as well. They have such good family around that area. I'm excited for Jen and Jake- they are moving into their own home soon in Missouri.


Yes, Kansas was great fun. BUT, I was extremely homesick by the end, and couldn't wait to see my 2 boys. They are the best- When I got in the car, Jaylen kept begging to sit on my lap and give me hugs and kisses. It was adorable and painful that I couldn't hold him till we got home.

I feel very fortunate and blessed with the great friends and family I have. I really have been given much, and for that I'm grateful.