Five Years and Goin' STRONG!

We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary last weekend. This adventure has been wonderful. I couldn't have asked for a more devoted, sensitive, ambitious, loving, kind, dedicated, hard working, spiritual, thoughtful, and just plan AMAZING husband! And I know how cliche it is, but I honestly love him so much more today than at the beginning of our road together. I LOVE our life together!

This is us on our 5th anniversary date...nice nasal shot. Oh well, it's the only one we got documenting our celebration.

Cade the Cutie

I thought I'd better redeem Cade's cuteness after the "Little Boy Curse". He is just plan adorable! This video allows all to see that:)

Daddy's Little Girl

Shane made this great slideshow for Brinly's birthday next month. He made a condensed version to share with everyone. It fills me with joy to watch my little girl grow up. I often think of the talk Elder Russel M. Ballard gave in the last General Conference that was directed to young mothers. He explained that we have our children for only fleeting percentage of their lives. I need to cherish every moment with my children, no matter how bad the day ends! I'm so glad to have Brinly in our lives.

The Little Boy CURSE...

Okay, so Jay’s “little boy” curse is coming to pass! I’ll explain…my wonderful Father-in-law, Jay, has always thought we’ve had it too easy with our little Brinly and Cade, thus far---they have been too easy, so he says! Well, he has expressed that to us a few times, and now it is becoming evident that his curse is coming to pass. Yesterday, Jay called to say hello. After our conversation, I hung up the phone, went about my business…soon to hear a big THUD in the kitchen. I come running down to see what was going on. No blood, no crying…just Cade saying “Uh-oh” in is very cute little toddler way, while standing in front of the open dishwasher that is full of water and an UN-potted plant! Not just any plant, one of Shane’s bonsai trees---which has gravel for dirt!! Apparently, Cade had had the dishwasher on and running prior to opening it and placing the contents of the plant into it! AHHHH!!! I literally screamed. Here my---not even mine, my landlord’s---dishwasher is full of gravel, down into the filter and who-knows-how deep- with a good three inches of now murky, muddy water. I start scooping out the rocks and begin to salvage the remnants of the plant (which actually survived the experience). I have never known a dishwasher so intimately. After about 45 minutes of de-rocking the bottom of the dishwasher and taking apart the filter, I realize Cade is now emptying the garbage across the kitchen floor. Oh man, I was really loosing it at that point…I mean, no patience was left in me. Then I hear Brinly crying upstairs…so I decide I probably should check on her and surrender my handy-woman attempts for the moment. I go upstairs to learn she locked herself in the bathroom—not with the lock on the door, but the bathroom rug was so bunched up that she nor I could open the door (it was stuck under the door, acting as a door stopper). After a few moments of coaxing, she finally got it out and obtained her freedom…and then I saw that my almost 4 year old daughter had unraveled the roll of toilet paper across the bathroom, and decorated it in a crepe paper fashion. LOVELY.
Anyway, Shane later came home and worked on cleaning the remainder of the dishwasher for several hours. CRAZY day. I went and bought a child-proof lock for the dishwasher. It worked well the remainder of yesterday and most of today, until Cade BROKE IT. Yeah…his invincibility is shining through. If anyone has any suggestions for a garbage that is childproof and a dishwasher lock, I’d be more than thrilled to be let in on the secrets!
So, Jay, I have to say THANK YOU! Your dream of my understanding of what little boys are like has been fulfilled. And, now I will plead---PLEASE UNDO YOUR CURSE! Ha, I’m sure I’ll look back on these days and laugh…but I haven’t quite reached that point yet. But I thought I would share.

And yes, our dishwasher is working just fine, thank Heavens!

Summer Lovin'

We have had a busy summer already. Shane is now out of school for the next couple of weeks. He'll start his last session if didactic courses and then he'll be starting rotations.

Anyway, I thought I'd share some pictures of our adventures thus far.

Shane insisted that we go camping at least once while he's on break (we compromised with one two nighter). We are going to a campsite that is next to a fishing lake--so he's teaching Cade early how to fish:) It'll be our first fishing attempt. We'll let you know how it goes.

We played hide and seek a few days ago, and this is how we found Brinly. It was SO cute, so innocent. I loved it!
Shane's attempt to put Cade to sleep while I was out-- I came home and found them like this--amazingly enough they both fit in the crib.

A blessed day! The day that my children fall asleep in the highchair is a day to remember! They finally can fall asleep with no problem where-ever AND whenever!! Great day, great day. Not to mention, he looks really adorable!



Happy Father's Day Daddy! Brinly and Cade made this card for Daddy:) We had just arrived home from our family reunion trip. We love you Daddy-o!

Brinly started a dance class for the summer. She needed a little motivation, so we found a cheep leotard and we made a tu-tu. It turned out pretty cute. She insisted that her good friend Zoe needed one as well. Pretty pink Princess:)

We attempted to go camping over Memorial Weekend, but it was WAY too cold at the altitude we attempted! We ended up leaving at midnight b/c the kids were too cold (me too:)).
I am aging--this is a TERRIBLE picture, but Shane chose the pictures for this post. He wants to show my glasses--my first pair EVER. My eyes just aren't keeping up with me these days.
Brinly drew this cute picture of our family. I thought it was pretty good:)

Day of the Menice...My Son

So, Cade has been a MENICE since we returned home. I don’t know if he is just bored or what, but yesterday was a record for our household. First, I found him upstairs in our bathroom, repeatedly flushing the toilet WITH all the contents of the garbage in the toilet—including the plastic Wal-Mart bag---thus water was everywhere. Then, I found him in the kitchen after he had emptied the dirty dishwasher into the garbage! THEN, when I was preparing dinner, I turn around to set the table and Cade is standing on the middle of the kitchen table. He also dumped his milk and water on the carpet, pulled every rag & hand towel across the house, there were a few other things, but I can’t remember them right now. He tried several times to repeat the toilet fiasco—fortunately, Shane and I were there to intercede! What a wild boy! It all came all of a sudden—hopefully it won’t continue!

Crazy Pace

Ok, I am totally due for an update, but the pace of life just hasn't allowed me to make a decent post. I will soon. We just got back from an adventurous road trip to and from a family reunion. Exciting events, I must say. I'll provide details later. We enjoyed fevers, messy messy diapers and carseats, fussy out-of-routine children, husbandless-for-a-week craziness, and many more not-so-fun-adventures...BUT we had a marvelous, memory-building vacation, full of highs! It really was a fun time with all of my sisters, their families, my parents, and both paternal and maternal extended families. We returned Sunday and are beginning to recreate a blessed routine!

Update

Brinly is doing MUCH better. She did have to endure a very traumatic test yesterday, the VCUG. Not fun, and she has been afraid to potty ever since, unfortunately...which means a few accidents. It is getting better though. And even better is all of her results came back normal--no abnormalities that are permanent!

They did find pseudomonas superficially, which could be the culprit of all her problems b/c it is a very difficult bacteria to get rid of! So, I'm hoping that this last round of antibiotics will cure it. We are praying for that anyway! Thanks for your prayers!

This photo was taken after the test yesterday and many tries to potty. She was worn out emotionally and physically, but finally zonked. Cute girl!