Five glorious years!

Last Thursday, May 12th, was our 5th wedding anniversary. I have been bummed lately thinking about the fact that I would probably never find our wedding pictures. You see, the photographer who did our professional pictures used old-fashioned film... and I'm pretty sure that film got destroyed by the heat while sitting in a box that was never supposed to be in the garage. Being in the Young Women organization of our ward, many opportunities have presented themselves to bring my wedding pictures to show the girls. Every time, I feel sad! I want to show "my" girls the pictures of my Temple wedding... especially since there is almost no other decision that influences your life more profoundly than how you marry!

So, on our anniversary morning as Jason drove off for work, an idea popped in my head... what if the photos my dear friend Julie took at our wedding reception were on my old laptop from college? Pictures from the reception are better than no pictures at all! A glimmer of hope sparked in me and I ran to open the old computer, praying that it would turn on. Fortunately it had been stored with its power cord. My glee quickly turned to panic when I realized that my computer had been password protected, and I had NO IDEA what the password was. I never even remembered having a password and figured that was something that had come about in the months that Jason attempted to rescue my ailing computer long ago. A quick call to the man of the hour revealed that no one on planet earth knew the password.

Dang it!

I tried every variation of every password I remember having ever in my life...

nothing. UGH! I could feel the anticipation mounting as I glared at that password protected screen, searching the recesses of my mind to no avail!

For some reason, all other responsibilities fled my mind and all I could think of was getting in that dang computer. It seemed to me the most important task in the world.

And then at last... some 45 minutes later, a word popped into my head: cleo. I had practically forgotten all about Cleo, my cat. That was the password! The second my desktop appeared, there it was! The file entitled WEDDING PICS lay right before my eyes! As I clicked it open, a glorious realization hit. Not only had Julie taken pictures at our reception, but because she wanted to learn some picture taking skills from a professional, she had followed our photographer around the Temple taking pictures of everything earlier in the day as well! THANK YOU JULIE!!!!!!! (It should be noted that Julie was friends with the professional photographer, Karen, who happily agreed to let Julie follow her around and learn from her)

So although the lighting isn't always perfect, I am just thrilled to have wedding pictures in my very own possession! This discovery pretty much made my day... and I just wanted to share. Unfortunately, blogger was down the ENTIRE day on Thursday. Better late than never, though. These are just a few pictures of me and my handsome groom just 5 years ago. Weird how those 5 years seem kind of like a lifetime all on their own!

The Reception... as you can see, I was more than a little embarrassed by the whole garter belt thing!So glad I married the right guy at the right time in the right place!

Trip to Salt Lake, Part One

The last Thursday in April, we took off for Utah. The kids were SOOOOO excited!! All morning Sophie kept saying "me ready, go Utah NOW!" Weston also sounded like a broken record. When we pulled into St. George for a pottie break he asked if we were there yet. The kids were anxious, because they knew they would get to see some very special people who they love! The first people we got to see were the Olsens, our dear friends who we miss so much. They were gracious enough to let us stay with them while in the great state of Utah
(Jason would vehemently disagree on the use of the word great in that sentence... he has a SERIOUS mental allergy to the state).
The first evening we were there, Emma (age 5), was reading with her mom when Sophie just jumped on in! Emma is such a sweetheart - like her mom, Stephanie (one of my most favorite people on the planet) And Sophie felt right at home...

The kids had an absolute BLAST playing together. Weston had such a great time playing with Emma and Hope that he told me they were his new best friends!Here is Austin (almost 2) and Hope (4):and Weston, who is Spiderman wherever he goes (thanks to Austin for letting him "borrow" that mask all weekend)! Sophie and HopeIt was wonderful to see the Olsen kids... they are a joy to be around. Friday morning as we were getting ready for the day, Weston kept beckoning Hope to come play with him. Hope declined his invitation several times because she needed to "help" me do my hair! Cute. Weston did get plenty of attention from Emma and Hope though. I think he may have escaped with more than a few kisses from them (on his cheeks of course)! So Friday we arranged to meet Mike, Carrie, and Lily at Cabela's near Thanksgiving Point. If you do not know what Cabela's is, you are not alone. I had no idea! Turns out it is almost exactly like the Bass Pro Shop. It provided a huge indoor place to visit and some fun things for the kidlets to see too. We would have preferred to have gone somewhere out-doors, but it snowed on and off all day and was downright blustery... at the end of April!

It was wonderful to see my brother. I was just thrilled that we were able to get together. Sophie and Lily are only 3 months apart in age, so it was really fun to see them interact. We hadn't seen Mike and Carrie for 8 months (since September). I did my best to get some great pictures, but I was working with some antsy kids. :) Here's Lily, posing beautifully for the camera:I had to get at least one picture with me in it - to prove that I was actually there! Sophie looks kind of angry in this shot...maybe because she was about to forever lose MY favorite hairbow! Observing the fish was one of the kids favorite things (they also liked feeding them).Sophie and Lily both had a little obsession with the stroller! They took turns pushing each other...And sometimes they both pushed it together (thank you Carrie for guiding the stroller pushing activities)!Weston finally got in for a free ride at the end! After exploring the whole store (including the fish tanks, animal displays, gun museum, and various other attractions), we finally went to their furniture section and sat down on a nice couch set to visit until the kids went bonkers...which didn't take too terribly long.We also ate while we were there. While the company was superb, I probably wouln't recommend the food. :)I look forward to these little girls getting to know each other better as they grow up! I'm so happy Weston and Sophie got to see their (one and only) cousin. I really wish we lived closer to Mike and Carrie, but I sure am happy we were able to get together last weekend!!

Easter Morning

Weston told me that Easter Sunday was a good day... which is really saying something for a boy that doesn't like Sundays (something I am confident he will grow out of in time)! So this is how it began...Searching for and finding their baskets...In their Easter baskets, the kids each got a book or two, some sidewalk chalk, a new box of crayons, gum and tic tacs (which Sophie managed to consume entirely at church that day). Weston also got a couple of cool spider man cups while Sophie discovered some little rubber duckies for the tub.Time to get dressed for church...Weston LOVES this pink shirt, which is hillarious because he despises having to wear nice shirts for church. The second we walk in the door, he is usually ripping his nice clothes off. Now that he has this pink shirt, he wants to wear it every day!Little princess!I love it when she grins so big that she squints her eyes.