Spring Break!!!!

I am so excited that I get a week off. It would be great if it were a paid week off but its not. However, that does not stop me from having, and enjoying, a FANTASTIC week off. In fact it started 2 days early thanks to a beautiful Spring Blizzard that caused school to be cancelled last Thursday and Friday. So I got an extended Spring Break. So now I get to take you through my first three days of Spring Break!!!

DAY ONE: Monday 3/30

We woke up to more snow on the ground. Oh boy!!! We hung out in the morning and waited for the snow to stop. When it stopped we decided that it was the perfect opportunity to take Cayden sledding for the first time. So we bundled up and headed for my parents house. They live by a park with an AWESOME hill.

We only went down the hill a few times before Cayden decided he didn't like the snow flying up in his face. So we kept him at the bottom and just pulled him around on the sled. He quite enjoyed that. Then we let him walk around in the snow because that is one of his favorite things to do.

After we played in the snow for a while we decided it was time to go back inside because we were COLD. We went back to the house and hung out for a while. Then we took Matt to work and went home so Cayden could nap. Later that night Matt came to spend the night and he and Jared enjoyed staying up until 2:00am playing video games.

DAY TWO: Tuesday 3/31

Matt and I woke up early so we could go to the dentist. We want to make sure his teeth are perfect before he leaves for his mission (still hasn't received his call yet). Anyway, after the dentist we went home and got ready to go to Jared's school. He got an e-mail about a week ago saying he made the Distinguished Honors list (4.0 GPA) for the 2008 school year and would be recognized at the "ARTY" awards at his school. I am never amazed at how strange art students can be. I'm just glad Jared isn't a "typical" art student/artist. It was fun to go and support him and watch the smile on his face as he stood to be recognized. It was also fun to watch Cayden as he clapped for his Daddy. After checking out the student art show we headed home again. Once we were home Matt discovered a new game to play with Cayden.

Matt spent the night again and he and Jared were only up until 1:15 am playing video games. ;)

DAY THREE: 4/1

Yesterday I heard on the radio that there was a Texas Roadhouse in town that was giving away free lunch. So, having a lack in money I thought it would be nice to enjoy a free meal. We tracked down the restaurant and learned that the meal they were giving away was a BBQ pulled pork sandwich, fries, and applesauce. They were giving away lunch in exchange for a donation to the Children's Hospital. We got there around 1:15 and were seated right away. They came and took our drink orders and within minutes had our food at the table. The meal was DELICIOUS!!! They left an envelope on the table for us to leave our donation in. We left a small one because the Children's Hospital does such wonderful things and I felt the money would go to a good cause. We had fun hanging out and Cayden enjoyed the applesauce and enormous french fries.

Chris had just taken a bite when I decided to take a picture. ; )

That's it for now. More exciting adventures to come!!!! Have a great week!!!

~LOVE TO ALL~

Lemon Juice!

Saturday night we were having dinner with my dad. Cayden didn't want to eat but he wanted all of the condiments on his plate. One of those condiments was lemon juice, sometimes we put it on our broccoli. So I decided to let him have a taste to see what he thought of it.

Guess he didn't like it. I gave him a lifesaver after to try and help him get rid of the taste. I guess I won't be putting lemon juice on his veggies.

Doctors and Dances

This week we took Cayden tot the doctor for his 15 month check up. Going to the doctor is always quite the adventure because he hates sitting in the room forever waiting for the doctor(and so do we) so we do what we can to keep him entertained.

Here are his "stats"

Weight: 24 lbs (50th percentile)

Height: 31 1/2 in (75th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18 1/2 in (50th percentile)

The doctor said he was a perfect little boy and that she had no complaints. Then the awful nurse came in and Cayden knew exactly what she would do. He did not want to be put on the table again. He got 3 shots and was not happy about it. It was the worst he'd ever felt after getting shots. He was cranky the whole way home and had a fever by the time we got home. Not to mention a bruise on one leg and a red spot and knot on the other. But he is doing great now and we won't have to go back for a long time!

I headed to work after the doctor apt. and Jared and Cayden went to the park. They have so much fun together!!!

I just LOVE this picture

Last night our ward had an adult only activity. It was a 50's sock hop. We decided it might be fun to go so we got our costumes out and prepared for the event. It took me almost two hours to do my hair. (I think its time to invest in hot rollers and dump my curling iron)Jared tried to get me to let him wear his wig

I said no, so he did what he could with his own hair.

Ready to "Rock-N-Roll"

They had the youth (and their leaders) watch the kids. I was VERY nervous to leave Cayden, but he did just fine. So once we dropped him off in the primary room we went in for some dancing. We had so much fun!!! They had a member of the stake pres and his wife come to teach a simple swing dance. We learned that for a while and then just had fun dancing after they finished. Jared decided to participate in the Limbo and went too low and hurt his back. He is feeling a little better today though. Around 8:45 we went in and got Cayden to come dance with us. That is also when they gave out awards. Jared won the award for "Best Ivy Leaguer" whatever that means. But all in all we had an awesome night and we were so glad we went.

Jared with his "award" (Cayden was so tired)

Hope everyone had a great week!!

~LOVE TO ALL~

Ice Cream Cones, Hiding Places, and Play Dates!

On Friday we went on a double date +1 with my mom and dad. They treated us to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. Its a yummy salad restaurant. After you eat your salad you can go get all sorts of other things too. They have a soft serve ice cream machine and tiny cones. We decided to let Cayden enjoy his first ice cream cone. It took him a minute to realize what to do but once he figured it out he did pretty well.

This is what he does when he says "brrrr"

After dinner we went home and got Cayden ready for bed. We were in our room and when Jared left the room Cayden decided he needed to show me his new hiding place from Jared. He went and crawled into our closet and just sat there. When Jared came back and started calling for him he just sat there and giggled. Then when Jared left I called him and he came right out. But when he heard Jared come back he promptly hid again giggling the whole time. It was quite the funny evening.

On Saturday morning Cayden and Spencer had a play date. I was invited to a Mary Kay party and invited my mom and sister, Kimmy, to come with me. So Jared stayed with the boys. (He told me later he was a little nervous because he hadn't had both boys by himself before.) But he was still alive when we got back. The boys were happy and playing in Cayden's room enjoying each other's company. Cayden was really upset when Spencer left. But he was ok when we told him after his nap he could play with Spencer again. When he woke up we took him to my mom and dad's house so they could watch him while we went to the temple. So it was a full day of play!!

For us, things are as good as they can be. We are just putting our faith in the Lord and doing what He wants us to do. We know that He will provide as long as we do what he asks.

We hope everyone is doing well! ~LOVE TO ALL~

Birthday Wishes

I want to wish my best friend Megan a very Happy Birthday. I want you to know how special you are to me and how grateful I am for your friendship. We have done so much together over the years and I have loved every minute of it. So many memories....

After a night of dancing in 2000!

Our first EFY together...2005

One of my favorite pictures of Megan...I started a new surprise shots game with her ;)

The crawdad we found in the Cracker Barrel parking lot.

August 2004...Me, Megan, and her boyfriend Andy in my apartment in Orlando.

My visit to Florida...April 2005

Prepping for a dance...August 2005(by now she was used to my surprise shot game)

Rockin Roller Coaster August 2005

She was even at my wedding...February 2006

Then in August of 2006 she skipped work to go fishing with us!

In August of 2007 she came to my baby shower.

And in April of 2008 got to meet our little boy and treats him as her own nephew.

I hope you have had the best birthday ever because you deserve it. We love you so much!!!!

FANTASTIC WEEKEND!

Jared and I were fortunate enough to break away from our stressful life here in Denver and spend roughly 5 days in Utah. We left early Friday morning and arrived at his mom's house around 4pm. About 10 minutes after we arrived my sister in-law and her super cute kids arrived and the party began. We always have so much fun playing with them. We had a wonderful dinner and some killer peach cobbler for dessert(and I don't even like peaches very much). After more playing Jess and the kids headed out. Saturday morning we slept in as much as Cayden would let us. We headed into Toelle so I could hit up DI for more children's books. I have quite the collection now thanks to my trips to DI. After our DI run we went up to Jess and Sean's house. They fed us lunch and then took us to see their new house. What a trip that was! Their new house is beautiful. I am so excited for them. I can't wait to see it once they move in. After seeing the new house we went back to their current home and hung out for a while longer and enjoyed some Marie Calendar's pie. When we finally left we stopped in Bountiful to visit Jared's Grandma and then headed back home. It was a long day but it was a good one. Cayden and Tayler playing with balloons

Jared being the fun Uncle that he is

Sunday was a normal day. We went to church, came home and ate, sat and chatted a bit, scanned some pictures, and then put on a movie to finish out the evening. However, we were pleasantly surprised when Jess, Sean, and the kids came out to the house. It was so much fun hanging out with them. Monday rolled around and we had to get up early because we had reservations for the Draper Temple Open House. Going to the open house was such a wonderful experience. It is such a BEAUTIFUL temple(not that they all aren't beautiful). Anyway, when we finally got to the temple I was so excited to go inside. We walked through admiring the beauty of everything from light fixtures to stained glass windows, to the doors, to the carpets, it was all so awesome. As we were walking through Jared pointed to a picture of Christ and said "Cayden look, who is that?" Cayden looked up, pointed, and said "JE." I started to cry. It was such a comforting feeling to know that he still knows who Jesus is. We moved on through the ordinance rooms and then into the Celestial room. Cayden loved this room. It echoed really nicely! Yep, Cayden tested it out with his shrill scream. Then he started reaching to the ceiling as if he saw someone there that he wanted to hold him. The last room we went into was a sealing room. (FYI-The Draper Temple has the biggest sealing rooms out of all 129 temples) Sitting in the sealing room and telling Cayden that it was in a room just like that that Jared and I were sealed brought happy tears to my eyes. It was such a wonderful experience to stand in that room and look into the mirrors with my little boy in my arms and my wonderful husband at my side and know that we are going to be together forever. I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to go.

We woke up Tuesday morning and had breakfast with Jared's mom. Then we told her good bye as she headed out to work. So we gathered our things and headed home. Cayden was such a good little traveler. We only had to stop once because he was begging to get out. It was such a great trip and I was so glad that we were able to make it out. Its always nice to spend time with family and its really nice to spend time away from home even if it is only for a short time.

On the playground at Little America

Hope everyone has had a wonderful week!!

~LOVE TO ALL~

Anniversary Recap and more...

We had a WONDERFUL anniversary. I had to work during the day and while I was at work Jared was at home with my little brother creating my gift. So when I got home from work we exchanged gifts and then headed out to dinner. We had a nice dinner and greatly enjoyed not having Cayden with us. (Thanks mom and dad for watching him!) After dinner we went to the outdoor mall where they have an outdoor ice skating rink. So we went ice skating. It was SO much FUN. There were only 3 other people on the ice and once they left we had the entire ice rink to ourselves. Even though it was freezing it was the perfect evening.

Jared will try to tell you he posed for this picture.

All to ourselves!!!

We have had lots of fun things happening lately but I haven't had the energy to sit and blog about it. So, sorry. However, I will share with you one of Cayden's newest favorite things to do...

He LOVES to sit and play on the computer. Fisher-Price .com has cute little "games" for infants to play, all they have to do is push any key on the keyboard to make it work. I have a feeling he is going to take after Jared and enjoy working on the computer as well as play video games.

Some exciting news for my little brother Matt....he submitted his mission papers. He is excited but nervous. We are anxiously awaiting his call.

And to finish things up....this is our funniest picture of Cayden to date. We had to buy him new clothes because he has grown out of all of his pants and most of his shirts. However, he is so dang skinny that the pants the fit his length don't fit his waist. Its a losing battle.

Have a happy week!!! ~LOVE TO ALL~

Three Years

A little over three years ago we took these pictures...

Sent out announcements...
Drove to Utah...

Got a license...

Then three years ago today I was waking up in a hotel in American Fork and getting ready to go to the temple to be sealed to the man of my dreams. I remember getting into the elevator with my mom and dad. My hair was done, my makeup was done, I had my flip flops on, and my dad looked at me and said, "My little girl is not so little anymore". I cried and gave him a big hug. I was so excited to marry Jared and to be able to be with him forever. The day was perfect. So perfect in fact that I told Jared that I wanted to do it all over again. ; )

My love for Jared has grown so much in the past three years. I never knew love could be so amazing. I love being married to my best friend. I love all of the little things Jared does to make me feel loved. I am so thankful to have him and the love that we share.

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!!!! Here's to many many, many, many, more. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!

Valentine's Day

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day! We decided not to do gifts since our anniversary is so close. We woke up and had a nice breakfast. We had heart shaped cocoa pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, sausage, and juice.

Cayden enjoyed licking the whipped cream spoon. ;)

After breakfast Jared had to get ready for a meeting and I had to get ready to run Tim to his basketball tournament. When we met back up around 1:00 we babysat Spencer for Kimmy so she could go to class. After we were done babysitting we went to Vision Works so I could get new contacts. I had to wear my glasses for a week!!! Anyway, when we were done there we went home and enjoyed a heart shaped meatloaf dinner. Chris joined us for dinner since everyone else was gone. Then we sat and watched Hancock. Not a typical Valentine's Day but it was still a good one!

Love you all!!!

Temple Marriage

This past week and with our 3rd anniversary quickly approaching I have thought a lot about how thankful I am to have been sealed to my wonderful husband in the temple. As some of you know my sister and her husband haven't had the opportunity to be sealed yet. Unfortunately he is going to be out of the country for a while. All week I kept thinking how much easier the separation would be if they had been sealed. Then on Sunday I taught a lesson in Relief Society about Elijah and the restoration of the sealing keys. I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for sending Elijah so that we can be forever families and for making it easier for us to return to him. I am thankful for a loving husband who everyday shows me how much he loves me. And I am thankful that I can have a FOREVER family.