10 Years!

  July 24th was our 10 Year Wedding Anniversary!  For starters, here's a picture from our wedding day:

     We haven't changed a bit, huh?  It's been an awesome 10 years and we spent several days celebrating the occasion.
     On Tuesday evening (the 22nd) we drove to Raleigh and ate dinner at Chuy's. They specialize in several different types of Mexican-style food, including NEW Mexican.  Yes, they serve Hatch Green Chile so for New Mexicans living outside of the Land of Enchantment--finding a Chuy's means some pretty good food. Check out their website for more information and locations (http://www.chuys.com/). We were very impressed with the food and it was a great start to our anniversary celebrations.
     After dinner we headed to the Red Hat Amphitheater to see Sara Bareilles in concert. The venue was great. Emily and I both love Sara's music and we were pleased that her live show did NOT disappoint. It was an awesome concert!

Here's a pic from the show:

     After spending the night in Raleigh we got up Wednesday morning and went to the Raleigh LDS Temple. For those who are curious to know more about Temples you can check out some information at the following link:
https://www.lds.org/church/temples?lang=eng

     Emily and I were married in the Albuquerque Temple so it was only fitting that we spent part of our anniversary at our nearest temple for our anniversary.
     After leaving the temple we did a little bit of shopping at Charming Charlie, known by husbands as "Honey, I'll wait in the car and you can spend as much as you like as long as you don't make me go in there."  Being our anniversary I went along and was a pretty good sport.
     After leaving the Raleigh area we headed down to Wilmington for the rest of our trip. We arrived in time for a late lunch at the Shuckin' Shack (www.pleasureislandoysterbar.com/). It was quite possibly the best seafood we've ever eaten, but the service was pretty terrible.
     That evening we went on a sunset kayak tour where they fed us a dinner on the beach.  (Sorry guys, is this the point where I've started showing you up?  Or was that back at Charming Charlie?)

    Wednesday night we stayed at the Greystone Inn--a 100+ year old bed and breakfast in downtown Wilmington. It looks a little something like this:

and this:

     Thursday was beach day.  We took it easy that morning, ate a nice breakfast at the Greystone, then headed to Kure beach. It was great to spend a few hours there with just the two of us. It was our first time since having kids that we were able to be at the beach with just the two of us.
     Speaking of the kids--did I mention yet that my parents and brother Nick came down from Ohio to watch the boys for us during our trip? Thanks, guys!  I know this may be shocking for some people, but we really like our kids so our anniversary trip wouldn't be complete without spending some time with the boys as well so the cherry on top was my parents and Nick driving the boys down so we could spend some time in Wilmington together. And I guess it was ok spending some time with them too ;-) We went to the beach Wednesday afternoon, but it got a little windy so we headed over to the aquarium at Fort Fisher for a while.

After the aquarium we went to Chili's for dinner before crashing at the hotel.
     Friday morning the weather wasn't looking great so we stayed at the hotel and went swimming in their indoor pool before heading home around lunch time.

Here's to our next 10 years together!

Happy Birthday Isaac

Isaac had his 3rd Birthday on Wednesday (February 5th) this week. He was looking forward to it for weeks and giving me lists of what he wanted to get and do. Here is my photo look-back of his 2nd year.

                                                                           February

                                                                           March 

                                                                             April 

                                                                                  May 

                                                                           June

                                                                              July

                                                                         August

                                                                      September

                                                                         October

                                                                    November

                                                                      December

                                                                        January

Here are some things that Isaac told me he wanted for his birthday: Tic Tacs, M&M's Popcorn, Cheeseburgers, Balls, and Chips. I love how easy little ones are to please. I found this cake idea online and figured that would be an easy and fun way to give him M&M's and take care of his birthday cake. We had the missionaries and some friends over and Isaac loved every minute of it. He loves to be the center of attention and all three boys thought the balloons were awesome.

 

 Isaac is my social butterfly. He talks non-stop and always wants to be doing stuff. He loves to go shopping with me and flirts with everyone there and if he ever starts to act up I can get him back in line by threatening to take him home. He loves Play-doh and also got some stamps for his birthday that have been keeping him busy. He is 100% potty trained now and is a master at negotiating to get what he wants--usually candy. He never runs out of energy and usually uses that energy to tease his brothers. He is very affectionate and I find him on my lap all the time. I am just very grateful that he is really short and skinny for his age because it makes him easy to hold. I love my happy, crazy, silly, little man.

My Birthday Boys!

Dean turned 3 years old on Friday and Ellis turned one today so I guess I better get my traditional birthday blog done. I now have a 3, 2, and 1 year old so finding time to do this was a little tricky. I am so grateful to be the mother of these awesome little men!

Deans turn: Here is your photo trip through the past year so you can appreciate them growing up right before my eyes-

October

November

                                         

                                 

 December

January 

                                 
                                  

February

March- moving month-not much time to take pictures

April

May 

June

                                  

July

August

                                  

September

October

Dean LOVES trains right now. He got a set for his birthday and Nana and I made him a train birthday cake and he was in heaven. He will spend hours watching that thing go round and round and has a melt down any time it falls off or one of his brothers messes it up. He will be getting out of church nursery and moving up to Sunbeams come January and I am still in denial that he is big enough to be there. He has started saying prayers by himself lately and they melt my heart. He loves music and sings and dances along to his favorite songs every day. Since he was very little he has liked things in straight lines and little has changed as he has gotten older. He is over all a really mellow kid but when things don't line up or behave properly it really gets under his skin. He can identify most of his letters and counts up to "eleven, twelve, fourteen, five-teen....".

Eli's turn: This little man is my sunshine everyday. He has recently learned how to walk but doesn't make it very far most times because he is laughing so hard. He is learning lots of words and mimicking lots of sounds but so far I recognize "No, bye-bye, Mama, ah-oh, ball, Dada, Nana, and more." He has 7 teeth and loves to play peek-a-boo and snuggle with his cow blanket. He adores his brothers and can hold his own really well if they decide to pick on him. Over all, he is just super cute!

October

Novemeber

December

January 

                                            

February

March- moving month-not much time to take pictures

April

May 

June

                                         

July

August

What do you mean the chocolate is all gone?

                                  

September

                                           

 October

                                  

Isaac has had a very hard time being the odd man out with the others having birthdays so I better not leave him out of this too. Here are a couple pics:

He is doing great with his potty training and loves to be going places and doing things. He talks non-stop and amazes me with the new language he comes up with on a daily basis. Full sentences including detailed directions on how I should do things and compelling arguments on why I should not make him do things are regulars out of his cute little mouth. He is a wiz at anything electronic and can teach me a thing or two about my phone, tab and computer.