...Has it REALLY been that long???...

It's hard to believe that I met my sweet hubby TWELVE years ago, and today we've been married for FOUR!!!

(Our very first picture ever taken of us... my 17th birthday...)

Really, my first memory of Kev was his name on my caller I.D, well, technically it wasn't his name, but it was his last name. I remember thinking, "Nice last name"... Our mutual friend Chris was calling me from Kevin's house and I remember talking to him, but then Chris handing the phone over to Kevin because somehow Taco Bell came up... and since I liked it too... Kevin wanted to talk to me...
"Something" sparked during that call so my good friend Audrey and I planned this fun "party" so I could meet Kevin and she could some how hook it up with my friend Chris... When that night came, I remember Kevin doing some tricks on a skateboard. I remember his curly hair and his maroon shirt with some kind of china character on it...(we seriously didn't get rid of that shirt until we had been married)... anyway... that night Kevin held my hand and I distinctly recall getting this weird feeling that I had never had before, and it made me nervous... looking back, I wonder if I somehow I knew we would end up together... who knows... but it scared me enough to make me not want to start anything...

Jumping forward a bit... we didn't work out in ninth grade, but we tried again our Sophomore year, the night we "tried" we went to a stomp... where I ditched him... if I hurt his feelings, it didn't hurt for too long, he had a girlfriend the next week...which magically made me want him for myself... so naturally they dated for what seemed like an eternity!!! When they broke up during the last part of our Sophomore year, a friend called me just to let me know and I was SO ecstatic that I drove from my house down to the school just so I could meet my other friend and tell her. When I saw her I just started screaming!!! and then she started screaming.... there were were... just screaming outside of the school. I don't even want to know what people must have thought about us.

That night though, I went to young women's where we learned how to decorate cakes... wanna know what I decorated mine to say???....

"YAY ME" :)

Well... that next day I learned he had a new girlfriend... So, the waiting continued. I wont go into all that but it is one of many funny memories... all I can say is the infatuation that I had for him was the epitome of every teenage girl... TO THE EXTREME!!!

One I will share, that I will never forget... was when Kevin was taking a drivers test and I knew the coach that was driving with him. Just to be funny (and get close to Kev) I thought it'd be great to play a trick on Coach Price. So, I jumped in the back seat and when he got in, he was quite startled to learn that he literally had a full car... after the laugh... I got out... and as I watched the car drive away... I remember a feeling come over me that let me know that I would get to be with him one day... Kevin, not the coach :) I also remember thinking I needed to give the red zip hoody I had on back to my friend :)


Well, I did get him and I get to be with him for eternity. Today is just a cool look back at what a ride it has been.

My FAVORITE memory of our wedding day was after we had been sealed and the first instant we got to see each other after getting in my wedding dress and he in his tux. I remember a friend telling me to take it all in, don't feel rushed about getting out of the temple when the ceremony was all over... and I took that to heart. We just sat on a bench inside for quite a while before going out and meeting the family and photographer. I don't remember what we talked about.... just that it was the BEST feeling I had ever had and I was happy to be with my best friend. It really is the memory that sticks out the most of that day...even over me being terribly sick at the reception!!!

We've had many ups and not half of the downs will ever add up to how great life has been with Kev. He does so much for me and I know that he would do anything for me. I love you SO much Kevin and I'm SO thankful that with all the roads we had to make our journey on... they ended up together. You're the best and I couldn't ask for a better Father, Husband, or best friend.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!

One of our favorite pix ever taken...

The night he asked me to marry him... we're lucky we had the ring!!! I dropped it in the powdered snow at the top of a Mountain in Idaho!!!


Our wedding announcement picture


Our wedding day... can you tell I was excited???

Here's to you babe!

"LOVE YOU LONG TIME"

:P

One At A Time

I'm not having the best of days and while cleaning out a folder, I came across this... it kind of helped me so I thought I would share :)...

"A friend of ours was walking down a deserted Mexican beach at sunset. As he walked along, he began to see another man in the distance. As he grew nearer, he noticed that the local native kept leaning down, picking something up and throwing it out into the water. Time and again he kept hurling things out into the ocean.

As our friend approached even closer, he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water. Our friend was puzzled. He approached the man and said "Good evening, friend. I was wondering what you are doing."

"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide right now and all of these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If I don't throw them back into the sea, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen."

"I understand," my friend replied "but there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't possibly get to all of them. There are simply too many. And don't you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast. Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?"

The local native smiled, bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and as he threw it back into the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one!"

-Jack Canfield and Mark V. Hansen

Updated Family Pictures!!!

I just have to say that I definitely prefer being behind the camera rather than in front of it. IT IS SO STRESSFUL getting clothes that match, keeping them clean on the way to the shoot, working with Kevin on how he should smile for the camera ;) and then trying not to have to feed the boxes of bribery treats to Dax during the first five seconds of the shoot... But we made it through and we're happy with the outcome... now I just need to decide which ones to blow up and hang... so feel free to leave a comment to help :)

***On a side note, I can't figure out why some pictures are HUGE and the others aren't...sorry!

I can't tell you how excited I was to get new pictures of me and Kevin... it has been SO long and this hug one is my favorite... I LOVE Kevin's hugs...

This one of me and Dax is a "raw" (non edited picture) not the most flattering of me...but I LOVE it!!!

I had to put this one on because Kevin LOVES it :)

I should clarify that the above comment is a joke... he's not a fan... but it's different...so it's ok

..Fourth of July Festivities...

We had QUITE the fourth of July weekend this year.

It all started Thursday, it did for Dax at least. He got to go to the Rodeo in West Jordan with his Nina and Pappa... to get the entire scoop on the rest of that story go to gategang6.blogspot.com.

Dax looked so cute all dressed up in his cowboy garb. He actually liked the hat! I was excited about that :)

Friday morning we (Dax, Kev, Me and the Gate's) all got to go see Ice Age. Dax LOVES the first two movies of the series so we knew he'd dig this one... he did... but the Dino's did get a little scary for him so he did end up sitting in my lap half way through... but all in all it was a fun experience for him... and for those of you who find it crazy that I took a camera to the theatre... I WASN'T THE ONLY MOM WHO DID!!! I saw another Mom taking this same picture.

Can you tell he was getting anxious?

OPEN... OPEN... OPEN...

He REALLY enjoyed the popcorn... can't you tell?

Friday night we got to go to a fourth of July/Travis is here BBQ at Mamaw and Gampa's

Dax had a blast jumping with Chels, I mean Kelsie (I couldn't resist Kels) on the tramp....






He also had a good time hangin' with Uncle Todd

This is Travis, our cousin from Washington... for you single gals, he isn't taken... at least I don't think he is... let me know and I'll check :)


Sweet Gram Jesse...

The Great BBQer himself... It was AWESOME food!!! Thanks bud :)

Mr. Wy guy hanging with Gram Barb... I just love this little guy...

Always up for a smile for the camera...

And then Dax thought it necessary to jump in the bucket of pop... maybe to get the one's on the top to the bottom to get colder??? I don't know....

THE FOURTH OF JULY!!!!

It was Wyatt's first and he loved it...

Papa and the football team... I'm not sure if D realized who he was supposed to look for...


but he clapped anyway....

Harassing/playing with Manny and Nina

Wy loved what he saw but finally crashed half way through...


Me trying to get him to shake his bootay to the music...

Tractors!!!!!


He was actually hitting me with his flag in this picture... and it really hurt.... lucky for him it turned out to be a cute picture...

Sweet baby....

Clearly I need to find my way to a tanning bed...

and it's over... "SEE DUCKS"....


That afternoon he headed to a BBQ at Nina's....
Some how Dax and Trace got the idea to jump off the chair into the body pillow...

Nobody got hurt, but he clearly got Kevin's jumping skills...

Before the fireworks, Dax finally got to go see the ducks, I swear that's all he asked for during the entire parade...

and of course we couldn't skip out on the toys...

Little Wy and Nina....

Dax playing with Kael and Chels...

Chelsea was so nice and bought him a sword... he loved it.... and then broke it just before dark...

The fireworks were AWESOME!!!! Wyatt was so funny HE LOVED IT... his head didn't move the entire time he was awake... he was totally enthralled by them...

Dax on the other hand kept telling me to turn them off and then, when he made his way over to my lap... tapped my head and said "No scared Mommy" like I was the one who was scared... he didn't enjoy them so much. He hates thunder and I think he related the sounds to that... oh well, it was a great show...

On Sunday we headed over to Gamma Barbs for another BBQ for Mr. Trav and the family...
Dax got to play with Miss Audrey... isn't she a doll?!!

I PURPOSELY dressed D in his swim outfit because if you'll notice the water fountain, he likes to play in it... so this time we were prepared for the worst...

Takin' a drink break. Dax always drinks from the side, I think so he won't miss anything...

They kept throwing rocks in Gampa Ben's garden... I thought this was a funny shot...

Taking it all in....

Dax in his own little world...

I like this picture because of Wy

and that was it... we all crashed that night... it was a good time. We had fun everywhere we went and got a TON of food along the way.

Sorry for all the pictures, I know blogs are probably more for the writing, but I like pictures... We are so thankful for the fourth of July and what it reminds us of. We LOVE America and think it's worth fighting for... we support all who fight for us so that we have and can do all that we do... we are very blessed... and as the bumper sticker on Kevin's truck says... "God bless our troops, Especially our snipers"

Hope you all had a great fourth... We love you :)