Happy Anniversary!

37 years ago today my parents were married. They were just 16 and 19 (my mom is not gonna be happy that I shared this fact) and I am amazed at their commitment to marriage at such a young age.

Even more unbelievable is the fact that they broke the cycle of marriage and divorce that they both came from. I admire them for their determination to make it work. They started out by living in Turkey where my dad was stationed in the air force. My dad always said he thought this was why their marriage was so strong-it forced them to work things out on their own. No crying to mom when things were tough. They also met a great group of friends while they were in Turkey. They are still close in heart to those couples.

My parents have a beautiful marriage and I am grateful that I was able to witness such a strong love. My dad showed me how I should be expected to be treated by a man.
He was always so kind and loving toward my mom. The only time I heard him raise his voice is when we talked unkind to my mom. They put their marriage first and then their kids. They are also the most kind and generous people I have ever known. Once they meet people they are life long friends. That are great examples to me. I am so lucky! I love you, Mom and Dad!

I now have a 6 year old! (and other weekend happenings!)

This has been such a wonderful weekend, it will be difficult to capture it in words, but I will try. First of all, Dallin turned 6 on Friday. I think his birthday will always bring such strong emotions for me because he was my first baby. All I wanted for this day was to see his face light up. All it takes right now is: a packet or 2 of Pokemon cards! Some things I love about Dallin:

1. His kind heart.
2. His cute giggle.
3. The way he tries to make Bryce laugh.
4. His thirst for knowledge.
5. His ability to forgive.
6. His love of life.

I am so glad he is my child. I feel so lucky.

They celebrated his birthday on Thursday since there was no school on Friday. I brought in a book for his class library and read it to the class. He was so happy! On his actual birthday was his parent/teacher conference. It was nice to hear that he is an enjoyable student. His teacher is phenomenal and he really likes her. She told us that he is a hard worker, which I was very happy to hear.



Saturday was the big day. It was an all Pokemon party! Friday did not go so well for me with Bryce and trying to get ready for the birthday, so I didn't get everything done that I wanted. I did however, paper mache this Pikachu, and I am very proud of it. (I have no artisitic talent, so thank goodness Pikachu is not very complex to draw!)

The party was a lot of fun and Dallin was so happy to be with his friends.

One of our friends gave us tickets to the Stars on Ice. They ended up being seats on the second row, and the skaters were fantastic! Sasha Coen, Todd Eldredge and many others were there. The kids enjoyed the show, and even Bryce was entertained for the most part! It was a great spur of the moment family date. :-) Funny Emilyism- When Sasha Coen came out to skate, Emily asked, "Why does her not have a prince?" Besides the grammar issues with that question, it was very funny! Thanks Michelle for the tickets!!

In news on the other 2 kiddos, Emily and I are having fun going to story time both at the library and at the toy store. I really just want to enjoy being with her right now. I really feel it is our time to be together. (And I am trying to be patient with the potty training reversion-again!)

Bryce is getting big quickly. He is still pretty attached to me, but he is enjoying figuring things out by himself. He crawls everywhere, but really loves to stand up on anything he gets his hands on. Poor kid has many bruises to show for his bravery, but he is definitely happier! He also eats almost anything now!

Saturday morning, I had one of the best runs I have ever been on. I knew it was a little crazy to do the day of the party, but I still wanted and needed to get my run in. Especially with it being the dedication run to President Hinckley. We met at 6am and there were 17 of us all there to run together! Sarah was kind enough to make stickers for each of us to wear with some of the 9 Be's. Mine was "Be Grateful." It ended up just being Sarah and I for the entire run. We both plugged in our IPODs and listened to talks given by President Hinckley. It was very cold and wet, but the first few miles just flew by. It was pretty dark and as it lightened up it was beautiful. It began snowing around mile 9 and I couldn't believe I was still running. It became beautiful powder and I loved watching Sarah's footprints appear in front of me. It was surreal. Sarah and I talked every once in a while, mostly to gape at the beauty around us, but for the most part we were in our own worlds. I enjoyed thinking about the person that President Hinckley makes me want to be because of who he is. I also was able to contemplate my father and the person that he makes me want to be. We ran a total of 16 miles. I was tired by mile 15, and I think my body knew I originally planned to stop at that point so it was protesting. This actually made me want to run more. I wanted to run when it was tough. I don't know if that makes any sense. I decided the last few miles to come up with a few more Be's that represent my dad. Combined with President Hinckley's 9 B's, here are 7 more for my dad, one for every mile I ran: 10. Be Patient 11. Be nonjudgmental 12. Be forgiving 13. Be Flexible 14. Be Silly (Love this one- reminds me to enjoy life.) 15. Be Gentle 16. Be Yourself. I have some great examples to follow and I am grateful I had this run to think about it. What an amazing experience. It definitely reminded me why I run.
I am going to try to post more often. I have a few posts in my head that I would love to discuss! Til next time...