Jeanice and Tanner

    Jeanice, my second cousin, got married on Friday, to Tanner. They are such an adorable couple and both as sweet as can be! I got to attend their sealing in the beautiful Payson Temple. Tanner's grand-father sealed them. Before the sealing took place he talked to the couple, and I listened with such intensity because he taught about the sealing covenant. I am so grateful for the blessings and reality of having temples on the earth where families can be sealed together for eternity. It's such a beautiful doctrine. 

While we were waiting for the couple to make their grand appearance to the happy family and friends outside the temple, Sam had fun running around. Skyler watched her while I was inside the temple. She was as happy as can be. Until they came out and pictures were being taken left and right. Sam had reached her limit and was tired (not having much of a morning nap...) and therefore grumpy. After the first group picture I took Sam to the car and let her fall asleep. I apologize to Tanner and Jeanice for that first group photo...I'm on the very end, holding a squirming and screaming toddler, her dress covering her face probably. I'm all crooked and flustered, trying not to make a huge scene out of us, I'm probably not even looking at the camera...it's kind of embarrassing...so hopefully it doesn't look too crazy...and if so, at least I'm at the end and the photographer can crop me and Sam out. :) 

Here are the pictures that we snapped before she reached "tired and grumpy" phase:

It was so windy! Jeanice and Tanner (which I just realized I got ZERO pictures of...because I'm serious the second they walked out of the door Sam threw a fit and was fussy until I took her to the car...) but they were STUNNING! Beautiful and happy on their perfect day. :)

The Scowl

    Here is Sam's newly discovered ability (finally caught on camera)....the scowl. She does it when she's happy and playful; she'll be laughing and then all of a sudden she'll scrunch up her eye brows and the laugh again. It's cute...right now at least, while she thinks it's a fun thing. It'll probably still be cute even when she learns it means "to be disgruntled"... 

That Laugh

    Sam's laugh in this video cracks me up. :)

In other news, here's some leftover pictures that are worth posting: 

Josh and I hacked into Larisa's phone while we were all out in Wyoming and left this picture on her screensaver. I forgot about it until she texted me a few days ago saying she finally replaced it with a different picture. I felt honored that we were her screensaver for over a month! Now though, Peyton will forever be her screensaver. Petyon is here!!!! :)

She LOVES playing in dirt. Atta Girl!

She plays hard. So then she sleeps. She stayed asleep while I got her out and hauled her up to bed, not waking up once! I wonder where she gets her love for sleep from?....

3 Happy Years

    Josh and I celebrated 3 years of marriage on Wednesday. Josh and I were able to go to the Bountiful Temple and attend a session. I love learning and being reminded of the sacred covenants I made with Heavenly Father 3 years ago. Josh and I sat together in the celestial room and talked about what we loved about each other. It was perfect. 

Girl who Loves Dirt

    It's nice to be working in the garden and look over and see Sam digging in the dirt and putting it in her hair. This girl loves the outdoors and doesn't mind getting dirty cause she's having a good time! I also put sunscreen on her legs, so the dirt had help sticking. :)

 I try not to think about all the spiders that she plays close to...I've seen so many, it's unnerving. 

She's Little Miss Muppet...probably eating just dirt. And along came a spider, or 10 of them, that sat down beside her.

We both came in dirty, tired, but happy. :)

A Fun Weekend

    Last weekend Skyler came up and hung out with us. She's in between semesters right now; except for the last final we helped her study for. It was pretty fun to quiz her on the second half of the Book of Mormon; I learned some things I hadn't previously known. :)
We also spent some time in the yard, Josh and Sam put together the garden watering system. Then we all played baseball with this tiny baseball bat that we found the day we moved in (in the spider bushes...ew, so glad those are gone!). Little rocks were our makeshift baseballs. Josh kept missing it so we were teasing him about it and then he challenged us to give it a try...it's definitely harder than it looks cause we kept missing it, too! Until Skyler figured out the trick...you have to jump while swinging...for some unknown reason, that worked. Every time.
Skyler and I stayed up super late (12:30 am, just in case anyone was wondering...honestly that's considered super super late, cause super late to me is like 10 pm.)...But we were watching a really good movie, and we both stayed awake through the whole thing! :)

Quilting

    Every Tuesday, some ladies get together at the church and quilt for 2 hours. It's usually during Sam's nap time, so I don't make it. But every now and again we walk over to the church and I get to visit with some magnificent ladies while tying quilts for those in need. And Sam will walk around and find any loose yarn and tools to entertain herself. The women love having her there, she's a breath of fresh air. This week Sam laid underneath the quilt and watched with fascination as the needle would poke through, followed by the yarn. 

These blankets go to multiple places, some here locally to those in need and some to the Humanitarian effort where they are shipped to different places as needed. A story I will never forget: a boy, here locally, was given a blanket. He's a tougher looking kid, yet he was in tears as he hugged the blanket. He said that he had never had a blanket of his own, sleeping many nights curled up in a ball for warmth. He probably hadn't slept a night with a blanket since he was a baby. So that's why we do it, we quilt to bring warmth and some sense of comfort to those who need.

A Letter to my Sweetheart

Dear Josh, 

 April 20, 2013 was the happiest day of my life. I've had a lot of happy moments in my life, but that day I became the luckiest wife. I thought I loved you back then, but seeing how much that love has flourished over the last 3 years I realize that I only had an tiny inkling of what true love really is. 

Our first "home" was when we house-sat for the McDonalds, right after being married. There was a week or two that they were still in town so we lived in their basement, without a kitchen. Which is why I broke our first dish, because the bathroom sink was pretty small and the soap pretty slippery. Remember that cooking pot we got from DI that had two settings- 1. off, and 2. scouring hot, burning everything. You probably were wondering if you'd ever get a meal that wasn't burned. Well, I don't have that pot to blame anymore, and still burn many things, but I'm improving I'd say. :) I remember sitting in front of our tiny fridge making you bagel sandwiches for your lunch. Now, I just snooze on as you quietly sneak out (way too) early in the morning for a long day of work. That summer at the McDonalds we did so much yard work, and I had an absolute blast. Remember that water fight (which I won!), we were soaked and happy. And muddy. I was so impressed with your handiwork around the yard, fixing the sprinkler system and landscaping. I remember we made applesauce and canned it ourselves. And we played card games each evening at dinner. We'd go on bike rides, which was uphill no matter which way we went. We'd sit on the back porch and watch lightning storms. Gosh, so many good memories that summer. :) 

Then we moved to the apartments across from Rexburg Rapids. We were not a fan of it while we were there, but looking back we made some good memories there too. The heat didn't work so our toesies were always ice cold. We'd lay on the futon that was our couch and watch Hogan's Heroes. When we finally got the heater fixed the repair guy left convinced we had hid that pot in there; which makes zero sense seeing as how I didn't even know what it was...haha. That semester we were both busy with school and I worked on-call. You'd sometimes drive me to the calls in the middle of the night because the roads were so bad due to horrendous snow storms. Thanks! 

Then we moved into the Rowes apartment. You were finishing up school, I was pregnant, but we still had some pretty fun adventures. We went camping, huckleberry picking, hiking, bike rides, fishing, and walks. Remember that one walk and the moon on the edge of town was so big we almost touched it? And the many many moonrises that we saw together. Those are magical moments I'll never forget. We went snow shoeing, which I call dibs on a do-over. And I also call dibs on the snow suit this time. ;) That basement apartment was Sam's first home. You are such a great dad, right from the get-go! 

Then you graduated and we moved to Utah. We lived in Harrisville for a few months before moving to North Ogden where we bought our first home together. It has been a dream! The view is magnificent....which I tell you constantly. Our yard is perfect! And our house is just right for our cute little family. We love to explore the trails that are nearby. We like to work in the yard together. Which, let me just tell you, is one of my favorite things to do. I'm so glad we decided to get chickens. I'm thankful for your hard work and expertise to make this house our cozy home.

Josh, I am so happy. Life has been so good us. I'm thankful that during my hard days (like the 7 months we lived in Harrisville) you are there to buoy me up and I will forever be grateful for your enduring patience and kindness. Your positive attitude, your happy disposition, your ability to channel negative feelings and see things from a larger perspective have blessed our marriage. Everyone who knows you sees what a great guy you are- dependable, hard working, loyal, kind, funny, a spiritual giant. And I'm lucky enough to call you mine. I found an index card in my scriptures not long ago. It was from young women's and we had to write down the qualities/talents that we are looking for in our future spouse. As I looked over that list I realized you are every single one of those qualities, in fact you far exceed my wildest dreams. You say I put up with a lot, but really and truly you amaze me.

 We've had so many fun and exhilarating adventures together, in just 3 short years, that I can't wait for the next 47. We'll be older, and maybe more wrinkly, but one thing I can guarantee is that we'll be madly in love and excited for 50 more. :)

 Happy anniversary to my better half. I love you! 

Aubs