9 YEARS OF MARITAL BLISS! Cheese ball warning

dana;">Well Stuie-poo and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary today. I can't believe it has been 9 years since we went to the temple and were married. I can honestly say that was the happiest day I have ever had, not to mention one that has impacted my life more than anything else I have ever done or will ever do. Looking back Stu and I both say we were so young and clueless and totally cheesy. It is almost embaressing to remember how completely obsessed with each other we were. My poor friends and family knew all too well how into Stu I was.(I wouldn't shut up about it) And believe it or not Stu was pretty cheesy too. Now I feel like we aren't so cheesy but we have a much deeper love that is so fulfilling. I love that we have had our little journey of life together that has consisted of BYU, having Jane, having Catherine, dental school, having Luke, Pediatric residentcy, having Mack and now back in Utah working. I know 9 years isn't THAT long but it feels good to be close to the 10 year mark. I am so deeply, deeply happy and I feel so lucky to be married to Stu.
This is basically what every day of our lives is like. Just at the beach, kissing and blissfully in love. NOT! :) It's actually this was ONE weekend when we left our kids with my sister and went to Carmel with Stu's family. I am pregnant with Mack in these two top pictures. I had to do a kissing one, it's our anniversary!
I like this picture because we really do have a lot of fun together. If you are around us long you will know we tease each other a lot and quote Seinfeld WAY too much. Thanks to Tivo it is our nightly ritual to sit on the couch and watch a couple of Seinfelds. We are even picky about which one we watch now because we know them all so well!
This was taken right before I had Mack and I wanted to show it because it reminds me of what a journey having a baby is. Stu takes such good care of me when I have a baby. I am so thankful that we have been able to have our 4 children. This was at Loma Linda-it makes me miss it! Happy memories I will never forget.
-family: verdana;">This was in Jerusalem at the BYU center. I was about 4mo pregnant with Mack. We had such a great time and it was our first big trip together. For sure we made memories there that we will never forget! I love you Stu, happy anniversary! I am so excited to live the rest of my life next to you.

9 YEARS OF MARITAL BLISS!

random pictures

These pictures are a little random but i wanted to post them anyway! This is Stu and the kids at a party.
I love this one of Jane and Catherine! They are really good buds.
I love this one on the grass at Loma Linda. Luke is holding Mack with the help of Bobo (stu's dad). We love Bobo!
This picture cracks me up! Mack is so cute with the backwards hat. Jane is just doing what she always does-love Mack. And Catherine is her own little actress self doing the scared scene from some poorly made horror movie. She is always so much fun!
All is going well here in Utah. Stu is loving his job and I am loving where we live soooo much. We are even considering buying in this area. Well, gotta go to bed. My next post wont be so random:)

Loving Utah

Hello to all! Greetings from Highland, Ut. I can't believe we really live here. I am sorry for not posting anything lately, things have seemed a bit crazy. We love the house we are renting-and are happy we didn't buy right away because there are so many awesome houses to choose from we want to take our time and pick the right one in the right location. Stu is loving work (I have even heard him refer to it as being "fun") which is a good sign and his commute is not bad. I am SOOOOOOOOOO loving being so close to my sisters and parents and most of all the kids just can't get enough of all the cousins to play with. So overall, things are happy for us. I am going to be better with writing new entries on here, it's just one busy summer! And I am leaving my dear husband and going back up to the cabing for another week. Anyway, love to you all. And everyone who is reading this and will visit Utah anytime soon (vacation, byu football, christmas) you have to come visit us!
We got these pictures done for free by a lady at Loma linda who was friends with Stu. It was a joke trying to get us all to look at the same time, but i just love this picture.
Mack is getting so big! He is the party of our house-everyone wants to be close to him. He just makes everyone so happy. He got Stu's blue eyes. I am a cheese ball, I know.
At least in this one we are all looking in the same direction. I love Catherine's little dance move with the hands and pointed toe:) that is so her.
I love the way Luke is trying to do some pose like his sisters in this one. He's just not a natural poser like the girls. I guess that is a good thing:)

Congratulations Stu!

Well this memorial day weekend was a fun one. On Sunday Stu participated in the graduation ceremony of the dental school and the day could not have been more beautiful. It was a blue clear sky and 75 degrees and it was just perfect. I am so proud of Stu for getting into the Pedo program. Two more years did not sound appealing but he did it and looking back we both agree it has been well worth it. It has been a very happy two years for us. We had our little Mack, got closer to some awesome friends and have really enjoyed our ward a lot in the past two years. Most importantly, Stu can officially be a pediatric dentist and that is what he wants to be. I wouldn't want him to wish he could have been one. And I know he'll be a great one. Good job babe!
Me, hugging the graduate. Love those graduation hugs . . . .
And Kisses! Is this so cheesy of me? I don't know why but I just feel like being cheesy. Sorry! I can have one fun picture, can't I?
Dad is in a gown because he is part time faculty at the dental school. Just one day a week. He likes it though. Mom and dad were so supportive and came over after and had dinner. Mack is one happy little guy with his Nana and Bobo. (we call Stu's dad Bobo) He is the only child that came to the graduation because i don't really leave him with a sitter yet. All the other kids came to Stu's dental school graduation but I didn't want to try and make them sit through another one, they would just be so bored!
These are the three other Pedo residents Stu graduated with. L to R is Stu, Leslie, Jen and Danny. They are all so awesome, we will miss them a lot. Jen's little baby is Ella and she had Ella on the exact day we had Mack! We were in delivery rooms right next to each other! It was so crazy. She said as they wheeled her out of her room with her new baby she could hear me screaming as I was having Mack. Yikes! Memories.

A full heart . . . .(Warning: I am in cheese ball mode)

This mothers day my heart is so full and I almost don't have words to express the way I feel. First of all just looking at this picture of my four beautiful children has for the first time made me feel old. But for some strange reason, it is a happy old. I like it. It has also made me feel a sense of accomplishment. I just can't believe I have four kids. I have a happy marriage to a man who I love deeply and also happens to be my favorite person to just hang out with. We have our health and I am hopeful for our future. If you had told me ten years ago that when I was 30 I would have all that, I would have thought it too good to be true. I am not trying to say that my life is perfect, I absolutely have days when I just want to pull my hair out. I guess what I am saying is that as I reflect on my life I take great satisfaction in it. And I would be ungrateful if I did not say I know it has all come because of having the gospel in my life. It is the only way to happiness and I see it affect me in a million different ways every day.
I wanted to post this picture of Stu because I am just so thankful to have him. (And because he looks so cute in it) :) For mothers day we went out on a date (woo woo) and he was just so good to me. First we went for lettuce wraps and Mongolian Beef at my favorite restaurant, P.F. Changs. (that was not on my diet plan but hey, it's mother's-day-week, right?) Then the plan was to go see a movie but I what I really wanted to do was shop. So Stu followed me around all night while I tried things on and got his opinion. He, like all men, does not love to shop a lot but I was impressed because he kept a smile on his face all night. Then today, on mothers day, he and the kids made me breakfast, did all the house work, and we had a blast at Nana and Bobo's house. (my inlaws) Then I topped it off with a two hour nap. It was (here is a cheese ball part) the best mother's day I could have asked for. Thanks hun.
My "Mackey Boy" as he is called around here. Oh I could eat him up! And I do. On a daily basis.
I thought this picture was funny because I come into the room and I can hear Mack just laughing so hard. Jane had him on her and they were just so cute together! I already have BIG plans for Jane to be my #1 babysitter! Yee haw for having girls:)

Swimming with clothes on & parties in the dryer!

Hello everyone! I figured it was about time to update the blog. A lot has gone on since my last entry and things are going well. We went to Utah and rented a home in Highland which we are VERY excited about. It is on a lovely street with a park in the back yard. Literally. It has a huge field of grass and a big park right there. I am so excited. In the beginning of June we will load up a UHAUL and I will drive the van and we will officially move to good old Utah. We have loved it here so much but having much more square footage, a park in our backyard and being so close to so much family is definately easing the pain:)

The story behind this picture is that we were walking home from the bus stop on a hot day two weeks ago and the kids just begged me to let them put their feet in the water. Yeah right. So I say yes and before I know it they are pulling their pants up high and getting deeper into the water. So finally I told them if they wanted to get all the way in the had to do a cannon ball right into the big cold pool first. So of course they had no problem doing it right away. We were laughing so hard, it was a blast. Fun, fun California memories.

I love seeing Jane and Catherine having so much fun together. They are really beginning to be not just sisters but friends. I hate to say I have already heard the line "You can't wear that, it's my shirt!" from their room. I know it is inevitable that they are going to have their moments about sharing clothes and a room and time in front of the mirror but for the most part they are pretty good to each other.
So one sat afternoon I hear these voices yelling for me to "come find us mom, come find us" and I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Yes, they were coming from the dryer and when I opened the door this is what I saw. It amazes me how they can find something fun out of something so boring.
I love this picture the most because they just have so much fun together. It is my absolute favorite thing to hear them laugh and laugh to each other.