Dozen

(A picture from our second date- Jan. 16th 1998)

So in July Jim and I will celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary.....

I am going to copy an idea from my friend (thanks Val :) and reminisce a little of the past twelve years of our life. I will highlight one or two years each week. They are done and scheduled in to come up each Sunday on the blog. So here goes.....

1998

Jim and I got married on July 18th 1998.


A month later we moved to Phoenix, Arizona for Jim's graduate school. It was one of the hardest and best things we ever did. I can't begin to describe all of our moments in Phoenix. It was fun to explore everything as newlyweds in a new city. Although I was tremendously homesick at times, I look back fondly and cherish dearly that time there.

1999
We were able to visit many of the sites nearby like Old Tuscson, The State Capitol, Phoenix Zoo, Diamondbacks game, Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas, Cerretas, Glendale, and many other places.

wishing for summer

The weather has been so crazy the past couple weeks it really feels like summer is never going to get here. I am so ready for the lazy days of summer with hanging out with my kids in the backyard, going swimming, making smores, etc.

Summer, where are you ?



(This is a picture of me and Ethan in the summer of 2003.
He is around 15 months or so.)

A few of my favorite things

What gets me through the days of chaos, noise, mess, and absolute joy that four kids bring? And don't even get me started on the fact of the TWO two year olds. They are the cutest things but add a unique curveball to almost everything. Anyways, here are three of my current favorite materialistic items of joy....

1. Pink Funhouse CD-I really like this CD right now. My favorite songs on it are "So What", "Glitter in the Air" and "I Don't Believe You" This CD is usually on between the hours of 12:30 and 2:30 on Mon. Tues, and Wed.when the older kids are in school and the little girls are attempting to take their nap. It is the ONLY time in basically the whole week I can actually get anything done around the house. On Thursdays I watch a neighbors kids and Fridays are early out days.

2. Breyers Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with my homemade hot fudge sauce. Delicious. Usually eaten each night while watching #3 below.


*I could only find this picture but the vanilla bean is the best!



3. I LOVE THIS SHOW! We have been watching the seasons on DVD lately and will watch a couple episodes each night.



* Scroll down more for addeded posts of the "girls room" and Ethans baptism.

Trio

Just in case you were wondering what THREE girls sharing a room looks like.

Big thank you to my mom for making the matching bedspreads. They look great. Also, this is DEFINITELY how the room looks 99% of the time. At least in my dreams it does :)




My favorite part of the room. A self portrait Lizzie did one of the first days of kindergarten. It hangs right above her bed. Notice her snazzy purple glasses.

Baptism

Yesterday (May 8th) Ethan was baptized. It really does not seem like he can be 8. I know we have had three kids since he was born but it still feels like he was just born or at least a toddler. Wasn't it just the other day when he was two that he threw our cordless phone in the toilet?:)

It was also a very busy day before his baptism at four- (I ran 8 miles, we got the house, yard and food ready, Lizzie had a dress rehearsal for her upcoming dance recital and we had another baptism for Ethan's friend at 2! Whew!)

Anyways, it was a great day with family and friends. I only took like 3 pictures which is so unlike me but here are the three :)

Our family- it is almost impossible to get a good picture with two two year olds.

The traditional and oh so flattering white jumpsuit picture :)

The boy and the parents