8 Years

8 years ago today Lars and I were married. 8 has always been my favorite number - so here is to a great new year of celebrating our life together.

Oh and if you have the urge to write a comment telling me how young we look, fight it, I like to pretend I still look like this....

Old Navy

Tonight we went to Old Navy to find out if they were in fact selling shorts for 5 dollars. Sure enough shorts, swim suits and tees were 5 bucks. Lars printed a coupon for 15 percent off on top of that and so by the end of our little shopping spree we bought:

2 shorts for JK
1 puff sleeve onsie for JK
3 uniform worthy (nice plain front khakis) shorts for Trey
1 swimsuit bottom for Trey
1 rash guard top for Trey
1 pair of board shorts for Toby
1 rash guard shirt for Toby
1 tee for me
1 board shorts for Lars

For a grand total of: $54 - that's with 10% sales tax included.

Happy shopping tomorrow - I know you will want to go after this post! Oh and the puff sleeve scoop neck tees are darling for ladies but they do shrink quite a bit....

Fathers Day

While JK and I partied it up in Arizona for a friends wedding (pictures and blogging posts on that later), Lars and the boys spent Fathers Day weekend in Atlanta with his family. Our family celebrated Fathers Day earlier in the week with some friends, a steak dinner and new Wii games. I also wanted to do a special post for him - we'll see if he ever actually sees it....

I asked the boys their favorite thing about their Daddy and here is their responses (direct quotes):

Trey - He's Great! He let's me watch shows even if it is like 7:59. He plays with me.

Toby - He play a game. He play video games with me. He gives kisses and secret at night. (secret is when Lars tells the boys he has a secret to tell them - he gets real close and then bounces their beds right after tucking them in - they giggle every time.

If JK could talk I am sure her answer would be - he thinks I am the cutest thing in the world!

My thoughts on Lars - I don't think there could be a better dad. He is hands on and always has been. He loves, disciplines, sets boundaries, hugs and kisses, and completely adores his kids. I have seen him emotional 3 times in our marriage. The first was with worry for me after Trey was born. The second was regarding the pain and sadness that came from his mothers cancer and death and the third was when he felt his boy had been wronged. He loves with an intensity that can not be described. He is loyal and the best word I can think of to describe him is integrity. You know we adore Lars in our home because 5 o'clock rolls around and we are all out in our front room looking out the windows waiting for him to get home. The boys ask him each night if tomorrow is his day off.

We Love you daddy!

Love you Lars. Happy Fathers Day

labor of love

Last year our primary presidency was approached about doing a sort of vacation bible school for our children at church. This is a huge undertaking and quite overwhelming, but we pulled it off. Our theme was BOOT Camp (Building Our Own Testimonies) and the kids LOVED it. Each age group was a different platoon and they would march from classes that ranged from Spiritual Training to Craft Detail to Physical Training. Lunch was served in the 'Mess Hall".

Honestly, the kids have SO MUCH fun with this - they look forward to it all year and so this year we might have gone a little overboard but it was so worth it!
Our theme this year was "Putting on the Armor of God". We extended our camp to 3 days and added a water day complete with an awards ceremony, slide show and pinata. Oh the fun!



When all was said and done (yes we even hand made clay CTR shields for the kids to paint and take home) seeing these kids feel the love that all of their leaders have for them is more than worth it. We have kids from ALL walks of life that come together each Sunday and I love them so much. I feel sincerely blessed to serve them.

Julia Karen and I matched in green and black army gear on the firs day - she was a trooper, 3 straight days of no morning naps and being at the church from 9 to 2 on some days.

Funny stories I want to remember *readers be warned one is about nursing*

-On the first day of boot camp I snuck away from my class to quickly feed JK. I hurried into the mothers lounge and not worrying about keeping covered I started to nurse her. All of a sudden I heard a platoon marching closer and closer - turns out that they were doing a scavenger hunt and a clue was hidden in the mothers lounge right where I was nursing - awesome!! Poor kids, they got more than a clue in that room that day! Thanks Tomicka for stopping them before they all were sent into post traumatic stress disorder from a church boot camp!

- the whole week I had a dull and rather painful ache under my left rib cage. Turns out I have a cracked rib (not fractured - but still painful). I just kept thinking I can make it until the end of boot camp. Yesterday I went strait to a pri-med place for an x-ray when boot camp finished up and there you have it a cracked and painful rib - but at least I made it to the end. I always knew I was military material....

Miracle for Tegan

See this little doll - her sweet little body is fighting cancer right now. Her name is Tegan and she is my cousins little girl. My cousin and her husband tried for years to get pregnant, they were finally blessed with this little girl just two years ago and now they are fighting for her life.

My heart has been breaking as I read and hear updates about little Tegan and her struggles with this battle. I know that many of you don't know this family, but I know that you know what it is like to be a mother and to fear for your little ones. Please follow Tegans story with us and pray for her and for her family. I know that prayers ease pain and strengthen us during our darkest hours.

Follow her story at: teganlyn.blogspot.com