Dearest of Friends

one of my favorite traditions that i carry is to mark on my calendar every other month to go out with my dearest friends for lunch. you may think they look closer to being my mother, and yes all three of them are my mother gooses (they never hold back with advice they think i need and i have always felt so comfortable going to them with small or big problems for their guidance), but there is no doubt that they are young at heart and full of spirit! jodie (who is sitting next to me) is my soul sister, i have no doubt about it! when i am struggling with something, she knows it without me ever having to tell her! Carolyn (front right) is so soft spoken and so genuine, but keeps much to herself...she doesn't like change (i like to tease her about that) but when carolyn lets loose, she lets loose. when we first started working together after work she chaged into a metallica shirt and i thought she was joking! boy was i wrong, she was heading straight to their concert. then there is carilee, this lady seriously was meant to be a cowgirl...she just never made it to texas! when i was younger i loved watching the movie funny girl, carilee reminds me of funny girl. her laugh is contagious! megan (carilee's daughter) and noah (jodie's grandson)are family.
i have know jodie, carolyn and carilee for about 5 years, we all used to work together. most people think that it's odd that i keep in touch with coworkers and with such a gap in age. these extraordinary women are much more than coworkers to me though, we were defiantly sisters in another life.
we share such an incredibly strong connection with each other and always manage to keep our tradition going and i know it will continue. i love you ladies and am so glad that we share so much with each other!

Those Two Trouble Makers

you know, when people use the phrase 'terrible twos', i thought they were joking!!
i don't know what it is, but when elizabeth and gabe are together, it equals trouble...and lots of it! they manage to get into mischief together that they normally wouldn't get into alone.
i learned this in park city. before park city elizabeth actually didn't really like playing with gabe. i mean, he's big and when he comes at you for a hug...that might scare me too if i was as little as elizabeth. in park city she started playing with him and i think right then they realized they were a good team.
we went to hang out with the turner and during the movie gabe and elizabeth went off to play...then a little while later i saw them sneak out of the office and gabe made sure to close the door behind them. he then brought holly a plastic container and asked for more goldfish for him and elizabeth. which couldn't be good because the container was full 10 mins. earlier. yeah, these pictures show you exactly what we found behind that closed office door.
i think we can may have our work cut out for us, but we just might make it through the 'terrible twos'.
i also have to mention that elizabeth is in love with holly's cute pregnant belly. whenever she sees holly she wants to hug the baby, and then she looks at holly and lifts holly's shirt and says 'come out baby'.

Katherine's 18th Birthday

my family really should discuss katherine's adoption, seriously she is like a little sister to me. with her moving up her from out of state, she was all worried that her 18th birthday would suck because none of her friends would be here. i wasn't going to let that happen! we all planned a big dinner and then went out to a movie and of course enjoyed a delicious birthday cake. happy birthday katherine! i hope all your birthday wishes come true!

Just a Little Fun

i mentioned my parent's neighbors, the shumways before. well caleb's little sister katherine moved in with them, and we have had the great opportunity to get to know her. she is so much fun to be around and i try to hang out with her as much as i can! she has the prettiest smile that could light up any room! plus, she is hilarious and makes me laugh whenever i'm with her...and she is fun to tease. i feel like i am 18 again whenever i hang out with her, it's great!

Happy Father's Day

Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope. ~Bill Cosby

my dad is the most extraordinary person that you will ever meet. he has taught me so much throughout the years, but the most important thing he taught me was to believe in myself. he always made me feel like i could do anything. as long as i worked hard for, it didn't matter the dream, as long as i set goals, i could accomplish my dream. he also taught me to love others, no matter what, and i could do that by serving others. i always see him serving others and it's inspiring. i love you so much dad and you will always and forever be my hero.

we spent most of the evening at my parent's, but we did go visit ryan's dad rodney and his little brother randy. it is always nice seeing them.

now i have to take time and brag about what an amazing dad ryan is to elizabeth!
i will tell you something, when you are a young married couple with a tiny newborn that you don't really have a clue what your doing....ryan sure figured it out quickly. ryan was born to by a father, he is so wonderful to elizabeth and she just adores her daddy
happy father's day to all you incredible dad's that continue to inspire so many people around you!

35 year Anniversary....and still in LOVE

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.
~Dinah Craik

Ellie,Michael & Kaylee

my parent's have the nicest neighbors, the shumways, they are like family to us. they have the cutest three kids. michael and kaylee are the oldest two, and elizabeth just adores them. whenever michael sees my car at my parent's he comes over looking for elizabeth.
he makes me smile because every time i see him, he tells me that he is going to marry elizabeth...it's very cute.

Sweet Tooth Sweetie

ryan and I got elizabeth a white chocolate troll sucker in park city (yes, I still need to blog about park city...but you all must have patience) and she wouldn't eat it because she thought the troll was so cute because it had pink hair. finally i convinced her that it would taste really good. she started eating it and i got distracted doing something else, about 10 mins. later she came to me and was all sad. i asked her what was wrong and she said "elizabeth ate the trolls mile". i didn't understand what she was saying and she just kept saying it over and over again in this sad voice. then she showed me the troll sucker and she had eaten the trolls smile off it's face.
i told her it was okay that she ate the trolls smile, and then she looked up at me with a huge grin on her face and said "i like it".

Park City

my parents take the whole family to park city every year. we have so much fun together!

june 7, 2009


june 8, 2009


june 9, 2009


june 10, 2009


june 11, 2009


june 12, 2009