Five Years . . . and counting!

Happy anniversary to us! Five years ago today we were married in the Salt Lake Temple. Its gone by so fast, and yet its hard to imagine life any differently. We celebrated over the weekend by staying in a castle (well, the Castle Creek Inn B&B in Sandy, that is).

Nathan and I met in a singles/student ward. Sounds so typical, I know, but it really was ideal. Here's the story for anyone who cares to know: Nate was attending the University of Utah and I was done with BYU and working in Salt Lake at the Family History Library. We both lived on Capitol Hill and went to the University 41st Ward at the U of U Institute. For a year or so we were aquaintences with a lot of mutual friends and got to know each other on the activities committee and at get-togethers and hiking/camping trips with friends. Things finally just started to "click" when we went on a backpacking trip in August of 2003 with just two other friends in the Wellsville Mountains in Cache Valley, Utah. Near the end of the hike we ran out of water and were exhausted and my feet were so blistered that I had to finish the hike in my socks. Nate ended up running down the rest of the trail to the car, hiked all the way back up to where I was and carried my pack the rest of the way. How could I help but like him after he rescued me like that? Anyway, we had our first official date a few days later (where Nate introduced me to Korean food--pretty good, I might add!). Around this same time we were called to be co-chairs of the activities committee in our ward and found that we really worked well together and liked being around each other. Well, as they say, "the rest is history." We got engaged on December 20, 2003 at the Cape Mears Lighthouse on the Oregon coast (my family lived in Oregon at the time and Nate had come up to meet them).

Well, Nate, its been an amazing five years full of many different kinds of adventures and I look forward to the next five, and the next five after that, and the next . . . . I love you!

Wierd Potty Training Tips . . . That Work!

So Robbie is turning out to be a tough kid to potty train, so here's some wierd things we've been trying (actually, I'm sure we're not the first parents to do these things). Warning: If you don't have little kids, you may find this a tiny bit crude and if the words "poo", "poop", "pee", etc. make you cringe, you might as well quit reading now.



Wierd Potty Training Tips


1. Poo Personification--Robbie loves it when we pretend the poo likes to swim in the toilet bowl and down into the sewer pipes. Even better is when we talk for the poop to encourage him to go: "Let me out, I want to go swimming!" or "Hey, I need a friend down here to swim with!"


2. Reverse Phychology--All we need to say is, "I REALLY hope you don't use the potty soon." or "Don't sit on the potty!" and Robbie goes from crying and complaining to begging for us to let him use it.


3. Pretend "It" is a Fire Hose--'nough said.


4. Poo-poo Parade--Sometimes to celebrate we march around the house, playing instruments and singing "Robbie went pee-pee on the potty! Robbie went poopy on the potty!"


5. Everyone Gets Praised--You know you're a potty-training parent when you walk out of the bathroom and your whole family cheers and claps because you just went poo-poo on the potty!

Swimming

We took the kids swimming at the Legacy Center in Lehi on Saturday and had a blast! This was Ari's first time in the pool and and she took to it with absolutely no trepidation. In this picture she's getting sprayed by the little fountains at the edge of the pool--she loved crawling around in them and trying to drink the water (YUCK!). Robbie has made great strides in his fear of the huge tipping bucket of water on top of the kids play area and actually had a great time getting doused. Can't wait for some great outdoor swimming this summer!

Pigtails

Here's one of my first attempts at pigtails! Ari's hair is getting long in front and starting to get into her eyes, so I'm trying to learn how to fix it, plus I want her to get used to having stuff in her hair. Wow, it sure is challenging to do a wiggly seven month old's hair! Any advice from you moms out there on doing little girls hair??

Crawler

Ari started crawling about a week or two ago and now she can't get enough of it. Robbie likes to "help" her along, usually by dragging her as far away from his toys as possible.

Great New Photos

My sister-in-law Renee took these photos of Robbie and Ari. She did a great job, especially for a beginner! Thanks, Renee!

25 Random Things

There's this thing going around Facebook lately where you write 25 random things about yourself. I'm mostly posting this "for posterity's sake" since my blog is almost the only journaling that I do. Some of you have seen this already, some of you probably wouldn't care to read 25 random things about me, but for the rest of you, read on!

1. As a child I was deathly afraid of earthquakes and aliens--and still am.
2. I have a phobia of time-wasting--I have a hard time just sitting down to watch TV or a movie without doing something at the same time. Sometimes this drives my husband crazy.
3. I love reading historical fiction.
4. I have a love/hate relationship with being a stay-at-home mom--but I wouldn't change it for anything!
5. I know the gender of my sister's new baby (she's due in June) and she and her husband have no idea!!
6. I was incredibly shy and introverted in jr. high and high school and found any social situation to be very stressful. Sometimes those old feelings creep back sometimes.
7. When my mom was pregnant with me her water broke while she was in the Provo Temple.
8. I'm not naturally drawn to children like a lot of women are, but I do absolutley adore my own two kids. Luckly my husband is really great with kids, so he makes up for me.
9. I think it would have been cool to live in the 1700s or 1800s (as long as I wasn't dirt poor).
10. I went to Europe twice as a teenager (Italy and Greece when I was 17 and England, France and Spain when I was 18). These trips really helped with my shyness (see number 6).
11. My new favorite food is spaghetti squash (its so yummy with marinera sauce and parmesan cheese).
12. I'm still head-over-heels in love with my husband. It seems that every day I discover a new reason why we're perfect for each other.
13. One of my secret goals is to write a book someday--something non-fiction, I don't like creative writing.
14. I insist that all our children be named after someone specific (Robbie's named after my dad, Ari (Aurelia) is named after a lady I taught on my mission). Nate isn't sure if he totally agrees with this.
15. Speaking of kids, I used to want six, now I think I only want three, maybe four.
16. Sometimes this is kind of embarrassing, but I'm a "Treckie" and I really like watching science fiction movies and TV shows (anybody else love the BBC's new Dr. Who?).
17. I think one of the mose beautiful places in the whole world is the Morrill Meadowbrook Ranch and surrounds (near Capitol Reef National Park). When I first saw it I knew I needed to get into that family!
18. Nathan and I are new fans of Dave Ramsey and are trying hard to follow his financial advice (i.e. spending plan every month, using a cash envelope system, never buying on credit except a house, paying off all our debt ASAP, etc.).
19. I was in a band once for maybe a month; I was the bass guitar player.
20. I went to BYU and am a faithful Latter-day Saint, yet I hate "mo-pop" (i.e. Michael McClain) and can't stand "Mormon" movies. (No offense to anyone who loves this stuff, its just not my thing.)
21. Arches is my favorite National Park. I love hiking and camping in the desert and red rocks.
22. I would love to live out in the country, have some land, and maybe a small farm, I just wouldn't want to be too far from family.
23. My favorite radio station is NPR--it makes me feel intellectual. My favorite show on NPR is "Science Friday."
24. I can't think of anything else and am starting to get antsy because I feel like I'm wasting time.
25. I'm turning 30 in 58 days. Yikes!