The dog days of Summer

First off,

Could someone please explain to me what that even means? 

onward.

It is Summer, and it is glorius. 

I've been an awful blogger,

but I don't really care!

Summer.

Mimi visits.

splash pad, cousins, snuggles with Mimi,

bubbles, play dough, singing and reading,

I think my mom and Beck have a secret language of babble

Beck sure loves his Mimi!

Girls Camp.

LOVE those girls!

 I should have counted the number of times another leader asked me where I was supossed to be.

"I'm a leader, I promise!!"

Preston and Quinn.

uncles! popsicles, Harry Potter, bagel bites,

"King, Queen, Pauper, Peon-aka Poopon"

Costa Vida. amazing performances, Lagoon,

to Provo and  back

Family.

baby cousin bathtime, BBQ's, goodbye's, cousins, Rodeo, cards, fresh bruchetta,

LOVE! Pizza Factory. never enough

Beck.

running, gabbering, signing, giggling, everything throwing,

hugs, high five and pound-its, early rising, door opening and slamming.

Chase.

toddler wrestling, dream chasing,
air conditioner missing,

wife snuggles, dish washing, softball.

Leah.

freckles and sunshine, laundry, chasing,

 cough cough coughing (ick!)

good book reading, free iphone!

Its pretty obvious that I have been HORRIBLE at capturing photos of our Summer.
I'm resolving to fix that!

That pretty much sums up summer so far! 

(Up until about a week ago that is)

We're just loving it.

happy birthday

My best friend had a birthday! 

photo by Jalene Taylor

He is 27. 

and I thought I was an oldy-old!  hah!

It was so much fun to celebrate him on his birthday.

It kinda stinks as you get older because life gets harder and harder to work around on your birthday.

This year he had to work and then we drove up to Logan to speak at a church Youth Conference.

 

-Kind of a stressful event for your birthday, but we were happy to do it.

It was a HUGE plus that it was in Logan,

 because we relish every moment we get to spend in Cache Valley.

I'm not sure if it is the mountains that turn pink just before sunset,

the majestic temple gleaming on her hilltop,

Utah State CAMPUS in all her splendor,

or just the fact that we have millions of wonderful memories together there.

But I can't help but smile (and sometimes tear up)

as we drive through the canyon towards Logan.

Once we were done putting crazy ideas into teenager's minds,

 we took a stroll around campus to show Beck the glory of Utah State.

We let him run around on the quad while we admired all the new buildings they have added to campus.

We visited old friends for a minute, and made plans for a real visit soon.

We also made sure to stop at our favorite ice cream shop on the way out of town.

All in all I think he thought it was a great day.

but we didn't end there!

The best part of Chase's birthday, is that it goes right along with the 4th of July.

That meant that Saturday was a continuation of his birthday party,

and he had no complaints about that!

Our town has a pretty big celebration for Independence day less than a mile from our house.

kids bike parades, BBQ'scarnivals, car shows, and fireworks

You can't beat watching fireworks from your front lawn!

We had family over for a barbecue and birthday party.

We definitely sorely missed Chase's parents and brothers for this celebration,

especially Quinn because he shares a birthday with America,

but we managed to have enough fun for all of us. 

Only one more 4th without them and then it will be a huge welcome home party in 2013!

27 wonderful things about Chase:

•  I called him while he was driving home from work the other day.  He answered but all I could hear was the music blasting and him singing along.  I waited over a minute for the song to end for him to be ready to talk. I didn't mind a bit, I love this about him.  
• His one big birthday wish was to redeem his Free B-day "Grand Slam" breakfast from Denny's. 
• Every morning he gets Beck from his crib, changes his diaper, gets him a bottle and brings him to me...just so I can get an extra 7 minutes of sleep.
• He calls me every day as he is getting in the car to come home. I answer and ask:  "Comin' on down?!"  He always answers with : "come come comenin!"
• He shoots hoops with a 16 month old every single day for as long as that baby wants.

•  He is the king at putting Beck down for bed.  Not only is he really good at it, but he relishes that special time with his son.
• When he gets home he gives me a big kiss first and then wrestles with Beck in the living room.
• The other day on his way home he called me to sing a song he made up about his beautiful wife with sunburned calfs
• He always tells me I'm beautiful, even when I look homeless.
• He always gets my dorky humor when other people look at me like "whaaaaaaa?"
• He works hard to provide for our family
• He is as excited to have more children as I am.
• Our spiritual and future goals are right in sync with one another.
• He makes me laugh on a daily basis
• He (usually) lets me cuddle with him at night even though our room is a million degrees
• He gets excited when I am excited.
• Last Saturday he spent 5+ hours working with me to get the house all spiffy for his b-day party.  Afterwards he said he liked it.
• He still treats Penny (our dog) like our first daughter
• He is loyal to me, his friends, family, job, country, and religion.
• NCAA football on the x-box brings him a lot of stress-relief and enjoyment
• For the first 3 years of marriage he insited that his vintage toy soldiers guard our bedroom windowseal.  He is still a kid at heart and it is one of the reasons he is such a great father.
• Chase is always striving to become the best man that he can be.
• He is as knowledgable and aware of Beck as I am. He makes the effort to know what Beck likes to eat, how he plays, he can translate his jibberish as well me, and never misses an opportunity to snuggle and play.
• He is my biggest fan and support and always tells me how proud I make him
• Chase doesn't require much to keep him happy.  As long as he isn't too hot, has some chips and salsa to snack on, and his family is near, he is a happy camper.

• The other day he picked up my blowdryer diffuser and said "honey, this would make a perfect olive bowl!"  He loves to make me laugh.
• He is my best friend, lover, and best dad to our baby! 

day 1,462 of eternity together

Today is a special day.

It marked the first day of our Fifth year together.  Four years ago on October 21, 2006 Chase and I were married. What a great adventure it has been.  Lots of ups and a few downs, but it definitely has been a wonderful ride.  Chase is a great husband.  I never have to question his love for me. I never have to question his desire to become the best man he can become.  We just have so much fun together.  I love that he has the same quirky humor that I do-even if other people don't really think its funny.  I love that he provides for our family and doesn't complain.  Watching him become a father has expanded my feelings for him like a balloon connected to an air pump.  To see him as such a tender, involved Dad just makes my day, every day.  Each time he gets up in the night and tries to calm Beck down, even though he knows there is a 90% chance that nothing but nursing will work, my love grows deeper.  He wants to be there for each moment; even the poopy diapers and tired nights. 

That makes me want to stick by his side. 

 For eternity. 

What do you get when you've got nothing to make for dinner?

...TOM-LOVE SOUP!

The other day I was distracted until I realized my stomach was growling.

 It was 7:30pm and I had nothing prepared for dinner...

...and we might not have been grocery shopping for over a week...

I know I'm a "horrible wife".

So I decided to get creative.

I put some chicken broth in a big pot.

a bag of frozen broccoli,

frozen corn,

cut up a frozen kilbasey that I had in the freezer, and

some quick homemade noodles.

Oh yeah, and I added some spices at my leisure...

fennel, thyme,

bay leaves,

a little cream,

and of course some Tony's .

I was so proud of myself because I thought I had been so creative and had created a masterpiece.

Its not that it was bad, it just wasn't that good.

You know, too many combinations of flavors...

Its ok though, because it included a game.

Chase had to search his soup for the two "special noodles".

I know, we're crazy. Ya gotta mix life up a little sometimes you know?

P.S. The "Tom" part of this culinary masterpiece comes from the "T" noodle. Tom is the nickname that Chase and I both call eachother. Thats a story for another day...

2 lovely years!

Yesterday was our 2 year anniversary and we are just as madly in love as our wedding day.

What a wonderful two years it has been! Here are some pictures:

(Sorry some of these pictures aren't very good quality for online, but you get the gist)

Our cruise was planned for our anniversary

so we just did sweet-thoughtful things for eachother rather than spending money.

Chase wrote me a very sweet love letter.

Included in it was a list of "Fun memories" from the past two years.

Here are a few that he listed:

-Getting a Penny

-Trip to NY (flying trapeze)

-Six flags trip for track meets

-Christmas with the Enzlers

-Discovery of "Tom" (this one is an inside joke-story for another day)

-You were my nurse on Halloween

-Your graduation-shaking hands with Elder Perry

-Romantic Anniversary Inn (that was last year's anniversary getaway)

-Working all Summer with you selling pest control-you are so tough!

-Being two years married to my best friend!!

Can't wait for another billion trillion years of happiness together!!