Ending summer with some fun

Summer is quickly coming to an end, but we aren't letting it go out without some fun memories being made. On August 12th Matthew and I went to Lion King at the Capital Theater in Salt Lake. It was our 8 year anniversary on August 17th, so this was a little bit of an early celebration. I picked him up from work in Salt Lake and then went to dinner at Ruby River Stake house, and then headed over to the play. The play was incredible and it was fun spending the evening together.
Another fun thing the boys and I did was go and pick blackberries with a few friends of mine. Cooper enjoyed it but would wander a fair amount while we were picking, which I guess is to be expected from a 2 year old.
TJ was an AMAZING helper and ended up picking about 5 lbs of berries just by himself. We got a total of about 11 lbs, and so we made some homemade blackberry jam which we've been enjoying this last week, and I also stuck some in the freezer so that once I can start eating sweets again I can make a blackberry pie. We've also enjoyed some just fresh with our lunches and for snacks. I love summer for the fresh produce that is available.

Here's TJ, enjoying a blackberry while we were out picking.

Matt's birthday isn't until next Tuesday, but since it's so close to my due date, and since it's his 30th birthday, I wanted to make sure that we got in a celebration a bit early. I have tried multiple times over the last 8 years to surprise him one way or another, but he always seems to figure things out. This year I was actually able to pull off a surprise party for him and it was really fun. We just had 3 families from our ward that we are close with come over, my siblings with their families and one of Matt's co-workers and good friend come down, and we were able to pull off the surprise. We had a cereal party for dinner since Matt's favorite food is cold cereal, and then we enjoyed some cake and ice cream together. If you are wondering why there is a UPS logo on his cake (and on his hat, which you might not be able to see), Matt is a HUGE UPS fan, and has been for years an years. I on the other hand, am a big FedEx fan, and have been for years and years. Matt and I both loved our own carriers long before we met each other, so it's just kind of funny that we are so passionate about mail carriers, but I guess that's a sign that we were meant for each other. There were about 45 of us there, and I knew that the one cake wouldn't be enough, so I also made FedEx cupcakes so both carriers would be represented. For some reason, the picture of me with the cupcakes and Matt with his cake wouldn't download to my computer, so you'll just have to imagine.

This picture was taken Sunday, August 29 and I was 38 weeks along. It's so hard to believe that I am getting that close - not quite sure if I am ready for this new adventure, but I guess it's a little too late to turn back (not that I want to). Stay tuned to find out when this little one comes out, and WHAT this little one is.

Anniversary memories part 2

This is a continuation of the post below. I'm not going to worry about putting these in any type of order since I just want to highlight a few fun memories Matt and I have had over the last 8 years together. This first picture is us being silly in the delivery room when I was in labor with Cooper. As I said in the previous post, Matt is so good at keeping life fun! :-)

Here is a picture of us at at the top of the Hancock tower in Chicago. We went to lunch there for our 5 year anniversary, and it was SO much fun. The air and water show was the next day, so there were a bunch of fighter jets practicing for the show and they were flying BELOW us out the window. After lunch we drove to Indiana and stayed at Amish Acres, where we had a fabulous time.
Here is a picture of us the day we became parents. We had a bit of a hard time getting pregnant, so this was a dream come true for us. Boy how I love being a mother, despite the hard days that accompany it.
Here is a picture of Matt and I at Starved Rock, IL. We had so much fun hanging out that day, the weather was beautiful, we laughed and laughed, and I was reminded once again that day that I really married my very best friend. This was a self-portrait with the self timer, and Matt's little "surprise" for me when we got the pictures back was his little "I love you" sign he was doing with his hands.
My family did "pig dinners" occasionally when I was growing up where everyone eats out of a trough and you can't use your hands. The first Thanksgiving we were married Matt and I went to Utah and spent it with my family and the night before Thanksgiving we had a pig dinner. Matthew fell in love with pig dinners, so when we went back to Chicago he built us a bunch of our own and we have used them many many times. He is always so fun to eat pig dinners with cause he really gets into it. By the end of the meal, food is usually up on his forehead. :-)
Here is a picture of Matt and I in El Salvador together eating Pupusas (Matt's favorite meal there). That is where Matt went on his mission and we were able to go back to visit when I was about 7 months pregnant with TJ. We've had some fun times traveling together due to my job working for United Airlines.
We have made some wonderful memories together the past 8 years and I feel so blessed to be married to him! Thanks for being so great Matthew. Happy anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Eight years ago today Matthew and I got married! And what a wonderful life it's been together. I wanted to just post a few pictures of fun memories that we've had together, although it doesn't even scratch the surface of all the fun memories we've had together. This first picture is our wedding announcement. Matt was playing baseball in college when we met and so of coarse we wanted to incorporate that into our invitation since I didn't want a normal "boring" invitation. :-) Just to help you picture it, it was a tri-fold with the "normal" picture of us on the front.

Below is a picture of us at our reception with Matt's magic socks that got us together in the first place. We met at a Single's branch (church) Christmas dance and as soon as I saw his socks (he was dancing around in the middle of a circle with his pants pulled up to his knees) I thought "I have to meet this guy". In case you can't see them too well, they are navy blue with Santa Clauses all over them. For those of you who don't know, I have an obsession with fun socks (over 100 pair). We met that night, our first date was a few weeks later, which was totally amazing, and I was hooked, although I did almost throw up when he asked me to marry him (honestly). :-)

Below is a picture of us camping in our fun pajamas. The first Christmas we were married Matt got me my "footie" pajamas, which I LOVE and his sister gave him these Sugar Daddy pajamas. Matt is so good at keeping life FUN - that is one of my favorite things about him.

I tried up loading other pictures and it was just being weird and not letting me move them around, so I will just have to do another post.

A wonderful trip to Parowan

The boys and I just had a wonderful trip down to Parowan last week. My doctor doesn't want me to go anywhere after I hit 35 weeks, so I wanted to fit in one more short trip before I was "grounded" close to home. We went down on Sunday afternoon and had a relaxing dinner out on the deck that first night. On Monday night, my sister and her family came over and we took dinner up the canyon. My mom had made tin foil dinners which we actually cooked on the grill so we wouldn't have to wait to build a fire and get coals up in the canyon. We also had corn on the cob, marinated cucumbers, breadsticks, and the rest of them had scotcheroos for dessert. We went up to the 5-mile, which is just up the canyon from my house, and it was a PERFECT night. My mom would bring dinner up the canyon occasionally when I was growing up and it was one of my favorite things to do, so I LOVED doing it again. Below is a picture of Cooper and Grandpa taking a little walk when we first got up there. I really like this picture.

Here is a picture of TJ and his cousin Addie. My sister and her family might be moving to Nebraska soon for pharmacy school, so we wouldn't see them much if they did, which is another reason we wanted to make a trip down to Parowan. Addie is such a funny little girl who is just bursting with personality. She and TJ play so well together, and they are just 3 1/2 months apart.

Here is a picture of Cooper and his cousin Kimball. Kimball is 6 months older than Cooper and he is just adorable. He is seriously one of the cutest kids I have ever seen, and he's been that way from birth. This picture is deceiving because it makes Kimball look a lot bigger than Cooper, but that is NOT the case. Cooper definitely outweighs Kimball by a good 5-10 lbs and I think they are about the same height.

Below is a family shot of everyone but my brother-in-law Ammon who was taking the picture. I sure do love my family!

There were a few other highlights as well from my trip down south, which I didn't get pictures of. My neighbor had given me some apricots which I took with me, and my mom got some apricots from one of her neighbors, so I was able to juice all of those and make 12 quarts of apricot nectar. Juicing the apricots brought back so many memories from my childhood - I don't know how many hours were spent in front of that juicer when I was growing up. And it was the first time I had ever really canned apricot nectar (as an adult who cared about learning what I was doing), so it was really fun. I was also able to sleep out on the deck two of the three nights I was there, and the boys slept with me out there. I think that was one of TJ's favorite parts of the whole trip. When I was growing up, sleeping INSIDE during the summer was a punishment.

I also started on making a ladybug baby quilt while I was there just in case this little one inside of me is a girl. I have loved ladybugs for a long time, so if I have a girl I am going to decorate her room in lady bugs. My mom is like the master quilter, so she was helping me learn. This is my first quilt I have made - I did make a wall hanging at Christmas time that I quilted, but I am still pretty clueless. I don't think I will actually get the quilt all the way done before I have the baby, but at least I have a good start on it. Overall it was a wonderful trip down to Parowan and I am so glad that I went. I have such a wonderful family, and I hope that when I "grow up" I can be just like my mom.