Good child care!

So a few weeks ago our FAVORITE babysitter went off to BYU and left us completely helpless! She was our go to girl, very reliable and always available, even at our usual short, short notice. And even though Damen would cry and try to push her out the door whenever she showed up, deep down he really liked her too. So, here's to you Karyann! Thanks so much for caring for our precious child. We wish you well and if you know of anyone as funloving as you that wouldn't mind coming over to watch Damen in about 15 minutes, that would be great!

4th of July!

The day after Damen's birthday we traveled to Utah to attend our good friends sealing and to enjoy time with Dustin's parents and brothers and sisters. We stayed with Sari, Dustin's sister, so did the rest of the family, all 25 of us! It was lots of fun, we really had a great time. Damen loved playing with all the cousins, especially Lincoln(15 months) and Ryan(18 months), the other two "babies". He especially loved playing in the water in the backyard and eating junk food.








We got to see a lot of old friends on the fourth at the Murray Days parade.



It goes right down the street we used to live on so all of our old neighbors and people from church were there. Our good friends the Yardleys came too with their daughter Whitney. We also had time to hang out with my high school friend, Allysia and my sister Christi.



















Our friends, Dan and Melissa were sealed to their daughter Olivia on Saturday, she's been featured in the blog as Damen's bff, it was really special and we were so glad to be there with them.


We drove there and back and learned that Damen doesn't much like long car trips. We thought ahead and brought a portable DVD player which was a lifesaver, but Dustin and I are pretty sick of "Cars", we must have watched it about a dozen times!
We're so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Thanks Sari and Brett for your hospitality, and thanks to EVERYONE else that had to travel to see us (Blake, Terra & Josh, Evan & Ashlee, Mom & Dad, Sean & Stacy, Trevor & Jen)!!

Damen's 2!

My how the time has flown by! I can't believe it's already been two years since this little wonder came into our lives. Damen is absolutely wonderful, he's definitely a toddler now and all that that entails, but we still love him.
On his birthday, July 2nd, we had a bunch of friends over and filled up the water slide pool, had cake and presents, it was lots of fun.
Damen really enjoyed being the center of attention! The one present I'm most excited about was the underwear we got him, we are done with diapers, so any potty training advice would be great! I can't wait to get started. We have been so blessed with Damen in our lives, we have learned a lot and grown a lot these past two years, and it's all thanks to him. Because of Damen we get to be parents and we couldn't have asked for a better son!





















About the cake, this picture was taken AFTER a giant bouncy ball bounced into it. I fixed it up and I don't think Damen cared too much. Red frosting is really hard to make, (Damen is obsessed with "Cars"), so it's Dinoco Blue instead.

What a wonderful life!

So much has happened in the past few days! Yesterday was our 10th wedding anniversary, awesome right? Honestly, I can't imagine 10 happier years for us. The past two have been drastically different from the previous 8, but we've managed to keep it together, in fact having Damen has made us happier than we ever knew we could be. We can't wait to see what's in store for us in the next 10 years. Also, yesterday, my good friend Yvonne had her baby girl! Her name's Mia and she's perfect! Yvonne had some complications and they were worried about the babies health, but everything's fine. I haven't seen a picture yet, but as soon as I get one, I'll post it.
Also, on a side note, we've changed our plans for our vacation and we're going to San Francisco for 5 days instead of a cruise. It doesn't matter where we go, just that we GO.
As for the title of this entry, it's true we have a wonderful life!

Not yet!

One of Damen's favorite things to do is to grab something with a handle, (like his toy tool box) kiss me goodbye and head to the door, where he'll jiggle the handle a bit then go find something else to do. Today it was a small cooler with a handle, only today I said to him, "no you don't get to leave yet, you stay here with mommy until you're five". Then it hit me, that's only three very short years away. We've already spent two years together, playing and laughing and napping. I can't believe how quickly it goes. And I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, even the tough days when one of us is cranky. I am going to miss those days and all the ones in between in three short years when he'll go off to Kindergarten and enter the world of school. Remember to celebrate this time that we're given to have the undivided attention of our children everyday. This time when we can build forts, play hide and seek, lay on the couch all day watching Finding Nemo, and when our children will look to us for their every need and laugh with us when we tickle them. Yes, I'll probably cry on the first day of Kindergarten, because I'm going to miss playing with my son.

Happy June 15th!!

I couldn't just say Happy Father's Day or just Happy Birthday to me, so Happy June 15th!!
I am so blessed to be married to Dustin, the best father and husband we could have. He's caring and energetic, and he loves loves loves us!! We are also blessed to both have such wonderful fathers ourselves. And great brothers and brother-in-laws that take good care of our sisters and nieces and nephews. We are really grateful for such wonderful fathers!!
Yes, it is my Birthday too. I have just one year left in my 20's and I intend to make the most of it! We didn't take any pictures yesterday so I'm posting one of me when I was turning 3, cute hair and everything!

Nana Howard

I totally forgot to mention that the week before "sisters weekend", Dustin's mom, Marda, came down for a few days. We went to a family reunion for the Rawlins side of the family, which is Marda's maiden name, and had fun just hanging out. The picture of Damen in the car is what he looked like right after we dropped Marda off at the airport, he was devastated to loose his newest playmate!
The other picture I took of him after he got into Dustin's work clothes that were filthy dirty and sitting in my dining room for some reason, what a BOY.
Thanks Marda for coming, we really enjoyed your company!!