Happily Ever After {8 years}

I look at this picture and a flood emotions come back.  That day we had the whole world in our hands and nothing could brake us. We were in love and we had plans to get into law school in Canada,  Dave would take over his dad practice in Calgary Canada, and have lots of kids. It would be a very Happily Ever After.
 
Little did I know that Heavenly Father had a different plan for us. Law School didn’t work out, I worked while Dave finished his bachelors degree in business. We got pregnant 3 1/2 years into our marriage because things didn’t feel right until then. We moved 4 times, I had 5 jobs, Dave 2. We have had our straggles and great joys. Especially bringing our son into the world October 23, 2010. We are struggling with secondary infertility, had a miscarriage and a chemical pregnancy.

The world wants us to divorce when things get hard and move on to a new campaign until that one gets hard.  I am so grateful we were married in the Temple of the Lord where we can know when things get tough, we stick together and know that the Lord will direct our path.

Once upon a time I became yours & you became mine. And we’ll stay together through both the tears & the laughter because that’s what they call Happily Ever After.
-Kathy R. Jeffords

I have loved our Happily Ever After.  The joys in marriage  out weighs the bad. I love you and we have made it this far and I can’t wait to see what our life will being.
Happy 8th year Anniversary, babe!

David's First Marathon

Dad did the Utah Valley Marathon on June 13th, 2014.  He left early in the morning, about 3 am, to head down to Provo with his co-workers Steve and Chris. They were bused up to Wallsburg, Utah,{running into Provo Canyon and features much of the diverse scenery offered in Utah County}. 
We followed along with Dad within a running app and watched the orange dot move along the 26.2 mile path.
Start of the marathon. Dad is in yellow.

It was a chillier summer morning, so you sat bundled up in the stroller waiting for daddy to cross the finish line. We got there a little too early so we waited about 45 mins. However, we had fun cheering on others as they crossed.

End of the Marathon; He looks like death.




Our view of watching Daddy finish!

Where’s daddy?

We were so excited to see daddy and to congratulate him for all his hard work and not dying on the trail.

Going to get treats and drinks with daddy.

Steve, Dave, and Chris {VMT co-workers} all ran the marathon.

We signed up Spencer and you to do the Utah Valley Kids 1k. It was yours and Spencers first time racing. Dad and I also ran it. He loves you so much because he just finish his marathon about 1 1/2 hours before your race and his feet were killing him.
Spencer was a huge help helping you run the whole race. Aunt Dede, Ashley and Nana watched us from the side and cheered us on.


Enjoying your medals and Oreos.


Marathon
Bib No. 5598
Age Division: 30-34 

Segment 1 - 13.10   
Time: 1:40      
Pace: 7:42/M
Rank: 198

Segment 2 - 9:14
Time: 1:19.50.3
Pace: 8.42/M
Rank: 302

Segment 3 - 3.93
Time: 33:21.3
Pace: 8:29/M
Rank: 196

Finish
Chip Time: 3.33.58.3
Gun Time: 3.35.36.7
Pace: 8.10/M
Overall Place: 222
Gender Place: 173
Division Place: 25


Dave is no longer only Half crazy, he is now full crazy. I am so proud of his accomplishments and finishing the race in the time zone he set for him elf. He qualified for the Boston Marathon which has been his dream! (For about a year)

Time to stop…

This summer I decided it was time for you to stop sucking your fingers. You would suck them on the couch while watching tv, in your car seat, or when you had nothing to do.  We tried once before, reminding you not to suck during the day. Well, that didn’t work. It just made you mad and you would find a way to suck your fingers.
 
I didn’t have a plan, so I looked on the internet and found a sticker chart. We started giving you a sticker in the morning, afternoon, and night when we saw you weren't sucking your fingers. We kept on reminding you, “don’t suck your fingers so you can get any transformer toy you want”. It worked! From day one you worked really hard not to suck on your fingers. You would use both hands to twirl your hair to keep your hands busy.  Once you covered up your 8 space ships, you were so happy and you  picked Bubble bee.
 
Round 2, Your goal was the same so you could get in the habit of not sucking and making it permanent. You were becoming such pro at us never asking to stop sucking your fingers during the day. After 8 stickers {which took about 3 days} you were really excited for Blades.
 
Round 3, We stretched out your earnings for stickers. You earned a sticker a night. You were really good and we didn’t have to remind you at all. The only time you would ask was when you were in bed. After about a week you finally earned Heat Wave and you were so excited.
 
What a great achievement you earned. We are so proud of you being able to break something that you did starting at 3 months and at 3 years and 9 months you broke the habit.

Left to Right Rescue Bots,
Bumble Bee, Boulder, Heat Wave, Optumis Prime and we left out Blades.

Moab

On the morning of Friday July 11th we, including Uncle Brian, drove 3 hours to Moab and met up with Spencer, Nana, and the Norcross gang.
We were all hungry so our first stop was at Wendy’s. Then we all piled into 2 cars and went to Arches National Park. 
Exploring the breathing taking red rock and the view.



First experience was the Three Window arch. We walked 1/10th of a mile to the North Window. It was 100 degrees so even though it wasn't a long walk, we were all drenched in sweat. The shade provided enough coolness that we sat there for a little bit to explore.


Uncle Troy was giving Ryker a piggy back ride, the heat Zapped his energy.


We walked another short distance to the Turret Arch;







The South Arch was by far the coolest arch of the three, the wind blew through just right that it helped us cool off. We had fun walking all over the arch and finding different nooks and crannies.


We walked across the road to the Double Arch; they are an incredible formation of arches. It was a 0.5 mile round trip walk. The Younger kids, Ryker, Spencer, and Troy stayed back with Nana in the cool car.

Beautiful landscape of Moab, with Aunt Pam and Uncle Troy.

What an awesome family we have, breaking out in YMCA in Moab.


A natural cave man.

We ate at a "hole in the wall" pizza place, went to the cabin we rented, cleaned up and went to bed.

Day 2,
Woke up to another 100 degrees and sunny day and ate yummy pancakes Uncle Troy made. Then at 10 am we went on a drive to look at the petroglyphs made by Indians. Interesting Fact: Archaeologists believe that most the petroglyphs were done by Indians of the Southern San Rafael Fremont culture, which flourished between 600 A.D. and 1300 A.D

Then we stopped at Potash Road Tracks to look at the tracks of  meat-eating dinosaurs preserved in blocks of Navajo Sandstone that have eroded from the cliffs and fallen.

Showing us your scary dinosaur claws. The cutest dinosaur I have ever seen.

Afterwards, we found a spot for a picnic where we were spoiled by eating Uncle Troy’s brisket sandwiches, chips, and lots of water.
After lunch we drove back to the Arches and our last adventure was the Delicate arch.
We all piled out and read the sign about the Arch; 
Time: 2 to 3 hours
Distance: 3 miles (4.8 km) round trip and NO SHADE.
We agreed that the little ones were more than tired and wouldn’t make it. So Nana, Spencer, McKinley, you, and me would stay back and go to the Delicate Arch view point. 
We read the sign and it said;
Length: 100 yards (91 meters) round trip
Time: 10 to 15 minutes
We could do that.
The sun was blazing hot and our energy was already zapped . We took a lot of rest and found the only shade there was.


It took longer then the sign said, about 35 min. But we made it. The view was spectacular and the light breeze was delightful to cool us off enough to get our energy back.

We headed back down slowly. When we got to the car we all stripped off our shoes and blasted the AC and waited for the rest of the gang to come back.
Dave, Brian, Ashley, Uncle Troy, Lisa, Aunt Pam, Troy, and Gretchen made it to the delicate arch.
In agreement, everyone said this was their favorite hike and arch yet. No wonder since it's on our cars license plates.

The Norcross family and Brian stayed and explored more of what Arches has to offer.
We {Nana, Spencer, Dad, you, and me} headed back to the cabin and got some nice cold  ice cream shakes. We packed our stuff and put you in your PJ's for the 3 hour ride home. We waved goodbye to Nana and Spencer and drove home.

It was a fast trip but well worth it.
What a fun experience to see the most breath taking creations that our Heavenly Father has created for us.