A Decade of Love: The Wedding

Well here we are, dear readers. The culmination of eight months of courtship and two month of engagement. Today is the big day! 

So here are some pictures (not the professional ones because I'd have to scan them and I'm not doing that) along with my commentary and random memories of the day.

I woke up early that morning with a charlie horse in my right calf. I decided that's a sign of good look. My sister Rachel and best friend Kenzie came over early to do my hair. We decided to start big and by the time pictures came around, my hair would be perfectly poofy. My sister Meredith brought me a yogurt because I was too nervous to eat anything else.

Heading out the door. Justin and I were supposed to be there 30 minutes earlier than everyone else but I think we were only like 5 minutes ahead.

We drove to Manti together. Some people said later they thought it was weird we drove together. I think they're weird.

Oh man, it's for reals. And I'm noticing how many more trees my parents had in their yard back then.

Here are some random memories of our time at the temple:

• The coat tree in the temple lobby fell over when I hung my wedding dress on it when handing them my recommend.
• Justin and I were in the sealing room with the sealer (who was our friend's Dave's grandpa and the owner of the house in Ferron where it all began) first. He talked to us for a few moments and then the rest of our family came in. I've never seen it done like that anywhere else.
• I wasn't really paying attention to the sealing ceremony and then all of a sudden it hit me "Oh! These are the words!"
• You're not allowed to spray hairspray in the bride's room.
• I got to see my great-great-great-great (maybe one more great?) grandfather Isaac Morley's apron framed and hanging in the Manti temple.
• I almost forgot to take my temple recommend with me to go out and take pictures. I'm hoping they'd let me back in to change without it. (Or my mom would have gone in to get it, I guess.)

I can't get over how tiny my nieces and nephews are.

We were there for quite awhile taking pictures. Justin's mom left us a couple of sack lunches. It tasted so good, even the warm string cheese. Then Justin dropped me off at my house as I had to still pack for our honeymoon and help with a few reception things. How weird to get married and then dropped back off at your parents house.

All my nieces were the flower girls. Crazy that Sarah is this age now.

All the parents and siblings (minus Nate who was on a mission and my sister Julie)

My aunt Evelyn made my wedding cake. It turned out just how I wanted it.

This wheel thing moved with water. Pretty cool, huh? The nice thing about having a reception at an art museum is minimal decorating.

I don't know if I ever made it over to that part of the room to even see how my centerpieces turned out. 

I threatened Justin that he had better not smash the wedding cake all over my face. I hate that. Instead he fed me an entire corner of frosting and fondant.

Still chewing fondant.....

We rode off on a motorcycle. Even taking the petticoat off from under my dress didn't cut down on all the puffiness.

He almost kicked me in the head. Usually the driver gets on first but he had to sit on my skirt so he went second.

And then we were off! My sleeves were so tight it made it hard to hold on and I thought of what a tragic way to die. We made a long loop around town for the attention.

Later, as we were driving to Heber, it dawned on both of us that we didn't have to do wedding plans anymore. That was nice.

*I hope you have enjoyed looking back and relieving the past as much as I have. It's fun to see we are still pretty nerdy in love with each other but also how our relationship has evolved and grown (and how our hair has changed). I'm so happy this is now all documented for my kids to read someday but it's been a  fun thing to do to lead up to our anniversary. Who knows what the next 10 years will bring.

Henry's Preschool Graduation

Henry graduated from preschool on Wednesday. I really dislike preschool and kindergarten graduations. Any graduation before high school is pointless. But anyway, I got some good laughs and captured Henry's personality perfectly in some pictures and video.

He didn't want to go to school this day because he didn't want to go on the stage to sing or do his part. I told him he didn't have to. If he wanted to sit by me the entire time, he could.

Things started out okay.

He did the actions but any time he caught me looking at him, he would fight a smile. He's literally wiping a grin off his face.

Then it got to the point where he would get almost mad if he caught me looking at him.

Then he hid from me completely.

When it came time for the presentation of the graduates, his teacher told me he did not want to put the cap and gown on (not surprised there) but he did it.

What you're about to see are my favorite few seconds of Henry ever captured on video.

Did you catch him say "whatever"? That's so him.

I was so proud of him for doing something even though he didn't want to do it and it is definitely not his thing (And I think I have an ally in the pointlessness of preschool graduation ceremonies)

Once he took off his cap and gown and had a cupcake with toy animal toppers, he was fine.

Then we got some lunch and ate it at the park which is exactly how Henry would want to mark any occasion.

Henry Turns 5

Henry turned 5 on Saturday! I broke down Friday afternoon when I realized it was his last day being 4. Weird how the days go by so slow but the years fly by.

The day Henry was born was one of the scariest days of my life and his first week was one of the most heart-wrenching and trying times. I am so happy we are 5-years removed from that time. But I am grateful I learned how strong we both are.

We were up way too late the night before so he slept later than usual and was really sad and grumpy that morning. We tried saying "Surprise!" to cheer him up when he came down but that only made things worse. Justin held him on the couch while we listened to his favorite songs (Story of My Life, Say Geronimo and Burning Bridges) then I coaxed him into seeing what was in some of his presents.

He was super funny and hugged just about every present.

Actually it was just the food ones he hugged. This is a fruit roll up.

Yes, he is kissing a can of sweetened condensed milk. He's my treat twin.

Sarah bought him this book with her own money at the bookfair.

He also got a crazy sprinkler, big water gun, playground ball, some books, UNO, and some clothes. Nana and Papa got him a new scooter while they were here a few weeks ago, Nate and Cassandra got him some Batman/Superman pajamas that he's worn just about every night for two weeks.

And he got this:

For breakfast, we went to the Mapleton Fire station for their fireman's breakfast. We had a pancake breakfast and Sarah won a Coldstone giftcard in a drawing. Then the kids got to explore several firetrucks and ambulances. I forgot to bring my camera. It was pretty much 5-year-old boy heaven.

Then the kids played with his new chalk, bubbles and squirt gun. After lunch they played in the sprinklers. I didn't plan a friend party because I figured a sprinkler on the front lawn on a Saturday afternoon would attract his friends and it did. After they cleaned it all up, I gave everyone a cupcake and sent them home.

While the kids were outside, I worked on his birthday cake. He wanted a basketball again. This year I flavored the frosting with pureed strawberries and dyed it orange and used chocolate sprinkles for the lines.

Then we got pizza and met my family at the park. Gotta love his baseball hat, football shirt and basketball cake.

Oh my heart.

He got a toy car from Rachel's family, a set of balls from Meredith's family and a card with some birthday money from my parents. And more candy. And he got to play on a playground with a bunch of cousins which was all he wanted that day anyway.

On the way home we stopped to get the mail and lucky for us, his Dumbo DVD finally arrived! He loves his stuffed Dumbo but had never seen the movie. They've watched it every day since.

Here are his 5-year-old pictures. These are just some of my favorites.

 "Here's some shade, Mom!" Darn it if he gave his best smile in the ugly pine branches.

 This pose he came up with all on his own.

 Can you tell he needs to use the bathroom?

 How bout now?

My favorite things about Henry

1. He hated preschool and it took all my powers of persuasion and many bribery doughnuts to get him to go in on his own but for the last couple of months, he didn't fight one bit.

2. He's very good at playing with Erica. He keeps her occupied by making hideouts, pretend birthday parties, coloring projects, jumping on his bed, and playing Legos with her.

3. He still loves fruit and vegetables. We have to make sure to pass the fruit or vegetable plate to him last at dinner or no one else will get any.

4. He is very interested in reading. He asks me to tell him what things say and how to spell words. Erica has caught on with the requests too so I have to be on my spelling bee toes.

5. His best friend is Dexter. He spends a good part of an afternoon at his house a couple of times a week. (Dexter is the youngest in his family so I think (hope) his mom enjoys a playmate to keep Dexter busy) If he's over there during Erica's nap (like now) double score for me. 

6. He wants to be a farmer when he grows up and wants to grow everything: Cows, corn, chickens, grapes, watermelon, sheep.

7. He is very particular about what we listen to in the car. "Yuck" he'll say to any song he doesn't like.

8. He rarely throws tantrums now but he gets put into timeout for just not doing what he's supposed to like just lying on the floor when he should be cleaning up.

9. His favorite shows and movies: Big Hero 6, Dumbo, Fievel Goes West, Toy Story, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Wild Kratts, Fireman Sam

10. he is the first one to sleep and the first one up. Some mornings after Justin has left for work he'll come lay by me in my bed and won't move even the tiniest bit. I think he's fallen asleep but then he'll suddenly get up and go to the basement to watch TV until everyone else is up.

Happy Birthday Henry. You are still my teeny little super guy.

Mothers Day

Here's my annual photo with my kiddos. They crack me up, the little goof-balls.

Justin made me a delicious breakfast and dinner, I got chocolate and popcorn and then spent time with my mom and sisters. It was a nice relaxing day so of course Justin was exhausted.

Here are my 5 thoughts on being a mom.

1. I still have no idea what I'm doing.
2. I hope I'm in the peak years of stuff everywhere and fingerprints all over everything. It can't get worse, can it?
3. Between getting snacks, cleaning up spills, making lunches, cooking dinner, and doing dishes, food consumes 70% of my time and energy.
4. I'm an ornerier mom than I thought I would be. I'm a stricter mom than I thought I would be. The two must be related.
5. I've gotten so used to being my own boss and setting my own routine. How weird to be employed again someday.

While Corey and Nadine were here, we had an early birthday celebration for Henry. He chose lemon cream pie. I made two and it counted for Justin's April pie of the month. It's a tried and true favorite around here.

Henry had a little too much fun with some sidewalk chalk.

 I went through this set of flashcards with Erica for the first time. The cards on the right are the ones she knew, the ones on the left she didn't know what to say or made something up.

She surprised me on several that she knew like zipper and whistle. I'll go through them again in a few months and see how does.

 We planted our garden on Saturday. The kids loved helping, maybe a little too much. Here they are giving my flowers lots of attention and water from their watering cans.

 We had a hard time making sure Erica didn't just grab handfuls of soil and dump them on the outside of the box.

So that's May so far. It's a busy month for us with birthdays, end of school, anniversaries and holidays.