One year older and wiser too . . .

Happy Anniversary to us! 6 whole years and happier than ever, I hope! We had a fun filled weekend with tons of activities for our Anniversary Celebration.

We went up to Logan for an overdo visit on Friday. We were going to Em night skiing at The Beav, but it was a clear night and would have been frigid. So, instead we headed to Golden Corral with Cory's grandparents. We've been there before with them, but this time I think Emory's eyes were opened to the world of buffet eating. "Mom, I can get just about anything a want here!"

On our actual anniversary we went out to breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Hulse, Grandma Lisa and Uncle Chase. Then we left the childrens at home with the boys and went shopping. I fully planned on spending no money and I did really well, only $5 and some super cute stuff! Kayla, Lisa and I had a great time dressing up for each other! I found another mini-skirt at Downeast, this one is sailor-ish navy blue wool, and I'm way excited to make it into another bag (that was the $5 I spent). We also stopped into Old Navy. Just the day before, Cory threw a ON gift card at me and said, "Here you go, I have no idea if there's any money on it." Anyways, I found this raincoat and have been eyeing it for a couple months. I decided if I got up to the counter and had the lady check the card and there was at least $15, I'd buy it. And how much was on the card? $36 and some change!!! It was my lucky day, it was my Anniversary Miracle. That night, Cory's grandparents watched the kids while we went out to a nice dinner. I got to watch Cory eat 1 lb of crab, it was interesting to say the least!

We had fun talking about how we've changed over the years. Cory's lost hair, gained weight (the good kind!), and is so close to achieving his childhood dream of being a doctor. I've been pregnant twice, had two beautifully terrific little girls, gotten Lasik!!, and grown my hair out. There's a lot of other accomplishments (and failures) in there, those were just the more physically prominent ones we could think of. For a little throwback to our wedding day, here's a picture of Cory holding my ring.I love it! I was thinking about how much our wedding rings say about us. Cory designed it. I didn't worry once that it wouldn't be right, I just knew it would be perfect! Even though he hesitated a little on the emerald cut, he followed through. I trust Cory in every way, he'll do what's right, no matter what.

After dinner we got to go to our first Aggie Basketball game. It was fun that it turned out to be their last, more hullabaloo. They won and we had a great time with Cory's Grandpa Maughan and our brother-in-law Adrian, who got us the tickets.

I've always admired Grandpa Maughan, he is an amazing person, but he said something that I always want to remember. A little while ago Cory helped him get a Pulse Oximeter to check his O2 levels. Grandpa was telling Cory that after he goes out and works on the tractor, his levels drop. He's super active for an 80+ year old man, working out on the farm, always going. Cory said, as nicely as possible, "Well Grandpa, your getting old! It's going to get harder for you to do the things you've always done easily." Grandpa laughed and I said, jokingly, "I don't think you'll ever stop! You'll be out doing something and you'll just fall over dead!" He laughed, looked at me and said, "And I hope it's doing something good." What a man!

Final note, I made these little booties for my cousin. She's having a boy and I found this awesome fabric with sheepskin on one side and suede on the other, in my mom's scraps.

Wordless Wednesday

Spring has sprung . . . but don't cross your fingers!

It seems every once in a while, Utah gets a mild winter. Lucky us! But like I said I'm definitely not crossing my fingers. It'll snow again, and again, and probably in June! We've spent hours out in the backyard enjoying this beautiful weather, riding scooters and tricycles and jumping on the trampoline; and everywhere we go this darn blanket follows! She got attached to it while we were in Puerto Rico, and it's not even her cute blanket - that's what drives me crazy! Emory's engineering at work.We also had the pleasure of visiting with these lovely ladies a couple weeks ago. What a treat! They are one of the reasons we miss AZ so much. We missed meeting Sweet Afton by 2 weeks, so this was our first delicious taste of her and we couldn't get enough! Before they came over, Emory said, "I'm so glad that Alicia's baby came out!" She loved that big belly! Now she loves Afton. We talked non-stop of crafts and more crafts, and more crafts. So in honor of our (Alicia and I's) addiction, I pumped out these babies! (Is "I's" even a real word?!)Their fun to clip in hair, on a bag, or on a gift!

Emory made this beautiful design for me, while I was unpacking from our trip. She said, with a flourish of the arm, "Look what I made for you, Mom!"One last thing, anyone ever gone to a Dance Aerobic (Dance Jam) class at their gym? Wowee! My friend took me to one today and . . . I'm speechless. I felt like a dancing-pole-loving-Britney/hooker and I loved it! It was so fun to let loose and just DANCE! I guess you could call me uptight, but not today. After dancing like I did to "Baby Got Back", I think I might need to talk to my bishop?!?

Renege

Sad news, Cory's not a matchmaker. As per Cory's request I cannot comment futher. He says I need to work on being meek. PS I still love you, Drew.
On a side note . . . these are some awesome pictures we took for a game I made for FHE a couple weeks ago. It was a concentration game, you picked a picture and tried to match it with a hobby or talent of the person whose picture you picked. The girls loved it!

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

When we started planning this trip we thought Puerto Rico was basically considered a part of the USA. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is a self-governing unincorporated territory located in the northeast Caribbean. Yeah, definitely south of the border!!

The idea of the trip started off with two Buddy-Passes for standby tickets on Jet Blue. We saved mucho dinero by using these passes and paid with our time! It took us 24 hours of travel, including layovers, flights with no more room, flying into a different airport than planned and renting a car to get where we needed to go.

Day 1: Flew into Aguadilla, rented a car, drove cautiously (HOLY COW!!! These people are insane! I've been to Mexico a number of times and they seem like angels compared to the driving manners of the Puerto Ricans. Lesson #1 in Puerto Rico not really being influenced by America.), went to the El Parque de las Cavernas del Rio Camuy, took a tour, drove to our condo in Condado, ate traditional Puerto Rican dinner (Mofongo y Pollo, chicken sauce stuff over mashed plantains - YUM!), went home showered and SLEPT!

Day 2: Returned the car, played at the Beautiful Isla Verde Beach, had my sun glasses stolen by the ocean - so I'm wearing Cory's golfing glasses, rode some waves, got some sun, ate some crazy pizza (The American? is what they called it. Tomato sauce, cheese, ham, bacon, green peppers, ground beef, and two fried eggs. We tried to substitute the beef for mushrooms, they left off the beef, added canned mushrooms and charged us $2.15 more! Lesson #2).

Day 3: More beach, read a book, Cory studied, played in the waves, watched Scary-Thong Lady, went home, took a long nap (You know? We had a long day at the beach.), ate at Fudd's, etc.

Day4: Rented a car, drove to Fajardo, took the ferry to Vieques (this isn't the ferry, but apparently in PR when something is considered no longer useful, you should just leave it where it is or throw it on the big pile of garbage next to your house!

Lesson #3), saw a dolphin, went on a Bio Bay Tour (I cannot even adequately describe or express how amazing this place was. It's a natural wonder of the world. These little dinoflagellates live in the bay and . . . they glow. They don't glow, but it's a long description with words I don't remember. It was unreal! The pictures from the website don't even do it justice. It was like Tinkerbell dust, truly! The bathroom at the tour place was awesome!), stayed at Bananas Guesthouse and ate there.

Day 5: Rain, chased this lizard around,had some crazy old man walk past me and say, "Callate Bruja!" In other words, "Shut up Witch!" I wasn't even talking. Lesson #4.), walked around El Fuerte Conde De Mirasol,took the very choppy ferry ride back to Fajardo, drove back to condo, went to the Pinones (WOW! Traditional PR food made in these little shacks on the side of the road. We had Ensalada de Carrucho - it's raw conch with onions in a briny liquid, served with plantain chips. I liked it, Cory wasn't a huge fan. He also had a fried thing shaped like a banana, but it was like a seafood corn dog!), walked around Pinones Beach and watched the wicked waves, and got a Coco Frio.

Day 6: Went to San Juan Viejo (Old San Juan) on a autobus, took in the historical sights, melted, walked around the whole city (Twice, I think!), went to Castillo San Felipe del Morro (way cool and super old, started in the 1540's completed in 1787, tons of barracks, secret passageways, and lookouts to explore. This was the Triangular Staircase.), saw the Cementerio Santa Maria Magdelena de Pazzis (All the old influential people of PR are buried here, wish our cemeteries looked this cool! My face is the perfect description of how hot I felt.), walked through the Castillo De San Cristobal, ate in a hole in the wall called Restaurante El Jibarito (Great Comida Criollo, Cory had mofongo and ribs, I had a pork tamale and fried sweet plantains - it was really good.), took the bus home (I casually mention the bus, but it was not casual at all. We're lucky to be alive! Lesson #5.)

Day 7: Flew home!

Overall, the trip was fantastic! We got some much needed, Cory and Rachel quality-time, remembered how adventurous we are when our kids aren't around, and most of all, HAD FUN!

After returning home and trying to get back in the routine, I realize how much a love traveling! I love looking forward to trips, and the memories from them. The girls did great, aside from Tessa being sick, and we missed them so much. Thanks to my parents and Cory's grandparents for watching the girls and Amie for the tickets!

THE END

I wanted this for my souvenier.