5 Years Down... Eternity To Go...

This is an extremely overdue post. For those of you who know me well, I've experienced a lot lately, with the health of loved ones and passing of one of them. I'm emotionally drained AND super busy, so you'll have to excuse the lack of posts lately.

This post makes me super happy. I love my hubby, he keeps me sane and joyful. (The world is grateful I'm sure, you don't want to see me insane and upset) We celebrated our 5 year anniversary on June 26, 2009. That sounds like a long time to me but it really hasn't felt that long. We've been together NINE years, NINE! That is 36% of my entire life. I honestly can't remember what life was like without him. For our 5 year anniversary we went to The Anniversary Inn in Logan:

This awesome bed and breakfast has themed rooms. On our honeymoon we stayed in the Romeo and Juliet suite and after we were sealed in the temple we stayed in The Mysteries of Egypt room. Obviously, it's how we like to celebrate. This time we choose Rich's Drive-In, which is a room that is decorated like- you guessed it, a drive-in. It has a truck in the middle of the room and in the truck bed is the actual bed where you sleep. It has a huge projector and screen on the wall to watch movies. It even has a little concessions area with popcorn and hot dogs. TONS of fun. We watched 'Father of the Bride', I had forgotten how cute that show is, and 'Twilight.' Matt pointed out that the truck that Bella drives around in the movie is just like the one we were sleeping in :

Matthew took me to get dinner and then he popped this surprise on me:

It's amazingly hard to get a focused picture of a ring, but you can sort of see what I'm showing you; an anniversary band with little diamonds across it. My hubby knows how to make me smile. We had an awesome time and I always like it when I can spend time with just Matthew, without any distractions. (Not you Mr. Andrew, if you ever look back and read this, we don't like being away from you for too long) I won't go on and on about how much I love Matthew for too much longer because I am sure you are all searching for you barf buckets by now but I'll keep it short; 5 things I love about him for the 5 years we've been together.

Matthew,

1. Through the years you've always loved me for me. I look at lot different (not necessarily for the better) than I did when I was 16, and you can stand to look at me in the morning. I know when I'm 90 I'll be just as beautiful to you then as I am now.

2. You are an amazingly hard worker, I owe it to you that I can stay at home with Andrew.

3. As people have even mentioned; you have strong integrity. Even to a fault at times, if that even makes sense.

4. You make me laugh so hard without even trying, and then you get upset that I'm laughing and it makes me laugh even harder.

5. As difficult as it is at times to be a heart mommy and as much strength as that takes, it is just as difficult to be a heart daddy. You do it with such grace and strength. You are my rock and when you take time off work to meet us at Primary's the sorrow I carry is suddenly lifted and I am not alone.

Love you Matthew, always have, always will.

Andy's Famous!

This was the most fun surprise I've had all week. I was checking up on Paul Cardall's Blog (view it at http://mytricuspidatresia.blogspot.com/), and what do I find, but my cute little boy! As many of you know, Paul suffers from CHD and is currently waiting for a heart transplant. Paul is trying to raise awareness of CHD and wrote this music and produced this beautiful video of all our heart friends and it's showing Andy as the default picture for the video! Maybe we should have him audition for the movies :)

Pictures My Parents Took

I'm over at my parent's house using their computer to see if they have any cute pictures of Andy. I'm in luck! They have a few. Take a look:

The Family on Mother's Day 2009. My 2nd Mother's Day!

We look really happy don't we?? Most of the time we are...

Feeding the Ducks

Bumpa (a.k.a Grandpa Moo) and Nana took Andy to feed the ducks at

Fairmont Park. This was right after we had spent some time at the Library where Andy

loves to go to play on the computers. It was a really hot day but Andy loved seeing all the

ducks, geese and other birds in the park.

Andy loved throwing the bread to the ducks (well, it seemed more like he was

throwing it at them....)

Here's Mommy forcing Andy to pose for the picture...

After a while spent feeding the ducks Andy thinks "Ah, to heck with the ducks! I'm eating the bread!
More picnic time with the ducks. Grandpa wasn't interested in eating any.

Can you tell this kid has his grandpa wrapped around his little finger?


Andy was quite sure he could walk on water. Grandpa wasn't.

"Oooooohhh!!!" I love it when he gets excited and does this face.

It was only getting hotter and hotter and Andy was only getting sleepier and sleepier so eventually we had to leave the park. We had a fantastic time, we'll be going again soon!!!

Newborn Andrew Shines For The Camera...

One of the nicest things anyone has done for me was when my cousin came to the hospital right after Andrew was born. He was in the NICU. I was unable to walk while recovering from a c-section and Matthew was at home getting a few things prepared for us so my cousin, Nichole, had to wait a LONG time before she was able to meet the little guy and snap a few pics. Truthfully, I treasure these pictures more than any other pictures I have of Andrew. Nichole was also the first person to visit me from my side of the family, while I was in labor and after Andy was born. Go check out her site at http://www.nicholettedawnphotograhpy.com/ Maybe since I am showing off her work here she'll give me a bit of a deal next time I want more pics!

Father's Day = Hideous Ties

I think the world has more joy in it because of Dads. Moms are the nurturing and the comfort but dads are the joy and the fun. No one can make Andy laugh louder than his daddy. From my own experience my dad always made me feel like the most important kid on the planet. He would always say "Buds, you are my favorite kid!" and because I was an only child I would roll my eyes and say "Dad, I'm your only kid...."

Laughing it up with dad.

Dads opening his present. Andy says just kidding dad, that present is really for me!

The moment or shock and horror as Matt lays eyes on the tie we made him.

Matt's thinking silently to himself "Do I have to wear this???" The answer? Yes. To work. Everday.

Pulling off a real 'good-sport' smile. Okay, maybe he even liked it a little. The blue smudges all over it are Andy's hand prints by the way with painted words saying "Happy Father's Day 2009!"

Peek- A- Boo! I See You...

Grandpa gave Andy a slide and he thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread. With all the holes in the structure it's the perfect place to play peek-a-boo...

Underneath the slide.... Andy demonstrates his superior sliding skills.
In true non-conformist style (that's Andy for ya...) He goes down the slide backwards only...

Dirty piggies!!! How many baths do little boys need a day?


I know I'm his mama, but he's beautiful isn't he?

(...better leave a comment saying 'YES!' haha ;)

My Brave Little Guy...

If you are in need of hero, I have a suggestion for you; Andy!!! This little guy is one big, brave
super boy! After going to the doctors for an ear infection his pediatrician seemed unusually worried. She asked when his next cardiologist appointment was and I told her it wasn't until August. She said he needed to be seen within a week, a few weeks at the very most because his heart sounded worse. Matthew and I chose not to share this with the family in case it was a false alarm, we didn't want people to needlessly worry. Ultimately, he seems to be doing fine and won't need to be seen again until DECEMBER!!! Wow, way to go little buddy! He sure is a fighter and we are so proud of him. He sure is our little hero!



This is a nasty echo machine. He's getting a sonogram done of his heart. He HATES this part! My heart is always more broken than his when I see him like this.



He wanted to help the nurse. He was outraged he couldn't hold the wand...



Finally, he is a little calmer. Mommy or Daddy are always at his side giving him anything that will make him happier!

Nana and Primary's come to the rescue! Nana brought cookies and Primarys let him watch cartoons on their T.V.! By the way, notice all the little Spider Man's on the wall?

Dr. Pulver is extra proud of Andy. He thought Andy would be needing work done by now but the little kid is tough!!!



Here is Doctor Pulver listening to his ticker. Yes, his ticker is much more awesome sounding than yours!!! Look how happy this kid is! Nobody tell him he's in a hospital....

If you give this kid two cell phones (at one point he had 3) he will hold still for all the doctors and nurses that visit him. That day he had 2 nurses and 3 doctors work with him. Maybe we should have given him 5 phones!

This sweet nurse is blowing bubbles for him while he has a B.P. done.

Look at the nice couch we are on! Normally we get stuck waiting in typical waiting rooms but all of the rooms were full this day. They put us in the fetal heart monitoring room and we really didn't mind, it's better! I will be coming to this room for every pregnancy I have from now on.

I can't believe how happy this little guy is! Nothing ever gets him down...

Here we are looking at the gigantic fish that 'swim' in their fish tank in front of the elevators. Not all parts of Primarys are bad, there's a lot of nice things there too!

As always, we appreciate your prayers and concerns for Andrew. We know the Lord has heard our prayers and has given Andy extra time to grow and get stronger before needing intervention. We are grateful and know that he is in God's hands.