One Cool Pop!

We had a great Father's Day together! Actually, our whole weekend together was pretty cool!

On Saturday we decided to divide and conquer! Heath and I headed out on some errands while Nolan got to go with Daddy on what he called, "a secret mission"! Really, it wasn't so secret, they just went to Lowe's and Home Depot. But they happened to get there right as the Kids Workshop was starting. Daddy and Nolan got to build this tool box together and Nolan got his very own Home Depot apron with his name on it! He thought he was pretty awesome!

On Sunday morning, Nolan and I surprised Mark with a yummy breakfast in bed and gifts!

Nolan thought the Cars card he picked out for Daddy was just the best! He was so proud of everything he did for his Dad!

After breakfast and Skyping with my Dad, Mark got to spend the day golfing with Wes and having some fun time to himself doing something he enjoys!

Later that day we met up with him again and his whole family at the pool for some sloppy joes and swimming! Too bad the weather wasn't that nice and warm!

But we still had a blast and scarfed on some delicious fruit pizza too!

We are so thankful for Mark and the fun and hardworking Dad he is! You should see the hugs and excitement that happens in our house each day that Mark gets home from work! I sure don't get that welcome when I get home after being away! That must mean that Daddy is pretty darn special!

No one is as funny, no one is as silly, and no one is as loving as Daddy is! We love you Mark and think you are truly one cool Pop!

eight

eight years

that's a long time...

as long as the amount of time you are in high school AND college

and now, as of today, June 20, 2011...

that's how long Mark and I have been married!

pretty incredible!

I could not have asked for a better partner to do life with! I am so blessed!

So in honor of our 8th wedding anniversary today, here's a stroll down memory lane for ya!

enjoy!

Here's a picture of me and my dear Kati on the day I met Mark...

We were 2 HOT and very much NOT single girls ready to head out on floor date with the ever so handsome young men of 1st Bolt! It was harmless right? And since Kati and I pretty much made the most of every fun dorm activity Calvin had to offer we were ready to go! But little did I know that going out on the BHT lawn that day to mix and mingle and make some new FRIENDS, would result in me meeting my HUSBAND!

Mark had other plans that day. He had seen me walking by his first floor corner window and had told Ernie, his best friend and floor activities coordinator, that he would attend every floor date until he found ME!

It just took a little work on this particular floor date to actually get to talk to me! You see, all the girls had to put 1 shoe in the middle of the circle of college kids. The guys had to each pull out a shoe and that was their "date" for the afternoon! There were way too many girls there that day, which meant lots of extra shoes...so Mark grabbed 3 or 4 hoping that one of them would be mine. Nope! Not so much luck!

So later in the "date", after he had made a really great impression introducing himself to everyone as, "Mark, majoring in baseball and girls", he ditched all of his dates and came to interrupt my "date"! We chatted briefly, I thought he was nice and cute, but a little too cocky for my liking! But I have to admit, that despite a boyfriend at home, and his questionably smooth moves, I had butterflies in my stomach as he walked with me and my whole floor back to the dorm!

After this initial meeting, the boy really put in his time! He waited out my inevitable break up. Continued to attend every single dorm function, even though these had never really been his thing before meeting me. Came to dinner every night with me and a table full of girls. Stayed up until all hours of the night chatting with me in the dorm basement when we were supposed to be studying. And even waited MONTHS for our first kiss!

And in the mean time he concentrated on looking sexy and settling for holding my hand! Here we are at our dorm's 80's roller skating party- this was the first time we held hands- while skating around the rink! How romantic!

And this is our first "official" photo of just the 2 of us! The date in the corner is wrong, but I know it was in early October of 1999. We had gone on our first date the night before. He took me to Outback with a gift card from his mom! Some things never change! Tonight we are going out to dinner with a gift card too! Ha! And then this picture was taken at our dorm Fall Retreat. He took me out on a canoe in the moonlight and paddled the whole way! He learned quickly how I roll!

3 years of dating and fun later, led to this...

Getting engaged in Grosse Point! What a great surprise!

Then we were on to almost a year of planning leading up to our big day...

June 20, 2003

It was a perfect day, surrounded by all of our family and friends, and celebrating this amazing love God has given us!

After our honeymoon in Maui, we were ready to start our new lives together in "Colorful Colorado"!

Here I was, so young and carefree, with no idea of what my life would look like eight years later! I was just ready to start a new adventure with Mark by my side!

I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you a future with hope! Jeremiah 29:11

This was our wedding verse and a verse we have memorized and quoted and meditated on often! It is God's promise to us!

eight years

eight years of laughter

eight years of joy

eight years with great jobs and a nice home

eight years that have brought us 2 beautiful and healthy boys

eight years of getting to know each other better every day

eight years of arguing and tears

eight years of learning how to best serve and support each other

Thank you Mark for the best eight years of my life! I love you to pieces and pieces! I love you to the moon and back! You make my heart SO happy!

xoxo wifey

Summer Lovin'

As of yesterday I am officially on SUMMER VACATION!

{Well, for 2 weeks at least!}

Another school year done and over with!

8 years down! Wow!

And now we are making the most of the gorgeous June we have had! The weather has been great and we have had plenty of time at the pool, at the park, and in our yard!

You can for sure tell it's summer...the boy's hair is getting blonder and their skin tanner! Love that summer glow!

Heath can't get enough of the pool! On this particular day he splashed and played in his raft for almost 2 straight hours! He even ate his P.B.J. without getting out of the water!

so.stinkin'.cute

I {heart} these next few pictures!!!!

What a great NATURAL smile!

Nolan's favorite pool toys...

a rubber froggie...

and a beach ball. He definitely does not LOVE the water yet, but he really enjoys days hanging out BY the pool with his cousins!

A little park time...almost a daily occurance on days when I'm not teaching!

Seriously, could his smile get any bigger?

Nolan being a "scary bear in his cave"!

And of course what would summer be without a few little treats...

a pretzel at the splash park! This week we've hit up Wetzel's Pretzels, Sonic, Paradise Cafe, and McDonalds all for a "special treat"! These boys get hungry from playing so hard! And they've been so fun and sweet that of course they deserve it, right? Or in Heathy's case, it's usually used to prevent a major meltdown!

We are lovin' our time together and are REALLY looking forward to our upcoming vacation and more time with Daddy! Too bad my summer vacation couldn't be longer. Oh well, I'll have three more weeks off again in August! I CAN'T COMPLAIN!

Parker Days!

We had such a fun weekend together as a family! Friday we just ran errands and ate out at a new, near-by restaurant- Freddy's! We had yummy Butter Burgers and the boys favorite...french fries! Saturday and Sunday were spent hanging out with friends at a graduation party and hitting up PARKER DAYS!

Parker has a great festival each June and in the 6 years we've lived here, we've never gone! So now that our kids are a little older we thought it would be something fun for us all to do together!

First, we hit up the parade!

Heath loves balloons and shouts out "ball, ball, ball" every time he sees one, which was about every 2 seconds at the parade! There were a lot of them and many of them made their way up into the sky, which was even more exciting for him!

Handsome boys watching the parade!

Can you tell he loves his Daddy?! Just a little! :)

Here are some pics of Nolan's FAVORITE parade attractions...

Lots of horses...can you hear Heath growling at every single one? He sure did!

Nolan LOVED all the cars and wanted to know each one's name!

There were a bunch of really neat old ones!

One parade attraction was giving out, as Nolan called them, "juice pops"! He had never had one before and it was just what this hot boy needed as we watched the rest of the parade!

Oh Parker, I have a love/hate relationship with you...sometimes I really do feel like I'm living in the country!

And check out this cool Fire Truck!

After a lot of candy was collected and an entire preschool had marched down the street, that was it for the parade and our Saturday at Parker Days! It was time for good naps, air conditioning, and clean feet!

But we just didn't get enough of the fun and came back on Sunday too to meet up with some friends of mine from school and their families!

We came a bit early to play...

Having fun at Main Street Park!

My little swingin' boy!

Nolan thinks it's pretty cool that we will actually let him PUSH his brother! He never misses out on this opportunity!

Slidin'

CHEESE! Look, I'm actually in some pictures! Usually I'm the one taking them all!

Woo hoo!

Next stop, the Petting Zoo...a must for our little animal lover!

For some reason Nolan likes to pet their back sides and tails!

We didn't want to pay for Heath to go in because we thought with his previous track record that he might be freaked out by the animals, so instead we bought some carrots and just let him feed the animals from behind the fence! And much to our surprise...he LOVED them! He laughed and smiled and let them eat right out of his hands!

I guess next time we'll be paying for two kids to step on poop and pat nappy fur and almost get peed on! Ha!

Nolan said, "Mommy, I'm pulling his tail GENTLY!" Oh, good Nolan! Let's just hope he doesn't kick you in the face!

The llama actually had really soft, fluffy, nice fur! I even gave it a pat or two!

Next we moved onto the carnival! With unbelievable prices, we opted for just one ride!

We chose the $9 train ride! Nolan, as usual, was a little nervous at first, but ended up really liking it! I even got waves and smiles! Heath didn't really care for the lion in his face and cried a bit, but all in all it was a success! After riding Nolan did his "excited dance" and said, "I was brave! That was fun!" Next year, we'll try some more- it just might break the bank!

And of course, a day at a carnival would not be complete without some great, but not-so-good-for-you, food! And boy did we eat!

Enjoying some cotton candy while our friends rode the Ferris Wheel!

Then Nolan and Mark devoured this fried Twinkie in no time at all!

And of course, this little swiper got his hands on some of my funnel cake too! We were all covered in powdered sugar! But oh was it worth it! Yum!

Now we are home, laying on the couch in utter exhaustion while the boys are both zonked out taking long naps upstairs! It was a hot, busy weekend, full of fun! And Nolan is already talking about going back to PARKER DAYS next year!