6 years ago

6 years ago today, my husband broke my heart and broke up with me.

It was the best thing he could have ever done.  I was scared of how our relationship was because he, Casey, did not fit into "The Plan."  I had other things that I had talked myself into for sometime and it was very hard for me to realize "The Plan" was not how my life was going to be.  I knew I loved Casey and I knew he loved me but I am a bit of a stubborn person and didn't want to abandon "The Plan." 

 So instead of waiting around for me to figure out and decide, he broke up with me so I HAD to decide. 

4 days.

I didn't see or talk to him for 4 days.  I cried... a lot... and decided I needed to be with him.  He showed up to my Sacrament meeting that Sunday.  Everyone was standing up because they were singing "The Star Spangled Banner" for the opening hymn.  I saw him standing in the back row right by the doors and I cried.  

Later that evening I told him that I thought we should get married.

We went ring shopping on Monday and Tuesday, the 4th of July, he proposed right during the firework finale at the Bannock County Fairgrounds.  9 weeks later, on September 8, 2006, we were married for time and eternity in the Salt Lake Temple.

 Those 4 days were hard.  I tried calling him and he wouldn't answer my calls.  I cried to old roommates and close friends.  One close friend, Jeff, even called Casey and told him to "stay strong, don't answer her calls, and don't let her come to your baseball game... she's about to crack."  Tough love I guess. 

But without those 4 days I don't know if I would have had all the wonderful memories and things I have now.  

Like purchasing our simple first home together.

Or finding out today we are going to be able to build a new home exactly where we want.

Or graduating college together.

Or becoming parents for the first,

second,

and third time.

 Even though those 4 days were completely horrible, I am so glad he broke up with me.   It forced me to abandon "The Plan" and see the great person I already had.  It forced me to make a choice.  I am so glad he broke up with me.

 And I know I chose right.

3 months young

My sweet little baby is now 3 months old!! 

He is so dang sweet and we sure love him.  

This month Carson did something that made me very happy... he slept through the night!! The first time he slept through the night was June 6th.  It is still not every night that he sleeps through but once or twice a week is better than nothing.
 

He love to be smiled and talked to.  Sometimes when he is crying, all he want is for somebody to talk to him.  You don't even have to pick him up.  Just smile and say a few nice words and he is good to go. 

Some other things Carson is doing this month are blowing lots of bubbles, eating his hands, smiling all the time, and babbling.  I love when he talks and babbles.  It has got to be one of the sweetest little things to hear.

  

He has also started kicking in the tub which makes bath time a lot of fun.

On June 26th, he rolled over for the first time from his belly to his back.  It caught Mom and Papa by surprise and we thought maybe it was an accident but Carson did it many more times since.  Casey was gone when he rolled and didn't believe me and of course Carson wouldn't perform on demand!!  It took a few tries on his tummy and he finally rolled for Casey to see.  However, belly time is now hard to have since he just rolls himself off!!!

Olivia's Dance Pictures

"I Just Can't Wait to be King" from The Lion King

We are done with dance!!

I feel a little bad to say this but boy am I glad and so is Olivia.  We fought almost each week she was to go.  She always said she had fun after she was done so I made her go each week but she has informed me that she does not want to dance next year.  And that is fine, it is her choice.  Maybe she will give it a try again in a few years.  

Anyways, these are her dance pictures for her two dances.  

Dang, she is cute. 

I sure love my tiny dancer.

"A Dream is a Wish" from Cinderella

Trip to SLC Day 3: Hogle Zoo

 

On the third day of our trip we finally made it to what this trip was all about... THE BIG ZOO!!! Or Hogle Zoo for all you people that are not my daughter.  She has been so excited to go to the "big zoo."  She has been begging to go back since the last time we took her, which was 2 years ago and I was pregnant with Callen.  Yep, she remembers it still.   

My parents were able to meet us in Salt Lake the night before we went to the zoo.  It was fun having them go with us.  My kids love Grandma and Papa and Casey and I loved that we had somebody to help push our kids around.  Olivia has always been a sucker for a stroller so even though she is almost 4, she still loves riding in one.  We have one that is a sit and stand so it can hold Carson's seat in the front and one of the kids can sit or stand in the back.  But Grandma and Grandpa saved us many fights by bringing Olivia's umbrella stroller from when she was little.  She loved being about to sit in it and get pushed by Papa all over the zoo.

Elephants are kinda a big deal at our house.  Olivia LOVES them.  We had seen this little elephant when she was just a baby 2 years ago and we were happy to see her again.  We even watched the little elephant show they did.  They really are incredible animals.

Callen was pretty entertained by all the animals.

Most of our trip, poor little Carson was stuck in his carseat.  He was really a good baby though and when we could we would get him out and let him stretch.  As long as he was fed, dry, and smiled at every little bit, he was okay.

Trip #1 on the carousal.  Callen rode a wolf and Lou sat with Papa on the little bench they had.  For some reason she was really scared of the carousal this time.  

Just getting a little smooch from the seal

They just opened a new exhibit at the zoo that has sea lions, seals, and a polar bear.  It was really neat and Callen loved standing at the glass and watching the seals swim by him.  I think he could have stayed at that one place all day. 

Trip #2 on the carousal.  I tried to have Lou ride one of the animals, a giraffe that didn't even move but she freaked out and was screaming while having a death grip on me so at the last second we sat in the peacock chair where she had a good time.  Callen stayed on the giraffe and thought it was pretty neat.  And Carson ate while we were riding around in circles.

We had so much fun on our trip but we were very tired and ready to get home.  Callen barely made it out of the parking lot before he crashed and surprisingly, Olivia stayed awake until we were on the interstate.  They slept the whole way home.  

Trip to SLC Day 2: Fountain and Discovery Center

We didn't really have anything fun planned for our second day in Salt Lake but it ended up being really fun.

Callen eating a snack and pretending he is a baby in Carson's bed. Funny that he used to actually fit in there!

We had heard about this fun Discovery Center at the Gateway Mall and decided to go check it out. Callen was already asleep (I guess we really wore him out the day before) but was wide awake when we got the to splash fountain. I had forgotten all about the fountain so we didn't bring the kids extra clothes but we figured what the heck and let them go get soaked anyways. Plus, there was an Old Navy next door to it and they needed more summer clothes anyways so it worked out perfectly!

They had so much fun trying to catch the water and chasing each other around. Of course, my ever cautious Lou Lou was a bit hesitant to go into the water but my dare devil Cal thought it would be a good idea to stick his head right into the water. Needless to say, he was soaked, but very happy. and Olivia eventually got into the water a bit, just not nearly as much as his sister. They both had so much fun and it really had me wishing we had something like this in Poky.

After we found a new set of clothes and had lunch, we made it to the Discovery Center. This place is so neat. It is all designed for young kids and is so interactive. The first part has this awesome ball thing with all these tubes and instruments that the balls are sucked into. Okay, my discription is horrible and doesn't make much sense but my kids thought it was great.

Callen watching one of the balls going through all the tubes on the ceiling

Look at that smile!! He enjoyed laying around kicking while his siblings ran themselves exhausted

After we convinced the kids to leave the ball area, we made it to this little village that was miniature just for kids. Plus they had an awesome water area that Callen spent most of his time.

Olivia played with all the other kids there (which is very unlike her, she is usually very shy so it was really neat to watch) and had so much fun at all the different stations. They had a construction site with a mini crane to operate, a house with mini furniture and kitchen, a car and gas station, the water station, a grocery store, a farm area, and a few others. Olivia loves to be a big girl and do everything herself so this place was perfect for her. She could do everything Mom and Dad do and she thought she was pretty neat doing it.

Watch out, Lou at the wheel! Love Callen peeking in the back.

Callen was so excited to ride this horse, he LOVES horses!

Olivia thought the grocery store was really neat and once she found it, she grabbed a cart and just started loading it up. Of course, since Olivia thought it was neat, Callen thought it was neat and had to grab everything she did. He sure loves his sister.

After the kids played for a few hours downstairs, we finally made it upstairs. Up there it was a bit for older kids but it did have a few fun building stations with different materials. They also had a real helicopter out on the terrace. It was pretty neat and Callen thought he was pretty cool driving it but it was so hot out that we only checked it out for a few minutes before running back inside.

It was a fun day and we did some fun things. We will definitely be visiting the Discovery Center again!