I have some cute pictures and stories to tell but haven't had the time....but I just wanted to share this quick anecdote while I have a second. Yesterday, Cole escaped down the street to our neighbor's house and when I finally caught up to him, I didn't say anything. I just grabbed his hand and we started walking home. A few steps down the street and he said, "Hi Mommy. Nice to see you." I was cracking up...not exactly the words I expected to hear from my 2-year-old escapee. Haha.

Carrabba's...mmm, mmm, good

So Jeff & I went to Carrabba's Italian Grill last night for our anniversary. Neither of us had been there before but had heard great reviews from my brother and Jeff's boss Greg, so we thought we'd give it a try. As we were being seated, the hostess asked if we had been there and we said no. Later, while we were enjoying our hot bread with the yummy olive oil & spices, the owner of the restaurant came to welcome us and give us a plate of zucchini fries on the house. In response to his question, we told him that our 6-year anniversary and some referrals from Jeff's boss had brought us in. We then enjoyed the most delicious Italian food I have ever eaten: the zucchini was so good that I could have just stopped there, but I also had a minestrone soup that was to die for and Pollo Rosa Maria, which was grilled chicken breast "stuffed with fontina cheese and prosciutto, topped with mushrooms and a basil lemon butter sauce." Seriously, it was sooo good. Jeff enjoyed his favorite classic, lasagne, and it was delectable as well.

Throughout the meal, I dreamed of owning my own Italian restaurant someday...Camilla, do you want to go partners? At the end of the meal, our very friendly and efficient server Gordon brought us dessert and we were serenaded by the Carrabba's staff. He then told us that our meal had been taken care of and to enjoy our evening. Wow - we were blown away! We are definitely coming here again, we said.

As we were leaving, we found the owner to say thank you and found that Jeff's boss Greg had called earlier to let him know we were coming and to take care of us - wasn't that thoughtful? We also chatted with Gordon who, we found out, graduated from Mountain View High School just one year earlier than Jeff. What a small world.

On our way home, we stopped at Home Depot right next door, and as we were perusing the tools, Jeff said, "Oh no. We forgot to leave a tip." I was horrified. We had enjoyed a wonderful evening and Gordon had been so good to us...so we went back and I apologized to the hostess and asked if she would please give our tip to Gordon for us...good save! I couldn't believe we had forgotten and I was so glad that Jeff remembered in enough time.

Anyways, we thoroughly enjoyed our evening at Carrabba's...if you like Italian food, I give it my full recommendation.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

At the risk of getting all mushy & gushy and making you all uncomfortable, I will keep this one simple and short :) It has been six amazing years being married to my wonderful husband and I know that it will only keep getting better! Jeff, you are great and I love you. Happy Anniversary to us!!

P.S. Don't worry, I'm saving the mush & gush for Jeff - he likes that kind of stuff :) :)

I wish I had a picture...

It was six years ago, but it is still funny. I am laughing now just thinking about it. May had been perfect weather that year, right up to the week of the 20th...then it got super hot. In fact, I saw on the news today that May 24th, 2001 holds the record for the highest heat on that day: a whopping 109 degrees. It was not the best time for the air conditioning in your apartment to be broken. But it was. And I will never forget my sweet mom, sister, and 3 good friends staying in that toastin' apartment with me the night before I got married. Jeff & I had opted to wait until after the wedding to call the landlord about the air conditioning...after all, I had slept there a few nights the week before, and it was just fine. That was, of course, before Mother Nature warmed things up a bit.

OK, so picture this. My mom is laying on top of my bed, no covers, with the ceiling fan on its highest speed, sweating. My sister Camilla, friends Danielle and Mardi, and I are sprawled out on the couch and floor in the living room. But I think my most favorite thing to remember is friend Jamie lying on the floor with a small oscillating fan blowing right into her face. I think she may have been so close that she was actually touching the fan. And she stayed there in that position all night long. We were a sorry sight.

Well, thank you girls, for your constant love and support, even when things got a little hot and sticky.

On Growing Up

I should have listened to you, Mom, when you told me not to 'wish my life away'.

Growing up, I was always wishing for the next stage in my life to come, and knew that life would be much better when I was 12 and in Young Women's, 14 and could go to Stake Dances, 16 and driving & dating, when I was 18 and in college, and then when I was married. Birthdays were a huge deal to me; I counted down for months before (and I'm pretty sure I was quite annoying about it). My mom used to tell me that I should enjoy where I was now and that I would get older soon enough. Mom, you were right. Now I am nearing my 26th birthday (aaah!) and wishing that I could still say that I am in my early 20's. I know that some of you may wonder what in the world I'm complaining about - 26 is still young, I know. But I am just realizing that the world is beginning to spin a whole lot faster than it used to, and that maybe I want it to slow down for a minute. 'Cause like my mom used to say, "there's no use rushing." Let me share with you a few events that happened this week to prompt these thoughts.

On Sunday, Jeff took the head rest out of Cadeson's carseat because he is getting so big. I didn't even notice that it was gone - he just fits so well in there. I realized that even though I just recently began putting him in size 3-6 month clothes, I need to begin the transition into size 6-9 month soon. (Technically, a baby fits into 6-9 month clothes when he weighs 16.5 lbs....Cade was 15.5 lbs 2 weeks ago and he seems much bigger already). I have always said that my babies don't stay babies long enough, and I am really feeling that with Cade. He is no longer a newborn; he is loving life and exploring the world. And isn't he so cute?

Cole got his first major haircut on Saturday. He had gotten a haircut early in the year, but even though an inch and a half had been taken off, it was hardly noticeable. Saturday, Jeff persuaded me that it was time to cut off the beautiful curls....a very bittersweet time for me. Cole looks like such a big rough 'n tough boy now and I love that, but I will miss the look of the sweet little boy that was. Cole is growing up oh, so quickly, and it is so much fun. He is learning his ABC's (with the help of his big sister) and loves trucks, airplanes, helicopters, motorcylces...basically anything that makes sound and moves. We have been going to the home improvement stores a lot lately and he just loves it. Last night he kept telling me that we went to the store in Mamu's (Michael) truck and looked at wood. What a boy!

Madlyn had her first tumbling performance on Tuesday and she was definitely the little star of the class! She followed instructions very well and wasn't shy about doing her routine at all. It was so much fun to watch her and we were so proud of her accomplishments. I can't believe that my baby girl is so grown up that she is doing this kind of stuff already!! Madlyn is writing her alphabet now and learning to spell. She even wrote a thank you note by herself the other day (with me telling her how to spell the words) - I couldn't believe it! She is quite independent and bright; it is so rewarding to watch her learn and experience new things. She has even begun reading her scriptures on her own, because she learned in Primary that she should have personal scripture study every day. She reads them silently though (doesn't want my help) so I'm not sure how much she is really getting out of her studies!!

We celebrated my younger brother Buchanan's birthday on Tuesday and he turned 22 - I can't believe that one of the 'little boys' is 22 and getting married this summer. We talked about how the older siblings are approaching 30, as well as my very own husband. And even though we have a couple of years until this happens, I am bracing myself already. It seems like now I want time to stop so that I can enjoy this wonderful time of my life, so that I can play more with my kids while they are young, so that Jeff & I can do more fun things while our bodies still work :), so I can learn to be a better person. I have too many things I need to learn, much more patience and humility to develop, more testimony to gain, and more faithfulness to practice; I just can't afford to get older.

I have come to the conclusion that life is not stopping for me and that I better enjoy it while I've got it. I've decided to treasure the everydays in my life, to spend more quality time with my children, to not watch as much TV, to go on more dates with my amazing husband, to strive to make each day better than the last, and to be a better person today than I was yesterday.

Comforts of Home

I love the small town.

Or maybe it's the way I was raised in the small town. Either way, I was able to go back to the small town where I grew up for a quick trip last weekend and I was reminded of how much I love the simplicity of life there; or again, maybe it's just the way things were at my house.

My parents got Dish Network a couple of months ago and those of you who know my parents will be surprised. I know all of us kids were when the announcement was made. (why wasn't this done 10 years ago when I lived at home and could enjoy it more?) I'm not sure what I expected on my first visit since this technological addition, but I was very pleased and a little bit amused at what I found. Apparently, this is what happens on Friday nights: the lineup of movies playing is announced, interest is expressed in particular ones, and then an informal vote of sorts is taken before it is decided which movie will be watched. Interestingly enough, Mom, Dad, & 14-year-old Lincoln all had similar tastes and it wasn't the controversy one might expect from such a group. I laughed inside when I realized we would be watching "The Magnificent Seven" and "Shenandoah", two movies that I had never heard of before (and I'm married to movie-guru Jeff - go figure). I'm sure I have to explain that "The Magnificent Seven" is an old western that pulled together a strong group of actors (the only one I recognized was Yul Brynner) that played a group of seven men who, from what I could tell, saved a small town from a group of thieves & bandits. I actually enjoyed "Shenandoah", as it had one of my all-time favorite actors, Jimmy Stewart, who played a widower in Virginia during the Civil War who tried in vain to keep his large family & farm uninvolved with the war. It turned out to be quite sad, but inspiring. Needless to say, I was relieved to find that my parents were using their Dish Network to watch old movies and race horses, instead of the other junk that can be found everywhere we look.

Some other reasons I enjoyed my weekend at home:
chocolate chip oatmeal cookies that my mom made
going to Dairy Queen to visit Uncle Stanton at work (OK, we got ice cream too!)
hanging out with my little brothers and watching them play with my kids
hoping that Uncle Quinton's mission call would come (it didn't)
helping my mom in the kitchen
checking out the stock market with my dad
snow, hail, sleet, and rain all on the same day
watching my dad take care of my mom (he did all the dishes while I was there)
feeling the love and comfort that is there - in the home I grew up in

I love you, Mom, Dad, Quinton, Stanton, & Lincoln! Thanks for a fun weekend!

Pirate Laundresses (addendum)

I failed to mention the most humorous part of my interchanges with Madlyn as we folded the clothes yesterday. As I was saying, "Aargh, matey" Madlyn was saying, "Aargh, lady". She misheard what I was saying and it didn't matter how often I looked at her and emphasized the 'm' at the beginning of the word, she continued to say it wrong. It was hard not to laugh at this cute little 'lady' of a pirate.