5 Year Anniversary

On June 29th it was our 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! I honestly can't believe that it has been that long. It's amazing to see how much has changed in our lives since then. We bought a house, got Indiana, I graduated college, I quit teaching, we became parents, Brad has a new job, we have different cars, all the callings we've had in church, we have a 2-year old, Brad's in his 30's, my hair has been blonde, brown and everywhere in between, and so much more. With how much has changed it's crazy to think about what will be different 5 years from now.

This year Brad was in charge of our anniversary. Our first year we had just bought a house so didn't do anything big. The 2nd year I surprised him and we stayed downtown at Little America, which is where we stayed after we got married. The 3rd year I was a week 1/2 away from having Cooper and just ready for him to arrive so again we didn't do anything big. Last year I surprised Brad with a helicopter ride. So this year was Brad's turn. He did really well. He came home from work with flowers and a sweet card. He was even thoughtful enough and picked the same flowers from our wedding with the right colors and all.

Next he surprised me with this beauty. The picture doesn't even do it justice. We have talked about for a few years getting me just a band to wear. My wedding ring has a band but we soldered it to my engagement ring so I can't wear them separately. When I was pregnant I wasn't able to wear my ring towards the end. So he wanted to get something that I could wear when my hand swells (my wedding ring is really thick) or if I just don't want to wear my big ring for certain occasions. I wasn't however expecting it at all. He did awesome picking it out all on his own. It fits my right hand perfectly so I can wear it all the time even with my wedding ring. I LOVE it!!! The baguette diamonds are gorgeous. I could have killed him with how much he spent on it but I'm not complaining now that I have it! :)

The weekend of our anniversary was a little stressful. I was planning Cooper's 2nd birthday as well as getting ready for girls camp. Also my parents were gone to Wendover for the Kenny Loggins concert so we wouldn't have had anyone to watch Cooper over night. I had so much to do because I was going to be gone for a week and then get home and the next day have his party. Yes I did it to myself but I just wasn't ready to put something else on my plate. So for our actual anniversary we went pretty low key. We went and saw Magic Mike and then ate dinner at Happy Sumo. We were totally lame and finished before 9:00 pm. It was still a fun night. Brad informed me of a couple options I had for our anniversary after camp and Coop's party. One of them was to go sky diving. What on earth made Brad think I would do this is beyond me. I am terrified of heights and you couldn't pay me to do this. I'll give him the creativity factor! We are planning a trip to Vegas in the next month or so and this is going to count for our anniversary.

I honestly love Brad more today than the day I married him. We have matured and grown closer. Seeing him with Cooper melts my heart every day. I couldn't imagine a better husband or father. He is perfect for us. I appreciate all the hard work he does to provide for our family that allows me to stay home with Cooper. Not only that but all the cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Cooper that he does once he gets home. No other husband does as much as he does for us! I am a very lucky girl! I love you Brad. I hope the past 5 years of marriage and 7 1/2 together have been as great for you! Happy Anniversary!!!

4th of July

For the 4th of July my family all came over and we had a bbq. After dinner we headed outside and did some sparklers, pop its, snakes, and some pretty innocent fireworks. My dad is not a fan of fireworks and was terrified we were going to catch something on fire. He was freaking out the entire time. Brad is the complete opposite. He LOVES doing fireworks. The bigger and louder the better. Cooper and Holden liked the sparklers for a minute and then were over them. After we did fireworks we all headed to watch the West Jordan City fireworks. We got there and they started right as we were sitting down. It was perfect. We enjoyed the show and then we were able to head out. Cooper enjoyed the fireworks but is a busy body so he had to constantly be moving. It was a really fun 4th.

***Please take notice of Cooper's outfit. He HAD to wear those boots all day long. He is so stylish!!! :)

Cooper doing his sparklers in style. Lounging in his chair and all.



Me and my baby

All of use during fireworks at our house

Grandmom with her boys.

At the West Jordan fireworks

This is Cooper experiencing Pop Its....
and Brad proceeding to throw them at my feet and legs.

Stylin' Baby

Lately Cooper has had an obsession with sunglasses. He is constantly asking for them so he can put them on. I've bought him a couple of pairs and then my dad gave him a pair of Bolle's which he absolutely loves.

Parks and Splash Pads

Cooper and I have been enjoying our summer. Apart from the endless days we have spent at the pool we have also made many visits to parks and splash pads. Here is just a little of the fun we've been having. The only sad part is I wish Brad didn't have to work and could enjoy these things with us during the day. That is why I take soooo many pictures so that Brad doesn't miss out.

Cooper loves fountains and splash pads....everyone was dying laughing at how funny he was because all the other kids were so mellow and kind of just starred at it.

This captures one of Cooper's melt downs. He wanted to play with the hand held vacuum instead of go to the park. Who's kid is he???

Cooper jumping and trying to "skip"

Sleeping

Every night before bed I go in to Cooper's room and check on him. For some reason his night light disappeared so I was having to take my phone in to see. I started realizing how hilarious the sleeping positions that he is in are. So I decided to start taking photos so I could go back and show Brad how he was sleeping. These are just some of the ones that I have. He is freaking adorable even when he's sleeping. I can't even handle it!!!

Top right corner: I went in one morning and he was laying like this and was not ready to get up
Middle right: he fell asleep in the car mid lunch
Top left: just another sweet one of him napping in the car

Father's Day

Yes I know it's been over a month since Father's Day but I still wanted to post about it. I was so excited for Father's Day this year. Brad is such a good daddy to Cooper and I couldn't wait to make him know it! I wanted Cooper to make something for Brad now that he is older and actually can. I had seen these magnet board stands on Pick Your Plum awhile before Father's Day and knew right then I was going to do it for Brad and my dad. I painted the wood and cut the vinyl with my Cricut. I then had Cooper write a note to them on the bottom. I got the great idea from my friend Jenni to have Cooper make magnets. I let him color on a piece a paper. Then I glued them and turned them into magnets. I was really happy with how they turned out. I know they look great on both of their desks at work.

Cooper writing his notes....Cooper with a permanent marker is terrifying!

The finished product......who knew scribble could be so cute!

On Brad's desk at work
Close up of the magnets

Last year I got Brad some books for Cooper about he and dad. I figured I would keep with this tradition. These are the 3 I got. I also got one on why boys needs dads but that wasn't a picture book. Lately these are Cooper's favorite books to read at bedtime.




I am so happy that Brad is the father of my children. He really is an amazing daddy. Cooper loves him more than anything. He loves when he gets home from work and they play hard until bedtime. Brad is the fun one but also knows when to discipline. We both completely agree on how to parent and it makes it easy. We work as a team. I couldn't ask for a better daddy for Cooper!

Pickles

Brad and I have never canned anything! Brad grew up with his mom doing it so has seen it done a few times, but really neither of us had a clue what we were doing. We had been talking about canning for probably over a year. So when I was grocery shopping at Walmart I bought all the supplies we needed (not the pickles though). Brad was really excited when I came home with it all. I even bought a pressure cooker/canner. But the jars I bought were too big! So we had to go back and get smaller jars. After having the stuff for about a week we finally decided to just do it! We were terrified the entire time that we were going to screw it up. I just bought this dill pickling mix so we really just had to follow the instructions. It was still scary though. Well after was all said and done we worried for nothing. The pickles turned out delicious!!!! I was so excited! We have been going through them really quick so we are going to have to pickle some more soon! I love that we are figuring things out like this and can actually make our own things for food storage! I also love that Brad enjoys doing this kind of stuff with me.

The supplies

Cut and ready to start

Half way done

This was the scary part...didn't know if we were doing it right. We didn't even end up using the pressure cooker/canner I bought. We are going to get a bigger one that will fit all the jars.

All finished! Had to wait 24 hours but it was well worth the wait!