It's the final countdown

Does this baby look like his daddy or what?

29 more days and the King will turn one! Seriously- let's not forget that this time last year I was megaton pregnant and we were anxiously awaiting our baby boy. It just seems crazy that we are almost done with formula, the typical "baby" routine and that we are moving into toddlerdom- no bottles, walking, more teeth, bigger diapers, more independence, less teensy boy.

11 months- just 334 days old. Seems to just be moving by faster and faster. Even working from home, I feel like there isn't enough time to soak it all in. I mean, Mc is turning FOUR this year & going to school. When did that happen?

"Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it"- so true Mr Bueller, so true.

This kid is seriously the happiest baby-always.

9 of the best years of my life

My wife is, as most of you know, the greatest women on earth! We have been together for 9 fabulous years today so I thought I would give you 9 reasons Tisha is the best wife ever.

1. Tisha is cool. Everyone wants to be around her and most people want to be like her.

2. Tisha is smart. She always has good advice and knows a lot about a lot. She is always up for a good conversation or debate.

3. Tisha is creative. She can make a cool craft or decoration out of anything.

4. Tisha is funny. Her laugh when she really gets laughing and starts squinting her eyes is always classic. Whenever we both get the giggles it is hard to stop.

5. Tisha is a great Mom. She is the example I always imagined for my kids and our kids worship the ground she walks on.

6. Tisha is a hard worker. She excels at every job she has ever had and works her guts out all day and still takes care of the kids the cleaning the laundry the shopping and basically everything else. Amazing!

7. Tisha is considerate. She remembers everyone even their kids names, birthdays, favorite flavors of ice-cream you name it.

8. Tisha is beautiful. I sometime look at her when she is with me and think to myself, Man I scored!

9. Tisha loves me. She really loves me for who I am exactly. She deals with my obsessions, my flaws, and my negative qualities with love and total acceptance.  I know when she looks at me and says I love you she means it in the deepest and truest way possible.

Here are 9 of the millions of reason I love you and will always be your man!

If I could bottle happiness

True love isn't red or pink, it is Kawasaki green. I could think of nothing more romantic- a small bottle of green nail polish that was carefully selected to match the paint Mark had painstakingly chosen for his  motorcycle.  This is why I love my husband- I can see him scouring the isles of my beloved Target searching for the exact match. Nine years into eternity!

New favorite color...R A D.

We came, we ran, we got plastered in neon colored corn starch. This was definitely one of the funnest races I have done! The course was fun and the race went really fast (even though it wasn't timed). Glad to have Dad, Bree, Ty and uncle Todd there- aside from Dad complaining and throwing corn starch on random people while we waited :) Note to self for next year, stay in the packs as you run through the "color stations". I got hammered right in the eye ball by some punk kid chucking it full force at my face- push the smaller kids to the sides first.

After a 40 minute shower, my skin was back to pink with a few spots still blue/green today. My shoes and water belt however, probably will be seeing race residue for a while.  

BEFORE

Riding Dirty

TWO HANDS!

So handsome in his church clothes.

Kingston is 10 months old!!Everyone says it- where has the time gone? This kid is pulling up to the furniture, standing on his own for 4-5 seconds, is pretty much DONE with baby food, has still only two teeth, gives the best kisses, wasn't even fazed by the grass on his knees and is such a big boy!

We have now also entered "limp noodle" mode which makes holding this child on your lap almost like grabbing a greased piglet-church is awesome! He wants to crawl, get up in the mix and eat anything on the floor. He loves to wave, say "more" in sign language and has already mastered head nodding and "no nos".

I can't believe this tiny boy is almost a year old...

The Squinty Smile

Red Sand and Rock Climbing

Sad to say but Mark and I are Utah natives and have NEVER  stepped foot into Moab.We decided that when Mark's sister Debbie and her family were heading down, we could tag along. We are so glad we did! It was awesome!! We left early Friday afternoon sans children (who would be living it up at Casa Thomas. Thanks Auntie Bree!). Friday night we visited The Arches National Park- so amazing.
We went down for the sole purpose of scoping out the land of Red Rock in these sweet little side-by-side ATV's. They were AWESOME! We picked them up Saturday afternoon and spent four hours rock climbing and zipping over trails that no Jeep could handle. We took them out first thing Sunday before we left, on a trail that Jim said took him 2 hours in a Jeep...yeah, we were there in 20 minutes in these gems. I got to drive them to Gemini Bridges and that was so fun! Way better than any mountain bike, Jeep or Four Wheeler! Although Mark and I felt slightly under dressed, without our Keens, hip packs, dreadlocks and zip-off pants, we are definitely going back!

The Twin Arches

Our $20,000 dream ATV's

Me & the Hubs @ Gemini

Me, Mark and Alex

Moab, we salute you!

Easter 2012

This year, the Easter holiday spanned two full weeks! We started off with Mary Ann's annual hunt and prize raffle, the Saturday before. Mc was far more adept with gathering eggs this year and managed to rustle up about $5 in cash and plenty of candy. The following Saturday, G & Chris's for more eggs. More candy. Golf Cart rides. Saturday evening, the Lawrence family Easter @ our house. We made paper plate chickies (pinterest), dyed eggs, had a yarn "egg hunt"  and finished the night off with a fire.

We have been back in Utah for two years but with every holiday, it always solidifies that THIS is where we are supposed to be. We love to watch Mc playing with her cousins, spending time gorging ourselves surrounded by family and realizing how blessed we are to be so close to the people that love us most.

I also had the opportunity to teach the Young Women on Easter. There was no designated lesson and I stressed over the content for weeks. The Atonement is one that is so personal and for me, personal means crying. So through tears, I shared the events of the last week of the Savior's life and what he did for us personally. What an amazing blessing.



The Williamsons



The "Go Cart"

The chickies

The Lawrence Family (sans Brayden)

Dying eggs



The kidlets. I think this picture shows how much alike THEY look. There are pieces of Mark and I but they are definitely siblings.