Salt Lake Trip

This last weekend, we decided to get away, visit with family and have a relaxing trip.  And that is just what we did.  There was a lot of hotel swimming, a nice morning run ending with a trip to Starbucks, and a little shopping for my favorite type of clothing...workout clothes. :)  Since we've been back, Patrick has asked to go swimming everyday.  We left on Thursday and came back on Sunday and part of me wishes the trip had been longer.  It was nice not cooking, or going down to the pool whenever we desired and seeing such excitement on my boy's faces as they ran up and down the hotel halls.  I guess I was enjoying myself so much, I didn't even think to pull out my camera or phone to take pictures.  These are the only two I got:

 Patrick has always had a love/hate relationship with water and whenever we go I'm never quite sure which side is going to come out.  Luckily on this trip he loved it, and loved it so much that he wanted to take off swimming without us.  We bought that life vest so that it was a little easier on all of us.  He's quite the little fish now and it reinforced in my mind that he's ready to take swimming lessons.  Anyone know of a great place to go in Rexburg?

I got an ipod touch for Christmas and I use it for everything, including taking pictures while we go on lovely runs. I seriously want to move to Thanksgiving Point in Utah.  I don't know why, but it just hit a spot in me that was good for my soul.  I am extremely grateful for the life I have but I am definitely someone who likes to explore the world and if anything, this little vacation made me even more antsy to go on a big trip somewhere.  I'm thinking the Caribbean should be in the near future. ;)

Life from my phone

I have cute kids.  And I'm sure glad my phone has a camera on it because otherwise I would not be very good at documenting my cute kids.  I know I'm bragging and that I'm biased but even though life is not perfect with them, we all just really love each other. Here are just a few pictures of our life over the past couple weeks. 

We were doing gardening one day and Patrick wanted to wear grandma's hat.  And he reeaally loves his Uncle Derek. :)  True story: Derek was with Jon and I at the pet store and the sales lady thought Derek was Patrick's dad because they looked and acted a lot alike.  She couldn't believe that Derek was the uncle.  However, he is definitely a Blackburn with his fair skin, blue eyes and fiery personality. ;)

Really, Patrick just likes to wear hats.  So when daddy takes out his motorcycle helmet, Patrick is more than ready to put it on.

My hand in there is just me trying to get Patrick to back up so I could get a picture.  Getting a 2 yr. old to hold still is hard.

Oh, and this is lovely.  I'm so glad we potty trained this child so that he can go outside...in the driveway...for all the neighbors to enjoy.

You should have heard how proud he was that he went potty in the driveway and made shapes on Uncle Derek's car.  The memory still makes me smile.

This past week we have been doing a lot of cuddling.  I thought summer would get rid of the sickness but both boys have been throwing up for the last few days.  Luckily Aiden seems to be past the worst of it but Patrick has been having a rough time.  Some days, like today, we just stay in our pajamas, clean up puke/various bodily fluids around the house, watch cartoons, and read lots of stories.  I can't say it enough, but I am so relieved/blessed/lucky to have boys that are sweet and good natured when they're sick.  I know Patrick's feeling better when he starts acting like a pill again. ;)

And a picture of Aiden just because he's so dang cute.    

He really, really loves to laugh. :)

Memorial Day and other various events

I never know how to feel on Memorial Day.  It used to be a free day from school where we would do fun activities so I always looked forward to it.  Now it's a somber day but also a nice day to remember loved ones.  It's really not about the parties or barbecues or camp-outs.  Jon and I have it easy on Memorial Day because both of our families are buried at the same cemetery.  And, they are right across the street from each so when you pull up and see the Cliffords on the right side, the Halls are just on the left side.  It's always nice to see family and Patrick was extremely excited to be able to hang out with his cousins.  We were able to work it out so both of our families were there around the same time.  I don't think Memorial Day will ever be easy but I do enjoy having an excuse to go see my dad's headstone.

I swear my dad is with my children a lot and the funniest thing happened when we walked up to my dad's headstone.  Aiden has never met my dad but a little while ago he started saying ahhhhboo! to me and it was never anything I did with him.  That was something my dad did all the time with Patrick.  As soon as we walked up to the headstone Aiden got a smile on his face and started saying ahhhhboo! to the headstone.  Multiple experiences have helped me realize that even though my kids don't physically have Grandpa Clifford here, they still feel his influence in their lives.

 I would have loved to see my dad play with these two.   Someday.


I've already posted all of these pictures on social media but since this is the place it really counts I thought I should add them before I forget.

 This mater truck is the greatest.  Aiden is definitely a baby that wants to be outside(all day, every day if he could) and as soon as I open the door he heads straight to Mater.  He ran out so fast I didn't even have time to put on his shoes yet.  Outside with a bottle riding on mater=Aiden's happy place.

Patrick is still my little chef.  Remember the phase where he was obsessed with pots and pans?  It's ok if you don't. ;)  A pot was actually Patrick's comfort object when we were trying to get him to love nursery and once he had his pot, he didn't care if mom and dad were around.  Anyway, I thought the phase was gone but lately every time we cook or bake, Patrick has been there asking if he can help.  He's helped us make cookies at grandma's house and one morning I decided to let him help make the pancakes.  Since Aiden wants to do everything Patrick does, he joined in as well.  I think making pancakes was a highlight in Patrick's month and ever since then he's wanted to break out the spices and stir things up in a pan.

 Patrick woke up from nap time in the middle of me typing this post and once he saw the pictures of himself cooking, he wanted to start making something.  So as I'm typing this, he's mixing fruit snacks and fruit candies in a pan with a spoon.  I would be fine with it if he became a chef and taught me how to cook. ;)
Confession:  I thought I had patience until I had kids and now I feel like I have none.  Even though I post pictures of Patrick cooking and dumping spices on here, it's not an easy thing for me. I have to have a pep talk with myself and tell myself to relax and let Patrick experiment.  After the pancake making party, the kitchen was a mess and had I not mentally prepared myself beforehand, I would have been an angry wreck the whole time.  Just keepin' it real. ;)

Catch-up...again

I forgot to add these pictures to my last post but these are just more from the Discovery Center in Salt Lake.

Patrick is obsessed with strollers, shopping carts, anything he can push

Aiden and Carly are only a few months apart and they were both interested in similar things

Classic Aiden point.  I had to add it. 

Last week we got to attend a Afton's birthday and the theme was horses.  Excited doesn't even start to express how Patrick felt about being able to ride a real, full size horse.

 Keaton jumped on with him and the two were impossible to get off the horse.  These two cousins looove playing with each other.  It's adorable.

Aiden sat on a horse but acted like he didn't see what the big deal was.  Mostly, he just ran around, enjoying the outdoors and looked adorable in his little cowboy get-up.  

Not gonna lie, after this party I started having serious thoughts about getting a horse.  We have a large piece of land we're building on and a horse would definitely fit but I just keep thinking how much work they are.  However, after seeing his excitement and the pure joy on his face, I almost think it'd be worth it.  We were worried that Patrick would be a little nervous to be on such a big horse but he kept telling the horse to go faster.  Even after Jon got the horse in a little trot, it wasn't enough for Patrick.  His little boy dreams came true that day.

Lately, the biggest thing on our minds has been building a house.  We're just in the bidding stage but hopefully we can get everything decided and set so we can start to build in the next month.  We'll see because I know everything takes time, but we are pretty dang excited.  Yesterday in the car Jon asked me what I was thinking about and I told him my thoughts pretty much only revolve around family, kids, house, kids, house, food. :)  We're starting to find out just how big of a headache the process of house building is and there are soo many times I mention to Jon that it would be so nice to just buy a house but I know it will all be worth it.  We feel extremely blessed to be customizing a house that we love.  Here's a little peak of what the house will look like.  I'm sure it will turn out a little different but that's the general idea.

Any tips on building a house would be greatly appreciated. :)

Life lately

So, life has been busy and I haven't done a good job at keeping up to date with everything.  Pretty much this post is just to get some pictures off of my phone that I want document for later.

Can I just say I love the summer?  Shocker, I know.  I only mention it...all the time.  Today was the perfect weather and we spent an amazing evening outside.  Sometimes, enjoying the sunshine, going down some slides and playing soccer with your boys at the park is greater than anything else I can think of.  Seriously...it was so nice and good for the soul to enjoy the outdoors.  

Patrick has never shown a great interest in sports related things but when it comes to running, he would do it all day.  Tonight we realized that while running around, he also loves to kick the soccer ball.  Loves it. It was completely adorable to see Patrick and Jon kicking the soccer ball around.

I wrote our five year anniversary post but forgot to add pictures so here they are. :)  This time we didn't have a self timer to take a picture together.

This year for Easter, we enjoyed hanging out at Grandma Clifford's house and meeting a new nephew on the Blackburn side.  Patrick took off running to all of the eggs and new exactly what to do and it didn't take long for Aiden to catch on once he saw Patrick.  Aiden would get so excited when he saw an egg and start shaking his basket, dump out all of the eggs and then pick them all up again.  It was kind of a process with him. :)

                                                       

For your viewing pleasure...

A couple weeks ago we all decided to go bowling.  Aiden loved the food.

And Patrick actually caught onto the idea of bowling and loved it...until we started the second game and then everything else in the bowling alley was much more exciting.

And lastly, Jon and I decided a little vacation was long overdue for our family and decided to go to Salt Lake.  We left Friday after work and came back Saturday afternoon since I had to teach Relief Society the next day.  Super short but still enjoyable.  It might sound ridiculous but one of our favorite things as a family when we're on a trip is going and enjoying the pool.  So Friday night after we dumped our bags we headed straight for the pool.  The boys never love the pool when they're just with me but when dad comes along, he has the magic touch and within a few minutes the boys are having the greatest time.  Dads are great.  The next day we headed to downtown Salt Lake and checked out the mall(Jon forgot his jacket, thinking it be warmer, so we had to pick one up) and then met up with my cousin, Erika and her little family, and went to the Children's Discovery Center.  The boys were getting tired and hungry and I wanted to get on the road during their nap time so we left and went to find some lunch at the mall food court(which was where the discovery center was) and ran into our friends Braden and Kari.  It was great to catch up and then we were back on the road.  Up until the minute we left, we were trying to decide on staying longer and visiting more but decided we were tired and Jon wasn't feeling well and I still hadn't found a sub for my church calling so it was better to just leave.  It ended up being a good choice because Jon has just gotten sicker since then and all of our family has taken turns with the sickness.  

Right now none of my other pictures are uploading but I did get a few from the Discovery Center.  

Anyway, that sums up the last month.  Life is good.  

Aiden's 1 year pictures

This weekend, we had a lot of family in town which included my lovely cousin, Erika.  I always convince people with fancy cameras to take pictures of me and my family so I put her to work. ;)  I had completely spaced doing Aiden's 1 year pictures, which is weird for me since I obsess over pictures, so it all worked out perfectly.  She's sweet and said she wanted to take the pictures but either way, thank you Erika!!  These pictures capture his cute little personality. 

He really loved rocking back and forth on this chair so I had to stand close by to make sure he didn't fall and hurt himself on the cement.

I was excited to get a few pictures of me with my baby.

I love his little TOMS

Aiden and Carly loved playing on these chairs at my mom's house.  Cute little cousins. :)

5 Years-Our love story

15 years ago, in 8th grade orchestra, there was this boy that caught my attention.  I have memories of sitting in orchestra, talking to this boy while a movie was playing(probably South Pacific or White Christmas) and thinking he was really nice.  I also remember that when I got "promoted" to 1st chair viola, he leaned forward and whispered into my ear, "hey, look at you moving up in the world."  And I got butterflies.

High School came and we ran into each other at the opening bonfire and again I realized he was really sweet.  Football games came and we started looking for each other.  We became close friends and by the time we were 16, we started dating.  I was in love. ;)

Senior year came and my heart was broken by this boy.  Shattered.  I thought my world was ending but luckily college came.  And I realized it's pretty fun to date...as much as possible.  This boy left on his mission and I dated some more and fell in love again.  Things didn't work out but I was done with dating and no longer interested in the boy from 8th grade orchestra.

This boy came home from his mission and I told him that I was only interested in being friends, but he stuck by my side.  He listened to me cry over boys.  He became my counselor.  He started dating other girls and I started dating other boys and we both became interested in other people.  However, none felt quite right and by Christmas time, I decided that I had to know either way if this boy(Jon) was the right one.  So, I told him I thought we should date.

Two weeks later(5 1/2 years ago), Jon called up my dad to ask permission for my hand in marriage.  I'm glad my dad's comment of, "Are you sure?  Has she given you any indication she wants to marry you?" didn't deter him.  Jon later told me he just knew how he felt and didn't want another year to go by before he asked me to marry him.  So, he took me up to the Rexburg Temple on New Year's Eve and he said that he wanted me to take a walk with him.  I didn't think anything was up because I was still trying to decide how I felt about him so I told him it was freezing and I didn't want to get out of the car...even if he did have hot chocolate in a little thermos to keep us warm.

So he proposed.  In his old Ford Bronco.

And I didn't accept.

I made him get out of the car, get on his knee and propose again.

And then I told him I'd think about it.

A few days later(yes, I really made Jon wait for an answer), I went up to the temple and I finally got that feeling I had been waiting for in past relationships.  I just knew that was the direction my life would take.  My decision wasn't based off of lust or infatuation, but by spiritual promptings and a realization that I deeply cared for this man and I trusted him with my life.

5 years ago, yesterday, we were married in the Rexburg Temple.  And I love this man more deeply than I can say.  He has seen me through my hardest times, held my hand when I needed strength, and loved me with an unconditional love that has meant more to me than I can say.  I didn't know my personality when I got married but the Lord knew exactly who I would need to keep me stable.

Yesterday, I kept looking at Jon and thinking how lucky I am.  How lucky am I that I found a man who would do anything for me and our little family?  How lucky am I that I found a man that would sacrifice his own desires or pursuit to keep me happy if need be.  How lucky am I to find a partner in life who is willing to see me through my worst times and help me become better?  I couldn't have picked out a better partner for me.   And I love him more today than the day we were married.

Falling in love isn't always the fairy tale story.  Our story could be considered far from romantic but it's our story.  And I love it.  Someday, hopefully my kids will read this and they'll be trying to decide if they've found the right person.  I had so many times in the dating years where I would plead with the Lord to let me know if it was right.  And answers never came.  And drama and confusion came.   And it wasn't right.  But when I had finally found the right person, the Lord let me know because I had a feeling of peace.  And Jon felt the same way.  Every moment afterwards wasn't necessarily peaceful but when we thought of marrying each other, there was the feeling of just knowing.

Our life hasn't been perfect since being married but it's always felt natural and right.  We've had ups and downs and trials that have tested us as individuals but the important thing is that we've always confided in each other, made decisions together, and grown together.

And it's been fun.

Happy Anniversary, Jon.

5 years ago

Last fall

 Apparently I like dark blue and teal together.

Home Improvement pictures and potty training

This past winter, my mom added on a new addition to her house and I never got around to posting pictures on here.  Remember me posting the pictures of us demolishing a kitchen on Thanksgiving?  That kitchen has now turned into a living room.

And this kitchen is the new addition.  It is quite the hang out area-the boys love running around that island.

 

Jon and I have been searching through, literally, hundreds of house plans and all of the construction around my mom's house has gotten us excited.

In other news, guess who's potty trained?!

 I believe we've gone a full week without any accidents so I'm saying we are officially out of diapers.  It's sooo nice not having two kids in diapers.

Honesty moment: Patrick is going through a rough stage for me.  My proudest mom moments have not come during this phase called the terrible twos.  Potty training was rough and after multiple attempts and waiting for Patrick to be ready, he's finally potty trained but it wouldn't have been successful if I'd tried to force it a day too soon.  He is the sweetest little boy but he has a stubborn streak that has tested my patience over and over again(He gets it from me so you'd think I'd understand).  I know his whining and desire to be independent are normal...but it's been rough.  But, I'm learning and Patrick is forgiving and at the end of the day, I might be happy for bedtime, but I would do anything for this little boy.  I can't believe that my first-born is turning 3 in a few months and then going to pre-school and then into Primary.  The other day I got emotional thinking about how my days are quickly coming to an end where I get to be home with him all day.  Before I know it, he'll be graduating from High School.  But until then, I'm trying to learn patience and enjoy my days with this strong-willed, independent, sweet, car obsessed little boy.