A Horse of Course

A few months ago Kylea and I were invited to join a playgroup.  This has been a huge blessing to us!  Three times a week baby and I get out of the house to socialize with a few other mommies and kiddies her age.  We love our playgroup!

Yesterday, instead of meeting at the clubhouse we decided to take the children to Thanksgiving Point to see the farm animals.  It was Kylea's first time seeing real animals and not just pictures from her books.

She LOVED it!! We had a blast.

Kylea and her friend Aivree

she's trying to pull the gate open so she can play with the llamas

We were looking at the chickens.  Baby girl was laughing and pointing and "bock, bocking" at them when suddenly she yelled out, "NEIGH!!!!" and went running across the grassy field.  I was thinking, what in the world?

Then I noticed what she was running toward...... giant Clydesdale horses! They gently lowered their giant heads and allowed her to rub their faces, as she squealed with delight.  As we walked away the big black Clydesdale gave the gate a couple taps with his front hoof as if to say, "more, please!"

admiring her own shoes

dancing with her friend, A.

waiting...not so patiently for a pony ride.

she figured out a shortcut to the ponies!!!

we had so much fun!  We will have to go again, maybe next time we will bring Daddy!

EASTER

Ready to hunt some for some EASTER treasures.

 She wasn't sure what to do at first.

 After Daddy showed her what to do she went straight to work!

 All done.....

 She had so much fun collecting them the first time, she decided to empty her basket and start again!

A Child's Prayer

Every morning, meal and nighttime we pray.  Every time I say, "prayers, baby" and fold Kylea's arms for her.  And every day she immediately unfolds them and digs into her food or runs away and starts playing.

But today....

Today, at breakfast, I said, "prayers, baby" and folded her arms for her.  She kept her arms folded, bowed her head and squinted her eyes almost closed and just before the prayer ended she shouted out,

"MEN!!!!!"

First REAL Haircut

I've been putting off this moment... but it was time.  Kyky went to the salon today for her first haircut! Her hair was hanging in her eyes and bothering her, so we went to a local salon that specializes in haircuts for children. 

She got to sit in a little car with a steering wheel and a horn.

They had a bucket of toys to play with.  She fished out all the horses from the bucket to play with.  She LOVES horses.

Once she realized that her hair was going to be messed with she wasn't very happy.

 After her initial unhappiness she happily returned to playing.

 Mommy hovered around through the whole haircut and Daddy took pictures.

First time having her hair blown dry too.  A sucker distracted her from being upset about it.

ALL DONE!

 One happy girl!  She can see, she has a sucker and was awarded her first balloon!

The cut is amazing, it swings and bounces and looks adorable. I almost immediately regretted having the stylist cut bangs on her...I'm not a fan.  I clipped the bangs to the side after we left, and it was much better. 

She hasn't stopped playing with the balloon since we got home.  Especially after Daddy showed her how to hit it like a punching bag.  

Here's a before shot of the hair...just for reference.

Remembering

Remember when.......
You were just the cute guy in the pink shirt (which you were pulling off) and I wondered, "He's cute, how come I've never seen him before!"

Remember when....
We started hanging out and I thought you were the funniest person I had ever met.

Remember when...
I would come to ward prayer and secretly hope you were there so  could see you again.

Remember when....
You FINALLY asked me on a date, we chatted easily all night long.  Then you fell asleep on my floor while watching "The Sandlot"

Remember when.....
You said, "I love you."  the first time.  My heart said, "I love you too!"  but my mind raced and panicked. I called one of my good friends and said, "what do I do?"  she just said, "You dork!  If you love him, you say it back!"  Thank heavens for good friends.

Remember when....
You decorated my room with flower petals and candles and proposed, down on one knee.  You had a bouquet of my favorite flowers in one hand and a ring in the other.  I cried and said YES!

Remember when....
I had to squeeze your hand at the, "I do" part of the wedding because we were too busy staring into each other's eyes.

Remember when....
We lived in a 400 sq foot basement apartment and we spent most nights beating every level of Mario Kart on the wii.

Remember when...
We moved to a bigger apartment. We slept on the floor by the fire the first night because we didn't have any furniture and we felt like we were about to live in a mansion!

Remember when....
We spent most nights doing homework together.

Remember those....
Warm summer evenings we spent playing volleyball, swimming and bbqing.

Remember when...
We started driving home from Colorado with an 8 week old husky, who was howling in distress, and we both said, "what have we gotten ourselves into!"

Remember when....
Said puppy graduated puppy school and we felt so proud that we had changed our wild pup into an  obedient member of the family.

Remember when....
We spent every evening walking, jogging and sometimes skating around Liberty Park with Little T.

Remember when....
After hours of labor we saw the face of our first child....when we became a family.

I loved you so much then, I loved you like I had never loved anyone before.  I had no idea how time would change that love.  It's deeper, and more meaningful.  You have become an important part of me. I can't imagine life without you.

You are my best friend. You are the best husband.  You are the best father.  I love you so much!  Happy 5 year anniversary! I look forward to many more!