Party Time

We had our Birthday/Anniversary week and had a grand ol' time.

Tanner and I have been married for five whole years. Maybe the three children have something to do with it, but I feel like it's been so much longer than that...in a good way. I didn't know if Tanner would be off work early enough for us to do something but the doctor he was with let him go earlier than usual. I called our sweet neighbor last minute and she came over to watch Mariah and Chet so Tanner and I could go out for dinner. Austin was our chaperone.

The older I get and the longer we have been together the more grateful I am for the wonderful man I married. He gets me like no one else and no one can bring peace to my life like he can. With each new child I fall a little more in love with him. He loves others in such a pure way that inspires me and makes me want to be a better person. So basically he is pretty darn close to perfect and I love him.

And because I love him so much I wanted to do something extra special for him on his birthday. I got him tickets to a Real Soccer game for a couple weeks later. His birthday was on the Saturday of General Conference and because he went to Priesthood session with his dad we ended up eating his Strawberry Shortcake for lunch. Mariah and Chet were totally ok with that.

Two good lookin' guys right there. 

We had Tanner's sisters Natalie and Heidi watch the kiddos so we could go to the game. It was fun to get away just the two of us for a little while. And surprisingly I actually enjoyed myself. Live soccer is so much better than televised.

I'm gonna miss this state...

Go Team Go! Yeah, the ladies in the background were slightly obnoxious; but the family sitting next to us shared their peach rings and chocolate covered cinnamon bears with us so that made up for any negative vibes. 

Mariah had been so excited about her birthday. She came up with a list of who to invite all on her own and picked her own dessert too (chocolate cupcakes with white frosting and sprinkles) She was set on having an Easter egg hunt at her party. I told her that she would have several different hunts before her birthday so it probably wouldn't be that exciting. After a lot of convincing, she decided to paint rocks instead. She came up with it all on her own and it was a hit.

Painting the rocks...

Mariah and Maylie have such a sweet friendship. They love to hold hands and were so bummed when they didn't end up in the same sunbeam class together. 

Casey is another good friend from church who was in Mariah's dance class too. 

Max insisted on making a cake for Mariah's birthday so they brought it along for the party. He was so bummed when he realized he had forgotten her flower. So when we saw them this weekend he gave her another flower. These two are "going on a mission together" and are just the best of friends. 

After Tanner got home Mariah got her gifts from us. She got a play doctor set and bike.

I think she likes it. Chet is rifling through the Doctor kit in the background. 

Chet was pretty good about all the attention Mariah was getting until she got her gifts from us. Then he was pretty sad. But he started feeling better once he started planning his birthday...which is six months away. But he already knows he will be painting rocks and it will be at Max's house. I don't have the heart to tell him that max with be 22 hours away from us by that time. So we talk about his birthday every day.

Happy Birthday to some of my favorite people.