Hats off to Dad and Garrett!

I'm so proud of my dad and my little brother. On Sept. 11th they participated in the craziest bike race I have ever heard of. It's 206 miles from Logan Utah to Jackson Hole Wyoming. It took them 12 hours to complete the race including stops to refuel (you gotta eat a lot if you are using that much energy!) My dad as of late has become a bicycling maniac, if you will. He would do it all day every day if it was socially acceptable and if he didn't have to go to work every day to provide for his family. I'm glad he and Garrett got the chance to do this. They had a blast and it always feels great to accomplish something so challenging. Way to go guys!!!

First day of Preschool!

Kayla went to her first day of preschool today! She was sooo excited! The preschool is on a little farm with all kinds of animals for the kids to take care of. Kayla is so excited that there is a llama with her same name! Today they got to feed the pig named Pearl. I love the program they have at this school. Each of the children is given a little chore to do and they switch off feeding the different animals. There is a pony to ride, llamas, chickens, turkeys, pigs, goats, cows, swans and two dogs that follow the kids around and are just like little kids themselves. Kayla's teacher is so sweet. There are so many fun activities for the kids to do. They have mounds of books and Kayla's favorite, they have a little stage! There is a sledding hill for the winter, and a wonderful playground for the warmer days. I signed Kayla up for their van service that comes and picks her up in the morning and drops her off in the afternoon. It's wonderful because the school is about 20 minutes away and so I don't have to worry about driving her there. She came home exhausted, but very happy and couldn't wait to tell me everything she did. I missed her so much while she was gone. I cried as she drove away. She is my little buddy and I love spending time with her. Tessa and I are going to have to figure out what to do with ourselves while she is away. Tessa had a hard time with it too. She is Kayla's little shadow and so she became my shadow while Kayla was gone, but I'm not as fun as Kayla is.

5 Years ago today!

September 2nd 2005 was the best day of my life up to that point! The love of my life asked me to marry him! I'm so grateful for the last five years we have spent together. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me. He is the most patient, kind, lovable husband I could have ever wished for. Every year it gets better and I can't wait to see what the future brings.
We went to Brandon's family cabin about 1 1/2 hours away. Brandon's family came down too to join us. I had no idea what was going on. I thought we were just there to play. We started out by riding the four wheeler down to the lake.
There was a canoe waiting for us at the lake. Brandon said that it was his uncles and he always leaves it there. I still didn't suspect a thing. Brandon wanted us to row out to a small island in the middle of the lake because he wanted to show me something. I'm grateful I brought my camera along. I snapped pictures the whole time, not because I thought something was going on, but I just wanted to document our fun trip.
The island turned out being a pretty far row away. It took us about 45 min to get there. I wanted to turn back a few times because Brandon's sisters were waiting for us to get back so they could ride the four wheeler. I later found out that they just said that to throw me off.
Brandon and his best friends drove down to the cabin the night before and rowed out to the island to prepare for the next night. Brandon said that these four big boys in the canoe was a funny sight. The canoe was about to sink from all their weight.
When we got to the island Brandon blindfolded me. Finally at this point I knew what was happening. He led me a ways into the island and when he took of the blindfold this is what I saw! He had sprinkled rose petals all over the ground and he tried to light some candles, but it was too windy. There were two dozen roses on the table and a banana cream pie (my favorite!)
After I finished my pie this is what was written on my plate...
This was in the rose that held the ring.

I love my ring so much! It is so simple and elegant. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I said yes of course!
We went back to his cabin and my whole family was there along with Brandon's family. That was a wonderful surprise. I was on cloud nine!
When I got back to my house that night there were 4 more dozen roses waiting for me. I am the luckiest girl alive. He had planned out such a special night and everything went perfectly.