Our 8th Anniversary

 Luke and I just celebrated 8 years of being married! Though we wish we could've celebrated on the beach again we felt lucky enough that we were able to be at the beach a few weeks before our anniversary. The real day fell on a Tuesday this year so it was a pretty normal day and that night Luke got me flowers and we went out as a family to Cafe Rio for dinner and got a Lime Pie to take home for dessert. The boys went to bed early and we stayed up watching a movie and eating our treats. It was a good night for me!

 So by Friday night we finally got a babysitter and went out for a date. Last minute we decided to go downtown to Maggiano's for dinner and then went to Comedy Works afterwards to see Tom Segura. It was an interesting and fun experience and all the comedians were pretty funny. Afterwards I was able to get a picture with Tom Segura on our way out- sorry Luke takes fuzzy pictures.

 Afterwards we walked downtown for awhile and 16th Street Mall, and then went to Union Station, which was filled with people hanging out even at 11 pm, and we met up with a few friends and chatted for a bit. It was a long, fun night out! We at least still felt young, even if we're getting older! Eight years has gone by fast but I'm glad we're still having fun and enjoying where we are in our life right now :)

Jacob starts Kindergarten!

 Jacob is growing up so fast! He started his first day of Kindergarten on August 20. I think he was a little nervous about starting school since it was a little longer and earlier than preschool had been, and he was worried since he didn't know anyone else in his class. So here's his nervous but excited face before the first day.

 The first day me, Luke, and Blake all walked him up to school to see where his class lines up.

He started getting more nervous but once his class was ready to go inside, he followed his teacher Mrs. G in and Luke was proud Jacob didn't even look back. It's different not being able to walk him into class and trust that every day he will give what he needs to for his teacher and so on, but I guess that's growing up.

  That first day when I picked Jacob up he said he had a good first day and made new friends. I was proud of him!

That night for dinner was Jacob's choice so we had fish and rice. Then at dinner he felt his tooth come more loose. It became loose at the beach when he was biting a floatee and he had been patient with it and waiting for it to fall out on it's own. After dinner Jacob asked me to look at his tooth again, and it literally just fell out without even pulling on it. I was glad it finally came out without having to hurt him and now he really looks like a big boy! What a big day of firsts!

The tooth fairy even let him keep his first tooth.

(But after that, what is the tooth fairy to do with all those teeth..?)

Anyway, Jacob has been doing well with his first week or so of Kindergarten, which is great. I was worried we'd be having meltdowns or I'd be dragging him out of bed every morning, but he usually wakes up on time (as have I) and gets ready quickly and hasn't been tired or whiny when he gets home! Yay! Maybe the tiredness will kick in later but I'm glad he always transitions better than I think he will, I need to start giving him more credit. 

And Luke has often been helping dropping him off in the morning which is a huge help to me- it pays to have a school in the neighborhood! Having it so close makes it easy and every now and then we walk home after picking him up. So we're all getting used to the new schedule- I hope he has a great first year of school!

Maryland Visit 2014

So after our night in Williamsburg, Luke had to work Monday morning, so once the kids and I finally got up and packed we ate breakfast at the hotel- and the boys even got a private table where they could watch PBS while they ate their cereal- perfect!

We finally got on the road, and I planned to meet my mom at Luke's grandma's house so I could return the car I had been borrowing to the Deckers. It should have been about a 3 hour drive but we got stuck in traffic for an additional hour. It was nice to be able to visit with Grandma Martha, though it wasn't for long, and then I finally made it to my parents' house by 5 Monday night. Every day that week my dad and sister Julia would be at work until evening, and my sister Andrea would have band camp until 9, so it was nice to see everyone when they would get home each night. Julia was excited to show me new car she just got herself- very nice!

  On Tuesday morning I had a little time with Andrea before she left for camp so we went to the mall to activate my new pink iphone, shopped around a little bit and the boys got to play there too. The only thing I was sad about is that the Build-A-Bear I used to work at in the mall is no longer there! I couldn't believe it!

 The rest of the day it rained really hard so we just hung around the house; the boys had plenty of new toys to keep them occupied. Later that night, we got news that my mom's younger brother Rob had passed away. Even though we knew it was coming soon, it was sad for all of us to hear this news, and the girls and I did what we could to be there for my mom and help her put together a slideshow and things for his memorial.

The next day, Andrea and I drove by good old Hammond Elementary/Middle and went to the park behind the school.

 The boys got to play for awhile and I was also able to take some pictures of Andrea for her senior year. I'm by no means a professional, but I think some turned out pretty cute! These are a few of my favorites :)

I can't believe how fast Andrea's grown and that she'll already be a senior this year! And that she's already driving! It's weird to think that when I first went to college she was only headed into 1st grade, and now next year she'll already be headed to college and Jacob will be in 1st grade, hehe.

Later Wednesday afternoon I went to visit my best friend from high school Amy. I really thought that I was going to be able to meet her first baby, but he ended up being born one week after I visited her. I did bring her a homemade blanket that I made for her son though.

And even though I didn't get to meet Connor, I still had a great time visiting Amy, catching up, and finally seeing her cute house!

On Thursday me and my mom took the boys to Washington D.C. and they were pretty excited to take the metro there.

All Jacob had talked about before our trip was that he wanted to go see the White House so that was our first stop.

I know the kids don't seem that excited but they're still talking about how they got to see the White House where the President lives so I'm glad we got to do that.

We took a couple little stops to eat snacks, and then we ran into a little street market and grabbed some fresh peaches. 

Then Grandma found a McDonalds cart and was nice enough to get the boys and us a quick lunch too.

 

Then we finally made it to the Air and Space Museum where the boys were excited to see all the many planes!We got to look inside a lot of them too, but the boys were disappointed they couldn't sit in the cockpit, ha.

 

My mom's next children's book is about a boy who has a younger brother and also wants to be an astronaut, so we thought it fitting to get some pictures with her grandsons that she can send in to her publishers.

The boys loved all the planes, and the kids section with lots of fun stuff for them to play with too.We stayed until they were hungry and felt a little worn out.

After the museum on our way home we stepped out onto the mall to get a quick view of the Capital and Washington Monument. Jacob liked seeing all the cool buildings, and I still do too!

It had been such a beautiful day to get out and show the boys around DC! Jacob fell asleep on the metro ride home but Blake was just happy as could be riding the train. It was a fun filled day!

On Friday, we drove by our first house in Maryland and my mom and I were surprised to see the current owners have an interesting taste in lawn decor. Then we took the boys to a park I used to love going to as a child, and had a little picnic. (Note Blake with sandwich in his mouth.)  

The park I had remembered had completely been remodeled but at least they still seem to be known for crazy long slides.

Both the boys went down the huge slides, I couldn't believe Blake did it too, but they loved it, and Blake was so funny to watch! And Jacob said that it was so awesome!

After the playground I was excited to take them on the long train ride that runs through the woods but unfortunately the last ride derailed so it was closed for the rest of the day. So the boys and I went for a ride on the carousel.

Afterwards Grandma again treated the boys with some ice cream. It was another beautiful day- it wasn't even humid, it was great! On our way home, since we weren't far we drove by the temple on the way home so I could show the boys where their parents got married.

I love seeing my temple, and it was just a few weeks shy of our 8 year anniversary, so it was neat timing. We showed the boys the Visitor Center briefly as well and then headed home.  That night, after having some pizza, we headed over to Andrea's high school to watch their band performance after 2 weeks practice of Band Camp.

Andrea did really well, and it was fun to finally get out and do something together as a family since I had spent time with everyone, just at different times. Other nights this week Julia and I went shopping, got ice cream, decorated the back patio with lights, and just watched shows together too. Since Friday was my last night, Julia went out to the movies to go see The Giver, which we both really liked especially since we had had the book, and then us three girls stayed up late and chatted that night. I had such a fun time hanging out with my sisters throughout the week!

We didn't have a ton of time on Saturday since our flight was late afternoon, but after I got us packed we all took the boys to a park to play and have lunch and from there I said goodbye to my sisters and my parents dropped us off at the airport.

I always get a little sad when I say goodbye to my family! I always wish there was a way we could be closer but I know I'm lucky I've gotten to see my family a couple times this year. We had a great visit, beautiful weather, and we made the most of the time we had. The boys love spending time with their grandparents and their aunts and I know the boys had a fun time as well! Until next time!