10 Years.

7.27.

Friendship.Learning.Travel.Dreams.Love.Hardwork.Laughter.Tears.Memories.Good.Support.2Homes.2Dogs.2Beautiful Boys.10Years of marriage.I cannot believe it. Gone by so quickly. I am so happy and blessed to be able to spend my life with my best friend. We have had so many wonderful memories and experiences together. Marriage is definitely a learning experience. You grow, and get to know your spouse everyday. You have to work everyday at it. Some days harder then others but in the end it is all worth it. I have an incredible husband. Through these 10 years I have learned he is the hardest, most determined man I know. So supportive, loving and has been the most wonderful father I could have ever hoped for to our children. Just grateful for my guy.I was going through my old scrapbooks, Brady and I talking about everything and everywhere we have been. Back in the day we didn't have digital camera's so I had to take pic's of my pic's. Ha. It it crazy to look back at 10 years. Virginia Beach, D.C., Western, Eastern and Southern Caribbean. Toronto Canada.Vegas. Monterey Bay. Jackson Hole.Cali. New York. Hopefully....Europe will be added to the list one day. Before we headed out for a romantic evening Brady surprised me with an Ipad. I am so excited to use it. And BLOG baby!! This will be so handy for me.

I gave Brady a couple of coats, this was one. Patagonia one of his fav's. It looks really great on him and I was loving the houndstooth/menswear look.We then went to my FAVORITE FAVORITE restaurant ever....Metropolitan!

In my opinion one of the BEST places to eat in Utah. Period.

I asked about the history of the building, the architecture of the building is incredible. It used to be a car/autobody shop. It has a domed ceiling and the windows are huge, from the 1950's. All original. Amazing.
Are you ready to see what we ate?! Works of art.

Creamed Heart of Palm Soup with fresh chives Truffle potatoes.red wine reduction.tender mushrooms, potato cylinderOrganic wild greens.local honey.drizzled in light guava dressing. sweet berries.Cheese tortellini. Tender flaky crab. Sweet basil sauce. Fresh peas topped with arugula.

Um, Hi...I am a fresh apricot with a tangy passion fruit sorbet. Please enjoy me.

Brady's T-bone steak, as big as his head.Seriously.Grilled on Mesquite Wood. Smelled Wonderful.

Along side were 3 amazing dippers. Reduced Mushroom gravy. Sweet Carrot sauce. Beet horseradish whip.My delicious meal. Crispy green beans bundled. Beef Wagu.Yukon gold potato with creme frachie.Eeekkkk.....so excited to taste!Our amazing chef. Justin. He is unreal. Everything you saw, cooked by him. I would eat cardboard if it was prepared by him.Sparkly. 10 years. Finished off with Apple Purse A la Mode.

Vanilla sherbet. Caramel sauce. Sea Salt. Minced apples and baby grapes. Served in a warm flaky crust. Viola....Are you full?!!What an amazing night. Who would have thought, this would be us 10 years down the road. It has been a wonderful adventure. Can't wait for 10 more. I love you Brady!

What a Weekend.What a Guy!

No days off. He works 7 days a week, all hours. No matter what, weekends, holiday's and sometimes a midnight call or two. Whatta Guy....Brady! I have an incredible hardworking husband. I am so proud of him. This past year with Sysco he had set a high goal of achieving "Chairman's Club" which is a tremendous honor and accomplishment, this is extremely difficult to do and he did it!! He beat last year's sales, increased gross profit dollars and generated $3 million dollars in sales! Whoa!! The last day when he found out he made it Brayden and I made him his favorite cookies and stuck this sign on the door....We were so happy and proud of our Dad!! He made the top 5% in the company. Every year Sysco puts on an incredible dinner and award show up at Snowbird Resort. We had a yummy dinner, great appetizers, and divine dessert. They even put everyone up in a room for the night. Brady was recognized and gave the sweetest speech, thanked our family for our support and love. I was SO proud of him, moved by emotion I stood up when he was presented with his award. I love you babe, thank you for being such a hard worker, tremendous father and supporting our family. You are incredible.

And I reaped the benefits as well...He got this YUMMY basket filled with goodies. The best caramel apple, chocolate pretzels and dipped nutter butters. All from a company in Manti, UT called Candies on Main. So good.

I have to sing praise to Sysco. They are such an incredible company to work for. They really care about your family and include everyone in there success. They treated everyone and there families to a SUPER FUN day at Lagoon. Catered a fantastic BBQ and all the ice cream treats you could eat. Brayden ate his fair share of sherbet push pops and nut sunday's. We all got to wear our Sysco T's too!

We had SUCH a BLAST!! Brayden loved every minute of it, rode A LOT of rides but his favorite was the airplanes with daddy. Watching his face on the new bombora roller coaster was priceless. He was drunk with fun. Hilarious. I was not planning on staying as long as we did. We shut Lagoon down, didn't leave until it closed. Greyson is seriously and angel baby. He was incredible all day long. It was pretty hot and he just trucked right along. He was so excited to hear and see all the rides and the flashing lights. He would kick and squeal, so darling! Both our boys were such troopers. It was a GREAT day. Good memories.

This ride brought back so many memories. When I was a little girl this was my favorite ride. My dad was so much fun and did every ride with me. He made it so much fun, we would laugh so hard together and had the best time. The Tidal Wave seemed SO BIG to me when I was young. I even remember the musty smell, the yellow chipped painted seats we sat in, and the strange colored pirates looking down at us. The sound, the humming of the boat taking us higher and higher. Dad and I would scream and lift our hands up. What a sport, Dad loved the thrill rides and it rubbed off on his daughter. I will forever remember my fun daddy when I see this ride.

Agh, so HOT...sticky weather!

My sweet angel guy.

Brayden and his bud Issac.

Hung out with Ryan, Leslie and their sweet fam, the boys had such a great time together.

Wouldn't be complete without a summer sunset departing on the ferris wheel.Sunday we snuck up to a lake in Herriman under construction. This is such a find! It will be great when it is all complete. As of now, there are no trespassing signs everywhere so we hurried and ate a snack. Brayden wanting the water we stopped off at a splash pad for a few minutes and soaked up the sunshine.

Loving Summer. Whatta Weekend! I have a great family.

Best Read Ever.

There have only been 2 books that I have absolutely could not put down. I LOVE it when that happens. This book that I recently read is #3. But in my opinion this tops the list. THE BEST book I have EVER read.
The Title is Messenger. The legacy of Mattie Stepanek. Written by his Mother Jeni Stepanek. A courageous angel sent to earth to make a difference in this world in the short 12 years he was here. And I think that ALL human beings should read it. I do have to warn you it is NOT for the faint of heart. It is absolutely heartbreaking but at the same time you can feel the love, peace and inspiration he expressed. I don't even know how to explain this story. It has touched me deeply. I mean that, his goal was to deliver a message of peace, hope and positivity. To see our glasses half full instead of half empty, I can tell you he succeeded with me. He made me think...DEEPLY.
I heard about the book on Oprah (of course) Mattie the young boy and her had become the closest of friends and was on her show a few times. This family has went through trials beyond anything I could ever imagine. Mattie's mom gave birth to 4 children all who were born very sick, the doctor's could not figure out what was wrong with them. They had a hard time breathing and moving. All three of her children passed away before the age of 4. When his mother was pregnant for the 4th time the doctor's did testing on her and found out that she had Dysautonomic Mitochondrial Myopathy a rare Muscle Disorder that she had passed onto her children and now onto her 4th Mattie, on the way. She was advised by doctors to put her child in an institution and “let nature take its course, so that she wouldn't bond with her child, making it more difficult when he would die”. Jeni his mother was appalled and did just the opposite. She made the very best of every day with her son and in return her son was a light to the world. I have this book marked with quotes, thoughts, and poems that Mattie has said. A few have them will stay with me forever. He battled every step of the way, never feeling sorry for himself or the situation. His mom did the best she could to give him a normal life in everyway possible. They enjoyed traveling together, the beach, sunrises, and of course lots of practical jokes and laughter. Lots and lots of laughter. It was what kept them going on.
One day in particular Jeni said it was too overwhelming and she was just frustrated of not only Mattie's health but her's was now deteriorating quickly. She was now too in a wheelchair. The doctor's had explained to her that her son's trachea had basically nothing left. He is going to cough, laugh or sneeze and it will split, perforate and he would die. Jeni, in complete shock and sadness, all while thinking how in the world to I even explain this to my precious, fragile child Mattie? Working up enough courage and put on a brave face for him she proceeded to tell her little boy what would happen soon.
After explaining this to him, Mattie said to her, “ If you have enough breath to complain about anything, you have more than enough reason to give thanks about something.” Mattie is Unreal.
He was grateful that he did not always live his life in a wheelchair or on oxygen. He was happy that he could remember when he could walk, even swim and achieved a black belt in karate. Happy memories. He said most kids that are born this way never could walk. Never could swim. But he was blessed that he could do a lot if only it was for a short while. He came up with a theory, a life lesson, “Play after every storm” meaning....When there is a trial in your life or something that you think is difficult (a storm) you have to remember to play after...Do something fun or silly. Find the good in the bad.
One of his hero's was Maya Angelou. A famous poet.
Mattie was a fantastic poet himself, and all his books, Heartsongs, made the New York Best Seller list at the tender age of 10. This is one of my favorite poems he had written..
Let our breath be gentle wind,
Let our ears be of those who listen,
Let our hearts be not ones
That rage so quickly and
Thus blow dramatically,
And uselessly.
Let our spirits attend and be
Most diligent to the soft
Yet desperate whisper of
Hope and peace for our world.
He was such a happy boy. Never once did he complain, ask why he had to go through this, or feel sorry for himself. Always thinking of others and their condition. His mom didn't have much money, it was a constant struggle. One day after a horrific episode at the hospital he asked if they could stop and get something to eat, his stomach hurt. She said she only had $7 with her that day and she had to pay for parking but what they had left over she would buy something for him. On there way to the car he saw a father and 3 young children in the hospital garage. His one child was very sick as well. He had lost there parking ticket and had to pay to park but could not. Mattie, starving and looking forward to dinner asked his Mom for the money she had left over, wheeled over to them and gave them the money they needed . He had a big heart bursting in that little broken body. There are so many stories and I don't want to ruin the book for those of you who want to read it.
There were a couple of times that he was very near death and before he had passed he told his Mom. “Mom, promise me you will choose to inhale life, and not breathe simply to exist.” This stuck like glue to my brain!! I will never forget that.
“Don't worry about me Mom, Heaven is a wonderful place.”
A while after he had passed his Mom was going through his computer and his writings. She came across one file that said. “Dear Mommy”.....He wrote her a good-bye letter the night before he had his last “storm”. I can tell you I had to stop a couple times and take a break, but it was so intensely beautifully written. In my personal opinion, I think he knew when his time was coming. That letter must has been a bittersweet thing to read, but yet comforting for a Mother.
I bawled my eyes out during the entire book. It was like hitting a brick wall. What an amazing little boy. His story is incredible. It will change the way you think.
It's all about the simplicity in life.
Read It. You will be inspired.

All Cooped Up.

So apparently you have to be on the top of your game all the time around my animal sanctuary. Today I was all cooped up. LITERALLY! Yes, let me explain...Being the nice chicken mom I am I decided to go out and give the silly birds a special treat. And also being the sucker softie I am, I had to put the food where there was a cool shady spot so that they could all eat in not such extreme heat. So I go into the now extended chicken coop(Brady built a large cage/wire around the actual coop so they could come out but still be confined to peck a certain area) blahhh, anyway. Stepped in the coop to put the stinkin' food in the shady spot toward the back of the coop when I hear, "SLAM......CLICK" the door shut me in and I turn around like..."whoops" thinking I can get back out in a breeze...Ahhhh...no, not so easy. I couldn't even believe I had done such a stupid thing! Here I am in a flippin' chicken coop with all these crazy pecking, scratchy, dirt flinging , squawky chickens. Thinking, this is the stupidest thing I've done. Everyone in the neighborhood is going to think I am a complete MORAN!! Or they may think Brady locked me out there on bad behavior. Either way this is mortifying. I look around for a stick, or something small I can flip the latch with...Nothing. My chubby fingers are not even close to fitting. So I try pushing the sucker thinking it will maybe move enough I could reach my arm out and around. Nothing.

Then I thought...crap, Greyson will wake up any minute now, and Brayden is inside chowing down on watermelon I just gave him. I'm thinking, whatta sight, how dumb could I look right now, I can't even stand up straight in this stupid thing. For 10 minutes it was just me, the coop, and the chicks. Groovy. Then at that point I started to yell for Brayden, no little hero to my rescue. I thought, K...Brady should be home any minute now. Still worried and thinking about Greyson, I punched the top of the chicken wire off hard, so I could reach around and just lift the latch. I think I said," you gotta be friggin' KIDDING ME" about 10 times.....to myself. Man, I REALLY hope no one saw the crazy chicken neighbor lady!! Talking to herself and punching out the chicken wire :) hahahaha..... So I walk inside my house and guess who I see, my hubby chowing down watermelon with Brayden....Whatta team! :) Nevermind Mom stuck in the flipping chicken house...90 degree heat and all :) Afterward, it was pretty funny.

Lesson Learned, don't get all cooped up!