4 years

I haven't been on here in forever...and it'll probably be a while before I'm on here again since I mostly write about my girls, and very little about just Jamison and I, but I had to document our anniversary, so here I am.

My mom was absolutely amazing and agreed to watch both our girls so Jamison and I could go out and celebrate our anniversary a day early, on Wednesday the 6th of August, since he had to work on our actual anniversary.  We had 4 glorious hours to ourselves, so we didn't really care what we were going to do, we were just excited for the time alone.

Jamison suggested going to a breakfast buffet that he has been wanting to go to for a while, so we left at 10:00am and headed over to the Sante Fe buffet and enjoyed a yummy breakfast.

I don't know why but throughout my whole pregnancy with Kylie I wanted to go to the Mini Gran Prix, so we decided that we'd go there and fulfill my craving.  We only wanted to race once, and then played a couple of arcade games, got a little toy for Emma with the tickets, and headed to our final destination.

We had a celebratory dessert at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant at the Paris.  With a nice view of the Bellagio fountain, and a yummy complimentary dessert courtesy of the restaurant, we soaked up every moment together and reminisced the last 4 years together.  We had a great time, but were already missing our babies, so it was nice to snuggle them both when we got home, and count our many blessings all over again.

On the 7th Jamison worked from 6:30am to 8:00pm, so he came home exhausted and I was pretty tired after tending to the girls all day...but my sweetie brought home Red Robin and a bouquet of gorgeous flowers with a card for me.  LOVE him so much.

I really can't believe it's already been 4 years.  We've lived in 3 different places, had 2 beautiful baby girls, and have had the best time living and loving.  I can't wait to see what year #5 brings us, and all the ones to follow.  I love my husband so so much.  So grateful for the day we met 8 years ago. Happy Anniversary babe!!

Fall bucket list

We love fall around here.  So much.  But it seems to go much to quickly and we never seem to do everything we want to, so hopefully making a list will help.
1. Take family pictures
2. Take Emma to a pumpkin patch
3. Carve pumpkins.
4. go on a nature walk.
5.make cookies
6. fire in the fireplace
7. make a fall soup
8. apple cider
9. visit an orchard.
10. make chili
11. apple picking.
12. bake a pie.
13. play in the leaves.
14. trick or treating
15. lots of family gatherings.
16. give thanks. over and over again.

Here's to a happy and fun-filled fall!  Bring it. :)

.the man i call 'Daddy'.

I contemplated writing this post because I'm just no good when it comes to mushy gushy stuff.  not because i'm not sentimental...but because i'm too sentimental.   I start crying just thinking about writing a post about my daddy.  but, it needs doing.  so, with the image of a pathetic looking almost 23 year old hugging a jumbo box of tissues and looking like a big ball of mess, read on having been warned.

dad. daddy. dada. papa. pops. daddio.

all good names for the person who gave me half of his genes.  but not good enough.

giver. defender. guardian. protector. counselor. friend.
these are better names, but still not good enough.

 

hero.

 

my dad is my hero.  he always has been and he always will be.  there isn't a time in my life that I didn't have his support, love, comfort, and friendship.  everyone in my family has always told me that i'm just like my dad.  and to me, that's the greatest compliment anyone could ever give me.  I am his number one fan.  no one could possibly love him as much as I do, except, maybe, my mom. 

 

outside of the family there aren't very many people that really truly know my dad and who he is.  but here is just 1 story that i think shows, in a very small way, how my dad is.  it's one that always comes to mind when I think about my daddy.  and one that sums up just how, in his simple and gentle ways, he's always been there for me:

 

when I was about 14-15 years old I was having a hard night.  I was so dead tired but could not fall asleep.  I've never had that experience before.  i'm one of those people that can go to sleep easily.  my dad was up late and ready to go to bed and came by my room to say goodnight when i told him that I just could not go to sleep.  I was becoming emotional about it because i had a long school day ahead of me and was so worried about how hard it would be with no sleep. it sounds ridiculous now, but to a tired teen it was a big deal.  i think he could see how stressed I was about not sleeping, which made it even harder to relax and get to sleep.  without saying a word, he walked into my room, crawled into bed with me, and talked with me for the longest time.  we talked about everything and anything.  being a tall kind of man, with a relatively loud voice, i was touched to see him try to squeeze into my small bed with me, and to hear him talk to me with such a gentle and tender voice.  we talked for what seemed like hours before i finally fell asleep.  he stayed there for a good while longer, i'm sure, trying to wait until i was in a deep sleep. 

as he was trying to get out of bed without waking me, the bed creaked and i woke up to see his face right above mine.  he gave me a gentle kiss, whispered a 'good night', and quietly walked out of the room towards his own.  i laid in bed for a few minutes just wondering what i had possibly done to deserve that wonderful man as my father.

 

It sounds simple.  it sounds like something any dad would do.  but it was much more than that.  it meant more because it was a testament to me of his love for me.  that he would sacrifice his sleep, his personal time, and do something I didn't ask him to do.  he knew that I needed someone.  he knew that it would comfort me, calm me, and help me to fall asleep.  but he never knew that it would be something that stayed with me for years.

 

I could go on forever about my daddy.  I won't.  but I could.  he is one of my best friends.  and he is honestly someone I feel I could go to and talk to about anything.  he may not have advice that I want to hear, but he always has words that I need to hear.  he will never know...never ever know how grateful I am for his sacrifices in my life.  and now, in the life of my daughter.  she adores him. who wouldn't?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Dad is my hero.  always has been.  and he always will be.  for his unconditional love for my mother, all of my siblings, and now for my husband and sweet daughter.  for his faith in Christ.  for his never-ending sacrifices.  for the person that he is.

 

i love you daddy of mine.  i may be a wife and mother now and may not be a little kid anymore...but you will always be my daddy.  and i will always be your baby girl.

 

Happy Father's Day Daddy!







love, your Amy Lee

.pictures.

about a month ago jay and I decided to have updated pictures taken of just the two of us.  i had an underlying reason...i have an idea that i absolutely love for the wall above my bed, and it required certain poses that we haven't done.  so i wanted an updated session for that reason...and it's nice to have pictures of just the two of us.  the last time we had pictures done of just us was my maternity session when i was absolutely huge!  i'm still not as small as i'd like to be, but that could take ages!  and i wanted to get the wall done, so we decided to just go for it and have pictures done.

we could not have possibly chosen better than Priscilla.  she was perfect for us and for the style of pictures we wanted.  besides that I've known her for a number of years.  we went to the same ward together in church during our teen years, and she's always been the sweetest person, so there was no question.  we just HAD to have her, and we're so glad we did. 

here's a few of our favorites.  and now that we have them i'm super excited to get the wall art up and done in my room.  i'll post about that once it's done.  love them Priscilla!  thanks again.  you are the best.