Grateful diary: the number 6

6

Times we have hiked Mt Olympus together

Episodes in my favorite Pride & Prejudice movie

New DVD's we acquired last Christmas

The number on the back of Clint's high school football jersey

How many times Clint tells me he loves me every day

Years we have been married on July 26th.

Aren't we a couple of goofballs? 

Happy Anniversary to Us!

The number 6 seems so much bigger than 5, somehow. And yet it still feels like a blink.

Everything has not gone how we expected or even how we hoped, but in my mind, our struggles have only made us better. Closer. More dedicated to each other. It's easy to be happy when everything goes your way and you get just what you want when you want it. But when you don't have everything you want, your happiness zeroes in on those things you do have. The people you love more than anything else. That one person you live with and are grateful for every day. And you realize, "If I never get anything else I want in this life, he will be more than enough to make the rest of this life blissful."

And when I say "you," I really mean me, of course.

I don't pretend that this life is perfect, because this life was never meant to be perfect. But I'm blessed to go through this life with a man who takes care of me and loves me and whom I just adore. It's been a lightning-fast, wonderful 6 years and I can't wait to see what adventures are waiting for us. I love you, Clint! Thanks for being the reason behind my smile.

My brother is home from Paraguay!

It's amazing how fast 2 years goes by. He was gone for 100 weeks and received almost as many emails from me, and now that he's back it almost feels like 100 weeks shrunk into 1.

Wasn't it just last week that we dropped Kenny off at the MTC? I remember so clearly saying our quickie goodbyes before he left us standing at the curb in a state of shock. Then we went to the Pizza Factory and all his sisters broke into spontaneous sobbing when the hostess asked us "how many" and we realized our number was no longer 8...it was 7. I guess saying it aloud broke the spell of shock. 

Well, 2 years and 100 emails later, our number is now 10 and it's Kenny's turn to be in shock (in no way implying that he did not experience moments of shock away from home, of course!) He has 2 awesome new brothers-in-law whom he never met before, a 15-year-old sister who turned into a babe (Jenni was always a beautiful girl, but you know what i mean), and a fast-approaching school year ahead.

I've seen missionaries come home before, but somehow it's a bit more poignant with my own goofball of a brother. He's the same old Kenny...but he's not. He's taller, but skinnier. He's happier, but more serious. We were close before he left, but somehow closer now. He's like a more amazing version of himself. Kenny, the newest edition!

I just can't stop saying how proud I am of him! His testimony is inspiring and so is his 2-year legacy of honest, straight-up hard work.

I can't wait for more fun times with a family that just feels more complete now! Welcome home, bro! Strong side!!

Annual Summer Cabin Trip

Hi everybody!

Time for my once-in-a-blue-moon blog post. 

I thought I would share a few pictures from our recent family trip to the cabin (my mom's side of the family). It is absolutely beautiful up the Weber Canyon. It feels like stepping out of reality and into a dream.

Clint and I took a walk one evening to the "Big Spring" where you can drink fresh mountain water almost exactly where the water comes out of the mountain. BEST. WATER. IN. THE. WORLD. We took a picture on the bridge over the Weber River on our way to the spring:

We went on a hike up the ridge behind the cabin one day. Clint's a hiking fool and he sort of initiated the whole thing. Once you get up high enough, above the firebreaker roads, you run into this massive grove of aspen trees. It was amazing.

Clint with our "minions" (a bunch of my cute cousins who took to following us on the trail. My youngest sister included.)

This one is on the road next to the cabin. This was just another beautiful evening up in the canyon and Clint and I took a little walk down the road to scope out some of the other cabin dwellings.

It sounds like we did a lot of walking, which I guess we did, but the main event up at the cabin is...BADMINTON!!! I played all night, every night with my cousins, sisters, uncles, parents, and the entire clan. Badminton is like the most underrated sport ever. So fun.