5th Wedding Anniversary!

So today is our 5th wedding anniversary! Five years just flew by it seems, but yet so much has happened within that time and so many changes have occurred, especially in the last year. But I still can't seem to believe its been 5 whole years. Lately I've been kind of going off on rants to anyone who will listen about how time and life are so weird. When I say that I mean it in a good way... It's just that when you're young time will not move fast enough. You're always waiting until you're 1 year older, and sometimes wishing you were done being so young. Then you get a bit older and you're wanting the hands of time to stop so you can catch up to everything. I'm constantly wondering where time's gone! But enough about this, because I could go on and on, (maybe I'll blog more about this later).

Now let me focus my sole attention to my husband Paul. He is the most awesome guy I know! Not only is he a hard worker, but he enjoys the work and especially loves to see the fruits of his labors. He's the best husband; when I say that, I mean to say that I have no complaints. Really! He's not the type where I have to ask him twice to do something or even AT ALL most of the time. He'll say, "I'm going to mow the lawn" every week and I'll say, "You're doing that again?" Or, "I'm going to work on the garden." And I think, "Wow, he's more dedicated to that than I would ever be." Anyway, I think you get the point.
Also, he is always helping me with anything and everything! Whether it's on the computer, cleaning, anything to do with Ryder, shopping, etc., he is just there for me. No ifs, ands, or buts about it for him. He has a great sense of humor, and is always teasing and making jokes and making me laugh or smile real big. He's gentle and understanding, and he's the best dad! He just loves Ryder to death, and the feeling is mutual. He is very spiritual and loves the Gospel so much.
He shares a love of traveling with me, also. We've been all over together: San Francisco, Houston, Vegas, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Cancun, Nauvoo, Winter Quarters, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Paris, Barcelona, Chicago....and we have so much fun together! We can't wait for Ryder to grow a love for it too.

Just thinking of him makes me smile. He is such a good, kind, laid-back, dedicated, amazing person. I couldn't have found anyone more perfect for me!

Happy 5th Anniversary, Paul! Here's to many, many more!

Love, Shari :)

Catching up...

It's been 2 months since my last post, so I feel like quite the slacker. But I thought it was about time to add some new info and pics of what's been happening.

So, June came and went in the blink of an eye. Paul, me, and Ryder headed out to Utah on June 18th to surprise my mother-in-law Tracy the following day. My sister-in-law Michelle planned a dinner birthday party for her, and we were the surprise!! And boy was she surprised! It was so fun to see her face, and how quick she grabbed Ryder! ;) That was awesome! Then that Saturday my mom, me, and my sister-in-law Nicole threw Marie a Fairy Tale Room-0f-the-House shower at Mt. Ogden Park. The weather sucked, it rained throughout the shower, but we were under a pavilion, and lots of people came. Marie's so popular! There were Marie's friends, family, church friends, family friends, oh my! Lots of people and tons of great stuff, I was jealous!

After that fun weekend, Paul and I snuck away to the Anniversary Inn in Logan before he had to leave that next week. It was nice to take a break and to celebrate Father's Day and have Grandma and Grandpa bond with their favorite little guy. Then, Paul took off on the airplane back to Iowa, and Ryder and I stayed for 2 extra weeks before Marie's wedding. It was a lot of fun to be around my family and Paul's too. Everyone got to enjoy Ryder!

Then, Paul came back the day before Marie's wedding and we left the following Sunday. Her wedding day was so beautiful! She was a blushing gorgeous bride (Kagen's super lucky!) and it was so nice to be there for the sealing. My whole family's married and we all have kids (except Marie, but she has PLENTY of time!) and we're entering such a different part of life. It's way weird! I find myself constantly saying how weird life is, and how fast time goes by. But it's a good weird, it's just strange to see your siblings all grown up and with their own new families. But I love it! I'm so glad they have found their loves

Anyway, I could go on forever about all the fun stuff that we did, but here's just a few of the things: the zoo, a pool, the movies, Anniversary Inn (twice!), hiking trail, parks, shopping, hanging out with friends, taking family pictures, and I could go on and on! Our trip was awesome!

Paul's mom

shocked at her surprise...us!

Memorial Day Fun

Okay, so I'm posting a little late, but I wanted to write about Ryder's 1st Memorial Day. It was a drizzly rainy day but we decided to make a tradition of going to the zoo like Paul did every year growing up. Or at least make a tradition of seeing animals on Memorial Day, as the next one we'll be at Yellowstone with my family. Anyway, Ryder was asleep for the first part of the zoo, then woke up for the last part. It was fun to see all the animals. Paul LOVES animals so much, so he was glad to take Ryder there even though he really had no idea about what was happening. But Ryder really likes to just be outside, so he enjoyed that.

Here are some pics from our day:

Ryder is DONE!!