Reminiscing

Three years have come and gone. I can't believe how fast time flies. Chad and I just celebrated our three year anniversary. I am so thankful to have him in my life. He is such a great husband and an extraordinary dad. As a tribute to our anniversary I thought I would post some old photos of us along our journey together! I love looking back on these all the time.

This was mine and Chad's first picture we took together. I remember it like it was yesterday. We went to see Step Up 3 and out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. And that's where it all began..

I love this picture. We used to love to go bowling at least twice a month. 

Chad was so good, but then again what sport is he not good at haha.

This is the day Chad proposed to me! I had went on a cruise with my 

parents and he met me at the dock when I got off. I thought he had just missed me after 

those 5 long days, but to my surprise he had an awesome day planned for us on the beach!

And then everything fell into place. I knew he was the man I would marry

from day one. This was one of the happiest moments of my life and I would love

to relive it a thousand times.

 This was our last anniversary at a resort on Lake Conroe. Can't believe this

was a whole year ago. 

AH! Spain! By far the coolest trip I have ever taken in my life.

I never imagined I would get the chance to see another country. But thanks to him I did!

 Chad and I have came a long way in the past 4 years we've been together. I love him more than words can describe. He is not only my husband he is my best friend. I know the road ahead is still rocky but we will get through it together. We always help build each other up and seem to be able to accomplish anything together. I love you so much Chad and thank the Lord everyday for sending you my way <3

Random Fun

I am ALMOST caught up! Here are a few pictures and events that I couldn't pass

up writing about.  Most of them are about Payton Man of course (:

Payton's starting to really get upset and miss me when I leave. I hate it because I would MUCH rather stay home and play with him all day. This is what I had to leave one night when going to Relief Society meeting.. He says "Mommy stay here and eat p butter and jelly sandwich with me" Broke my heart..

But on the bright side I made up for it by promising him a set of these..

Chad wanted to go look at a big music store up in town and to my surprise Payton

wanted these. I never thought of Payton as a musical kid. My Granny bought him a kid piano

last year for his birthday and he plays it here and there but nothing serious..

These on the other hand.. he was attached. He kept clarifying they were "Baby Drums"

and just his size. Maybe he will get a set from Santa this year.

Last weekend some of the girls from church participated in a 

Walk for a Cure race, helping raise money for breast cancer. Our team name was the Stormin Mormins'! It was so much fun just walking and talking with a few of the girls. And helping for a cause at the same time. This really is a great bunch of girls!

I do not have a story behind this picture.. but isn't he adorable?!

One of our favorite things to do here while its nice and cool is bike rides. Sometimes resulting in a rewarding picnic. Luckily Payton still loves his cart to ride along in.. Daddy on the other hand has a bit of trouble pulling that heavy kid up mountains. West Virginia Mountains sure aren't anything like Texas..

Last Wednesday I had to take off work because Chad had finals all day. 

I didn't regret one minute of it! I had such a great time with my little guy! We met up with the girls from church and the kids and went to the Capitol Market and on a trolly ride. Capitol Market is great! I have never been to anything like it. It's like a strip mall selling health foods and homemade stuff. Super cool.  

They also sold tons of flowers outside. And if you know my Payton,

you know we had to smell..each...one... haha.

I haven't rode a trolly since I was a kid, so this was just as much fun for me 

as it was for him.. and he LOVED it. I also enjoyed getting to ride around

and explore the town without getting lost. We found tons of places we never knew about.

The driver was also excellent at giving us history and interesting facts along the way.

A friend from work gave Payton this new tricycle knowing it would

be to big, but thought maybe we could hold on to it until he fit.. 

Are you kidding me? Too big or not I can not get this kid off this thing..

who knew.. his feet work better than the peddles haha!!

This is how Payton enjoys our shopping trips to Hobby Lobby.. Relaxing in 

the back of the buggy playing with whatever cool craft he can find 

on the shelf.. this particular day it happened to be a wooden sun (:

Well that is how our April went. It went by so fast and I can't believe summer is here. Things did slow down for a few weeks and we were able to have some good family fun but they are about to get much worse. My classes start Tuesday so I will be working 9-5 then taking classes from 5:30-8.. It's going to be longgg days. But I know it will all be worth it in the end! Plus only 9 weeks until we head home to Texas for vacation!!!! YAH!!!!!

Chuck-E-Cheese

Our Saturday mornings always start out with basketball bright and early, then something for us all to do together. A few weekends ago we decided to bring Payton for his first trip to Chuck-E-Cheese! Just like expected Payton had a blast playing on the free play area part and Chad and I had a blast playing all the games! Haha.

Chad absolutely loves playing basketball every week. This is his "me time". Believe it or not I love watching him play. I love seeing him do something he is so passionate about.

 Payton says he is going to be a basketball player just like

Daddy!

Then again he loves picking flowers more (:

With all the tickets Chad and I had won this is the few 

toys he got to pick... Oh well he thought they were awesome! haha

I am loving this awesome weather and all this time we are getting to spend together before Chad starts pharmacy school. I know it is going to be rough once he starts, but having all this fun now will make up for it(:

Saying Good-Bye

We had to say good-bye to another missionary. This one was even harder. Elder Stout was such a great missionary. Him and Chad had become really good friends and great basketball partners! He was more like family than a missionary.
Before Elder Stout left we decided to have a little more fun than our normal weekly dinner, so we went and had a campfire over by our house. (Luckily it was still nice and cold here up until about two weeks ago so it was perfect weather!) Payton loved trying out his new bubbles while we roasted hot dogs!

We might not have our own house with a big fenced in yard but we 

do have really nice campfire places provided by the complex (: Everything is really coming

together up here they just opened the play ground and the pool is expected to open on memorial day! Payton is so excited!!

Thank you for everything you did for us and everything you taught us

Elder Stout. We can not wait tip you come back and visit!!

Easter 2014

So I am a little behind on my blogging, but things have been kind of busy around here lately. I have been maxing my hours out at 40 hours a week at work and Chad just finished up his classes. But now that things have slowed down I hope to get caught up! 

Easter was such a fun holiday this year. We had the Easter Party with the ward, then hunted Easter eggs on our own Sunday morning before church. Payton definitely has the concept of the Easter bunny this year. But we also tried to incorporate the true meaning of Easter. Payton woke up to some good gift from the easter bunny for being such a good boy. I am loving the fact that he is still in the quantity vs quality stage. I can get him a bunch of dollar store items and he still loves them just as much.. What am I going to do when that doesn't work anymore?! haha. 

Haha doesn't he look like his daddy with that messy bed hair! He was so

excited about his awesome Jake kickboxing toy!

 We hid over 80 eggs for this boy to hunt on his own and that still wasn't enough!

When he found them all he asked if the Easter bunny could come hide more..

 We had so much fun this Easter but more importantly we are so thankful for the

reason we are celebrating. If it wasn't for Jesus Christ dying for our sins and giving us a chance to

live, we would not be here today. Because of him we can repent and be forgiven for our sins. And for that I am thankful.