The Christmas Sweaters

Bryan and I started dating the day after Thanksgiving and our first kiss was right at Christmastime. On the night of our first kiss, Bryan was wearing a new sweater. I must have commented on the sweater in front of my brothers and so the next morning when my brothers learned of our kiss, they swore it was the magic of the new sweater. Of course, Mike and Trent couldn't stop teasing me about our first kiss, but when Bryan walked in the next night in another new sweater, it was over. The comments about the next new sweater wouldn't stop. Kissing noises could be heard all around my house, "two little lovers sitting in a tree," and so on.

As our courtship continued Bryan received more sweaters and luckily, I received more kisses. New sweaters were noticed probably more than is humanly possible by two young boys. The best part was that Bryan would walk in the house and point out a new sweater to Mike and Trent then raise his eyebrows a few times. My brothers took to Bryan instantly, as did I.

Tonight is our 10 year anniversary. It seems like just yesterday I was awkwardly waiting around a Christmas tree for that very first kiss. I am so happy that still, 10 years later, the butterflies are there. Bryan is smart, handsome, honest, determined, a perfectionist and he grounds me, which is hard to do.

Happy Anniversary Bryan! Here's to the next 10 and here's to many more sweaters.

Love,
The luckiest girl alive.

Get Your Groove On

On a long car ride, sometimes the silliest ideas are the best. Here is one piece of inspiration that came from our heads that made for hours of entertanment.

We call it the ipod game (clever, I know.) Directions as follows:

1. Put your ipod on shuffle, no cheating.
2. One player puts earphones on and doo-doo's or hums to whatever song comes on.
3. Other players have to guess the song before the start of the second verse and must get three songs correct in order to get the point.
4. Then switch.
5. The player/team with the most points at the end of alotted time wins!


Harder than you think, but so worth it. You can come up with prizes on your own. You'll thank me later.

Bedtime.

It's Tuesday night, 10:00. Brooks is awake in his room, playing, singing, reading books, anything but sleeping. Time for an intervention.

Erin: Brooks, it's time for bed.

Brooks: No mom, I'm awake, I'm awake!

E: It's so late, time for bed.

B: It's morning, I'm awake.

E: It's not morning silly, let's take a look out the window. . . it looks pretty dark to me.

B: It's not dark. Look, the beatiful colors of the sunset are up.

E: Really?

B: And the pretty, pretty clouds too.

Fields of Gold

Well, we have finally returned to fall and I am so glad. I wasn't quite ready for the snow, though I know it will be coming soon. We have been so lucky to have had such a beautiful, warm autumn. I suppose I want to bask in it's red and gold glory just a little longer.

The leaves have created hours of entertainment, not to mention hours of hard work. But for some reason, raking leaves seems more a form of fun than a chore.



And while we are in full autumn glory, I would kill myself if I didn't post more of our October fun...we visited only the coolest pumpkin patch ever. Complete with huge slides, a little tractor train that takes you right through the corn maze, pig races, a bonfire, the actual navigating of the corn maze (not that awesome) and of course, pumpkins. We had a great time with Amma and Papa.

We also went to the farm with Brooks' Joy School class. He loves his little classmates and we even got to have Lucy and Charlotte with us on this outing. It was so much fun, tractor rides, feeding the gees and brand new piglets. Pretty cute.





But now that October is behind us, I am moving forward into the "Holiday Season" and frankly, I couldn't be more excited. I am itching to get the tunes out and paint our house red and green. Here's to upcoming, colder adventures.

SNOW!

It's 7:30 in the morning. . .

Just too excited to sleep, I suppose.

AAARGGGH!

We had such a fun Halloween, here are some of our favorites.

We had a pirate running around our house all weekend. It was great. We got to attend the Laird park Halloween event with cotton candy, caramel apples, and an awesome d.j. Brooks loved dancing with his friends. And what good pirate can resist taking a break from the action to play with some tractors in the sand?







Getting ready to head out for the big night ahead. Brooks was so lucky this year, he had some great help. Aunt Bridget and uncle Mike came along for the trick or treating adventure.



Then we all went up to aunt Paige and unlcle Mike's for a huge party. It was so fun to get dressed up. I was a golfer and Bry was my caddie (as it should be.) Can you guess what everyone else was? Yes, that is my mom in the wig.


I loved everything about Halloween this year. Brooks was at a perfect age, he really got it and it was great to see it through his eyes. Until last night, around 11:30 (don't ask) he ran up to our elderly neighbors door screaming trick or treat, the day after Halloween. I guess we still have some explaining to do.

BFF's

I know I am not as cool as dad, but I play a mean game of memory. . .



When I go in to get Brooks in the morning, he is so disappointed that I'm not dad. All throughout the day, Brooks asks if dad will be home soon. When dad finally is home, Brooks often tells me to stay in the other room, "just me and dad are playing blocks."

Though I am shunned, daily, I am actually so happy to see this little union. They have become such great friends. This is the perfect stage for them to play together and I completely understand why Brooks wants to do everything like his new found favorite. . . his dad is the best! You think you love someone as much as you could, and then you watch him try to shoot rockets through the window with your two-year-old and realize you were wrong. How lucky can one girl get? I love you guys.

A Shout Out to My Sis.

I have been thinking about Paige a lot this week. It was her birthday. She has officially entered her "late twenties," which sounds terrific after I turned 30 this year.

Anyway, all of my thoughts have come to this conclusion. I am so blessed to have the best sister in the entire world. She is kind, she is thoughtful, she loves Brooks and is an incredible aunt. Paige is very nurturing, she will make the best mother one day. Paige has very strong opinions, she knows what she wants. Paige is Paige, no ifs ands or buts about it.

Paige is the perfect person to ask an opinion of, she will always give you a straight answer, even if you don't want to hear that "yes, your butt looks big." Paige loves all kinds of music and is an expert on the category with an uncanny ability to name any song/artist with just the humming of a few notes. She also has a beautiful voice. She's a great/fast reader, a skill I am jealous of. Paige knows who she is and I think she might know me better than I know myself sometimes. She is always eager to serve. She is a loyal friend and a loves being a wife. She also enjoys the finer things in life, pedi's, great shopping, good food. She is my best friend, I can tell her anything and she is the perfect road trip companion. I love you Paige, Happy Birthday.

The Womanizer

On our way in the house other night and Bryan found this katydid. We have seen a lot of them at our house lately and Brooks loves them. This one was special though, he held it up right in front of his nose and said, "Mom, she has really cute eyes!" Yeah, I think so too.

I need to get this off my chest!

I realize that I am the worlds worst blogger. I realize that we have done at least a million things, none of which I have recorded. I keep walking past the computur, looking at all my cute friends 'updated' blogs and feeling just awful. So I've come to the conclusion that blogging brings guilt.I don't know how to avoid it. I will never keep as up-to-date as I'd like, my posts are so unoriginal and I can't even get a cool backdrop or songs for that matter! I am such a looser.

But this is MY blog, I will update as I see fit, and though it might bore you, sorry . . . my blog. Since this is the only journaling I am doing at the moment, I figure a few dull posts are better than none.

So, please pardon my rant, onto the recap. I am fighting surrendering our summer. Though school has begun and fall is definitely in the air, I can't seem to let go of all of the fun we had. The summer flew by. I think we were busier than ever, but we also had the time of our lives. Here are a few quick pics to recap the last little bit.

We visited Jackson Hole with my family. It couldn't have been more beautiful.


We stayed in a great condo adjacent to a construction site. . . it wasn't even planned, but couldn't have been more perfect!



Aunt Paige was Brooks' escort on the boat ride across Jenny's Lake. We got to the other side early in the morning and hiked to see this. . .


and this . . .

and this. . .

and this! I know my photo doesn't do this justice, but the water was so clear in this mountain stream that you could see all the beautiful colored river rocks underneath the falling water. Unbelievable!

We had a wonderful time. Not pictured was the great Bar J Wrangler concert and chuckwagon dinner. So fun. Brooks played his air guitar nearly the entire time. The boys golfed, girls shopped, and a highlight was running the river. I was a little clumsy and though my greatest fear of falling in the river wasn't realized, I seemed to fall all over the boat like a drunken hippie. I was the laughing stock of the boat, even the guide was in on it. But we all had a great time...at my expense. I absolutely loved the company and can't wait to go back!


Last, I wanted to put up some pictures of my favorite boy enjoying his favorite summer activity. Thank you slip and slide.









Dear Summer, do you have to go?
I know we really need the snow.
What fun we've had in your splendid sun,
So we'll wait a while and again you'll come.

An Inquiry

Dear Mr. Phelps,

I know you have been quite busy this last little while. But, I was wondering if you might be able to spare a moment to look at my son. He has a mild interest in swimming.

I have sent these pictures for your review. Could you please comment on his form and physique and any other pertinent skills, perhaps the rings, his ability to pull faces under water, or anything else you see that might contribute to him being a swimming champion? I am just wondering if we should shoot for the Olympics in 2012? Let me know your thoughts.

Yours, very truly, forever and ever.

Erin M.

P.S. You had me jumping on the couch at midnight giving high-fives. A little too Tom Cuise-ish for my liking, but so fun to watch!