Grateful for...

It is so good for me to step back and realize all that I am GRATEFUL for... here are just a few of the things I have been thinking about lately:

- a beautiful, healthy, and happy baby boy
- an amazing husband, who is the best stay at home dad a kid could ask for
- modern medicine and technology
- a great doctor's check up to tell us everything is looking a-OK
- an amazing little sister who helps us so much
- wonderfully supportive family and friends
- a good job in this awful economy
- a mortgage payment (that means we are paying ourselves)
- fresh, ripe, garden tomatoes
- every night and weekend I spend with my boys
- students at school who help me remember that I really do LOVE my job
- amazing teachers to work with
- a supportive principal
- Fall (UEA) break
- my student teacher
- beautiful, warm, fall weather
- Friday night football games
- college football games
- a husband who LOVES football games
- a sweet baby boy who will still fall asleep in my arms
- financial security
- a thoughtful husband who: loves and cares for our baby boy, does the laundry, helps with the dishes, does schoolwork while taking care of our sweet baby boy, runs to Wal*Mart to buy a furnace filter for cold weather tomorrow, loves me unconditionally, supports me in all that I am doing, and makes me the LUCKIEST girl in the world to be married to him!
- fresh, homemade salsa
- date nights
- date night at the temple
- prayers that are answered
- trials that make us stronger
- so many more blessings... I could go on forever!

P.S. I will be posting pictures soon of our first Aggie game!

It Will All Work Out...

Well, school has started and our amazing summer is officially over. It was SO HARD to go back to work and be away from my two favorite boys! I miss them so much during the day, but I feel so grateful that Mark is at home with Beckam. I have been continually reminded the past few weeks of President Hinckley's constant advice,

“It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. If you do your best, it will all work out."

We have definitely seen the hand of the Lord in our lives in so many ways. Mark is now taking care of Beckam during the day and then we trade off in the afternoon. My principal is so GREAT and hired Mark to work at my school in the after school program. So when school gets out we switch and I take Beckam and Mark goes to work. I have been truly amazed to see how everything really does work out as long as we do our part.

Here are some of the sweet memories our cute little family shared this summer...

- Summerfest
- Camped out at Tony's Grove
- Planned and LOVED the Taylor Family Reunion
- Off Roaded up Providence Canyon and enjoyed the beautiful waterfall
- Drove to Porcupine Resevoir
- The Oaks in the Ogden Canyon
- Lots of shaved ice!
- Amazed by the houses on North Logan's east bench
- Cache County Fair
- Morgan County Fair
- Box Elder County Fair
- summer walks (lots of them!)
- Explore Wellsville
- Attend the temple
- Cracker Barrel in Paradise
- Star Valley, Star Valley, and more Star Valley
- Family nap time
- Brown Family Reunion
- Visited our sweet grandparents
- Hello Dolly - Hale Center Theater
- Miniature golfing
- Off roading up Green Canyon
- Elements restaurant
- Celebrated our 3rd anniversary!
- and so much more!!!

What an AMAZING summer and we have so many more to look forward to. Mark is back at school going into Secondary Education, so our summers together have just begun! YAY!!!