little joeys

the anniversary getaway

Cori swept me away to historic Galena for a couple of days last week. We stayed overnight in a mansion that was built in the 1880's and which has been converted into a bed and breakfast. The room we had has a two story bathroom with a huge whirlpool up in the tower loft. It was such a relaxing celebration. We golfed on both days. We wandered through the boutique shops downtown. We ate lobster and steak at a fancy restaurant. We watched TV in fluffy white bath robes. Cori took me jewelry shopping in the Sundance catalogue via our lap top. We listened to Etta James and soaked in the whirlpool. For two days in a row, I did my hair on a day that wasn't a Sunday. (Sunday is the only day I manage to do anything with my hair it seems.) We slept in. We explored a ski resort and took a little hike to a look out over the Mississippi. We had hours of uninterrupted conversation. Then we hurried home to the kids whom we had missed quite a lot. Well done, Lovie. It was a perfect getaway.

The Claron Mansion. The whirlpool is at the top of that tower.

Downtown Galena

The Mississippi river from the Chestnut Mountain Resort

Blessings

The card that was served with breakfast this morning. The other side has Cori's hands and a delightfully more personal message.

My mom who doesn't give her self as much credit as she should. More and more I find myself wondering what it was really like for her when she was a young mom. I also find I'm more frequently asking myself, "How would mom look at this so she could laugh about it." She is a great mistress of perspective, my mom. I'm so grateful to have been sent to my parents.

How lovely to be a mother- especially on Mother's Day. My crew, with Cori as their chief, has really made me feel like a queen. I am blessed to be a part of this team. I am so happy being at home with Gracie and Grant everyday. 

Incredible women to whom I am tied who are constant examples. Before I married, I had a rich well of grandmas, aunts, sisters and friends to lean on. When I married Cori, I gained many more mothers, sisters, aunts and friends to learn from and emulate. I am grateful for you all! It is true that having a mother-heart does not require having a child. I feel I have learned so much about being kind, selfless, patient and loving from all these women, whatever their chapter in life. 

An unforgettable anniversary I'll post more about it shortly. Poor Cori has to pull double duty at the beginning of May. Especially on years like this one where our anniversary and Mother's day fall on the same weekend. But he made great plans for our getaway. It was so nice to have him all to myself for a couple of days.

On a less sentimental note, this week I am also very grateful for my new running shoes. I spent the last week breaking them in. My toes, arches and shins are so much happier. I also shaved some time of my 5K. Maybe I will venture a race this summer. I'm so not a runner. The idea is very intimidating to me. But somehow, new running shoes are helping me feel a bit more confident about the possibility.

5 Years

In some (good) ways it feels like it should be more like 10 years since we got married. Since this wonderful day, we've earned two degrees, Cori has held five different professional positions, we've lived in five states, we have owned two houses and three cars, we've been pregnant five times and have had two fantastic kiddos, we have traveled to four different countries, we have made so many friends along the way, we've had high times and low times and we have loved all of it. 

This day, five years ago today, was an amazing start to what has been an amazing journey so far. We spent a beautiful morning at the temple with our family and friends. We took the usual one billion pictures. Some of us (Cori) got sunburned. We dined that afternoon on a feast orchestrated by Cori's mom. We relaxed. We flew kites. We hung out with all our people. Then we got all gussied up again and headed out for the reception. We stood in line and gave hundreds of hugs, kisses, and introductions.We felt like the whole world came to celebrate with us. Cori's brother, Damien, gave a toast. My sister Sara also gave a toast in the form of a Hawaiian blessing which she danced (and I cried). We cut cake and were very nice about feeding it to each other. Then we danced, and talked, and danced, and talked, and danced. My Dad played a slide show. We didn't make a big exit. The crowd was pretty small when we finally left. We loved being with everyone and didn't want to miss any of the party! It was an incredible day made perfect by the people who were there to share it with us. We were so grateful to celebrate it again a couple of weeks later in Utah at the beautiful garden reception Cori's parents gave us. 

Being married to Cori still feels too good to be true. I'm stunned by the connection we share that has grown with time and with our commitment to the Lord. 

Happy anniversary, Cori. I LOVE YOU!

pictures from our honeymoon

I've been sorting through memories. We have a special day coming up tomorrow. These are shots from our honeymoon spent in Southern California. We stayed in a condo right on the beach in Oceanside. Most of the days were spent at the beach. Cori got a crazy sunburn on the first day- but neither of us minded the dolling out/receiving of TLC involved in his recovery. We stayed up late and woke up late every day. We bought boogie boards. We got our food at farmers' markets. We made a day trip to the San Diego Zoo, and another to Disneyland. We went to Old Town San Diego a few times for dinner. That place is so great. We watched the sun set. We listened to Beethoven and The Beach Boys. We bought Mexican jumping beans.

On the day our rental was up we decided we wanted to stay longer. Cori took some more time off work. We were able to extend our stay at the condo and do the whole thing all over again- minus the sunburn. 

pictures cori showed me on our first date

If you can't beat 'em, join. If you're too little to join...

If you're too little to join, there are still other options. Gracie was playing with her 'best friends' (aka- all the neighborhood boys) in the back yard. They started a little wiffleball game and asked Gracie if she would just watch. Grace watched for a minute, and then remembered that she had BYU cougar pom poms inside. She ran in and quickly rummaged through her toy basket until she found them. When I asked her what she was doing, she said, "Those boys need someone to cheer." I followed her back out with our camera. For a while, she jumped on the deck, cheering, "Go boys! Go boys! GoooooOOOOoo boys!" Then she decided she was just too far away, so she relocated to get right in the middle of the action.