I'm guilty....and proud of it

This picture gets a post of its own, because I am guilty of being overly-obsessed with my offspring. I don't care what anyone says, THAT is the cutest boy on earth....hands down :) Seriously, just look at him.

Trev and Heidi got hitched.

Matt and I could become professional wedding-goers by now. We've been to who knows how many weddings over the last few years. He's married off 4 of his immediate family members in the last year and a half. This time, his younger brother Trevor married beautiful Heidi. Here are some (of course too many) pictures of the event.

Mr. Suave himself, ready to go.

The gang right before we left for the wedding.

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They got married only about 10 minutes away from Traci's house, so I was surprised and so happy that Kaden fell asleep in the car. So, we stashed him in the corner hoping he'd stay asleep. He is not one to stay asleep for long if he is interrupted, but Heaven looked down on us and he slept for over an hour in his carseat. He didn't make the pictures, but he was the happiest boy after his rest. And, I was a happy mom.

Me, Heidi, Kara, and Nicole.


Little Mr. Handsome.

Kara and Nicole (Matt's sisters).


Trying to entertain a wiggly toddler during dinner.

Heidi looked stunning, absolutely gorgeous. Like a barbie doll.


Don't let that pretty face fool you, she can hold her own. Good thing too...

Like father like son. Kaden loves to kiss, and he INSISTS it's on the lips.


"Heidi, just give me another one"


"Come on, I said I want another kiss...."

And away they go, the newly married Mr. and Mrs. Wood.

It's all done!

AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL!
After lots of work (very fun work, at least for me) the deck is finished. It turned out GREAT; I love it. It is better than I had imagined. I had the best time working with my family on this.

Getting handy with a drill. It took a while to master the skill....the special deck screws were a bit tricky.

And THIS is the most ingenious way to stain. We just dipped our gloves in a bucket of stain and wiped our hands all over the board. It was fun, and went by so fast! Seriously, my dad is the smartest guy around. Matt's assignment was to bring us the boards and feed us redvines. He did an excellent job, I might add. MMMM yummy.

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And....The finished product!!!!! Want to come over and barbeque and bask in the sunlight and gloriousness of our handiwork? (Assuming we move in someday...)

The only thing left is the tiny strip by the garage, the little overhang will be sawed off, and someday, permanent steps. But, other than that, it's all finished and I am in LOVE with it.

Rest Stop

Moab is almost exactly half-way between our house and Traci's. We like to plan our stops here because it is so beautiful and there is always something fun to do. They just finished the bridge over the Colorado river. I have been waiting patiently for them to get it done, and finally, we were able to go across it. We even snapped a few good pictures.

It felt so good to get the kinks out after being in the car for so long. Kaden was ecstatic, stretching his legs and sprinting down the long bridge, taking a few breaks to gaze into the water.

Another fascination for a little boy....Water.

My little rock-climber. He's starting early. I think it is in his blood. He climbs on absolutely everything.

I always feel like have to make it home in exactly X number of hours, X number of minutes. I am kind of weird about it. (I'm also a total freak about my gas mileage, but that's another story...) I don't like stopping much; I just want to get there. This time, I tried not to worry about how long we stopped, or how long it would take to get home. I am so glad about it too, because it was a highlight of the trip. We ended up playing and running around for over an hour. I wish we could have stayed longer. This might just turn into a permanent stop for us, and I will add another hour or two to my weird obsession.

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Side note: I love running. I love hiking. I love river-rafting and kayaking. I love biking. I love rock-climbing. I love camping and being outside. Moab is adventure-town and my cup of tea. Someday, I'll plan a recreational excursion there. Anyone want to come?

Celebration

We had a mini-birthday celebration for Kaden while we were up in Utah last week. He is going to be 2 in a couple of weeks. I can't believe it. Is there any way to make time stand still for a while, or slow it down so he can stay little forever? Or, at least for a really long time. I, like most moms, completely LOVE every stage, but it all flies by too fast. I am afraid of missing something, or of waking up one day realizing he's grown and gone and I haven't taken advantage of every day.


Slow down baby, mommy can't take you growing up so fast!


He's obsessed.

If I break 80...

I love tripping up to Utah because I get to see Matt's fam, my sister, and Andrea too. I ditched the boys one night to hang out with my favorite girls.

I haven't bowled in years, so I was thrilled when Michaela suggested it. I told her, "if I break 80, you owe me some kind of prize..." She said, "yeah, well if I break 80 you have to buy me a house, because it will be a miracle."

Don't let our stance fool you, we stink.

My shoes were the ugliest of all time.

We ended up bowling 3 games and she broke 80 twice! I even ended up breaking 100. We are the worst but we had fun laughing at each other and cheering when we knocked anything over. I love hanging with my sis. She always makes me laugh.

A little too late

But I had to post a few Halloween pictures that my silly (cutest) friend Tiff sent me, finally. I had actually totally forgotten about them, but they made me smile. I am sad I don't have one that shows Kaden's awesome BAM BAM costume. He had a leopard print outfit and looked too cute for words.

The Rubbles: BamBam, Betty, and Barney.

Matt making his way around the trunk-or-treat. He got a big bag of candy again this year. Only Matt can get away with things like that. I reaped the benefits, as I am the one with the sweet tooth. I think I ate 95% of it.

Maybe Matt should have been Betty and I Barney. Apparently, she is like a foot taller.