Flower Farm

We took a trip up to a U-pick flower farm. As you can imagine, Adriana and I got into the venture a bit more than the boys.

Silly Socks

On the last day of the kid's Vacation Bible School, they were supposed to wear silly socks.  I had a lame amount of kid's craft supplies; but with googly eyes, sharpies, and felt we were able to make those socks silly.

Seven Grandkids

Ava at 14 Months

We call Ava our sunshine. With her upbeat yet laid-back personality, I could not picture a more perfect fourth child. At 14 months Ava's favorite things are dancing, baby dolls, and giving big hugs. I'm not exaggerating about hugging being a favorite; she stops routinely through her day to come hug me. She's a lot tougher than her diva sister ever was, but far less motivated to talk (though that could be said of the average person on the street compared to Adriana). Every once in awhile Ava will spit out a word to let us know that her vocabulary is growing far more than we realize...if she only chose to share it with us.

Ava is gaga over her newest cousin:

{d8 night}

d8 Night stands for Dinner at 8:00. Steven and I try to get out when we can for a date night and once in a while we do an at home date night. (Picture children in bed and sushi on the table.) But d8 Night is something different. Let me start by telling you that it is not my original idea; I merely tweaked the name. A dear friend shared a blog with me by another mom who started this. I was so inspired that I made it my 10 year wedding anniversary gift to my husband (which seemed dull in comparison to the unbelievable vintage-inspired designer necklace he chose for me.) So first let me give some props to the originator of this. You can find her blog here.

d8 Night for us is going to look like this: it's a once a month night where I create a themed dinner at 8:00 in the evening when all the kiddos are (at least supposed to be) down for the night. Steven has no idea about any of the themes until they happen. I'm hoping it's a special time for us and one small way to show him that in the midst of all the things vying for attention in my life, he's still the most important thing next to my Savior.

I'm hoping to do posts about each of our d8 Nights. Why am I blogging this?

Here's NOT why I am blogging this:

• This in no way an attempt to draw attention to our "perfect" marriage. Our marriage, while a huge blessing, is most definitely not perfect and takes lots of hard work. If you know us well, you can vouch for the truth of this.
• This is also not to draw attention to what a great wife I am. Quite the opposite. I was convicted when I read the blog I mentioned before because I knew I need to put more effort and attention into making special memories with Steven. 

Here's why I am blogging this:

• I want a way to record these special times for Steven and I to look back on.
• I was inspired and grateful someone took the time to share this idea. I hope this can be inspiration to other wives. Not necessarily to do the exact same thing, but to get your creative juices flowing so that you can look for ways to make memories with your husbands and let them know that your marriage is worthy of your time and attention.

In the end, I'm a mom of four who's praying for 12 evenings this year that will make my husband feel loved.
........

Alright, enough of the intro. A few days before each d8 Night, I plan to give Steven a word or two that are a clue to what we might be doing. This month's clue was "time travel." 

We've talked before about what we'd do if we were handed a time machine...what historical time period or heroes we would use it to meet. And we both agreed that on our top ten list of places to go would be our wedding day. If you asked either one of us we would tell you it was the best day of our lives and the #1 day we would want to relive. So the theme this month's date night was this. And for the first time since my wedding day, I even squeezed back into my wedding dress. Painful honesty: it didn't quite zip up all the way. But as the processional music came through the speakers and I walked down the stairs in that dress, I got to watch my husband tear up again. Absolutely priceless. 

After a dance to our first song and a change back into clothes I wouldn't cry if I stained, we dined on the same chicken stir-fry that was served at our wedding. As we listened to the CD that contained the background music from our reception, we went through our guest book and cut our mini cake. It was lovely.

Ready for the Pool!

Adriana's Fifth Birthday

Our Cabo Vacation

We were planning something small to celebrate our tenth anniversary. Kinda lame; but with a little one and a desire not to spend too much, that was the plan. Then... God knocked our socks off.

Before I tell you what happened, let me tell you one of my husband's quirks. Steven loves to come up with totally unrealistic "what if" questions for me. Examples:

Browsing for the fun of it in an expensive jewelry I spot a gorgeous ring...
Steven: "Would you like that ring?"
Me: "Not a chance. I'd shoot you if you spent that much money on me!"
Steven: "What if it were $15? Would you want me to buy it then?"

Checking out a friend's gorgeous new vehicle...
Steven: "Would you trade them straight up for our ['97] van?"

Talking about moving into a single family home...
Steven: "If someone offer us cash for our home, would you move next week?"

You get the point. Then one evening early this year Steven answered the phone. After he finished a long conversation, he called me into the room.

"You might want to sit down."

Dramatic pause as I sit.

"You know that couple we met last night? They checked out your website, loved your photography, and want you to come to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico so that you can spend some time photographing their family vacation. Oh, and since they heard we were coming up on our tenth anniversary, they'd like me to come too; AND they want to put us up in a resort with plenty of time to ourselves."

"Wait. WHAT!!!?!!! This is like one of your insane 'what if's' coming true!!"

So two weeks before our anniversary we were in Cabo soaking up the sun in the most wonderful place I have ever stayed. Top that with a load of unbelievable experiences. We swam with a dolphin (a dream of mine since I was 6), drove ATVs for nearly 4 hrs. through desert and beach, ate on a cliff terrace overlooking Land's End, explored Land's End, rode in a glass bottomed boat, discovered that parrot fish is the most wonderful sushi ever, and ate some of the most fabulous food of our lives.

See. I told you God knocked our socks off.

Here are a couple of our own photos from the trip. If you want to see a miniscule sampling of the photos I did for the family we went with you can find that here: http://www.alyssaannephotography.com/blog/2011/07/c-family-in-cabo-vacation/

(right photo is our resort lobby)








Doesn't he look like the hot model in a manly ad in this left photo?!




A few photos from our "desert oasis" resort:





The view from our room: