Great Weekend With Even Greater Friends

Where to begin??? Jimmy and Janelle Sweeney are some great friends of ours and pretty much the greatest people on earth. Dallen and Jimmy served in the same mission in Mexico together and, well, have pretty much been friends ever since. It was only natural that Janelle and I became instant friends back when we were both dating these crazy boys and who knew that we'd both end up marrying them!! Im so grateful we did so that we could all remain great friends. Now that we live in Des Moines and Jimmy and Janelle live in Kansas City, we will be able to see each other lots more. Its only a three hour drive to meet up with this great couple.

This weekend, the Sweeneys came to see us in Iowa and we were so glad they did! We had so much fun laughing and catching up with them. What we love about the Sweeney's is that they are exactly like us in almost every way. Its crazy!

Our Weekend:
~explored the fantastic town of Des Moines
~ate at the ever so famous and delicious, Zombie Burger
~caught the tail end of the Des Moines farmers market- - bought cupcakes and an eggplant!
~chilled and watched countless episodes of Fantasy Factory
~got the best ice cream at the cutest little ice cream shop. Ryker loved it!
~stayed up til early morning talking about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING
~laughed until we couldn't laugh anymore

Sweeney's, we love you guys and we can't wait to see you again. Next time, we get to meet and explore Kansas City.   Can. Not. Wait!!!

F O U R Year Anniversary!

Our Anniversary this year was different then any of the years in the past. However, it was one of the best!! I loved every minute of it. The week of our anniversary, we were still getting all moved in and settled into our apartment, Dallen was just about to start school, and we were a little stressed with how much we had to get done. So the day of our anniversary, we decided to take the whole day, forget about all our worries and just spend it together. . Just me, Dallen, and of course we brought along our souvenir from our last anniversary! ;) ;). . This darling little man. . .

Anyways, we had so much fun!! We went on a long walk, explored the great city of Des Moines, and had lunch where we had an unfortunate but hilarious incident. Dallen was holding Ryker when all of sudden he smelled poop. Yep, it was Ryker. He had a huuuge blow out and it was all over Dal! We were in the restaurant and Dallen was covered in baby poop. We were laughing so hard!! Poor Dallen. Luckily we hadn't ordered yet so we rushed home, Dal showered and I bathed Ryker. Good times!

Later that night when Ryker went to bed, we had an amazing dinner we made together, wrote each other love notes :), and reminisced on this amazing life we've created together. The night continued with a sleep over in the family room where we watched movies all night and laughed together until we cried! I could spend all day everyday with Dallen and I'm so grateful we have eternity together.

August Seventh Two-Thousand and Ten (our wedding day) was one of my absolute favorite days--> ever!! I could re-live it over and over again if I could. It was the most perfect day in every way. The best decision I've made in life was deciding to be sealed to Dallen in the house of the Lord and making those promises forever. The moment we were sealed together was the most amazing feeling that I will never forget. I knew in that moment we would have an amazing life together and raise our future children in truth and righteosness. I feel so blessed to have an eternal married and to have my eternal companion for life. I truly love Dallen Pope more than anything. He is always striving to live a good & honest life. He works so hard for our family. He puts my feelings and happiness first and always knows how to put a smile on my face! Growing up, Im grateful that Dallen had an amazing example of fatherhood. My father-in-law is one terrific person and has been such a great example to Dallen of what it takes to be a great husband and dad. Im grateful for the awesome example set by my own parents of a successful and happy marriage. Ive always wanted to be like them and work hard to be happy and loving towards my spouse. Dallen and I both have terrific families and Im truly grateful for the knowledge I have that families can be together forever. - - -(I went off on a slight tangent but why not).

I seriously LOVE this life that I've been given! I love everyone in my life and know they are apart of it for a reason. Im grateful for a positive attitude I strive to have everyday and for each lesson I learn along the way. 

Ryker Is Six Months

I don't know when this happened, but our baby boy is six months!! I can not believe how much he has changed and how fast he has grown up. You don't really see and realize their changes until you look back on pictures and videos. But I sure do love this little boy so much! Who knew just how happy these tiny humans can make you but they really, REALLY do :)

Ryker at six months:
~loves to sleep. He still takes between 3-4 naps a day. Although, still has not fully mastered sleeping through the whole night. He wakes up almost every morning between 4-6am. I know its killing me!
~hates being on his tummy but just in the last few weeks has gotten a lot better at playing on his tummy and is really starting to roll over lots
~wears 9 month clothing even though they are slightly big on him
~wears size 3 diapers
~still hates being in the car and carseat (that hasn't changed since he was a newborn)
~LOVES food! His favorites are pears & bananas.
~loves to watch Baby Einstein videos. He could watch them all day if we'd let him but don't worry, we don't :)
~sucks on his hands constantly and his feet are his favorite toys
~he is happiest when he takes his baths and could stay in the water forever
~recognizes Dallen and I and it's our favorite thing! He is constantly smiling at us and we love it. When he gets tired, he loves to hold our faces with his hands. We think its his way of hugging. Its the best!
~smiles at stranger when we go out and he gets so much attention from everyone
~his smile and laugh are absolutely contagious
~loves to talk and hear is voice
~he's discovered his saliva
~he's pretty much the greatest thing

We do not know what we would do without this little guy in our life. He makes our world go round and makes us smile when we are down. My favorite topic and conversations that dallen and I have are the ones where we talk about our gratitude for Ryker. . . that he is our little boy. That Heavenly Father trusted us with this perfect little human to raise together. Not every day is perfect and we're not the most perfect parents in the world but we do feel our lives have become more meaningful with Ryker in it and we can't help but become more and more obsessed with him every single day! Happy SIX baby boy.

Dallen's First Day of School

I think we were both a little nervous for Dally's first day but also felt so good to get started! Heres a few pics from our morning.

We love daddy! good luck on your first day! 

My Daddy Rocks!

Our fortunes from dinner the night before. 

Playing Catch-Up

So much has happened already since we arrived here in Des Moines and its only been 2 weeks! First of all... we are surrounded by some pretty amazing people! When we got here and pulled in to our complex with our big trailer full of stuff, there were some of Dallen's fellow classmates (we hadn't even met yet) that were waiting outside our door ready to help unload our trailer. Talk about great people! we hadn't even gone into our apartment yet to look around and people were hauling our stuff in. it was amazing! We had everything in to our apartment in about 30 minutes! We felt so loved and taken care of already. Now that everything was in, it definietly took us a few days to get everything put away and organized.

Heres the disastrous before:

The after pictures will follow as soon as we get everything unpacked and decorated :)

We absolutely LOVE our place. We've really made it feel like home. We are about 15 minutes away from Dallen's school so he has a little commute but we couldn't be happier here!



Dallen's parents drove up the next week to bring our two cars and pick up their truck and trailer they let us borrow to move out here. They stayed with us for a few days before Dallen started school and we loved having them here. Ryker loves his grandma and grandpa and we were sad when they had to leave.

Last Satueday, before Dal started school, he had his white coat ceremony. He walked across the stage with his fellow classmates as they signed their names to the school's integrity code. It was great to see  Dally walk across that stage in his white coat and knowing that he was about to begin his journey in becoming a doctor. I just love him!

Dallens classes started this week and so far so good. Already he has lots to study and has a few big tests coming up. Thankfully the 2nd and 3rd year students have been giving tips and advice on how to study, what to study and just how to keep up with everything. We are both grateful for the knowledge fellow students have and are willing to pass on. We love the fact that everyone really looks out for one another and helps in any way they can. Since most of us don't have family near by, its nice that we can all work to help each other in all aspects of life. It's so great to be in that kind of environment and we look forward to have opportunities to lend service to others as often as we can.

Life is wonderful!! We all need to learn to love every minute of the life we have been given. Things may get hard and we may become discouraged from time to time. Its normal. But I know the blessing that comes from having a positive mind and attitude as I look for opportunities to grow and find happiness in all that I do and am faced with :)