shhhhhh...it's someone's birthday........................

your right! it's our sweet little aspen tree' s 4th birthday!!!! I can't believe our baby girl has turned 4 years old! holy cow, where has the time gone.

here is our sweet aspen born aug. 24 at 11:20 p.m. 21 inches long & 6 pds. 14 ounces. she was beautiful!!!

the home we brought her too!! #8 crescent heights morgantown, wv {don't worry this address does not exist anymore, it is now sadly a parking lot for a huge company}

1st birthday!!!

our baby girl turning 2!!! aspen was so much fun at this age........although she did give me a run for my money! she was sooooo busy. I was 7 months pregnant with chase & I would have to chase her down. she really discovered how to sing at this age & she was really good at making up her own songs. she has always been so lovable!

 "i am free..." or really she was just turning three. still wild, very out going and just learned how to approach people with pets. "excuse me may I pet your dog?" she has a radar for animals at the park. it's like she knows where they are the minute we unleash her from her car seat. she must scope it as we are parking. she LOVES, LOVES cats & dogs.

she is such a great big sister. she absolutely LOVES her baby chasey chaser. when he was born she was and still is the biggest helper. they are the best of buds

she always keep us entertained & finds new ways to have fun

she has the sweetest smile, she is so sincere and loving.

she LOVEs to dress up.

she truly has the best wink!

she is a good little skier!

even wanted to carry her own skis.

this was a proud day for her mama.

and her daddy too.

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she is our sweet not-so- little aspen tree. aspen, mommy, daddy & chasey chaser LOVE you so much & are so grateful that you are a part of our family. we thank Heavenly Father EVERYDAY  for him sending you to us. you are so sweet, so kind, beautiful & an excellent cuddlier. thank you for being such an awesome daughter. LOVE you so much. hope you had a wonderful  birthday. more to come after her friend party. ;)

a little update......

so.......we are here!!!!!! we made it back to the land of salt & it's fantastic. dave started work our 2nd week home, he waisted no time. {big surprise} he was so stoked to get working. he started with  exams until he received his license about a week after. he has been soooooo busy, thank goodness. he leaves about 7:15 a.m. & returns anywhere from 5:30- sometimes 8. feels like we are back in the first year of dental school. ;)  it' s been wonderful, he loves it and is so happy! we really, truly feel so blessed & are so grateful to his dad for establishing this amazing practice so we may join.

Aspen, adjusted pretty well. the first couple weeks were a little hard for her, she kept mention her bed! one day in the car she said, " mom, is wv missing us?"  me " yes Aspen it is, but Utah is sooooo happy to have us!" aspen," well, I just really miss my bed." me," oh, I know what you mean, but don't you LOVE the bed nana has for you?" aspen "yeah, but it's too big!" oh,  this one last week was a good one. my dad always tells aspen.......don't go, don't move back to wv. so he says to her the other day " isn't great you don't have to go back to wv?! never leave me again, ok?" aspen, " well pops, I have to leave to go to grandma's.........to get my bed........out of the GARAGE!"  poor kid! we have all our belongings stored in the johnson's garage.{ thank you again johnson's} she is hanging in there, having fun playing with cousins, swimming, having lots of visits to the zoo, the flower park {which is red butte gardens} and she just started a dance class with her cousin holland.  it is so sweet, her teacher is amazing! it's a pre-ballet class so she has her first pair of ballet slippers! too cute! this week she starts swimming and she is so excited!

chase is doing really well too. although he is back to his picky ways of eating! he's doing a lot better with other kinds of snacks, his new favorite is the kids cliff bars {thank goodness} other then that his diet consists of oatmeal, chicken nuggets any kind of snack & or fruit. oh and any kind of liquid. the little stinker!!! he won't even try hot dogs anymore & he used to LOVE them! but overall I think he has adjusted well, still sleeps like a champ, but is now getting up at 6:30. he has developed this whole new little attitude, he is picking up on how to tease! he is a little tyrant, soooooo a little boy! no more sweet innocence chase! defiantly hitting the terrible twos phase...{please be a phase}! thank goodness he is soooo dang cute,  gives amazing little hugs, has a darling, flirtatious smile &  sweet kisses!

I am sure you are all saying.....ok please be done, if anyone still reads our blog! real quick the house sitch is slowly in progress! seriously I can't wait for this process to be OVER! so we have had this offer on this home in cottonwood heights {which is at the mouth of big cottonwood canyon} for about 6 months now, they verbally approved our offer about 7 weeks ago and just finally gave us the written approval last week over the weekend. But heres the funny catch, they want us to close like in less then two weeks. ha! a loan takes anywhere from 9-30 days! so hopefully they will be ok with extending because even though we have had everything ready to go for our loan it will still take some time, plus its soooooooo hard to get when you have as much debt as us.......like.....dental school! banks are funny, they made the mistake of giving loans to people who couldn't afford to pay them and then we get penalized for going to dental school and trying to get a home to live in. especially when we have a  practice we have joined & a good down payment. oh well, ok got it off my chest. awesome. so, story short, hopefully we will have this home in about 4 weeks or less. my parent have been so sweet to let us crash at their pad. it's been hard trying to keep the kids out of my mom's office {which is in house} but we just make sure we have a plan for the day. I am very grateful to them, but can't wait to have my own home!

so there we are in a nutshell! we are so happy to be back, so if you come to town or still live here.....lets play!!! we would LOVE to see you! hopefully I will be able to get my computer going soon so I can upload some pics of our new adventures!! hope you all are doing well, we miss our sweet friends back in wv & hope you will come visit us!

the johnson family's............"this is it"

that's right. i thought i would have a little more time to do a  better post before we left, but do to our moving company which we have had reserved for 3 months bailed on us at the last minute. thankfully we were able to find another moving company, but instead of packing it up friday or saturday we have to do it tomorrow. awesome. again thankfully we are pretty much packed, but just need to figure out sleeping arrangements & tying up loose ends. we have so enjoyed living here & truly feel so blessed for this beautiful opportunity. i am also grateful that I have a little mountain man & mountain mama!!! thank you, thank you again so much to all our friends & neighbors for helping us make this a  place we called "home".

the mother's i love........

i am so grateful to all you mother's out there. where would we be with out them? i know i am nothing close to perfect, but i don't think i would be where  i am today if it weren't for my mom & the woman who inspire me. &  i really wouldn't be here if it weren't for my cute grandma. she is so awesome, everyday she amazes me. my grandfather passed away when my dad was 16 & my grandma raised her four children all on her own. she never remarried, but has a wonderful, caring " boyfriend" that she has been with for over 30 years. it's amazing they never just got married, he comes up for dinner almost every night, they go on trips, attend the symphony& play games with friends. they are just adorable & i admire both of them so much. she is  90 i think........or close too, still drives, plays golf, bridge & is always there for us.

I know there are a lot of children who sadly do not have mother's in their lives at this time, but i do believe that heavenly father has made those taking care of them whether it be a grandparent, relative, friend or single dad. they  have been blessed with an additional love which fills that void.  after my brother's cute girlfriend passed away, i was so nervous to have aspen call me "mom" when we were around my niece while visiting . holland would ask, " well, where is my mom?" my brother would sacredly& silently respond " she is in heaven." then he would proceed to say, " but  i'm your mom & your dad, so fun!". she would giggle & would have this huge grin on her face. she just absolutely adores my brother, her daddy. he LOVES her so much.  my brother is so amazing & I am just so proud of him, it has been so fun to watch how cute he is with her. he takes her to dance or to the park & hangs out with all the moms.  my favorite is when he tells her " holland remember we need to act like a lady". i wasn't going to put a picture up because I didn't want to embarrass him, but he's too cute.  just think "h" you get to celebrate mothers day & father's day. lucky guy!

 another mother i love, is my mother-in-law. she is kind, adventurous & always giving. she is so much fun I love chatting with her , she is especially fun to  play golf with.  she is always up for anything even if it isn't something she would want to do. that is a quality i really admire about her. she is always on the go, I can't even keep up,  I really wish i had her energy! my kids love her to pieces. i really admire her in all that she does for her children & darling grand children. she is always there when you need her.

& i am sorry but the mom i love  & adore most of all is........... mine. she is all mine. i love you mom, you are my best friend. i love hanging out with you & chatting for hours on the phone with you. you  always know how to cheer me up, make me feel confident in my self & you always seem to have the best advice. you are always there for me anytime i need you & i so hope you know how much i appreciate that. you are so thoughtful & caring for others. you always put others first, sometimes it drives me nuts, because you need your time too! you are beautiful &  oh soooooooo talented! i hope to be as fantastic is you.

i am so thankful to my heavenly father for letting me be the mother to these two beautiful children. they make me so happy everyday. they are my life & i love them more than anything! i am so grateful for my mother's { &brother} listed above & for their fantastic example to me. i hope to take  some of each of their special & unique qualities to help me be a wonderful mother to my children. to all of you even if you have no children, you are still a mother to someone so don't forget who is watching you. happy mother's day everyone!

to the love of my life.........

well, my sweetest love, i have been working on this post to for over three hours now, because our computer is lame. oh & so is BLOG! well now i know what i can get ourselves for our anniversary gift.......a new computer!!!!  there was suppose to be a story line of showing our life from start to where we are now & awesome blogger just erased & then dissorted them. oh well this will have to  work for now. I just wanted to tell you that i love you so much & am so grateful to have met you. you have worked so hard for us & our beautiful family that we have created & I am just sooooo proud of you, it makes you even more sexy!! :) any way just wanted to relive the day with you babe because it was one of the best days of my life!!!!

on the steps of the temple

reception  at red butte gardens

we were married in salt lake temple, apart of the lds church. it was such an amazing & overwhelming experience.

we had a ring ceremony for those that we not able to attend the temple wedding. I was so glad we did this, it was beautiful.

i don't know why we don't have a pic of me, dave & aspen after she was born, but this her!!! our sweetest little aspen tree!!!!

then blessed with our little chasey chaser!! I feel so blessed to have such a beautiful family!

oh yeah

some of our engagement pics at the top of snowbird ski resort in utah

we really are funny.

i love you babe! thanks for being mine!!!!