WHAT HAPPENS AFTER 17 YEARS???

You go from this...

To This...

Can you even believe it? I can't even remember the two of us looking that good! :). May 1st was our Wedding Anniversary....whoot, whoot!! Boy, have we had an amazing 17 years together. We've experienced all sorts of emotions, ups and downs, glares, I told you's, nagging, snuggling, laughing till we can't breath, crying until our head feels like it would explode. We've tried the "don't go to bed mad" (but found that really doesn't work for us because then we don't get any sleep). Bob's discovered just how much I LOVE flowers and I've discovered just how much Bob hates spending money on flowers. We've found out that it really is important to marry someone with a testimony and who loves the Lord more than anything....including you! We also discovered that there is no way we could ever be as much in love as we are without having kids. We are so glad that we didn't wait until we were rich to have them. Obviously, we still wouldn't have any kids after 17 years! And, we for sure discovered that even though it's great having kids, it's also SUPER GREAT to get away from them!! :) So, that's just what we did.

On Friday (at 4:00pm) we dropped Nathan off with all his camping gear to leave for a camporee, then drove Derrick over and dropped him off at Amanda's lacrosse practice (armed with his DS, water, pretzels, book and blanket), and then we stopped for a little snack and took off for Long Beach, Washington!!! (I would have LOVED Long Beach California...a little more sun....but, Washington is pretty fun!) We enjoyed a nice evening walk on the boardwalk, stayed up until 2:00am, slept in until 10:00am, had the BIGGEST breakfast at 11:30am, toured very interesting shops, had a "Pop Rocks candy" acoustic competition, bought a couple of kites and had fun flying them, tried the new Kentucky "grilled" chicken and then decided we better go home.

Amanda took care of Derrick, Toby and the house. When we came home, I discovered that she is a WAY better mom than I am. The house was spotless, the laundry was being washed, and the house smelled like chocolate chip coookies...awwwe! There was a note letting us know that she had taken Derrick and Toby to the dog park to run around. As I waited for them to come home, I just sat on my couch smelling the delicious cookie smell and thinking....yep....17 years have been really good!!! Just where I want to be!!! Thank you Bob for making my life WONDERFUL and making all my dreams come true! I love you more than ever!

Bob flying his new kite. It's a stunt kite...meaning you can do tricks with it (if you can figure it out!). Fun!

A close-up of Bob flying his new kite. Notice there is a SQUALL coming in. What the heck is that?? When we bought our kite, the person gave us a little instruction on how to fly it. He told us to watch out for the squalls in the sky. Well, being a clueless mountain hick from Utah, I had to ask what a squall was. Turns out it's a black scary looking cloud that has sudden burst of wind and rain. Sorry Bob...you were wrong....it's NOT a flying indian woman.

Miracles never cease to happen! After NOT watching out for the squall, we went to fix our kite that crashed into the ground....only to find out that we were missing a little support stick. We walked and walked everywhere on the beach...then suddenly I spied with my little eye the black stick. It was definitely a picture moment!