Year One-er

they don't stop growing up,

do they?!

i feel like i was just getting his bag packed for kindy

and now i sent him off for his first day of year one.

of course,

i cried - again !

and of course,

he waved me off with not a care in the world.

this boy is going to be great.
(especially with that staged smile he's got going on)

The Story Of Us

our story wasn't the typical mormon love story.

we met during speed dating at a regional activity 

(apparently - so he says - i can't remember.)

he asked me out on a date early july 2006.

he picked me up and his eyes were pretty dreamy (still are)

we went to manly,

walked around for abit then we headed to warringah mall to watch Click.

but before we got to the mall jevan crashed his parents car coming out of the car park.

he showed his true colours by letting a few curse words swear

(he thought the car was sound proof.)

he asked me to be his girlfriend

(i know, so old school - i love it)

shortly after on the 11th july 2006.

this is where our story begins.

it didn't take long for me to be schmitten and fall in love with this green eyed maori.

he became my best friend very quickly.

it was easy and comfortable.

our first year of dating was perfect everything was new and fun.

after another 8 months after that reality set in.

after a rocky patch i broke it off with jevan and started dating someone else.

(this is where the not so typical mormon love story sets in)

after a month i realised the big mistake i had made and broke the relationship off.

jevan was now preparing to go out for his mission.

we started hanging out again before he left.

he left for the mtc in october, 

shortly after that he returned home.

there was no romantic proposal.

we got married on the 23rd january 2009.

we struggled a lot for the first year of our marriage with issues of our past.

but looking back 7 years later i can see how they have strengthened us.

we have had to work on our marriage each and every day,

it hasn't come easy to us.

jevan is my best friend.

he is my rock.

when i am in my lowest moments he is the only one i want beside me.

when i am in my happiest moments he is the only i want to be sharing them with.

he makes me and our family complete. 

people don't know jevan the way i do.

he is a big marshmallow with me.

he is the perfect one for me.

he challenges me to become better,

he sends me cheezy texts randomly through out the day.

he is old school - he is a very private person.

he looks pretty dang hot in his basketball attire.

i love that he is social media- less.

the best thing i love about being so comfortable with one person

is that our weekends consist of buying junk food and watching friday night lights all night long.

happy seven years.

p.s - if you want a painting like this you guys need to check out Sarah and Matt Duffus they do them. they are amazing, 

so excited to finally have one hanging up in my house.

Back Again

can you tell how old zayden will be next month?

yup,

two.

oh terrible twos we meet again.

Husky

instead of our annual queensland trip this year

we headed down the Huskisson, Jervis Bay with my family.

it's one of my most favourite places to holiday.

the sand is perfectly white and the water (where there is no seaweed at the bottom) is crystal blue.

it's paradise.

as a little girl i would holiday a lot down there because my mums side live there.

so it was fun to do everything that i did with my boys.

one of jevan and my favourite parts about husky is the old school movies.

zayden got to see his first movie there.

there was so many great parts about this holiday.

we got to go paddle boarding and kayaking.

having dinner on the beach.

running every morning along the beach.

searching for crabs.
going to the branch jevan and i would go to as kids.

fishing (isaac caught a little shark.)

card games all day and all night.

cafe breakfasts, feeding mammoth sized fishes.
having desserts after every meal - this really only applies to jevan and sarah.
fresh cheese and bacon rolls every morning for breakfast.
paying $1 per bag of popcorn.
not having to get in the car because everything was so close.
going to the husky carni (my most absolute LOVED childhood memory.)
my most favourite part was watching the boys enjoy absolutely every moment they got to spend with their cousins.
that was priceless.
and like every other holiday here is my hoards of photos.

NYE

this new years eve was my most favourite ever.

i spent it with the 4 boys i love most.

we got soft serves from maccas,

took them up to the hill at beaumont hills,

decorated ourselves in glow sticks 

and watched all the 9pm fireworks that were going on in sydney.

it was perfect.

2015

2015 was a hard year.

mentally, physical and emotionally.

this was by far the hardest year as yet for our family.

we were tested to our full capacities.

but because of this we learnt a lot of lessons.

i grew wiser as an inidivudal,

as a couple we strengthened one another and stood up when the other was ready to give up, 

my family became my rock.

i was extremely happy to see the back of 2015

but i am grateful for the person who i have become.

this year we sent our first born off to kindy, our little bracky started preschool,

the boys did swimming, soccer and t-ball,

we flew to new zealand and queensland,

we had family holidays to canberra and the snow for the first time,

we discovered our love for camping and the beach,

we fell in love with The Wild Pear for breakfast,

makai received an award at presentation day and received his first principals badge,

i found out what i wanted to do for a career,

jevan become a qualified chartered accountant, 

zayden began walking and talking,

braxton found his soul mate,

we moved house and wards - twice.

i got to tick a whole lot of things off my bucket list

- my favourite being paddle boarding.

the boys found our how exciting body boarding is.

we did the colour my rad run.

the list could go on and on.

as i reflected at how terrible this year was and still yearned for the great 2014 we had,

a quote came up on Facebook that i felt was exactly there for me to read.

" I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone not to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but now lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed to the future. To Yearn to go back to a world that cannot be lived in now, to be perennially dissatisfied with present circumstances and have only dismal views of the future, and to miss the here and now and tomorrow because we are so trapped in the there and then and yesterdays are some of the sin's of Lot's wife." 

Elder Holland

this quote has been the slap across the face i need to let go of the then's and to embrace the now's.

i know the best is yet to come.

2016 is looking up !