Lucky #7!

December 27th marked the beginning of year Number 7 for Darren and I. It fell on a Sunday this year, so we didn't celebrate until the following week. I think we actually spent the day at my family's house for my brother's birthday. For Christmas, my little brother gave us a hotel stay, so we celebrated the next week. We had everything all planned out, but it turned out to be an interesting anniversary. Nothing seemed to work out quite right, but we still had a great time. It was nice just to spend time together. After my Uncle's house on New Year's Day, we dropped the kids off at my mom's for a sleepover and fed Avery and started our anniversary celebration by going to a movie. We finally redeemed movie passes that we got for Christmas last year and bought tickets online for Blindside. The only problem was we bought tickets and then were running late (Big surprise if you know us, right??) By the time we got to the theater, we were about 10 minutes late and then we had to wait in a long line for online ticket pickup and by the time we got into the movie, we were about 20 minutes late and there was no where to sit. There were a few seats, but all of them were in the middle of rows so we would have to climb over people and none were together. Since it was our anniversary, I didn't think we should watch the movie sitting apart from each other, so we just plopped down on the floor at the back of the theater and watched from there. We discussed other options besides watching the movie from the floor, but we had already worked Avery's feeding schedule around going to the movie and we had just eaten at my uncle's, so we weren't hungry enough to go to dinner, so we just stuck it out....on the dirty theater floor.... It was still a date night, and those are hard to come by around here! Luckily, the movie was one of the best I have seen, so I didn't really care that I was sitting on the floor of a dirty movie theater. Until my butt went numb.....
Next, we went back to my mom's house and fed Avery, and then went to dinner at Tepanyaki, one of our favorite places. It was feeling a little bit like deja vu from Darren's birthday - we stayed at the same hotel, went to the same theater (luckily we did NOT see GI Joe again...) and ate at the same restaurant! But, why mess up a good thing, right? We don't have anything like Tepanyaki in Logan, so we like to eat there when we can and it was too far to go to PF Chang's or the Melting Pot. Tepanyaki was delicious...especially the noodles. The only thing that I don't like about Tepanyaki is the seating arrangement - If you have never been there, it is kind of like Benihana and one of those Japanese places where they cook the food while you watch. There are about 10 seats around the grill, so if you go as a couple, you will sit with several other couples. Our weird evening continued as we sat at a table with some VERY weird people who were drinking a lot of alcohol, dropping tons of "F-bombs", going outside to smoke a lot and talking about sex in a VERY explicit way and having a LOT of drama! So fun! We were glad to get out of there! By the end of dinner, Avery was having a meltdown. My mom had tried everything but she was MAD! We had planned to leave her at my mom's but after we saw how upset she was, we decided that we better just take her with us. I figured it was better to take her than worry about her all night or get a phone call at 2 am. So...Avery crashed our anniversary. Good thing she is so cute, right?
For breakfast the next morning, we went to Mimi's Cafe, which was also what we did on Darren's birthday, but you can't beat their breakfasts! I LOVE their stuffed french toasts, muffins and hot chocolate! Yummm!!! It was not our best anniversary celebration, but not our worst - We had a good time. After having 3 kids, you expect for things to not always go as planned.
A few weeks ago, we went to my parent's ward for church and went to a marriage and family class. In it, they had you make a list of the qualities you admired most about your spouse. I missed most of the class because I was out feeding Avery, but Darren gave me the list he made, and ever since I have been meaning to return the favor. So, in honor of our 7 years, here are 7 things I love about my honey!
1 - He is the BEST father! He is there for everything they do and does so much for the kids. Sometimes I get a little wrapped up in cleaning or other things and don't play with the kids as much as I should, but Darren is so great about getting down and playing with them, changing diapers and spending time with them. I LOVE that and am so lucky that he enjoys it and puts family time as such a priority!
2 - He is a great hubby and helps me do everything! He is understanding and is so great to help around the house, clean bathrooms, give his opinion on my craft projects, whatever. He is also great about getting us out on dates when that is sometimes hard for me. Not that I don't want to go, I just have a hard time leaving the little ones, but he makes it important. He is also so supportive of me getting out and doing things with my friends or sisters or having some "me time" and never complains about taking care of the kids so I can go somewhere.
3- He is such a caring person. He really cares about his patients and other people and goes the extra mile for them. Sometimes I think he may end up getting taken advantage of, especially at work, but he always tells me that sometimes it is just the right thing to help people. He is a great home teacher and loves the families he teaches and his Young Men.
4- He is the BEST cook! I love this because I am NOT and I enjoy his cooking and help in the kitchen a lot! It is great!
5- He is a big nerd when it comes to the Aggies or soccer. That may sound not so nice, but I love how into he gets and that he knows everyone the Aggies are scouting and all the soccer schedules. It is a good thing that I am also a sports fan, or it may get to be a little much, but I love that he loves them so much.
6 - His whistling! Just hearing it makes me smile! If you have never heard him whistle, he is pretty good and is whistling a tune constantly. He even has a special "Webber whistle" that he got from his dad that he uses to find me in crowded places. It is great!
7 - He is my best friend! I love spending time with him, even if it is just hanging out and watching TV and our many lame reality shows that we love. He can always make me smile and laugh and I love that about him! He is so good for me!
I could go on and on.... I am a lucky girl and feel so blessed to have such a great hubby! At my brother-in-laws wedding this past weekend, the sealer said that in a marriage you should always make the other person the best version of themselves. I have always felt that Darren makes me better - I hope that I help him, too. It just seems like we are perfect together and make a great team. I hope we have lots more anniversaries to celebrate together! Love you babe!!!

Valentine's Tag!!!

I've Been Tagged!!! All of the things you didn't want to know about us…
I’ve never been tagged before, but I thought this one was fun for Valentine’s Day!

What is his name? Darren Scott Webber, D or Dad… Soon also to be Dr. Webber in a few months which sounds so funny to me for some reason!

How long have you been together? Married 5 years this last December

How long did you date? We actually dated twice – We started dating when Darren got home from his mission for a few months, but he dumped me! Can you believe it? I like to tease him about that! He must have realized his HUGE mistake, because about a year later we started dating again in Nov of 2001 and got engaged in August of 2002 and married in December of 2002! Kind of a long time for the Mormon standard, but it worked for us!

Who eats more? I don’t know – It is probably pretty close! That is probably embarrassing for me, but I can really eat!

Who said I love you first? Darren. I wanted to, but I was a big chicken and wouldn’t say it until he did!

Who is taller? Darren, but not by much! We are about the same height. I guess it depends which shoes I am wearing!

Who has more speeding tickets? Neither of us have any speeding tickets - I have 2 tickets since we have been married, but neither are speeding tickets so I guess they don’t count! My tickets are usually for accidents – YIKES!

Who is smarter? Darren! I could never do all the school that he has done! Plus all the biology and medical stuff I was never any good at. There are probably a few things that I am better at, but he is definitely smarter overall! And since I have children, I think my brain has turned to mush!

Who is more sensitive? Probably me since I am a girl and on some days will randomly cry about anything! I will say that Darren is very sensitive to me though…

When there is a fight who usually wins? No one – We don’t really fight. That sounds lame but it is true! If we are upset about something, we usually give it a day or two and then it just blows over….

Who does the laundry? Me. I have this weird thing with laundry and am a little OCD about what stuff gets washed with what and what gets dried so I don’t like anyone to do it for me! I don’t know why – My whole house can look like a tornado struck, but I am worried about the way the laundry gets done! Go figure!

Who does the dishes? Darren probably does them a little more often. I usually cook and he cleans up, but if he gives the kids their bath, then I do the dishes. Darren is definitely great about helping around the house though and is much more clean than me!

Who sleeps on the right? Me

Who pays the bills? Me – I guess it is the Accounting thing but I actually like doing all that stuff

Who mows the lawn? I hope to SOMEDAY have a lawn! It is on my list of things that I would really LOVE to have (and a garage and a backyard!) I bet that Darren would mow it if we had one – He likes doing the outdoor stuff and gardening and all that. I actually don’t mind mowing the lawn though – It is one of those chores that actually stays done for awhile – Not like cooking and cleaning!

Who cooks dinner? I usually do but Darren is a much better cook than me and actually likes to do it more than I do. He watches cooking shows sometimes and is really interested in all that! He always makes us Saturday morning breakfast and usually does Sunday dinners.

Who drives when you are together? Darren – I hate driving in Vegas!

Who is more stubborn? Probably me…. But I won’t admit it! Ha ha!

Who kissed who first? Darren kissed me. I was not expecting it at all and he was wearing a baseball hat and totally nailed me with the rim of it! A little awkward!!! It makes for a good story though…

Who asked who out first? Darren asked me out. I really wanted to ask him, but was a little stubborn since he had previously dumped me and I refused to do it! So I was really excited when he did ask me! Our first date was to a Best Buddies Dance and then to dinner at Papa Kelsey’s and then we watched the movie “City of Angels”

Who proposed? Darren. I probably brought marriage up first, but Darren was a little weird about it for awhile… About a week before he proposed we went to see the musical “Beauty and the Beast” and everyone thought he would for sure do it then (We had already set our date…) While we were there, he kept talking about all these places he wanted to go look for rings. I was a little upset because I figured he had already worked all of that out and was wondering how long he was going to make me wait! The next weekend, he proposed. He asked me if there was anything I would change about him and when I asked him the same question, he said, “Your last name.” You would think that that would tip me off, but I really thought he hadn’t bought a ring yet (he was very convincing!) and was SO surprised when he pulled the ring out!

Who has more siblings? A Tie! We both have 6 siblings! Darren wins if you count all the in-laws though, since he has 5 married siblings, and I only have one! He also has 16 nieces and nephews on his side and I don’t have any!

Who wears the pants? We are pretty good at sharing them I think. This may partially be because we are both extremely indecisive, but I think it is also because we are good partners and share in all of our decisions – big and small!

Happy Valentine’s Day Babe! I love you and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in life than right here with you and our 2 great kids! I am so lucky! By the way, we had a really fun Valentine's Day! Logan LOVED frosting (or eating the frosting!!!) cookies with a couple friends and eating all the candy!!! Rylee looked so cute in her Valentine outfit! We went out for Chinese food for dinner, which is always a hit at our house! I wanted to post some of the cute pics I took, but I having some computer issues right now, so maybe they will be coming soon!!!

I don’t know if anyone actually even reads this stuff, but I tag Jenn, Mical, Pat, Dawn, Jennie, Amy and anyone else who reads this and wants to participate!!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

Today is mine and Darren's 5th Anniversary - That is kind of hard for me to believe! Five years ago today, at 10:20 am, we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. It was one of the happiest and most exciting days of my life (the other 2 being the birth of my kids...) The last 5 years have gone by really fast and SO much has happened! We have been through a lot of things and grown so much closer. It is amazing how that happens. You think you love someone so much, but it just continues to deepen as time goes on! Darren is the best husband anyone could ask for, even if I tease him sometimes for watching a little too much soccer or Sports Center! He is so great to me and in honor of our five year anniversary, I've decided to do a little countdown of things about that last 5 years that mean a lot to us and describe our relationship and help keep our marriage strong.

5 - TRIPS TO DISNEYLAND! This sounds a little crazy that we would have actually been there that many times in the last 5 years, but it is true! (All of the trips have been with family, so we actually haven't paid for that many trips, so that is how it has happened...) Disneyland to us is one of the happiest places we could ever be! We have so much fun there - especially now with our kids. It also represents some of our most fun memories, but we have so many other amazing memories ,too. We have had trips to Yellowstone, California, lots of sporting events including Aggie games, USA soccer, and Jazz games, and lots of other fun activities. To me, these are wonderful memories and symbolize how much we love being together and doing things with our family. Spending time and creating special memories are part of what makes our marriage so wonderful!

4- YEARS IN LAS VEGAS. I had to cheat and round up on this one, as we have only been there 3 1/2 years so far, but we will be there about 4 before we move, so I've decided that it counts. It may also seem an odd choice since we don't exactly love it there, but it has been something that has really strengthened our marriage. Living in Las Vegas has given us many challenges and special experiences - including 3 car accidents, a stolen car, and the birth of 2 children - and has helped us to get through everything together. Being so far away from family has helped us rely on each other and made us stronger as a couple and a family.

3 - COLLEGE DEGREES. I am also cheating on this one too since Darren's degree won't be totally finished until May, but I think we are close enough to the end to count it! All of our married years so far have been in school - My accounting degree in 2003, Darren's Biology degree in 2004 (both from Utah State) and now Darren's Dental degree from UNLV. Always being in school has been challenging in many ways, but also a really good way to strengthen our marriage. Being struggling students has taught us the importance of each other and not things and really had us working together to accomplish our goals. It has been a great way to start our marriage!

2 - WONDERFUL KIDS!!!! Our kids have been the greatest blessing in our marriage so far. We love them so much and are so grateful for them. They have taught us so much about unselfishness and giving (and lack of sleep...) and we LOVE them so much. We always say that we don't even remember what we used to do before them or how we spent our time (besides sleep...) but they are our whole world and made our marriage even better. We love our little family so much and watching them grow and learn has been so rewarding. They are definitely some great cheap entertainment, too!

1 - WONDERFUL, AMAZING, GIVING, SENSITIVE, SPECIAL HUSBAND, FATHER and BEST FRIEND. Thanks for all you do for us! You are so good to all of us and are so great to help around the house and are so wonderful with the kids - They adore you and love spending time with you. You work so hard and do so much - I can't imagine my life with anyone more caring or better for us. We are all so lucky to have you. Thanks for an amazing 5 years of wonderful memories and being together It has been more than I could have ever imagined! I am looking forward to so many more! I love you so much, Babe! Happy Anniversary!!!!