one of the best days of my life

I've been telling people that I think that missionaries getting home is one of the most exciting things in a lifetime. The most exciting things in life to me are these, in order: Jacoby being born, Thomas getting home from his mission, and getting married. :) Some people were teasing me about it, but Tyler said the most exciting thing in his life was going to Turner Field, so at least mine are family oriented. Leave me alone. The morning Thomas got home was so exciting. We could hardly stand it.

Jacoby and Annie running into the airport.

When Thomas played basketball in highschool we used to wear Long Pride shirts to his games. My parents got us all shirts to wear to the airport. I love my sisters.
Annie made this cute poster.

Us girls and our kids

We went outside to watch the plane land. It was so wonderful and we were all screaming. After that we raced back inside to wait for him to come walking down the escalator.

It seemed like forever.

Yep, I was screaming pretty loud. Kind of embarrassing how big my mouth is.

We could see him!!!

Do you see him? About to get on the escalator. Hurry up, Tom!

This picture is blurry, but I love how happy my mom looks. She was so glad to see him!

He looked so handsome.

New favorite picture. Very sweet.

Our family reunited at last!!

We had such a good time in Idaho and did SO many fun things. It was so great to be with Thomas and around all my family. It was really sweet to see Thomas with Jacoby and the other grandkids. He is so much the same to me and still has his funny personality, but he is an even better person. I love him and am so proud of him. He was such a good example to all of us. Come visit us soon, Thomas.

Mother's Day

I'm usually not this horrible about updating our blog, but I just haven't been feelin' it lately, but I'm hoping to post more regularly now.

So I had a wonderful Mother's Day, but the highlight of my day was talking to Thomas. It was so great to hear his voice, he's still very sarcastic and funny. He's doing great and I'm so proud of him. I love him so much.

The guys all helped make dinner and we had dutch oven food which is always awesome. My dad cooks some pretty great chicken and potatoes, but I think my Grandpa Cliff still has him beat. :) His were always so good.

Anyway, Tyler spoiled me this year and got me something I've been dying to have: a quilting mat, ruler, and a rotary cutter; I was super excited. Before he went shopping he asked me for five ideas so that I would still be surprised; I liked that game. I've already used it so much this week.

It was great to spend time with my mom on Mother's Day. I love her so much. She has always been such a great role model for me. One of her greatest qualities is her ability to ALWAYS give people the benefit of the doubt. She is always saying kind things about others, and I can only count on one hand people like that. I love her for that because she's really stressed that in our lives and I rarely even notice negative things about others. She's a beautiful woman and so very talented. I love you, Mom!

We also got to spend time with Tyler's mom on Mother's Day. She's a great woman and we love her!

Jacoby has been loving this nice weather we've been having. Dang it, it's about time!

Isn't he handsome?

He loves going on bike rides with mom, but hates the helmet. Tough, kid. I've loved having a neighborhood to ride bikes in. It's lots better than Rexburg with all the hills because man I'm not in good enough shape to plow up those.

This is Jacoby's cheeser smile.

Loved this outfit on my little man.

I've been working out a lot of projects lately, but the most exciting has been redecorating our bedroom. I'm pretty much done, so I hope to post some pictures in the next few days. I've been decorating Jacoby's room more too, but we can't hang up anything at this house we're renting, so I'll wait until we move.

We're getting ready to have a big giveaway on our recipe blog because our 2-year anniversary is coming up, so I hope you'll check it out: Make Your Tastebuds Dance.

one year, baby

Well it's been awhile since I posted, but nothing too exciting has been going on...except for THOMAS HAS BEEN OUT FOR ONE YEAR YESTERDAY! I'm so excited to get to this point. Wow. In a lot of ways it's gone by fast, but only because his letters are so awesome and he is loving his mission. I think that makes it so much easier for your family when they know you are happy and love what you are doing. It has been really hard though because I know that in a year when Thomas comes home, we won't be living there. It's hard to think about that. You bet I'll be there at the airport to see him though, but I will miss out on being around him a lot.
He has been such a great example to me this past year. I'm so grateful for the sacrifices he is making. I know it's not easy, but it's worth it. I love him so much.
This is quite an ugly picture of me, but I didn't get ready that morning he left, instead I followed him around and watched him. It was a really emotional morning for all of us; wow, that was a really hard day. I love my family, and I'm so grateful that we are close and have so much in common. We have our parents to thank because they are the best. I love you, Tom! Keep up the hard work! Recently my mom helped me recover this papasan chair for Jacoby's room. It was really fun to do, and I'm really glad my mom was so willing to help me. She has great taste, and I hope to have a beautiful home like them someday, but I know I'm not as good as she is. I definitely am really interested in decorating right now and look for ideas all the time. I will have to post pictures once we move and can hang things up on the wall because the house we're renting right now is for sale so we don't hang anything.
Jacoby has really liked this chair so far. I found him "reading" books in it the other day all by himself. He looked like such a big boy. I love being able to read him books in there before he goes to bed.