Father's Day

Okay, I'm going to be honest here because well... that's just what I do. I don't look forward to holidays like Mother's and Father's Day, mostly because the whole day is spent running around seeing everyone and I (a mother) or Andrew (a father) never really get to relax and enjoy! SO- this year we started a new tradition and began to celebrate Andrew's 'Father's Day' a day early. On Saturday we let him sleep in, we made him breakfast, we didn't even tag along while he went to Sportsman's Warehouse and we stayed gone long enough to let him get in a short nap! Next it was out to dinner and then off for his Father's Day surprise!

As many of you know Andrew inherited a major knife collection when his Grandpa B. passed. While Andrew would always appreciate more knives or fishing gear, Isaiah and I had a different idea in mind. With the help of Andrew's brother Skyler we built this...



Now I have to give major KUDOS to Skyler here because I... have never used power tools (besides a drill). He was very patient and EXTREMELY helpful. I can't even pretend that this vision would have come to life without his help. Thanks AGAIN bro!

So he helped us build this 5x3 shelf unit to house some of Andrew's knives and he seems to be loving it!











For our actual Father's Day Andrew, Skyler and I made breakfast at our house for their dad Dan. I'm really glad Paulette was able to join us too, it seems I am always out numbered by men!



Andrew spent the afternoon organizing his knives while Isaiah enjoyed the sunshine and played on the Slip n' Slide w a friend.



Then in the late afternoon we went to dinner at Andrew's mom and step-dad's house. Where the food was great and the kids had a blast.














Finally we made it to my dad's house where we had more desert and watched more cousins play more games and we older kids even had some fun playing corn hole (?)















It was somewhere between Grandma and Papa Brick's to my parent's house that the light turned on for me. Isn't it a great thing that my son has SO many grandparents that love him? Isn't a huge blessing that we have so many parents to go visit on these dreaded holidays? Absolutely! It's an amazing thing that we have been blessed to have so many great Mom's and Dad's. It's an honor to spend the whole day running around so that all of our parent's know that we realize they are great and that we want to celebrate their greatness on this day. And thanks to all of you for keeping us running, we are proud to be able to take one day a year to acknowledge the fact that we have AWESOME Dad's (& Mom's). We want you to know that we will never forget it on the other 364 days. ~ Happy Father's Day!~

Innocence of a child

I think every mother spends countless amounts of time teaching their kids things or planning things to do with their children. Recently I have to admit Isaiah has flipped the script for me and I've learned that unplanned experiences and lessons are often better than the planned ones!

We have a sign by our stairs that says 'Life doesn't get much better than this'. Isaiah reads it often on our way to the car in the mornings and it kind of gives me a new perspective of every day life.

Today after breakfast everyone wanted to run over to Harbor Freight and drool over tools. I opted to walk since it was just around the corner and the sun was finally shinning. Next thing I know here comes my 7 year old- jumping out of the truck to join me, turned out to be a very memorable experience.

On our short walk to the store Isaiah grabs my hand and say's "Mom, I love my life". As my heart swelled up in my throat, all I could do was smile and say "me too". While walking I realized there is nothing a parent actually wants more than for their kids to live a life full of experiences and then to appreciate them. Somehow those five little words made me feel very accomplished as a parent. Yet then on the walk home- surprise again. We are walking along the road and Isaiah stops walking, grabs my hand and say's "wait!" Me, thinking he saw something cool starts looking around for what may have caught his eye and he say's "Do you smell that?" I sniff... not sure where this is going I say "yeah, what is it?" He starts skipping, "It's SUMMER" he yelled. Then I smelt the air again, this time through a seven year olds mind and I realized- yep- there's the smell... rain...cut grass... barbeque's...SUMMER.



So to our friends and family- you may be asking yourself why I'd share this tidbit of my life with you? It's because I hope that you will all appreciate the small things, learn something important from a child, have unplanned moments and remember them as you would a wedding or a birthday, be grateful for the life you have, realize you are loved, stop and sniff on occasion and please... have a great summer!

Happy Birthday Andrew!

Happiest Birthday wishes to the most AMAZING husband any girl could be lucky enough to have!

We have been through SO many things together. Good things, sad things, happy moments, deaths, births, adoptions, and anything else that can't fall into those categories. You have always been so strong and secure. When I want to fall apart at the seams and kick and scream and cry- you let me - and then you pick up the pieces and help me get them back into place. You are my rock. You are my best friend.




I have watched you change over the years and I am happy that in some ways we have grown together and in some ways- you are still the exact same Andrew I wanted to marry in 8th grade. You're love for animals is astounding, your patience for all man kind is unwavering, your heart is huge and ready to help anyone or give anything you can. My favorite quality of yours is that you never have a complaint or a bad thing to say at the end of the day and you can literally find good in every person and every situation. Sometimes it drives me crazy when you say "Don't worry, we'll work it out, everything happens for a reason", but you are right. You are always right (that drives me a little crazy too : ).




Last, I have to mention the incredible father you are. While you have been Isaiah's dad since...well pretty much since his 2nd birthday, words cannot express how much that has always meant to me. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to step up to that plate, but you did and you are a better dad than most kids could ever hope for.





Thank you Andrew for being everything you are. We love you and hope you have the best birthday ever!

Happy Birthday Oh Sensible One!

Maria~

I have to say- on your big day- how happy I am for you! You have always worked hard, held strong to your faith and have succeeded in life and love. While taking care of all of the serious stuff, you have always loved 'play time' too. Which I personally think is great!







You have always been and still are a great example to our family. Even when sticky situations arise you have been willing to listen to 'the other side' and keep an open mind about situations. I love how you don't see the world as 'black and white' but accept and embrace the gray areas as necessary.



You have gone from 'allergic to weeds' (no, I'm never going to let it go), to farming the Idaho lands! I honestly didn't think you'd last 2 years when you first moved there. Good thing I'm wrong quite a bit because it seems to be a perfect fit for you!



One of your other- more obvious wonderful traits is that you are a REMARKABLE mother! You have a beautiful family and a great husband. You clearly cherish them and never take a day for granted.


I know we are not exceptionally close siblings but I've enjoyed learning more about you through Facebook and Blogs! I hope you know that I love and respect you and how happy I am for you in all that you've achieved over the years. Happy Birthday!