good ol' Monday...and THE CHASE

Today was a day full of laundry (we're talking 4 gimungous loads here)...a visit at the Kjars before Sharla headed back to Rexburg...a workout at the gym...grocery shopping...and making dinner. A classic Monday :)

For FHE (family home evening...aka family night) we watched yesterday's episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on hulu (of course). That is my dream house (at least the interior for sure)!!!!!!! Adam & I love that show. After the show was over we sang some hymns & read a few scriptures (usually we do those before the activity, but switching it up every now & then is good right?) Adam has an awesome voice, and he is so sweet to put up with me & my epic awkwardness of trying to sing alto. We had fun singing a few hymns with both of us switching & singing every other word (made for some gooooooooood laughes) and even sang a few in Spanish (thank you handy-dandy iphone app).

Mission FHE: Accomplished.

You guys may or may not have enjoyed a recording of our awesome duets (Brooks did try to chime in a few times to make it a trio)...But I do hope this fun little family video puts a smile on your face. It's actually from last week, but it still makes me smile and giggle each time I watch it.

Adam and Brooks have so much fun together...I can't get enough of them!

THE CHASE

starring: Adam & Brooks Kjar

Sunday best

We had ourselves a little photo shoot in our Sunday best :)

As you can tell, we do a lot of modeling. haha

Sunday has got to be my favorite day of the week. It's a day of rest for my body and a boost for my spirit.

I am in love with these handsome boys. So glad they're mine forever :)

And while getting ready this morning we listened to these angelic voices...

We looooooooove the Libera boys choir :)

Well, it's off to church we go! Hope you all have a relaxing Sunday spent with the people you love :)

Com'on it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride...

I'm one of the leaders of the girls' in our church's youth group. The Young Women and the Young Men have had a yearly tradition of driving into the mountains, to a darling little farm, and they hope on horse-drawn sleighs for a magical night under the stars. There were 3 sleighs jingling (yes, the horses even had jingle bells!) down the moon-lit, snow-covered path...we were lucky enough to see a herd of stunning elk...and ended up at a cozy fire where we enjoyed donuts and hot chocolate :) I love our youth! They are so much fun, and this was such a fun wintery activity I got to enjoy with them! (It was a bit too cold, other wise I would've had Adam & Brooks come, but they stayed home where it was nice and cozy warm).

{on the farm they had these sweet dogs running around, and they even joined us the for the ride}

{Sharon, Melissa, me...fellow Young Women leaders...love them!}

On our way up to the mountain we drove by a Maverick gas station...I instantly thought of college up at BYU-Idaho and going their just to get their hot chocolate. It is SOOOOOOOOO good! Who ever thought gas station grub could be so good? ;) They have a creamer station so you can jazz up your drinks with vanilla, hazelnut, caramel, and other sweet flavors. I told the girls that were in my car that we'd get some on our way home. They loved it!!!

So seriously peeps, if you have a Maverick near you, go & get their hot cocoa, it's change your world :)

Bon voyage! (real camera photos of our cruise:)

This is the last post of our cruise, promise :) The first post of our tropical getaway was filled with pictures I took with my iphone. And I finally got another cord so I was able to transfer photos from our camera to the computer! woohoo!

The cruise was filled with lounging, laughing, sleeping in, palm trees galor, endless horizons, lots of kisses, SUN, the ocean, delicious Mexican food, sweet little shops, great entertainment, wearing sunglasses everyday, and just soaking up time together!

{i loved the live music on the ship...can't get enough dancing with my love}

{being that it was right before Christmas I had hoped they'd have a Christmas tree on the ship...and they sure did!! this picture shows about 1/3 of it}

{Earl Turner was a FABULOUS singer & comedian!}

1st port: Cabo San Lucas!

{Getting geared up to scuba!}

2nd Port: Mazatlan

Did some fun shopping around the little shops.

Back on the ship they had a Johnny Rockets cafe...gooooooood eatin :)

3rd Port: Puerto Vallarta

Perfect day at the beach with my love!

While is Puerto Vallarta we went out to dinner and ate some of the best Mexican food wither of us have EVER had...fish tacos and coconut shrimp. OH MY.

Back on the ship...

{Ronn Lucas was a HILARIOUS ventriloquist!!}

We enjoyed the show and then went to our last formal dinner...

Then we decided that we needed to hit up the arcade...all dressed up, oh yes.

{how do you like Adam's game faces?? haha! We don't mess around when it comes to air hockey}

The next morning we slept in, got ready, and enjoyed a lovely breakfast :)

Adam rocked that wall ;)

Our favorite place for dinner was called "The Sound of Music." Loved it!

Our room keepers made this cute little guy (with Adam's shades) on our last night :) :) :)

While it was hard (a lot harder than we thought) to be away from our sweet Brooks, the time spent just the 2 of us was much needed! And we hope to be able to have a little getaway, even just a weekend stay at a local bed-n-breakfast, every year :)

a whole new wooooooorld

Read the title again...but sing it, Little Mermaid style ;)

WAIT...that'd be Aladdin. How did 2 of my favorite Disney flicks get swapped in my head??Thanks to my friend Lula for catching that. haha!

*

Okay, so back in December Adam and I enjoyed a cruise, just the 2 of us :) We started in L.A. and stopped by the Mexican beaches of Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta (my favorite). Can you say relaaaaaaaxing?? :) While in Cabo, we were lucky enough to be able to go SCUBA DIVING! And I finally got around to getting the film from our little disposable underwater camera developed :) There are only a few we snapped from the first 10 minutes of our dive because we went too deep and the film broke...but enjoy the few that we got!

Adam has been scuba diving a number of times (once when we went to Belize...and a few times at Lake Powell and Flaming Gorge where he went spear fishing). I was preggo with our little B, so I haven't been able to experience diving outside of our classes we took to certify. And while I've loved snorkeling, I was so excited that this time I could actually go under! ...but sadly, I don't think I'm much of a diver :( I got really anxious going so deep, and I couldn't seem to find my "zero gravity"...so I was holding onto our guide's hand 90% of the time (otherwise I'd either sink or float). haha Our guide was a great guy, and really patient with me :) It was phenomenal to swim through a school of fish, see amazing coral, and feel weightless. But I will admit, it was FRIGID, even with wetsuits. (understandable though, it was December and we were in the Pacific Ocean). I am glad though that Adam and I were able to experience it together!

{I spy with my little eye....a little yellow fish}

{I guess we were really wanting to "hang loose" haha}

{yea, we even flirt and hold hands underwater }

Overall, it was quite an unforgettable experience! But truth be told, we still think that Belize topped it (even me just snorkeling) for the color and marine life we saw (I don't know why we didn't get an underwater camera for that trip!).
Have you ever been scuba diving?? I'd love to hear stories about where you went and your experience :)

** side note...thank you all so much for your kind and thoughtful words about my last post. I really felt the need to record our experience, and that sharing it would show that our marriage is real, and has bumps...but those bumps just add flavor, and it is oh-so sweet. So you wifey's out there, what are you doing today that is a little extra to show you love your hubs?? :)

completely happy & happily complete

{2 hands, 1 heart...beach in So. California summer '09}

Last night, as Adam leaned over Brooks' crib to tuck him in, I snuck up behind him and reached my arms around Adam and gave him a long, firm squeeze...the type that makes you sigh afterward and have lingering butterflies.

I thought

Adam is such a good man.

A thoughtful, loving husband.

A caring, devoted father.

Perfect? No sir. (a lot closer to perfect than I am)

But perfect for me? Oh. Yes.

Then, as I washed my face and brushed my teeth with my pink toothbrush, next to the hubs as he brushed with his blue toothbrush, I thought about a conversation we had last week.

We talked about how the past month or two we've somehow felt our relationship settle. Even with our lovely vacation (just the 2 of us) and the romance of the holidays (yes, I think they're romantic) we didn't feel like we were "growing in love" like we wanted to. This beautiful girl wrote about a similar experience she had with her husband, and said it perfectly that somehow days slipped by "without us really connecting." We did the motions, kissed goodnight, prayed together, enjoyed time with our sweet little boy when Adam came home from work...yet we still felt like we were getting too comfortable. We both expressed our regret of not trying as hard as we should to express our love and appreciation to each other. We even reminded each other about our love languages. (mine: 1 -words of affirmation 2-physical touch 3-quality time 4-service...his [same just in different order]: 1-quality time 2-both physical touch & words of affirmation 4-service) and we made a promise to do better at showing affection through those routes of communication. Part of me loves that we're so comfortable, we trust each other and know we'll love each other no matter what...but we still should be putting extra effort into our relationship, building each other up and making sure we know we're each other's number one priority.

We also talked about how we know that if we focus on our personal relationships with God, we'll grow closer as a couple. Heavenly Father is so amazing that way. I know that if I put my complete trust in Him, if I give Him my heart, he will shape it to perfectly match Adam's. We will complete each other. And as Adam and I tell each other:

YOU MAKE ME COMPLETELY HAPPY,

AND HAPPILY COMPLETE

Our marriage is not perfect, but we're working at it.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Adam and I have our differences, lots of them. But more than that, we see the potential in each other and we want to spend the rest of forever growing more in love and reaching those potentials. Together. As one.

Prince Brooks & his weekend adventures...

Once upon a time (last weekend), there was a little guy named Prince Brooks.

He was the cutest boy is all the land! (I'm a little biased)

Prince Brooks didn't need a wild stalion to get around. He gets going pretty fast on his hands and knees, crossing vast kitchen floors and scaling couches and cupboards!

In the afternoon, he enjoyed the Queen's homemade broccoli soup.

Scrumptious!!

...followed by a little nap in his carriage (baby backpack) while the Queen did some dishes.

Later that night, Prince Brooks went to the King's favorite store...the Apple Store at Gateway.

As you can see, he was very impressed :)

And he enjoyed some sweet snuggles on their way to the car with the Queen :)

The royal family (haha) then headed to a wrestling match at UVU of the King's brother, Ben! Ben pretty much demolishes any opponent he meets on the mat :)

The little Prince was grunting and bouncing in excitement with the rest of the crowd as they watched Ben (on the right) WIN!!! :)

The King loved seeing his little Prince Brooks on the wrestling mat after the match. (hopeful that he'll enjoy wrestling as much as his Daddy...who was a state champ in high school. woot woot!)

The Prince and King even made some friends :)

He slept very soundly after a day full of adventures.

And enjoyed the rest of the weekend at home sweet home, err their castle ;)

THE END.