HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

Dave turns 29 today! I love this man so much (and have for almost 11 years!) He is truly amazing. Lately I have been amazed at his ability to balance: work, family, church calling, sports, downtime, bills, yard work, etc. He rarely complains- even when I know he is exhausted-and is willing to help me out whenever I need it. I learn so much from him and don't know what I would do without him. Happy Birthday Babe! You are simply incredible!

Anna woke us up early, which was a good thing because it got me out of bed to make chocolate chip pancakes and OJ. I think a great way to start a day! Anna said we needed a candle for his pan"cake." Tonight Dave and I will enjoy our first dinner date in a LONG time! I am excited!

PRIOR CELEBRATION...

On Sunday we had old (and new i.e. husbands & kids) friends over for dinner and birthday cake. I wanted something extra good and chocolatey... Yep, found it. I give you (with my food network narration) Devils food cake with fudge frosting and mint chocolate ice cream. Topped with icing made out of junior mints, chocolate chips, and an extra hint of mint flavoring. Oh and white chocolate for a little creative touch. Now the cake wasn't beautiful... I had too many ideas and not enough time, but it was DELICIOUS... and still will be for months!

We couldn't get the candles in the top, it was too frozen and the icing was too hard. Thank goodness Dave's birthday is in October. We got away with making it a little "spooky" or crazy however you what to refer to it.

Anna had a great time helping me and so did the rest of her body and her clothes! Who needs a towel. That would be a waste of good chocolate!

Inside... where the goodness lies...

The camera cannot do it justice and neither can a knife!

Monterey Bay Aquarium and Carmel

Over Labor Day weekend, we went down to Monterey Bay and Carmel to see some of the many sights that are so close (within 2 hours, at least) to home. This post has a bunch of pictures from our trip. Most of them are from Monterey Bay Aquarium. I love this shot of the penguin. Enjoy!

The day after the Aquarium, we headed to Carmel where we walked past way-too-expensive shops and went to play on the white sand beach. For all you golfers out there, the beach we were at runs right along a couple of the holes at Pebble Beach. We had a great time (except when Anna got sand in her mouth and gagged so much she threw up!). We feel very lucky to be close to so many fun things. I LOVE MY GIRLS!

He is too... only not very often

Yes, I am NOT going to post about ANNA tonight, nor am I going to post a million photos from one of our many vacations, though I have a few to catch up on. Tonight, however, I am going to boast about my wonderful husband... in a different sort of way.

I am known as the clumsy one around here, especially now with this belly, which I keep running into doors, tables, or Anna's head. opps! Do I really have two more months of growth!? I have also been known to have some "Heidi -isms" which many of you know are a bit funny and stupid. (Ironically my placenta brain hasn't increased them lately. Thank goodness.)

I just have to say, Dave makes mistakes too! Here was our adventure last week. He dropped the Jar of Jam while trying to put it away. You can see it made quite a mess in the floor, but if you glance closely at second photo you will realize what a project it was to clean up!

Yes, it splattered across the whole kitchen, about 15 feet an up along the ceiling! What a mess. And a loss of Yummy Raspberry Peach Jam. Mom and Dad I might be raiding your newly filled cupboard again sooner than later!

At least I got to teach Dave how to use the Mop! Ha! (It's a new swifter) I am only giving you a hard time because I love you babe! You work so hard and we are grateful for all you do! Now can we go to Disneyland? (:

To My Beautiful Bride

Happy 7th Anniversary Heidi!!! I can't believe it has been that long already. Time definitely flies when you're having fun. Thank you for being my best friend and for bringing constant happiness into my life. You're even more beautiful now than when we first met (yes, even with the cute prego belly!). Tomorrow will be a bit different of an anniversary in that we won't be together but I'm sure I'll still go all out and get some fast food to celebrate! :)

I love you and can't wait to see you in a couple of days!

Love,

Your T.W. (inside joke that most of you readers won't recognize ... don't worry about it!)

The Master

Dave Graduated almost a month ago, but since then we have been working hard on packing and getting ready for our next phase of life. I am so proud of him and the hard work that he put in over the past two years. He got straight A's each semester and was well balanced between family time, school, play, working out, class representative, and church callings. He is a very dedicated student, Husband and Father and I am so lucky to have been on this ride with him. We are excited to move to Modesto, CA and start a Career (well one year fellowship for now). I know that Dave will succeed in whatever he does and know our family will be taken care of.

Our Family before Graduation (Go Maize and Blue!)

We are so thankful Dave's Dad, Paul, could come out for the big day!

Shaking Hands with the Dean of the School of Public Health

Calling his Name (Luckily he has a simple one there were people from over 10+ different countries in this graduation. That made for some interesting names!)

All the MPH friends (Russ, Carrie, Us, Hunter, Kevin and Katie). These guys became some of our best friends in Ann Arbor and now we will all be in 3 different states. We will miss them!!

The Graduates

Proud Wife!

Miner Men

Proud Family

The Kids (: Anna loves Hunter her "Best Friend"

We could not catch Anna's cute smile, she had one right before this.

Anna was SO PROUD of her Daddy. She couldn't wait to go see him after the ceremony.

The best congratulatory hugs!

Almost caught that smile!

CONGRATS DAVE, the new "MASTER!"