7 years of marital bliss!

Apparently, according to society, Brandon and I are supposed to be "itching" and heading for the door!  We hit 7 years in our marriage yesterday, and I know I speak for both of us, when I say - we've never been happier.  Marriage is all about learning and growing together, and we feel fortunate that we've grown in the same direction.  We both laugh at how we've changed and concede that we, indeed, have changed for the better.  We've had our ups and downs, as everyone does, but are loving our time together, and are looking forward to many, many ,many more years as a couple and a family.  It's crazy how time has flown, and now we have 3 fantastic, and super cute, children.  They mean the world to us, and we're trying our hardest to provide a happy and healthy home for them. Of course, like any other parent, we are re-living our childhoods through them as well!  We've hit the ground running with parenthood and are loving it.  We'll be the first to admit, we make mistakes, but we are trying.

This last week was a huge milestone for Porter.  Thursday was the last day of school - and he's now officially done with Kindergarten and on to First grade in the fall!  He's so excited to call himself a first grader now.  Now, if he could only master tying his shoes!  We'll get there.  It  was sooooo hard to say good-bye to his Teacher, Mrs. Encarnacion.  She was AMAZING and the best teacher we could have ever hoped or prayed for.  In fact, I've convinced Brandon to commute to the east side for work so we can stay in Surprise, so Tess and Owen can attend Kindergarten with Mrs. Encarnacion.  Let's hope she's still teaching for at least 5 more years! We'll see how his commute goes, and then start house shopping again.  

Tess is thrilled to have Porter home during the day, although today, I'm debating on wether she likes playing with him or simply bugging him!  (how's that for a run on sentence!?)  Tess continually amazes us with her little personality and her likeness to the old Dennis the Menace books or today's David Gets in Trouble book.  She is CONSTANTLY getting into things.  She is the most curious child I have ever known.  We love her dearly and know we are in for a big ride with her being our only girl and the middle child to boot!

Big Cheezums - aka - Owen, is doing well.  He has been in heaven since yesterday afternoon when Fafa and Punkin showed up!  They were on their way home to Tucson from Vegas and spent the night with us.  They had gone to a wedding there.  We always love having them in our home, even if it's just overnight.  We went to their house last weekend, so we've been spoiled this month!  We'll probably head back down there in July sometime.  Now that Owen's head is buzzed he's looking more and more like Porter everyday.  He's cutting some new teeth right now, so he's not too happy about that.  He has been really cuddly, which I love!  Bring on the teeth!  

Everyone is getting excited for swimming lessons that start in a couple of weeks.  We'll keep you posted on how those go!  We love you all and hope everyone is doing well.

Owen Got Buzzed!!

Well, as family tradition allowed, Brandon got to Owen's head before I could stop him this evening.  I felt a flashback to a cold winter morning in Rexburg, when Brandon took Michael's clippers to Porter's head!  This evening, armed with his own new set of clippers, Daddy took on his fatherly role to my sweet Owen.  He has now been officially inaugurated a Mitchell!  For those of you wondering, yes, I did save a pile of his hair in an envelope for my scrapbook!  He took it like a champ and didn't start fussing until the very end.  What a cute little boy!  My baby doesn't look like a baby anymore.  Honestly, he looks more and more like Porter everyday.  He is, literally, days away from walking.  He's trying so hard, so keep watching  - anyday now, we'll have video to post.  Cross your fingers!

Porter is in his last week of school.  He has done so well this year, we are so very proud.  This Wednesday night he has a special Kindergarten celebration.  I'm assuming it's somewhat like the Kindergarten graduation I participated in some 26 years ago!  He's been practicing one of the songs he's singing all day.  "Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today - - I'm gonna be a part of it - - First grade, first grade!!"  Our major goals for the summer are to master tying his shoes (he's struggled with that), and to read as much as possible!  He's excited to get registered in the summer reading program.  He's also informed me that he wants to do as many projects as we can all summer!  It's Arizona, soooo, we'll spend some quality time inside doing homework if that's what he wants.  

Miss Tess is excited to have Porter home during the day.  She has really missed him.  She'll have fun working on projects and coloring as well.  She will participate in the summer reading program too.  I can read to her and we can count those minutes.  I signed up all three kids for swimming lessons in June, and Tess is probably the most excited out of all of them.  This will be her first year in lessons and she can't wait!  

As most of you know, I quit my job and will now be home full-time with the kids again.  We are all excited to have mommy home all the time again.  Owen really missed his mommy, and has been in heaven since I've quit.  I'll admit, I've been in heaven too!  You don't realize what you have sometimes until you are gone for awhile.  I feel blessed to spend my days with these kiddos!  They are a ton of fun.  

Brandon is FINALLY just about finished with the Mayo clinic building.  He should be on to his job in the office as a Project Manager in just about two weeks.  Everyone at Okland says this project has been fraught with more architectural issues than any other they have done, so anything he does after this should be a breeze!  

We look forward to a summer full of free movies at the local theater, splashing at the sprinkler pad, and trips to the library!  We'll keep you posted on all of our happenings!

Long Live Baseball!

Well, we're right in the middle of T-ball season here in Arizona, and we're confident in saying that Porter has found his new passion.  He loves baseball!  We're excited that he's found a sport that he enjoys immensely.  He lives in the best state for play fields, so this should be a fun journey for him.  I was able to get today off to attend his game and took lots of fun pictures!  School is out on the 22nd, so he's a bit sad at the prospect of not having class everyday for awhile.  He has loved Kindergarten.  

Tess is doing well and trying to be the head cheese here at home, which is no surprise to those who know her.  She is her mother in another body.  She wants to be in charge and have things her way!  She's loving that Owen is more and more playful each day.  She loves going to her best friend's house for day care 3 days a week.  She has also found her first crush - her sitter's husband!  As we were leaving yesterday, she made a point to yell out to him and tell him she loved him!

Owen is doing fantastic.  He is getting more confident in standing and walking alongside things - sooooo - hopefully he'll walk before he enters Kindergarten!  He'll be 14 months old on Monday, but we're not worried.  He's progressing!  He loves playing and wrestling with his siblings.  

Brandon and I are doing well.  We're both way stressed at work, and feel privileged that family life is going well to offset all the chaos at work!  We hope everyone is doing well and happy, and I promise to post more often - it's just been busy!