One Sweet Sunday.

Today was a great day.

So much play time happened. 

I love days when we are just all together as a family.

I tried to document all of today's goodness.

We woke up this morning to our sweet happy and energetic girl wanting to play with her new toys. We had eggs and toast for breakfast and took turns playing while we got ready for church.

Lilly Belle loves to play with her purse.

She discovered the goodness that is her dress up station this morning and really wanted to be a "dog dog" and so she was. She was thrilled.

She totally got it and wanted to show Cogsy right away that they were now both "dog dogs!" 

Then it was off to church.

Lilly Belle screamed and cried when we dropped her off at Sunday School. We have not been to church in a while and it was unfamiliar to her. I give her a few more weeks and she'll be fine again. When we picked her up, she was happily playing with some baby dolls. 

Church today was great. I loved the message. It's never too late to change was the basics of the message. Matt and I both left feeling rejuvenated. 

Lilly Belle fell asleep in the car. She woke up when we got home and we ate a quick lunch. 

She took a nap and while she napped Matt rested because he has a sinus infection and I ran a few errands and studied.

When she woke up, it was back to playing and more dress up.

This time, it was Tinkerbell...

And then, she insisted on wearing both Tinkerbell and Minnie Mouse at the same time. 

We colored on her huge Doc McStuffins coloring pages, played with Mr. Potato Head and I cleaned a ton. We played outside for a bit. It was cute, she was crying and tantruming and we couldn't quite understand what she wanted. So she grabbed my hand, walked me into our room (first time she had done that) and went straight to our bedroom patio door and tapped on the glass crying, "outSIDE, outSIDE!" Ooooohhhh...got it. So, we played outside. In the rain. 

Tinkerbell Minnie Mouse wanted stories from Daddy, but only if she got to lay on him like this while he read them to her. She didn't want to sit up. So sweet.

Tonight at dinner, Matt reached across the table to hold my hand. Lilly Belle stopped eating, looked at us and then reached for both our hands. We each held her hand and then she looked up at us and said, "Aye-MEN." We have been praying more with her so it was so sweet. And then it was a game so we prayed a lot at dinner tonight. I'm sure God enjoyed it as well ;) 

It was a great Sunday. 

Tonight we had an interesting bedtime....

We got her bubble bath for Christmas and tonight we thought it would be fun to fill the bath up more than usual and give her lots of bubbles. That was a mistake. She was terrified of the bubbles, so I got in the tub with her. 

Then we got her jammies on and she wanted Daddy to read a book to her. So he did.

Then it was time to nurse and have songs with me.

I started to nurse and sing to her and she was getting frustrated. She was pushing on my chest and turning all around trying to get milk (I'm assuming). Then she just stopped, looked up at me and asked for a book. So I read her two books. When I was done reading, she "read" The Little Mermaid to me. It was adorable. She "talked" for each page. When it got to the page of Ursula taking Ariel's voice, Lilly Belle just sang "ahh ahh ahhhh ah ahh ahhhh". 

Then I lay her down for bed and she never asked for milk.

Strange considering just earlier today I wrote my post about weaning...

I really want to start blogging about normal days like today. It was perfect. 

That Day I Decided It Was Time To Wean...

Lilly Belle is going to be 17 months old in a week. 

I've been thinking about this more and more lately.

Some days I feel like I'm 100% ready.

Some days I feel like I could nurse Lilly Belle until she's 3.

But most days, I'm more ready to be done than not. And lately, it's been on my mind more and more. 

I know that for months, she has not been nursing as a source of food or for when she's hungry.

There is clearly not an abundance of milk being produced. Physically, that much is clear. 

I am beginning to feel like Lilly Belle would be quite happy being the kid that nurses until she's 3. 

Me, not so much.

I have loved nursing Lilly Belle. It has been one of the best experiences of my whole entire life. The sweet moments that are just for the two of us make me so happy. The snuggles I get from her and the little smiles she gives me while I'm nursing her are memories that I will never forget, even without pictures taken to remind me. 

Lately, there has been a lot of reaching down my shirt and pinching...pinching where it hurts. 

That's right...my nipple. Always the same one. And, it hurts. Like, really bad. 

Lilly Belle has now been talking in short sentences and often says to me, "Mama, I need milka." It is very sweet and endearing. I love that she wants that time with me. Because honestly, she isn't doing it because she's hungry. When she is hungry, she can clearing say, "I need oof!" (oof=food)

Today she went into our room, picked up Matt's laptop and dropped it on her food. It hurt and she cried. I picked her up, she reached down my shirt and said, "Mama. Mama. I need milka. I NEED milka." I explained that I would hold her and rock her and give her tons of snuggles but I was not going to give her milka. She cried and tantrumed but in that moment, I really did not want to nurse. I was dressed for church and we were about to head out the door. 

It feels a little selfish, but at the same time, she is getting older. I nursed her for a year past my goal.

I never thought I would be a mom who would like nursing. Before being pregnant and having Lilly Belle, it honestly freaked me out a little bit. I told Matt that my goal was to nurse her until she was 6 months old and then I would just pump until she was one.

And then, she was born and immediately all I wanted to do was to nurse her. And I did. I nursed her those first few days through blood, blisters, and more disgusting things that I don't need to describe to you. It was awful. But, I didn't give up. I pushed through knowing it was what was best for my baby. And thank goodness I did. 

The time I have spend the past 17 months rocking and nursing Lilly Belle are really some of the best moments of my life. I am tearing up writing this and thinking about it being time to be done. 

I am going to do this slowly as to not make it a traumatic experience for her.

She is still nursing before every nap, before bedtime and most days, when she wakes up in the morning. I am going to start with dropping the nursing before nap time. 

It was random today. I had a random feeling that I was ready. I went in to change her diaper after church and to nurse her before nap and just in that moment I felt like I was done. As I changed her diaper I talked to her about how I was going to lay her down like a big girl with no "milka". I told her I would snuggle her and give her a big hug and lots of kisses but then I was going to lay her down in her crib and I would see her with more snuggles when she wakes up. 

I panicked a little bit. Matt and Papa always lay her down for naps obviously without nursing, but I have only done that maybe once in her life. I thought for sure she was going to flip out.

I did as I promised and held her tight and gave her tons of little kisses and told her how much I love her. And then, I told her to find her fingers and lay down to go night night. She looked at me a little worried but I kept telling her I loved her and just walked out of the room. She cried for maybe 30 seconds and is now sleeping peacefully. 

She did just fine. I felt just fine. And that was so reassuring.

I don't want to just up and quit cold turkey. I'm not ready for that and Lilly Belle would be so incredibly sad if I did that to her. 

I will nurse her in the morning only when she asks for it and I will continue to nurse her before bed. 

No more nursing at nap time. 

I will cherish these nights spent nursing her. It really is such a special time. 

I am so thankful to have got to experience this with my sweet baby girl. 

Belle Belle

(written early December 2014)

Lilly Belle is at my favorite age right now.

I loved this age with my siblings. I loved this age when I nannied. And, I love this age even more with my own child.

I really need to start blogging just about random cuteness because I'm sure I'll forget it all with my awesome memory. 

Today, I taught 4 classes, but in between time I had a lot of time just playing at home with Lilly Belle. We ate breakfast together, played, ran some errands, played and played some more.

While I was doing the laundry, Lilly Belle came running to me all excited to show me that she figured out how to put one of my hair ties on her wrist. I said, "Oh fun, Lilly Belle! You're just like Mama!" For a good 5 minutes, she ran around all proud holding onto the hair tie repeating, "Jus-lie Mama! Jus-lie Mama!" I melted. 

One of my friends, Casie, is so kind and has been giving Lilly Belle a ton of her girls too small clothes and loved toys. One of the most recent toys, is the Little People Klip Klop Stable. Lilly Belle has been playing with it everyday non-stop. She talks to the ponies, makes them "walk" around and even puts them to sleep in the stalls. She played with this for at least 2 hours today. Not all at once, but easy 30-minute increments. It is so much fun to just watch her imagination grow. 

Today, she also did her first puzzle. We play with the puzzle pieces often, but I've never asked her to actually try to do it. I'd say she did pretty well for her first try!

(Gifted to us from Casie as well!...Thank you!) 

While I was nursing Lilly Belle last night, I asked her, "Hey, what's your name?" She immediately, without any hesitation, looked up and said, "Belle Belle," and then continued to nurse as if I was silly for even asking. Belle Belle. She is so sweet. 

Lilly Belle | 15 Months

(This post was written on November 4th when Lilly Belle turned 15 months. I never got around to the picture part...but now she is almost 16 months so I'm just posting this for my own memories of things she did and said. Sorry for no photos this time!)

15 months! Holy cow! Lilly Belle is such a joy to be around. We love her to pieces and I seriously just want to squeeze her all the time. I feel like I'm always saying this, but I love this stage. I always have, even when I nannied. It is even more fun to experience this age with my own child though. She is learning so many new things and able to do so much more now. I love it! 

Look Who's Talking!

I don't know that I can write down every word that Lilly Belle can say...there are seriously too many to remember. She just talks now. We hear a lot of, "I wanna see," "there you go," and "what is that?" She also says, "I don't wanna!" And she is great at saying, "No!"
She still says all her words from last month. This month she learned her hard "K" sound and now pronounces, "milk," and "book," perfectly clear pronouncing each letter of the word. She is also now starting to differentiate between Mick-ay and Minn-ay! Matt is pretty excited about that. Her favorite new Disney words to say are "Elsa," "Ariel," (which is pronounced so clearly and adorably), and "Olaf" which you wouldn't know is "Olaf" unless you see her pointing to it.

And for my vocabulary list I created while listening to her the past few days...here are her NEW words:
*Food (Oof)*Phone (Ohph)*Walk(alK)*Shoes(Oosh)*Knock Knock*Book(booCK)*Milk*Nurse

The Magic Words

Lilly Belle continues to do well with her manners. She says, "Thank you," and has gotten a lot better at signing "Please." She signs "More Food" as well, putting the two signs together.

What's New?

This month we continued to spend so much time at Kids Club & she finished out her Busy Bees session. We have found that Lilly Belle has a very sensitive side and gets her feelings hurt quite easily. She gets very sad, not like screaming and crying sad, but like legit sad, when another child will push her, tell her "No!" or ignore her. It has been interesting to watch her grow emotionally that way. We are working on teaching her to stick up for herself but know it is something that she will learn as she continues to grow. She is just so ahead of the game when it comes to her social skills that she has a hard time understanding because she does understand so much. Does that make sense?

Lilly Belle is getting to be a lot more brave when we go to the park. Maybe a bit too brave? She is now going down slides by herself (after being reminded to sit on her bottom as she will just try to run down - terrifying!) She still gets nervous on the swings but loves to climb.

Lilly Belle really likes to "alk!" (walk)
She asks for it whenever we are anywhere. She just wants to be walking - so independent. Surprise, surprise.

Our Little Bookworm! And Play, Play, Play!
Girlfriend loves her books! She would sit and read her books for an hour if we let her. She will bring us book after book from her basket. If you read her a book, you are in. Lately, we find her just sitting by herself reading her books. She also likes to read to herself in the car, she even points at the words. Smarty pants.

On the topic of reading and her being able to look at her books for long periods of time, she will also sit and play with her Lego's forever and has gotten great at putting them together to build towers. She sat for 30 minutes the other day playing quietly with them.

She also loves to look at all of our Disney Blu-Rays. She takes them all off the shelf and studies them all. She is also all about the Disney Burbaum Guides. She asks for us to read them to her all day err day ;) 

Watch Me Grow!
Weight: 18.5 lbs (15%)
Height: 29 in (23%)

Schedule:

7/7:30amam - Up for the day / Nurse (for like 2 minutes) / Breakfast

9am - Get dressed & play or errands or kids club

10:30am - Snack

12/1pm - Nurse / Afternoon Nap (1-2 hours) with lunch before or after depending on the day

3:00/3:30pm - Snack

5:00pm - Nurse / Evening Nap

6:00pm - Dinner / Bath / PJs & Hair / Story / Nurse & Songs / Bedtime

Lilly Belle sleeps through the night now so we are nursing much less.
Just about 3-4 times/day now and always for a very short amount of time. In the morning I nurse her but don't think she needs it. Then she will nurse before each nap and before bed.
I have a feeling we will be done nursing in a few months. We'll see.

This month has been an exciting one. She is changing so much everyday!

We love you, Lilly Belle!

Right here, at home.

Um...just kidding?

In true Matt & Chelsea style - we've changed our minds. 

We are NOT moving.

We are staying put.

Right here at home.

I don't want to live without my husband. I want our family together. 

We will work our behinds off to make it work and per my usual, I've already got a plan.

An amazing, awesome, I'm so excited for this, plan. A plan that is already well into action. Duh. 

Can we all just laugh at this whole changing of our minds? 

Yes?

No?

I'm looking forward to not having to miss our friends, my favorite walks and parks with Lilly Belle, our zoo, Seattle, our mall, our grocery store, my favorite Starbucks, our pediatrician, and so much more.

Lilly Belle will start soccer in a few months here, at home. She is registered for her first dance class that begins in January here, at home. We will love on our sweet friends Chris & Katie's new baby here, at home. We have made some new friends that we are excited about growing with here, at home. 

And most importantly of all...we will be together. 

We need and love each other. That is why we are married and that is why we have our sweet, 

Lilly Belle. 

Life will be perfect; right here in our cozy 1 bedroom with a den apartment. 

I've decorated more for Christmas today knowing that we aren't going to be moving and tearing down decorations the second Christmas is over. 

We will finish our lease here through May and then see where life leads us. 

Matt and his Dad joked that I need PR help just for my social media/blog. 

They're probably right. But, it is my social media/blog and I've always been open with all my friends and family. I always try to keep it real. No ones life is perfect and everyone goes through things. I'm not embarrassed that we told everyone we were leaving. Now that I have told my friends and dance families we are staying, it actually opened my eyes to realize how much love we have here. 

I think we've made a great decision and I think it took us planning to leave to realize where we belong. 

Right here, at home.

OUR Adventure Is Out There (Part II)

We got married...

Went on our short but sweet honeymoon to Sunriver...

Got home and acted all grown up by chaperoning middle school dances on Friday nights ;) 

Went to our first Cal game together...

Had a Fall Feast Family Fun Day at our apartment...

And I started a little team with my kids at the Community Center.

They were National Champions ;)

Matt supported me through it all. He stopped working when Emerald City Dance started growing...and growing...and growing! 

Summer of 2012, Mel & Clint got married. I threw her Bridal Shower at our apartments clubhouse. 

Emerald City Dance grew to 7 locations. I had 11 instructors. So...we opened a studio. 

I was 24 years old. 

I worked my butt off on that place. At this point, we were also trying to have a baby. 

It was so exciting. But, I was at war already. War with wanting to be a mom and wanting to own Emerald City Dance. Wanting so badly for the moms to be okay with me just "running and owning" the studio and not teaching anymore, but knowing that would never happen. The parents were never happy with who I had come in. I could never get the right instructors... It was just the wrong timing.

Here we are at Mel & Clint's wedding :) 

We went on an Alaskan Disney Cruise :)

11 days later, we spent 10 days in Whistler with Matt's family. Purposely took this picture in front of the railroad sign hoping we were pregnant and that it might be a girl...Lilly Belle ;) (We weren't yet) This was September 2012. 

We went on a vacation to Disneyland with my team kids in November. 

We got home and I had a team sleepover on December 1st. 

That night, before I left for the sleepover at the studio, where the kids stayed up until 4am and I was EXHAUSTED, we found out...we were pregnant! 

I didn't spend that night with my husband...I spent it with these goofballs cleaning up little girl puke from eating too much candy lol and listening to them be silly girls until the sun came up  ;) 

Next morning.

Matt was nervous/excited. I was...excited/excited. 

Me and the bump worked through dance conventions, rehearsals, meetings and I continued teaching 20+ hours/week plus running all the locations. Here is me and Lilly Belle at a convention. 

We got her nursery all ready...

I remember wishing I could do more of this. I was tired and at 27 weeks, I started to hurt. My hips twisted from dancing and were an inch off. I started having weekly chiropractor and physical therapy appointments because of all the dancing I was having to do. 

Subs were a no go. I wasn't finding any teachers who would a. show up and b. make the parents happy. So...I chugged through. Matt helped me at home by always making sure I had food and he was always there to listen to me when I needed him. Always. 

We went to Sunriver for a long vacation with Matt's family but I wasn't able to do anything since I was 27/28 weeks and unable to walk at this point. Yet...I still taught dance 20+ hours/week. Ouch. 

We had some beautiful maternity photos :) 

I made it to 38 weeks and a few days, and then...

We met our sweet daughter, Lilly Belle. After a 3 hour and 42 minute labor - Thank you, Lilly Belle!

Here is where our story, Our Adventure, begins and where this post picks up a bit in speed.

While in the hospital, I had a team mom asking me about costumes. ...while in the hospital after giving birth to my first baby. 

Then, after only a few weeks at home with Lilly Belle, I felt pressured to come back to teach - to be present. 

That was the hardest time in my whole life.

I struggled every-single-day.

I loved my dance kids more than anything. But now, I had Lilly Belle who was my whole world, and I wasn't getting to be home and be present with her. Tons of phone calls and text messages daily. 

I never got a maternity leave. 

Thankfully, Matt was a stay at home dad, so at least he got lots of time with her and her with him.

I have a hard time writing about this, but this is our family blog and I want it to always be true and real. 

I couldn't stop teaching because if I wasn't the one there...people got mad. Things didn't go right. It never worked out right unless I was there. Even when I was there, it wasn't right because I was never ALL there. My whole heart was at home. I would try to bring Lilly Belle with me. She would cry. I would cry. I had to cancel a practice because it was just TOO soon. I freaked out. 

All I wanted was a little time just with her. I got a couple weeks, but even those were filled with text messages and phone calls about subs, practices, etc. I was always working because the studio was still going and I was the everything to the studio, to the classes, to the team, to everything. 

I couldn't just stop. Matt wasn't working. Too many people ...KIDS...were counting on me. 

I slowed down as much as I could. 

I took a step back and realized how fast Lilly Belle was growing. 

We took the team kids to Disneyland again when Lilly Belle was 3 months old. 

I was backstage almost a full weekend with little breaks to go see her. I was still nursing. Pumping in the locker rooms backstage as she wasn't allowed ;) My in-laws came to help Matt and I was bitter at all them. Jealous. Of Matt too. I wanted to be with Lilly Belle. I was just so, so depressed and sad. It was really hard. 

Christmas time came and we spent a LONG time at the beach house. We loved being there and I loved being with my family. I loved just being Mommy, SO much! 

Lilly Belle spent time with her cousins and they got to love on her chubby little self:)

At this point, we were having a hard time financially. With me not teaching classes, people stopped signing up. The studio started to lose a lot of kids. But, I couldn't always be there and couldn't do it alone. We didn't have enough to hire help, we were such a small program. I was stretched too thin. 

We made the decision over this vacation to move in with Matt's parents in their condo. 

Lilly Belle didn't mind sleeping in our room a bit longer ;)

In February, 2014, we closed down the studio. The team's season was over, we didn't have enough enrollment and I was stretched super thin. We decided that it was the best thing to do at the time. And although I did and do miss my team kids a lot, I still see a few of them still and there are parents who still stay in touch. One mom, Jodee, even watches Lilly Belle every Tuesday for us. Lilly Belle loves Jodee so SO so much. She gets so excited to see her! We are so thankful. There were a few families who really helped us when we needed it and who were there for me as more than a dance mom, but as a friend. That is what made it so hard. It wasn't everyone pressuring me. Many understood I wanted and needed to be with Lilly Belle. It was a rough time. 

Cogsy couldn't stay with us at the condo, so our friends Haley & Liam who I used to nanny for watched him for FOUR months!! We are eternally grateful for them as well. This is what I'm saying, we have met some incredible people while living here...

So the studio closed and we still had our community center program and a preschool. 

We moved into a new apartment, the one we are in now. And our babies were reunited ;) 

I took the summer off to be with Lilly and Autumn & Jessica did all the summer camps. I just taught on Tuesday afternoons at the preschool.

It was Heaven.

I soaked up every single second with Lilly Belle. 

We did go to visit a few times...

And then it happened. The community center called me in for a meeting, just weeks after getting our apartment and back on our feet, to tell us they were shutting our program down. 

No real valid reasons given. 

My heart was broken again. 

In 4 years, I taught over 2,000 children here in Issaquah/Sammamish. ...2,000! 

I grew up with them. In those 4 years of starting Emerald City Dance I was married and became a mommy. But more...I became me. I learned so much. 

Once that ended, it was time for us to re-evaluate.

Matt had been working for a while at this point and is now at Microsoft again. 

We went on a vacation to the beach house and while we were there this summer, in July actually, is when we decided. 

In January, we will be moving to Olympia.

We have had an amazing time here meeting some amazing friends and learning so much and growing so much, but...it is time for Lilly Belle to be closer to family and for us to have our home. 

Here is what we have learned.

At the end of the day...it's family. And, with my family living in Wisconsin, we want to be close to Matt's side if we are living here. 

We are so excited about our new adventure and all the new things we will see and do together as a family.

I will be teaching classes at the Tumwater Community Center beginning in January and will commute 2 days a week for a preschool and Saturday morning classes. I will be with Lilly Belle a ton and when I'm not with her, she will be with her Papa or maybe even her Auntie and cousins sometimes! 

We are thankful for the friends we have made and hope to visit often! We won't be THAT far away ;) 

OUR Adventure Is Out There (Part I)

We've lived here for almost 6 years, we've had some incredible times. But, it is time for a change. 

Before we get to that, let's take a walk down memory lane. I'll try to do this without crying. 

Ha, yeah right!!!! 

(WARNING: LONG POST) 

When we moved here in 2009, I was a nanny & Matt was working at Microsoft.

I had two incredible families I worked for in a nanny share. When I started, I was 20 years old and was watching 4 children ages 11 months, 1 1/2, 3 & 5. Full-Time. I learned new things every-single-day and I loved it. When I say "learned new things," I mean that so literally. I was a small-town Wisconsin girl, thrown into the middle of Seattle. I worked in Fremont. I had never tasted Avocado before, didn't even know what it was. Never heard of cloth diapering. Man...I was young!! I really loved my families and at the time, moving so far away from my family, they saved me. I had Matt's family of course, but these guys became MY family (Matt & I weren't engaged yet)... 

Sometimes, Matt would come help me. Boy, did we get some good practice! Here is 22 year old Matt spending the afternoon at the zoo with me and my 4 nanny kids ;) What a catch!

I did everything with these guys. I remember this day like it was yesterday. I did Charlie and Ave's hair while the boys were napping and then when they woke up, we baked cornbread muffins together. All the kids stirring the ingredients at the bench. 

Since the zoo was literally across the street, we practically lived there. Matt was with us often, too ;) 

I could totally have 4 kids and rock it, who am I kidding?? I was 21 in this picture and they all were happy, fed, changed, played with, read to, taught new things everyday and...survived ;) 

Sweet Charlie and I at Alki (this is going to be a long post...) Matt, let's take Lilly Belle here asap!

Matt and I got engaged after we had been dating for just 6 months. We were just 21 & 22 years old. Babies. But we were so, so happy.

Then 2010 came along...(trying to get this in order).

We graduated from our studio apartment to a one bedroom - it was a BIG deal. I mean so big that I had to throw some dinner parties. Isn't that what everyone does when they turn 22? 

See...dinner party :) For my 22nd birthday. I was so proud to make everyone dinner. Like SO proud. My daddy was even there :) 

We brought our first baby home!...Cogsworth! Cogsy Wogsy!

Our awesome apartments where we had our studio and one-bedroom

And then my nanny family had a sweet new addition to their family, sweet Suzy Lou! 

This also happened to be the same time I started struggling. I missed dancing so, SO much. 

 In August, not long (at all) after Suzy Lou arrived, I decided I needed to move on and I started a business... Emerald City Dance. 

I was 22 years old and in my first quarter, had 100 children in our program at the community center. 

These photos are blurry, but oh so special to me. Our first recital...how I wish I had known it was out last when it was. Matt would have been there...my whole family would have been there. It kills me. I'm still so bitter that they made it end. Ok, moving on. 

So yeah, I started nannying for a family closer to home part-time and taught classes about 10 hours/week. That nanny job lasted a few months before we had 150 kids in our program and I that was my only job, Owner of Emerald City Dance. My 22-year-old, has no idea what I'm doing, but I love kids and dancing, self ;) 

We had our engagement pictures taken...

Visited some cool places with family...

Mel & Clint got engaged :) 

We moved into our most "important" 2-bedroom home we will probably ever have. The home where we would become both husband and wife AND a mommy & daddy! 

Our niece & nephew, Caitlin & Quenton were born :) 

I met my best friends... Here is me and Katie's first "date" at Snowflake Lane :) 

And this was me and Autumn's first summer together. We did summer camps together every year.  She was 16!! I was 22 :) Katie & Autumn are still two of my closest of close friends. Ok...this post is getting hard. Crying now. 

This was (at the time) the best summer of my life!! Here we are rocking it out during one of our shows for summer camp that first year :) 

Matt & I went on lots of fun mini golf dates together here :) 

And this was the summer we went to Mt. Rainier! Matt surprised me :)

(To Be Continued...Too Many Pictures...)