Our 5 Year Anniversary!

Even though we've been married for five years. . .

We still feel like newlyweds!

All I wanted for our anniversary was to get some really nice family pictures, and during the summer (watching Tyson's sisters get married) I came up with the idea to dress up in our wedding clothes. I take full credit for the idea, Allison gets full credit for the amazing pictures. 

It was so SO SO FUN!!!!

My Flower Girl

Tyson's Best Men

Our Four Jewels

Jeffrey 

Jeffrey is the best big brother a kid could ask for. He is great at sharing and helping and always trying to do what is right. He gets so much joy by making his younger sister and brothers laugh and have fun. Jeffrey loves to do anything he views as "big" (sweeping, shoveling snow, doing dishes, vacuuming) and is excellent at doing puzzles. He also loves to play outside, go to the library, and watch movies. Jeffrey is often trying to engage Amri in conversation to figure out the funnest plan to do next.

Amri

Amri is our little princess. She has grown into such a little lady the past year. She loves to laugh, and loves making us laugh be the things she says.  Amri is always the first one to join Jeffrey on his escapades, teaches Jacob all of her tricks (like how to sneak candy), and is wonderful at helping Xandir to not cry and to feel better. She loves to look at books and can entertain herself for hours with her wonderful imagination. Her hair reaches down to her waist, and with her advanced verbal skills she seems much older than she actually is. 

One of the best parts of this day was being Amri's idol (I don't know a better word for it). She loved following me around in my "princess" dress and kept asking if she could someday be a princess like me, and wear my dress, and tiara, etc. I don't really want her to be overly obsessed with the "princess" idea, but after going to so many weddings the past couple of years and watching Amri adore the new brides, it was so fun for it to be my turn. 

Jacob

Jacob can go from super solemn to super psycho in about .57 seconds! He adds such a fun dynamic to our family. Every time I get him dressed in the morning, as soon as I am done he leaps at me (I have to be on guard!) and gives me the best hug with his little arms. He is somehow super mischievous and super sweet at the same time. He also loves to tackle Tyson whenever he is unaware! He tries to be like Jeffrey yet imitate Amri at the same time. He also loves Xandir dearly--and is still working on playing "nicely" with him as he just gets too excited every time to be calm when Xandir is around. 

Xandir/Xi

Xi has been such a welcome addition to our family! He is our little Ty, which is how his name morphed into Little Xi. He is a very easy going baby, but somehow very active at the same time! At three months he mastered rolling, at four month learned how to scoot around by pushing his feet, and by five months was fully mobile with his army crawl. I would have to look for him whenever I came back into the room, he was always behind a toy or couch or something!! At six months he developed his "push-up" crawl (he'd go into push-up position, walk up on his feet up to pike position, then lay back down), and just before seven months he learned the traditional crawl and how to pull himself up into standing position. At seven months he crawled up stairs and started to practice standing on his own, and at eight and nine months is just increasing his standing time (record is ten seconds). He loves to explore, puts everything in his mouth, and is a great eater with his 6 little teeth. He tolerates his loving older brothers most of the time and gets along great with his "little mommy" sister. I can't wait to see how our family dynamics change as he develops even more. We love our happy little Xi.

Although most days I feel like a Happy, Lucky Bride. . .

We're not always living the "Happily Ever After!"

We just love the adventure anyway ;)

Aren't the ups and downs what makes a roller coaster fun?

I'm so thankful for the last five years--the BEST years of my life. 

Here's to a XILLION more!