Tale as old as time...

In an effort get our dating life back on track post-Kai, Yo has taken the lead and planned some really fun, out of the ordinary dates this summer. So when Yo found out several months ago that the Broadway Musical, Beauty and the Beast. was coming to town he bought us tickets right away.

I had heard great things about this production and have to say that I was not disappointed. The production was fun, humorous, visually appealing and overall did a great job of bringing Disney's twist on this classic tale to life.

The actor who played Gaston was perfectly cast. He was big, burly, and hilariously chauvinistic. So it should be no surprise that my favorite song of the night was none other than "Gaston."

I have to admit, I hummed under my breath as Mrs. Potts sang "Tale as Old as Time" and felt my night was complete watching Belle and the Beast dancing on stage.

Thank you, Yo, for planning such a fun night. And thank you to Christine and Tyler for filling in to watch Kai so last minute. We can't wait to return the favor a few months from now!

The Best Day EVER!!!

Why? Because Kai (finally) fit into the ridiculously awesome miniature tuxedo that my ridiculously awesome sister bought for him last Christmas. Since Christmas the tux has been hanging in the closet. Every few months I've taken it out to see if Kai would fit into it yet, but to no avail...until today, that is! The fact that Gabby was here to witness Kai's GQ debut only made this day all the better.

Poor Kai is teething and, therefore, not sleeping well at night, so he was less than enthusiastic about our impromptu photo shoot, but how could we resist taking pictures when he looked so darn cute. I am determined to find as many excuses for Kai to sport his tux as possible while it still fits him. So if anyone reading this is heading to a black-tie affair anytime soon, give me a call.

I promise to work on getting some better shots than these, but you have to admit, smile or no smile, this is pretty much the cutest thing you have ever seen (or at least me and Gabby think so)!

9 months

Kai turned 9 months on the 7th. He is seeming less and less like a baby and more and more like a toddler every day. Where does the time go? Kai started crawling in the end of June, but only started picking up some speed in the last few weeks. He is everywhere and into everything! He requires supervision ALL the time. The week before we left for Utah, he started pulling himself up in his crib and now he pulls himself up onto anything he can get his hands on. I still don't think he'll be walking for a while, but he has surprised me before (like when he got teeth at 6 months).

Speaking of teeth, Kai has two more teeth coming in making a total of four upper teeth and two lower teeth and counting. He is enjoying putting all those teeth to good use by eating more and more "table" foods.

Here are some pictures of our big boy...

Summertime and the Living's Easy

So we are back in town and I finally had a chance to upload pictures from the last month and update my blog. For the last two weeks, Yo has been off of work pending the start of his new job on Monday. We have taken full advantage of this time.

We took a day trip to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk with our friend Christine.

Took an impromptu road trip to Utah where we spent lots of time visiting old friends. Kai was in heaven with all of the attention he got and all of the kids he got to play with.

It's been a fun few weeks and just what we needed to relax and unwind before Yo starts his new job on Monday.

On the road again...

Yo finished his last day as the Administrator of San Bruno on Friday of last week. He doesn't start his new job until the 16th so we decided to make the drive to Utah to catch up with some of our friends here during his time off.

It was Kai's first long trip in the car (10 hours not including stops). Overall he did really well. We left around 9:30 AM and after a few quick errands around town we were on our way. Luckily Kai fell asleep about an hour into the drive and slept a little less than 2 hours. After he woke up, I had the task of entertaining him in the backseat until we stopped for lunch in Reno, NV. We took our time eating so Kai would have a chance to stretch his legs, breathe some fresh air and get some of his wiggles out.

I drove the next leg from Reno to Elko where we stopped for dinner. Yo wasn't quite as keen on keeping Kai entertained as I was. In fact, I found him sleeping on the job a few times. But Kai survived and actually fell asleep around 8:30 PM and stayed asleep until we arrived in Fruit Heights and the Anderson's house sometime after 11.

It was a long day of driving, but in some ways beat the stress of air travel. Still, I think I'll be less enthusiastic about our return trip (which we are planning for Tuesday of next week).

Today we've enjoyed catching up with our adoptive families the Andersons (yes, Yo's high school, girlfriend's family--I know it's weird, but they are wonderful!) and the Cooks (the family Yo stayed with as an exchange student in high school). And the best part of our visits have been that there are so many kids (grandkids) for Kai to play. He is loving it. I promise to post pictures as soon as I get the chance.

Tomorrow Yo is hanging out with one of his best high school friends, Josh Cook, and I am meeting up with my old Law School roommate down in Provo.

Other than catching up with old friends, I am also looking forward to getting my hair done by my favorite hairdresser ever (and for a lovely UT price of $75, no less) and going outlet shopping up in Park City to get Yo some clothes for his new job.

In other news, I turned in my letter of resignation the day before we left for Utah. After coming back from maternity leave I quickly realized that the job I returned to was doing nothing to advance my career and left me unfulfilled and uninspired. I've been meeting with several other companies and have a few very exciting opportunities to consider. But I plan on taking some time to really weigh my options and figure out how Kai fits into the picture.

With so many changes looming on the horixon, this vacation is exactly what Yo and I needed to clear our heads and just get away...for a while. With my last day being next Friday and his first day of work being the following Monday, we know reality will come crashing back soon enough. C'est la vie!

Over the river and through the woods...

For the last week Kai and I have been staying at my Grandma's house in Colorado Springs. We planned our trip to coincide with my parents' visit here and managed to convince my sister, Shannon to join us as well. So we've had quite the little family reunion. 

With how much has changed in the last 30 years of my life, it is strangely comforting that my Grandma's house is exactly as I remembered it. Coming here I feel like I've entered a time warp back to my childhood. The smells, sights, and sounds of this house are so familiar. The other day I was giving Kai a bath and instinctively opened the cupboard beneath the sink to find the two plastic boats and rubber shark that I used to play with in the bathtub as far back as I can remember. They were right there on the shelf exactly as I (or one of my cousins more likely) had left them. 

It's been fun to share this world with Kai. As you can imagine, Kai has been spoiled with attention and I have been spoiled with 4 extra set of hands who are more than willing to help with him. We've enjoyed a trip to the zoo, many walks around the neighborhood park, and lots of lingering conversations around the dinner table. 

Weeks like this make me dream of the day when family is across town instead of across the country, but for now we will cherish visits like these.

Here are a few pictures:

And they lived happily ever after...

We  might be a little shy of "ever after," but Yo and I will be celebrating our 5 year anniversary on the 21st. In some ways it's hard to believe it's been that long. To us 5 years still sounds kind of substantial. On the other hand, it's hard to remember ever not being married. Yo and I have navigated so many changes together in those 5 years (moves, career changes, becoming parents, etc.) and with each change our lives have become more and more intertwined until at some point they became inseparable. 

Anniversaries always make me think back to our beginning.

We met at church--in a BYU single's ward. It was the first Sunday of a brand new school year and Yo and his roommates had just moved into the ward. Yo sat by me in a combined Relief Society/Priesthood lesson. It was about fellowship. We joke about how we really took it to heart, but our relationship actually got off to a very slow start and built gradually (at least for a time).

You see, when we first met, I was a notoriously noncommittal, serial dater. I always seemed to have two, or three (sometimes four) guys in the mix. And for a long time Yo wasn't my priority. But that slowly changed when I realized that I let other guys come and go, but always kept coming back to Yo. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

On our first date we went rock climbing up Provo Canyon. It was a beautiful day in September. We sat perched on top of a cliff and talked for hours about our families, interests, philosophies on life, all sorts of things. And on our way home we stopped for beverages at Sonic and talked for a few hours more.

Over the next few months we hung out almost daily at times and then life would get busy and we wouldn't see each other for a while. I found out later that there were a few times when Yo was ready to throw in the towel because he hadn't heard from me or I wasn't returning his calls. And then out of no where I would call him up or ask him to hang out. So he kept sticking it out.

Things started off slowly. We went on dates, but really we became great friends first--playful, flirty friends, but friends. It took us a month or so before we held hands. It wasn't until mid-November that Yo finally mustered up the courage to kiss me. (It was worth the wait!)

All along, my roommates were cheering for Yo. He was always the favorite of the guys that I was hanging out with. After a lot of pressure, they guilted me into having "the talk" with Yo, the dreaded "DTR." They saw Yo as this poor unsuspecting guy who didn't know that he was one of many guys. (Turns out Yo wasn't as naive or monogamous as they thought, but that's another story for another day.)

I worried my roommates were right and I didn't want to hurt (or use) Yo, so I initiated this awkward DTR ("define the relationship"). I was tripping all over my words and talking mostly in code. Long-story-short, I walked away from the conversation thinking that we were a couple. Yo walked away having no idea what we were talking about. I discovered this weeks later when he made some comment about going on a date with another girl, or me going out with another guy. I was surprised, but secretly relieved so I just went along with it. After all, monogamy was scary.

Right before Christmas we were kind of "on-again" after having been "off" for a month or so. (It didn't help that I was cramming for finals.) Christmas break came. Yo went to Norway. I went to Florida. Something changed. I couldn't stop thinking about Yo. My sister called me out on it when he came up in the conversation for what must have been the umpteenth time. And Yo must have been thinking about me, because he emailed me and called me almost once a day. 

So we came back from break and without a DTR we just knew we were a full-on "real couple." From that point on our relationship progressed as smoothly as any in the history of relationships. A month later the "I love yous" came and were quickly followed by a trip to Florida to meet my parents. The topic of marriage naturally became a part of our conversations and suddenly "next winter" became "this summer." He proposed. I said yes. We traveled to Norway. Planned a wedding.And sealed the deal (before God and man). And here we are 5 years later with a family of our own.

Yo and I laugh about how we, of all people, became this Utah cliche--meeting in a singles ward, dating a few months, getting married within the year. We are not those people (or so we like to think). But with Yo, I just knew it was "right." He was the right guy. It was right the time. We were in the right place. The Lord has His hand in this thing. And so it wasn't scary at all.

Every relationship has it's bumps, and ours has been no exception, but we have been so blessed in love. I am just as confident today as I was five years ago that Yo is the best possible man for me. He has taught me so much about patience, selflessness, loyalty, humility, and forgiveness. He truly serves me every day and would sacrifice his own happiness to make me happy. And he is every bit as good of a father as he is a husband. Yo made me into a one man woman and I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else. Thanks for the last 5 years Yo and I'm looking forward to the next 50. Love you!