One!

Yesterday my sweet boy turned ONE! It was such a fun day. I love my boy so much and have been so blessed to have him. He makes me so happy everyday and I can't imagine my life without him. I love being a mom and Im so grateful that Heavenly Father has entrusted me with an amazing little boy. He is learning new things everyday which is so much fun to watch. I could go on and on and on but I will not.. :)

Here are some pictures of him on his day. We are the kind of lame parents that wont give our children parties until they know what is going on. I did put up streamers and blew up balloons for him and I even made him a cute cake! We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. He ate an entire roll by himself, some of my chicken and my entire bowl of applesauce. He is finally loving real food but he still loves his bottle!

I don't think he could be any cuter!He loved his cake! It was so fun seeing him pick up the entire piece and shove it in his mouth!

Happy Birthday Mr. Nash!

Mom ♥s you!

OBX

This past weekend we were able to take a little trip to Outer Banks, NC. It was so beautiful and so much fun. We {Austin, Ashtyn, Dax, Trent, me and Nash} started the trip on Friday night after Austin and Trent got off work. We packed up Austins truck and headed out. We drove about 5 hours and stayed in an awesome {by awesome I mean scary} hotel. Nash wouldn't sleep so I had to drive him around this creepy little town until 5:30am to get him to fall asleep. We got up that morning and continued our drive to Outer Banks. We got there around noon, ate lunch and played on the beach. Nash liked playing in the sand for a little while but wasn't too crazy about the water.

{I love his sand goatee in these pictures}That night we went to a local seafood buffet! It was awesome! Me and Ashtyn had been saying that we wanted to eat at a seafood place like the one they eat at in Dear John and we got pretty close! It was so good and the best crab I have ever had! I was in heaven. The waiters also brought out ice cream and sang to Trent for his birthday!

{the picture is dark but he is wearing a birthday hat... and Nash wanted that ice cream real bad!}

Nash wanted to catch up on some reading after dinner..

Funny faces in the mirror {check out Trent's sunburn-that's what happens when you use SPF 4 Tanning Oil}On Sunday, all the boys went jet-skiing in the ocean. Here they are with the instructor that had a great tan and not an ounce of fat on her body. Blegh. I like that they are all looking down except for Austin. hahaWe also had more time to play in the water. Nash was actually starting to like it!We left for home around 5 and stopped and got some barbecue for Trent's birthday. It was so much fun! Next time I am going to try to get pictures of me and Nash and of us and the Clarks.

Some of my favorite moments of the trip: our funny conversations on the drive about old times and the ring of fire, Colby Callait on repeat, trying to find a DQ and Austin refusing to make U-Turns, the bumpy bridge on the way home, going in the underwater tunnel, taking a nap with Nash in the cold hotel room after a hot day at the beach, eating 10+ pounds of crab, seagulls attacking Ash and Dax, me and Trent being so excited to sleep on separate beds {sad, but true. we like our space} Trent playing with Nash in the mirror, Nashs sand goatee, Nash and Dax not fighting {too much}, Austin singing "this is sewious, we need to help her, this is sewious!" and our numerous stops to try to find fudge and hats.

Today is our sweet cousin Lorins birthday. I wrote this after he passed away from cancer.

He is truly an amazing person and will never be forgotten. We love you Lorin!

Cancer: That word has always been my worst nightmare. When I was 11, my dads beautiful cousin Monica was diagnosed with cancer. She was so fun and full of life but the cancer took her life. I remember staying up late at night, laying in bed being so scared that I had cancer too. I would think of all the things I would do and how my life would just end. I have always had a fear of doctors also. It always seemed like people were just fine, then as soon as they went to the doctor their health decreased and eventually they just passed on. I use to swear it was the doctors that had made them sick. I would think about how much I would suffer if my mom or dad even had cancer and that I could not possibly live without them. Then when I got married I worried about my husband. These thoughts have continued to give me fear until Lorin Merkley. I have known the Merkley family since I was probably 9 years old. They were always the cute boys in my ward that sang together in sacrament meeting and I would whisper to my mom, "Im going to make my boys do that, too." My senior year of high school I tried out for the play and actually got the lead role. Brandon and Lorin were in the play and all the girls just loved them. When I met Trent, I was happy to find out that his dad was LeAnns brother. This made me even more determined to marry him :) Lorin played the piano at my wedding dinner and he accampanied me at our family Christmas party. He is simply amazing. Looking back, Im not sure I even thanked him. I didnt give him a hug and tell him how much I appreciated him. I just always thought he would just be here. 3 months ago Lorin was diagnosed with cancer. When I found out I just tried to block it out. I tried not to think about it. When we saw him in the hospital I broke down. How could this happen to this amazing, talented, happy, obedient person? I cried for his mom and dad and his brothers who were going through this with him. LeAnn being the amazing person that she is was there to comfort me. Sheput her arm around me, looked at me and said, "He's ok. He's going to be ok." She then told me stories about Lorin that made me laugh and feel better. Here I was being comforted by his mother who day in and day out saw what he was going through. Lorin fought a hard fight. He passed away on Tuesday evening. He is ok now. I know that he is with our Heavenly Father. I am no longer scared. I see how strong his family has become through this. They have made it. I looked at LeAnn and Craig at the viewing on Saturday, yet again comforting those crying eyes that came through the line to look one last time at Lorins beautiful face. Knowing Lorin is in heaven makes it easier to not be scared of dying. He has come here and made his mark. This experience has made me no longer scared. I am not scared of dying. I am not scared of getting cancer. Miracles happen and although it was not the miracle we thought we wanted, it was a miracle nonetheless and I know there are many more to come.

my boy

I'm totally drooling over this blog during nap time right now..

Oh the life of the rich and single.

Although, I'm pretty sure it doesnt compare to this:

I'll take the runny nose and soggy diapers anyday as long as it comes with this cute, chubby, little man.

I'm so lucky I get to spend every day with the love of my life.

{i love trent too :)}

he's awake. time to make some lunch and watch UP.

I love my life!

ps. Check out this blog if you're pregnant. Check it out even if you're not pregnant and want to be informed. She takes the words right out of my mouth.

DC

Anyone sick of my Love post yet?? I am! Well, we are officially in DC for the summer and we are loving it. It is so beautiful here and there is so much to do and see {definitely a change from Oklahoma} Trent is finally getting in the groove of selling and had his best 2 weeks ever! He is doing awesome and I am so proud of him. Here are some things we have done in the past month..

National Zoo

{where Ashtyn witnessed a monkey barfing and then eating it}

Washington Monument, Holocaust Museum, the White House and Lincoln Memorial

Air and Space Museum {my favorite so far}

Klemyjontri Park

{amazing park in a beautiful little town called Mclean}

7th Street and 7th Hill Pizza

{recommended by this lovely lady}

I hope to be better at posting all of our outings! We booked a hotel room in DC for the 4th of July and I can not wait!

Love.

{my favorite recent candid of T on Easter getting ready to throw water on his sisters}

The first day I saw this face at my singles ward, I was hooked. He tells the story like this...

"I went to sacrament meeting and I saw this cute girl sitting down the row from me and she kept staring at me and looking at me from the corner of her eye."

This is when I butt-in and say

"I was NOT starting at you. I looked at you once."

Which is a lie. I was totally staring! When he looked at me, it was like he was staring into my soul. I had never felt that before.

But I was having major guy issues at the time and wasn't about to get into another issue with another guy.

The next night was our ward family home evening. I didn't usually go but since I was going to be moving out of the ward I thought I would go and say bye to everyone. The plan was to play goofy games in the cultural hall and learn a dance {oh singles ward, i do not miss you}

When I walked in I saw HIM. Still, I wouldn't let myself get carried away. I stood in the back while everyone was learning the dance and watched him.

He was laughing and smiling. I had never seen anyone so happy and comfortable with themselves.

I wasn't about to make a move though. "He's WAY too cute for me." I thought.

After the dance part, we all sat down to play a game. He sat right behind me. I've never asked him if this was on purpose or accidental. I'll say it was on purpose. Him and his friend were discussing the word "cornucopia" and didn't know what it was. I turned around and tried to explain it to him, turned back around and didn't say anything else. After the game, I was extremely bored and decided to leave. I didn't say bye to anyone. I just left. {like I mentioned earlier, I was having issues at the time.}

As I was about to get in my Beetle, I heard footsteps running behind me.

I turned around and saw his gorgeous smile and amazing green eyes.

I was in shock and my brain literally stopped along with my heart.

He said "hey, I wanted to talk to you before you left."

It was at that very moment I knew I was going to marry him. I knew it. There was not a single doubt in my mind. I had never been so connected to a person without actually having a conversation with them.

He asked me out for Friday night. He text me the next day and said he wanted to go out that night but he had softball. I told him I would go out with him no matter what time he got done.

{I probably sounded desperate?}He picked me up that night and I just remember being in a trance, smiling the entire time, laughing at him and just listening to him talk about who knows what. He dropped me off and the next morning before I got in my car for work I saw a note on my car door that read,

"Char, I hope you have a great day! -Trent"

Really? Could he be any cuter?

After 3 months of dating, 3 break ups and get back togethers, and one extremely long week apart, he finally asked me the question I had been dying to hear.
And the love story just gets better and better every single day.

I love this man more than I love life itself. He has brought me more happiness in the last 3 years than I have had my entire life.

He makes me laugh everyday, forgives me for my stupidity, makes me feel beautiful, makes me want to be a better person, loves me for who I am, laughes at my bad jokes, thinks I'm cute when I swear and don't wear make-up, loves the gospel, gave me the cutest baby, is the best dad to that cute little baby, still gives me butterflies, is a hard worker, loves life, loves people,

and has a huge heart. He is the most selfless and reliable person I have ever known.

I am so grateful for the last 3 years we have had together, loving, growing, and learning from each other.

I love you, babe.

Renters Wanted!

Trent and I have bought a home in the Power and Queen Creek area. Since we are leaving for Virgina, we are looking for some good people who need a place to rent for the summer {preferably no pets} The home is brand new and Trent would like someone that wouldn't mind keeping an occasional weed out of the yard. Since we'll only be gone for 4 months, we're not charging much for rent and were willing to work something out. Please let us know if you or anyone you know is interested! Email me at chardaisy15 at msn dot com. Thanks!