Happy Birthday Jen!!!

Today is my older sister's (Jen) Birthday!!! As many of you know, I am extremely close with my sisters...they are my best friends! However, Jen is not only my sister/best friend, she is a mother figure to me. Since my mom passed away in 1996, Jen has always served as that motherly presence in my life. She is always there for me no matter what the situation and I know that I can always count on her for advice, comfort, laughter...you name it and she is there.

Now that I am a mother myself, I have grown a greater respect for my sister and all that she does for her three little boys (4, 2, and 3 months). She is an amazing mother and she teaches me so much everyday. I hope to be a mother just like her and our own mom someday:)

Jen also is an incredible wife and homemaker. She is always on top of everything: cooking, cleaning, date night, working out, fun activities for the kids, family home evening, church activities, etc., etc. I don't know how she has time in one day to accomplish all of her many tasks, but she seems to pull it off day after day. When I was in pharmacy school, I always looked forward to taking a break from studying to call Jen and hear about her day with her kids and all the things she had to do that day. I couldn't wait to be a stay-at-home mom like her someday and now that I am, I try not to take it for granted and to make each day meaningful and thank my lucky stars that I can be home with my sweet little Logan.

Jen is such a good example to me in so many ways and I feel so blessed to have her in my life:) Jen, I hope that you have a wonderful Birthday and I want you to know how thankful I am for all that you do for me and the person that you are. I love you!

Our Summer Vacation to Utah

Happy 1st Birthday Logan!!!

We just got back from our week and a half vacation to Utah and it has taken me a few days to get back into the swing of things, which may explain my lack of posting:) However, while we were in UT, our little guy turned 1 on July 11th!!! I know, it is hard to believe that my sweet little angel has been on this earth for one whole year already!!! We had his birthday party at my Grandma and Grandpa Rasmussen's house (thank you, thank you, and thank you again for everything...it was so much fun!) in Bountiful, which was a central meeting place for both the Rasmussen and Bryner sides so we were able to have a lot of family there to celebrate little Logi's special day:) He couldn't have been cuter (as you will see in the slide show and video below) and he adored every minute of the party...what a little HAM!!! Happy Birthday Logan!!! We couldn't imagine life without you and we love you so much!

Happy Birthday Ju!!!

Today is Julie's (my little sis) birthday! Since she is in another country (dancing on the Royal Caribbean cruise line in Europe), this blog-o-love will have to do as a present until my crazy little sis comes home:)

Ju, I hope that you have a very special day and know that we all miss you so much! I keep thinking about all of our fun times living in Vegas together and ever since we have been apart, I feel like a piece of me is missing. You are so much fun to be around and so full of life! I miss being able to talk to you everyday and seeing you regularly. We all hope that you are about done with you adventure out there in Europe and are ready to come home soon. I hope you enjoy the random pics in the slide show...so many fun memories! Have a Happy Birthday and we are all thinking about you! Love you Ju:)

What a BIG Boy!!!

This week Logan graduated from his little carseat (which he has been exploding from for some time) to his "Big Boy Carseat." He absolutely loves it and feels so special when he's in it:) He especially loves to be able to look out the window and see us in the front seat. I think that this new seat is going to be a lifesaver to us when we jump in the car for our 11+ hour drive to UT this summer!!! In a loving mother's opinion, he looks so adorable in his new carseat and every time I look back at him it makes me laugh because he can't wipe the smile off of his little face...he loves it so much!!! Also, here are a couple of new tricks that Logan has up his sleeve:)

Happy 1st, 28th, and 32nd Father's Day!!!

Happy 1st Father's Day to my sweetheart Ben! Logan couldn't ask for a more incredible daddy and he loves and adores you so much! Thank you for all that you do to help take care of Logan and me too:) We love you!
Happy 28th Father's Day to my wonderful dad! I hope that you had a very special day and I wish that I could be there to spend it with you:) You are such an incredible dad and I feel so blessed to be your daughter. We can't wait to see you in July! Logan is so excited for all of the adventures that his "Ampa" is going to take him on this summer! We all love you very much!
Happy 32nd Father's Day to an amazing father-in-law! We hope that you had a wonderful day, as well, and we wish that we could see you more often:( I am so thankful for the wonderful example that you are to us all, especially to Ben. He strives to be a father just like you and so far he is doing a pretty good job:) Thank you so much for all that you do and we all love you very much! We're looking forward to seeing you this summer!

Our little Bear Grylls

Last Tuesday, I was at a church meeting and Ben was home with Logan. Nothing unusual, until I received a call from Ben. Between laughs, he said that he me had something to tell me about Logan. I guess, Ben was at the computer and Logan was trolling around the house, when Ben heard the all too familiar sound of Logan gnawing on something he shouldn't have in his mouth. As usual, Ben had a hard time sticking his finger in Logan's mouth to pull out the foreign object. Finally, Logan cracked open his mouth and Ben was able to quickly scoop out the item. To his amusement/horror, a gigantic COCKROACH lay in his hand!!! It was about 1.5 inches long and worst of all...it was still alive!!! Ben quickly gave Logan water and snacks to cleanse his palate so that he wouldn't have cockroach breath (brilliant, I know). Then he put the disgusting cockroach out of its misery.
We know that Logan is already showing signs of being the "outdoorsy" type like his dad, but eating bugs already...YUCK! After chastising Ben for not watching Logan well enough, I made him promise that he would call the Pest Control guy immediately! I can't believe that Logan put that in his mouth, but it is one of those stories that you will never forget and one that Logan will love to hear when he gets older:)