A Love So BIG . . .

About four weeks ago I came across this picture online and thought 'hey I wonder if I can do something like that'.

When I was pregnant with Hudson I had joined a mommy group of other pregnant ladies and I thought I would start there with asking total strangers if they'd be willing to send me some notes from their location just like the picture but written to Danny. I immediately found success and from there I joined some other groups but this time on Facebook to see if I can get some more requests done. I also went to family, friends and even joined a few yard sale groups of different states. Before I knew it I was getting pictures from not only states but from countries around the world. My phone was constantly buzzing from people messaging me back and forth and sending me pictures. Since I was up in the middle of the night anyway nursing Hudson I would use that time to connect with people who were in countries such as Finland, India, and Malaysia because of our different time zones. Within a few days I had all fifty states (plus duplicates) as well as over thirty countries sent to me. I went through almost 300 index cards and three sharpies sending pictures from Utah to others who wanted the same thing done. By that weekend Danny knew I was up to something but didn't know what. I hated being sneaky with him but I was also really excited for when I would be able to finally tell show him what I was doing. Was it hard? Yes! Worth it? YES! My plan was to make a book with all of these pictures I had collected but since I knew I wouldn't have enough time to have the book finished by today (Valentine's Day) I decided to make a video. By the end I received 286 pictures of notes from around the world, I couldn't put all of them in this video because it's already long enough. I still plan on doing a book for him but for now this is what I have and I love it. Better yet, he loves it. 

Happy Valentine's Day Danny!

I love you so BIG!

4th of July Weekend 2016

My fourth of July weekend started on Saturday and it was a day of many firsts for me. I was invited by Jaina and Donna to go see Tim McGraw perform at the Stadium of Fire. I had never been to a concert before so now I can finally cross this off my bucket list! I'm glad I went even though I struggled with the decision as I went back and forth all day deciding if I'd take the extra ticket. The reason I hesitated is silly now but I have never missed Addie's bedtime and I felt sad about it. It was weird knowing I would leave that night and not see her until the next day. I knew I would peek into her room either way but still I thought she would care if I wasn't the one to put her to sleep. Turns out it matters more to me than it does to her. :) It hit me that day that I haven't had a girls night since having my daughter. If I leave to go see my sister or some of my friends I always bring her along. I'm with her so much that I don't know how to not be with her. Danny pushed me into going with his mom and sister because he knew I needed to get out of the house and I'm glad he did. So it was my first time missing Addie's bedtime, first time leaving her for a couple of hours (and not having Danny with me), first time going to a concert, first time experiencing the Stadium of Fire and I believe it was also my first time stepping into the BYU stadium. 

Watching Tim McGraw perform was awesome! Have I bragged about my mother in law yet? She's one of the most generous people I know. She spent way too much on the tickets ($400) but when she does something she always goes all in. We had pretty good seats and she even got me a tee shirt so that I could remember my first concert. Thanks Donna! 

These last two pictures aren't mine but they're too good to not post.

This one is also obviously not mine. :)

We spent Sunday at church and then had a late lunch with one of my mission companions (Sister Castellano). We weren't too far from Mapleton so we stopped by my in-laws that evening as well. I always enjoy spending time there. We were supposed to wake up early Monday morning for the 4th of July parade but Addie was still sleeping so I decided to sleep in as well. We had stayed up late the night before and I didn't think it would be worth it to take a grumpy toddler. It's funny because I also chose sleep over the parade last year so Addie has still not experienced her first parade. That's okay she'll like it more next year anyway. Danny was also okay with my decision because he never gets to sleep in since he wakes up early every day. We spent all day at my in-laws again and had a lot of fun. We finally got around to doing the Easter egg money hunt tradition since we never did that in March. Danny, Addie and I made out with the most money added up so this year was good to us. :) Joey is usually the champ but Danny's competitive side must have come out this year which was awesome for us. 

Donna had a little pool set up for the grandkids which Addie loved and Dave barbecued some hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone. 

Addie loved the fireworks that were far away and was scared of all the ones that we set off in front of Dave and Donna's house. They were too loud and close for her comfort. I mentioned that Donna always goes all in and the same goes for the fireworks they buy. They don't settle for the small ones that stay on the ground which are the ones I grew up with and I'm okay with those ones. They go for the huge ones that go off high in the sky. Something crazy happened as we were watching the fireworks. I was sitting on a blanket with Addie and Danny but since Addie was a little scared we decided to move away from the blanket and stand near the front porch. Literally within the next minute or two a firework shot up and landed on the blanket we had just been sitting on. The blanket exploded. True story. We have Addie to thank for the decision to move from where we were.

Poor flash from the camera was in her eyes.

Good thing we got off this blanket.

We took Addie inside before the fireworks ended and watched a little from indoors. If fireworks weren't so loud I think she would enjoy it more. Her favorite part about the faraway fireworks were pointing out what colors they were. She's in a phase right now where she LOVES colors. She knows all of them (she still confuses purple with pink though) and she has to point out each color she sees. I think my favorite part about watching her grow up is how excited she gets with each new thing she learns. Kids are awesome. I can't wait to teach her the reason we celebrate independence day and I hope she always enjoy family time just as much as I do. 

Playing with her new toy grandma got her.

Nauseous

Either I caught a bug or my stomach just didn't agree with something I ate both yesterday and today. For the first time in almost two years I was very nauseous. Addie was sitting next to me on the couch when all the sudden I just knew I had to run to our bathroom if I wanted to not get puke everywhere. I barely made it safely and then once I started I could not stop. The only thought running through my head while I was throwing up everything inside me was to please not have Addie witness this. I was hoping for a small break where I would be able to quickly shut the door since it was wide open in my hurry to get there in time. Just as I'm having these thoughts I feel a little hand on my back giving me the gentlest pats. I couldn't look at her or even turn my head because I was literally puking nonstop. I have no idea if she had just gotten there or if she had been there the whole time running right at my tail. Finally I'm able to gain control over my body and I turn to look at this sweet girl who is still patting my back. Up to that point she hadn't said anything but when I finally looked at her she gave me a hug and then asked "mommy owie?". Yes dear it was an owie. One I hope to not repeat for at least another two years. Feeling sick is the worst and I'm slightly embarrassed my twenty month old was there for it. This was yesterday. Unfortunately I got sick momentarily again today but this time I made sure to close the bathroom door behind me. Here's to hoping for a puke free day tomorrow. 

Danny's Month

I feel like it's been awhile since I've blogged and maybe it really hasn't and it just seems that way because so much has happened in the last month. With that said I'm sure this will be the first of many posts in the next few days. First off, Danny had a birthday and is now 27. Old man. But then again he'll just point out that I'm a couple months older. We're both old now. I was finally able to give him one of my surprises that I've been patiently (or anxiously) working on. I decided several months ago to write him 100 love notes and turn it into a book. I started near the end of February and finished my last note the night before his birthday. 

His birthday fell on a Tuesday this year which is one of the days that I have Georgia with us, so we decided to celebrate the next day on Wednesday because I have that day off from babysitting her. It also helped because I needed an extra day for the book to be printed and ready to give him. He woke up Tuesday morning to find a stack of new crazy ugly socks, an eight pack of diet coke and a birthday card from Addie. He has a love for church socks and the crazier and uglier they are the more he loves them. I remember growing up and every Father's Day I'd buy church socks for my dad but that was because it was an easy gift. I never imagined that guys actually want to receive socks for gifts. It blows my mind but I guess our kids will never have a problem trying to figure out future birthday or Father's Day gifts. Danny's big gift was a Fitbit he received from his parents. We picked up food from Red Robin that night and had a picnic at his family's farm. The picnic was Danny's idea since we never did get around to doing that for our May date. 

Like I previously mentioned the real celebration happened the next day. We spent it at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point, which if Danny could get his way would be how he'd like to spend all his birthdays. Maybe next year I'll send him there by himself so that he can spend how ever many hours he'd like reading every plaque there is to read. :) Just kidding but seriously he'd love that. Addie seemed to enjoy it and I did too but I don't think anyone could enjoy it as much as he does. 

With that said we were both excited to eat at Rodizio's Grill. It's a Brazilian Steakhouse and our favorite birthday tradition. By the time we finished eating the book was ready to be picked up so we drove straight there for Danny's surprise. He loved how thoughtful it was and had no idea that I had been writing to him every night since February. My book to Danny wasn't my main gift to him though. He's been wanting some new running shoes for quite some time so the week after his birthday we were finally able to go get him some. We also decided to continue his birthday celebration by eating at Tucanos that week as well. We usually go to two Brazilian Steakhouses for his birthday month which I'm just fine with. :) 

Outside Tucanos waiting for us to be called in.

This month has been a great month to honor Danny and all he does for our family. We just had Father's Day this last Sunday where history was made. Danny is a Cleveland's fan, this means the Browns, Cavaliers and even the Indians. The sad thing for Danny though is that none of these teams are known for being good teams. Let's just say that Danny is pretty humble when it comes to sports because being a Cleveland's fan means getting used to a lot of losing. Well for the first time in history the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA championship game against the Golden State Warriors. Danny was ecstatic. He had been nervous leading up to that final game so I'm glad he was able to watch them win. It also helps that I didn't really have a gift for him so I told him that the Cav's win counted as his Father's Day gift. The truth is that I thought I had a gift for him beforehand  but apparently it needed more time and I didn't plan on any backup gifts. The last and final surprise I have for him is what he was supposed to get on Father's Day. I did end up telling him what it was and he's pretty excited to see it when it's finished. A couple months ago I got in contact with one of his good family friends who is a very talented painter and she's been secretly working on a dinosaur painting that he can hang in his future office. She's been working on it since April and we completely understand that she needs extra time with it. This is one gift that we are okay with waiting because all the time put into it will make the wait worth it. She doesn't know yet that I told Danny what the gift was but I couldn't show up empty handed on Father's Day haha. I'm still proud of myself that I was able to keep the book and painting both a surprise for as long as I did.

Oh and how cute is Addie in this little explorer's outfit? Her hat was a gift from a dinosaur museum in Vernal. I had to put her in this little outfit for Father's Day since her daddy is such a dinosaur lover.

1,000 Days of Marriage

Today marks 1,000 days of marriage. That's right, 1,000! 

As a surprise to Danny I gifted him with the Family Proclamation printed over one of our wedding pictures. His cousin in Idaho got it done for me and I planned on keeping it a secret which lasted almost three months until I blew it about two weeks ago. I still have two more secret surprises I'm working on for the next month so here's to crossing my fingers that I'll actually keep them a secret. 

Happy 1,000 days of marriage Daniel George! We only have eternity to go. 

DNA Results

I mentioned that for my birthday I got an ancestry's DNA kit from my mother-in-law. The results were expected to be finalized around 6-8 weeks but I got them back earlier than expected and was thoroughly surprised. I've gone my whole life not really knowing what my ethnicity was made up of so to now know is an awesome feeling. It's funny the random knowledge that some might take for granted when for another it could be the coolest feeling ever. I was pretty excited when I got the email back with the results that I called my parents in Germany before realizing that it was after 2am there. Oops. I took screenshots of my results so that I could always have them handy.

The only thing I knew beforehand was that I was Brazilian. What I was shocked to find out is that only 11% of my DNA makeup comes from the Americas. The majority (85%) of my DNA traced back to Europe.

The following pictures are screenshots of what pulled up when I clicked on the links on the left. They show more details as to what Italy/Greece, Europe West, Iberian Peninsula, Ireland and Trace Regions include.

I wasn't very surprised to see that this included Spain, Portugal.

4% showed I have African ancestry but I noticed that this also includes Spain and Portugal which makes sense to me.

11% showed Native American but when I click on that it shows that this includes America, Central and South America. Naturally I'm assuming this is really South America because that was the only information I did know before getting these results.

One day when Addie and any other future children ask me about my ancestry I will at least have an idea and an answer for them. Now if only I could find out what my biological family's medical history is then all my questions could be answered. :)