Happy Father's Day!

This weekend Hank and I went down to Phoenix to spend time with my family in celebration of Father's Day! We had a nice, relaxing weekend and ate at Green twice. haha. Hank is newly addicted to their espresso barbeque sandwich- he used to always do the spicy Poor Boy but has turned over a new leaf. Once wasn't enough for him so we found ourselves in there two times in the span of 24 hours. Silly. But so delicious.

This morning we woke up early and headed over to IHOP (my father and Hank's choice...disgusting in my opinion but I kept that to myself since it isn't my day! haha). Our group consisted of my Mom, Dad, Hank, me, my sister Lauren and her fiance Abe. Breakfast was fun and it was so wonderful to have two dads at the table now, with Hank being a proud papa-to-be! It's seriously melting my heart to see him so excited about being a dad and today was extra special since we find out if we are having a daughter or a son in five short days!

Afterward Hank and I headed home and I fell asleep hard for the entire drive. I haven't been sleeping well lately so I've been feeling pretty tired for the past few days, which I hate...but I better get used to it, right?! When we got home we went grocery shopping quickly at Fry's and New Frontiers. We've been gone so much that our fridge was empty so we had to stock up. Now Hank is golfing with his Dad and we he gets home we'll be enjoying a nice evening walk downtown. So...that's OUR Father's Day! How was yours? I hope all of you are having a wonderful day and have a great rest of your night!

Some photos from today:

Nanny at breakfast






We were laughing because my Mom and sister accidentally got Hank the exact same card and almost wrote the exact same thing in them! Too funny.


my Dad and me! Happy Father's Day :)


my Dad is an avid gunsman (is that the term?) so Abe and Lauren got him a BB gun that he had when he was a kid! Great present. We got my Dad some home gym equipment.


my cute parents- married 31 years this past Friday!


Lauren and Abe! :)


Hank and Nanny- this photo makes me so happy!


annnd...the men of our family!


Again, Happy Father's Day everyone!

and ps, if you could click this banner below to vote for this blog, I'd truly appreciate it! They reset the count so we have to start again! :) It's a neat way to meet more Moms in the Mommy-blog world...and it's also a great site to check out if you're expecting or are already a mama. All you have to do is click once and click again to vote! Thanks so much everyone!

Lauren and Abe

The second couple I'm featuring this week is my lovely sister Lauren, and her fiance Abe. I talk about Laur constantly on this blog, so there's no need for an introduction...but I would like to say how lucky I feel that Abe is going to be a part of our family forever. As readers of my blog you know that I am very family oriented, so it Hank and I always wondering what lucky man my sister would choose to spend her life with, and consequently, who we would be spending our lives with too! She couldn't have picked a better partner. Abe is truly kind-hearted and they make each other ecstatically happy. I'm so pleased to share their story with all of you! So without further adieu...



1) Names/blog name:

Abe and Lauren- www.monsterxlove.blogspot.com/

2) Years together:

Together for 2 years and engaged for a little over 1 month!

3) How you met:

Abe and I have known each other since middle school. We became very close friends in high school. We would go running together, partied together, and basically hung out every weekend. We were always just friends and I was usually dating someone else. I didn't know at the time, but Abe liked me back then. After high school Abe joined the Army and was deployed to Iraq for 18 months. I received a soccer scholarship to the University of Wyoming and I moved away the summer after high school was over. We lost contact for a little, but every once in awhile I would receive a random message from Abe. On Winter Break of my last semester of college I came home and ended up hanging out with some friends and Abe. We reconnected but I was already dating someone else. I couldn't stop thinking about him though, so I broke it off with my then current boyfriend and called Abe on my birthday. After that first phone call we would literally spend every second possible on the phone together since he was in Arizona and I was in Wyoming. He would wake up 2 hours earlier in the morning just so we could talk before I went to school. We both had never felt that way before and it was amazing. I would find myself smiling for no reason during the day and he would tell me the same thing would happen to him as well. Sometimes we would only get 2 hours of sleep because we would talk on the phone for so long. We also would take naps on the phone together-hahaha. We would also send each other long letters to each other through the mail. When I finally moved back it was just as great. We feel that we were made for each other.

4) What would you say are the top 5 important things in keeping a relationship/marriage strong? Is there anything special you do for your partner/vice versa? What would you say your "keys to success" are in a healthy/fun/loving/etc. relationship?

1. Communication
2. Choosing your battles wisely and being able to say you're wrong sometimes
3. Making time for each other
4. Being each other's best friend
5. Appreciating each other and letting them know how important they are to you every day- Abe is amazing at doing that.

I always try and have meals ready for Abe whenever I get home earlier then him. I leave little notes for him and pack him lunches. Abe makes me special dinners, will bring me home sweet treats and special surprises. He will leave me romantic notes on the fridge. He treats me like a princess and always lets me know how much I mean to him and how much he loves me.

Our keys to success are being able to always make each other smile and laugh, always being there for each other no matter what, and never letting anything or anyone get in between us.

5) What is your favorite part about being married/engaged?

Abe said his favorite part about being engaged to me is that he is happy that he has me for forever now and that I am all his for forever and ever. My favorite part of being engaged to Abe is knowing that I will get to spend the rest of my life with the man of my dreams. Abe also wanted to add that he loves knowing that he'll be able to "wake up next to my beautiful fiance/wife-to-be for the rest of my life." Aww.

Photos from the weekend!

This weekend was a lot of fun! I got to spend time with so many of my favorite people, do some wedding planning with my sister, and meet my little dog-niece, Cassie!



Chloe! I was in shock at how much she'd grown after not seeing her for a couple of months.


We ate dinner at Pita Jungle, so good!


Afterward we walked next door to the Gelato Spot for some dessert. Autumn is too cute here- she's 8 months pregnant and ready for Carter to arrive.


I also got to do some wedding planning with Lauren and Abe! We checked out The Antique Wedding House in Mesa, AZ and they decided to get married there. It's adorable and is going to be perfect!






Abe and his Mom, and Laur and our Mom! I love this.


Later I went over to Sar's house to meet their new babygirl Cassie! I fell in love with her and spent the entire evening holding her and loving her so much! Isn't she adorable?!


eating Jenny's hair!


sleeping...


cutest


She has sooo much extra skin, it's so cute.