Father's Day Party

With Louis' work schedule I knew that we wouldn't get to be with him all of Father's Day, so the girls and I decided to throw him a Father's Day surprise party!  It was so fun to plan and prepare for!  On Friday I convinced Louis to go take a nap (it didn't take much convincing!) and then we started getting the party ready!
The first thing we did was bake some cupcakes!  While they were cooling, the girls and I decorated the house.  We had some leftover star streamers and I updated one of our banners to say "Super Dad".  It was simple, but turned out looking really good!  After decorating I had the girls each make Louis a picture while I got the food ready.  Since it was lunch time I just made grilled cheese sandwiches and we had some fruit as well.  I had also bought some Dad's Root Beer a few days before.  The decorations were up, the food was ready, it was time to wake up Louis!

I went upstairs to Louis and told him to quickly get dressed and come downstairs.  While he was doing that I gathered all the kids and we waited next to the super dad banner for Louis to come downstairs.  When he was almost to the bottom of the stairs I counted to three and we all yelled SURPRISE!  Louis got a huge smile on his face!  Avery and Mary ran at Louis and gave him a hug then we opened presents.  After presents we had our lunch then Louis left to get a root canal.  Not the best end to a party!

Louis is an incredible father.  He works a crazy schedule and still summons the energy to play with the kids when he gets home.  He sacrifices so much for us and is so selfless.  He is loving, silly, strong, and kind.  We are so blessed to have him.  Happy father's day!

I almost forgot to post this last picture!  It is a memory that I definitely want to remember!  For a few weeks Avery had been saying she wanted to make Louis a kite for father's day.  So a couple of days before the party, she drew a diamond on some paper, colored it in, taped a Superman symbol in the middle, attached some ribbon and a toilet paper roll for the handle and it was done!  It was such a sweet and hilarious 4 year old version of a kite!  Avery was so excited to give it to Louis and after his dentist appointment she begged Louis to go outside and fly her kite!  Louis was so sweet and went out with her.  It was the funniest thing to watch!  Avery took off running across the yard and didn't understand why her kite wouldn't fly!  She still had a blast though and loved having her dad out their flying his kite with him!

Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Hoggy Hogwarts, Teach us Something Please!

Mom, this is for you!  We are alive and well!  I love you!  (My Mom called to make sure I was okay because I haven't blogged in a while.  She was afraid I was stuck in my moby wrap.  I'm not)

This last weekend was our Brandley Family Reunion!  Megan and Phillip were in charge of it this year and I can't quite put into words how excited I was for it.  We we going to. . . .HOGWARTS!!  I love Harry Potter.  A lot.  There is pretty much always a Harry Potter book on our dresser.  When we got out letter to Hogwarts, (guys I got my letter to Hogwarts!!)  I didn't even have to open it to know what it was.  I saw the lighting bolt on one of the letters and shouted, "Are we going to Hogwarts?!)  A dream come true!  Megan and Phill did such a great job, we had so much fun!

Before the big day we had to do some preparation.  First thing, we made our wands.  When I say we I actually mean Louis.  He's awesome.  After the wands we made some Wizard's robes.  Super simple with just a plain black t-shirt and a button.  The kids looked so cute in them!  Especially Ethan!

We were ready for Hogwarts!  

First thing we needed to do once we got there was of course be sorted into our houses.  

Louis was sorted into Slytherin and I was sorted into Gryffindor!

After the sorting we had a house pride ceremony which was decorating shirts with our houses.  

I think Tifannee probably won in our house for most creativity!  

Gryffindor shirts

Slytherin shirts by Louis

Tif's shirt

Do you get it?

Once we had finished our shirts we played Quidditch!  Quidditch!!  It's a lot harder than you'd think to keep a broomstick between your legs while running around chasing a quaffle.  Hufflepuff house won the championship.  The kids got to play around too and had fun taking turns putting the quaffle into the hoops.

As you can see the kid game was pretty intense

When we finished our Quidditch tournament we had lunch and then free time.  

Avery enjoyed playing in the water and Mary took a little nap in a hammock.  Which was adorable.  

 Mandrakes

The kids made owls

A good place for a nap

Oh and I CANNOT leave this out!  During lunch we had a surprise appearance!!

Professor Umbridge!!!

After our free time it was time for some more Hogwarts fun!  Potions class!  The kids had so much fun with these experiments!

When the kids were done with Potions class it was time for Transfiguration!  For this class we played charades and had Hogwarts themed words to act out with a classmate while your other classmate had to guess.  It was a lot of fun!  I don't have any pictures of this and that's probably a good thing.

After transfiguration it we had more free time.  Originally we were supposed to go to Herbology class and have a nature walk, but time ran too short for that.  During our free time Louis, Avery, Mary, and me decided to go on a short walk.  Then it was time for dinner.

To finish our day at Hogwarts we had Defense Against the Dark Arts.  We all gathered around the fire and it was lit by the house cup.  We talked and then the points were awarded and the winner of the house cup was Hufflepuff!  

That ended our day at Hogwarts, we were back on the train and heading home!  Megan and Phillip did a great job!  Everything was so detailed and thought through.  

Louis and I are in charge of the reunion next year and we are not even going to try to top this!

How to Put on Your Moby Wrap

Hello all!  I made this video for a few friends that I have made a moby wrap for.  I want you to know how to use it and enjoy it!  It's not the best video, but I hope it's helpful.  If you have any other questions or need to me show you how to put it on in person, let me know.

May 6, 2009

6 year ago today Louis asked me marry him.  

Here's the story.  

A few weeks before we got engaged Louis told me he had seen in the paper that there was going to be a formal dance on the 6th.  I kept asking for more information about it (like where it was), but he was just super vague saying he'd have to look at the paper again.  The night of the 6th came and I got all dressed up and ready for the night.  My parent's knew what was going to happen that night and they hid it well.  I didn't know what was going on.  When I was finished getting ready Louis came to pick me up for the "dance"

Look at the excited smile on that boys face!

We were going to go to dinner before the dance, but instead we started heading back towards Louis' house.  I asked what we were doing and he said "We're poor college kids so we're going to eat at my house instead"  Alright, made sense!  I still didn't think anything was going on.  When we got to Louis' house and walked in the door I knew something was up.  There were white sheets covering the doors out to the deck, romantic music, a nicely set table on the deck, and lights strung all along the railings.
We went out to the deck and sat down and Louis' little sister came and brought us food and let us know she'd be our waitress that night.  She also took some pictures.  (I have never seen these pictures that were taken and would LOVE to see them if any of you Brandley's know where they are!)  We ate chicken Parmesan and spaghetti.  At some point during our dinner I was getting cold so Louis gave me his jacket.  Then he hugged me from behind and I felt him reach in the pocket of the coat to get the ring out because it was left in there!  Louis still denies that happened to this day.

I found this picture in a photo book at the Brandley's

It was while we were having our dinner

After we ate our dinner and were just talking Louis asked if I wanted to dance. Very romantic.  We danced for a while then turned to look at the full moon that had come up over the mountain.  Louis was behind me and got down on one knee and waited for me to turn around.  Confession:  I knew he was on one knee and was about to propose, but I was nervous and didn't turn around for a little bit!  I needed to breath and get myself ready!  Finally he gave a little pull on his jacket (that I was wearing) and I turned around.  Even though I already knew he was on one knee my heart jumped when I saw Louis!  Also there were 5 or 6 heads looking out at us through the glass door and a camera flashing away.  (Again, where are these pictures?)
I don't remember much about the actual proposal because I was crying and thinking, oh my goodness he's proposing to me!  A few years later I found the poem that he wrote for the proposal so now I know what he said to me that night.  After I of course said yes we danced some more and talked about when we wanted to get married.  Louis had already looked it up and thought August 18th would be a good day, it would be in between semesters and right after the temple opened back up from being cleaned.
It was sweet night, I love that Louis had everything so perfectly planned out.  I am forever grateful that I have Louis as my eternal companion.

Bonus:  I asked Louis what he remembered most about the day we got engaged and this was his answer.  Earlier in the day while Louis was getting things set up his mom walked in and asked what he was doing all this for.  Louis just simply said, "I'm proposing to Becca tonight."  He hadn't even told anyone!