August has been jam-packed with fun, family vacationing, and celebrating. And with that has come many first for us and our girls. It’s funny to me how such joyous events can bring that little lump in your throat because it reminds you that time is so short. Kids are growing faster than you want them to. Marriage feels like it’s new in so many ways even after 10 years. We’re getting to know certain family members for the first time as adults. And we’re starting to classify people in their 30’s and 40’s as being “young like us”. Hmmm… just 10 years ago those were the “old people”. But I (Niki) am still in my “late 20’s” for one more month, and I’m going to enjoy every day of it!

Nya’s First Date… her friend Grady is about 6 months younger and quite a few inches shorter. Grady got this top-of-the-line-souped-up Jeep for his 2nd birthday. They worked together to operate it ~ Grady steered while Nya pushed down on the gas peddle. This made for a hilarious show as they drove all over the farm.

Ty’s first class-V white-water rafting trip down six mile creek up by Hope. Nineteen men from church went on the trip and really had a great time.

After getting stuck on a rock the only way off was to tip the raft down off it. Amazingly, nobody fell out!

We celebrated our first 10 yrs. together on August 14th while in Michigan for our family reunion (which will be a different blog post coming soon).

On our honeymoon I said to Ty “Do you think after 10 years of being married there will be anything we don’t know about each other… I mean will there be anything left to discover?” Now we both chuckle at that comment because as any couple knows ~ you never stop learning about each other!

Ty & the girls’ first time meeting my dad. On our way back home from Michigan we stopped off in Salt Lake City and got to visit with my dad and his wife Lisa and my half-brother Tony. I haven’t known my dad since I was seven years old, but getting to know him now as an adult has been a wonderful blessing for both Ty and I. He is so kind and loving, and his wife and son were easy to love instantly. This visit was too short, but we’ll look forward to seeing more of them in the future.

Nya’s first bad hair day (or maybe not the first)! This isn’t a major event, but this pic was too cute not to post.

And last BUT DEFINITELY NOT LEAST is our favorite “first” of all ~ Elliana turns ONE today! I seriously cannot believe it’s been a year since bringing her home from the hospital. (See the post titled “Elliana’s Song”.) She is a precious baby with a smile that makes anyone feel like a million bucks (although hard to capture on camera for some reason). She’s our little snuggler.