Nebraska- 60th Wedding Anniversary

I know I am behind... here is a short post to help catch up then I will write about our current lives. :)

Over Memorial Day weekend we went to Nebraksa for David's grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. We visited with alot of family, many of whom I had never met and David had not seen in 15 years. We had a good time visiting and celebrating God's goodness. We drove there in one day (12 hours) and back home in two days since we had more time. Brieleigh did remarkably well. She is such a good little traveler since she has been doing it since she was very tiny.



Aunt Jenny made aprons for all the girl family members- she is so crafty!

Wearing our aprons

Brieleigh running around with two of her buds- Uncle Joel and Uncle Don. She became good friends with them.
 (I turned this picture around, but it did not like it that way I guess.)

Five generations: Grandma Em, Pops (Jeff), Grandma, Grandpa, Brieleigh, and David
Brieleigh was not the happiest because she got woken up from her nap for pictures. I waited to the last possible second- she played so hard while we were there.

The Jeff Willers clan

With Grandma and Grandpa

Brieleigh's favorite activity during clean-up: the squishy doormat!

Grandma taught Brieleigh how to play the harmonica (and gave it to her)! She LOVES playing it.

Uncle Nathaniel and Brieleigh soaking up some rays in the backyard.

Brieleigh got to drive home (at the rest area where we stopped to eat a picnic). She was so proud of herself!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Our little girl loves to copy things she sees her Mommy and Daddy do. We sometimes will sit and bounce on our birthing/exercise ball. The other day I caught Brieleigh trying to do the same thing with her big bouncy ball. She was so determined and finally made it to a sitting position. She was so proud of herself. :)



Oh, and yes, she was sitting at the coffee table reading the Peterson bird identification book. She LOVES for her daddy to read it to her! She is very fond of "tweet, tweet"s.

Rangers Ballpark: Protection from the Storm

David is a big Texas Rangers Baseball fan. You will usually find the game on the radio in our house most every night they are playing (except when David gets home from work after the game is over). In the past we have gone to alot of the games, but this year has been hard with late work nights and a very active toddler. We finally made time for our first game of the season when the had a ticket specials where a ticket was the same price as a tank of gas.

We were excited driving to Arlington for the big game. Dark clouds loomed over DFW, but we were sure they would pass as usual. We had a nice supper all packed in our cooler (because the Rangers are cool and let you bring in your own food... homemade bean and cheese burritos, chips and rotel, canned fruit, cookies, water, and juice), and we were decked out in our rangers gear. Walking to the stadium I got a little nervous and asked David if we should leave because the sky looked so sickly. David said that we were there now so we would just stay. So we climbed to our seats in the upper deck. After around 2 innings, they come over the loudspeaker and order everyone in the upper deck to evacuate their seats, move down, and find new seats because of high winds. We found great seats right behing right field and under a shelter. We watched another inning or so then the sky broke loose. The field was quickly covered (which was fun to watch), then we sat back and ate our supper... until we looked at our phones. We had alot of messages from Mom and Katie saying call us immediately to let us know you are ok! I called my mom (who was crying), and she asked if we were ok. I was a bit confused until she told me that there were tornados all around Rangers Ballpark. A little later it started hailing pretty bad. Later, the Rangers staff calmly directed everyone to the concourses/walkways. People who were by the dugouts got to go underneath the stadium. So there we were squished like sardines in a mass a people crawling towards and unknown location. I was terrified- moreso than I had been in a long time. Mom and Katie kept texting updates to us. Brieleigh was such a trooper. One guy saw the look on my face and said that the storms were passed, and we would be ok. David was so calm. He kept hugging me and led us against the wall instead of walking aimlessly in the crowd. He told me that if this was our time to go then that was God's plan.. it was comforting actually.

After some time, alot of people decided to leave. We were not about the leave not knowing where the storms were. Mom said they were right int he middle of Dallas at the time. It was safe to go back into the stadium so we found some wet seats and watched them uncover the field. A few minutes later they recovered it because more thunderstorms were about the move through. Brieleigh had cabin fever so I followed her all around the stadium to let her energy out. The next round of storms were withough tornados but the rain was even heavier. We hung out in the gift shop. Once the rain finally stopped around 11ish, we decided it was save to make the treck to our car and head home so that we could get David to the airport around 5am the next morning.

So our first Rangers game this year was a mere 3ish innings and alot of "excitement".  (They did finish the game after we left, but it ended around 2am.) We are so thankful for the Lord's provision! His hand was definitely felt. Moral: don't go to a Rangers game when severe thunderstorms are looming.

Brieleigh got very restless in our seats.

Covered field

Brieleigh and Nolan Ryan right after the last downpour!

"Feet, feet!"



Uncles

So far Brieleigh has alot of uncles for a little girl to keep track of- 5 uncles in our immediate family. We went to visit David's extended family in Nebraska for Memorial Day (more to come on that), and she met alot of great uncles. I think we really confused her! She found a good solution though: just say uncle and she has a pretty good chance of being right! She recognizes and loves her immediate uncles though as you can see below! She is holding her Uncle Ethan's graduation picture. She always says, "U-uncle, u-uncle."

The Best Five Years of My Life

Friday, May 20th marked David and I's fifth wedding anniversary. Five years?!? Really?? Sometimes it seems like we got married just yesterday (am I really old enough to have been married for 5 years??) and other times I can hardly remember what life was like before I married David.

We have been through alot together in our five years of marriage: living in two states and two different cities/towns, living in 3 different houses/apartments, one child, a bachelors degree and Registered Dietitian license for Jamey, and a masters degree for David, two jobs for Jamey, three jobs for David, learning how to live together (for example: David makes a huge mess while he cooks before cleaning/Jamey likes to clean as she cooks; Jamey tends to be organized and schedule oriented and not very flexible/ David likes to fly by the seat of his pants while accomplishing tasks- we have both rubbed off on each other which is a good thing; David likes to leave the drain open and water running if taking a bath/Jamey likes to fill the tub with water before getting in), falling more in love with each other, learning selflessness and unconditional love, trusting God's providence for our family (even when we don't like it at the time or don't understand), watching God continually provide for us financially (even when our budget says we cannot make ends meet), and the list could continue. Needless to say, God has grown us together so much in these five years.

So 5 years is a big milestone and you want to do something special. On our honeymoon we planned that we would go back to Hawaii for our five year anniversary. It sounded like a good plan at the time... maybe we thought married people just get real jobs and make alot of money right away. I don't know. Maybe if we had gotten married in our 30's instead of at 20 and 23. Anyway, we are saving that for our 10 year now!

Instead, we celebrated in Dallas. Friday night we took Brieleigh to stay at our friends Jane and Andrew's house for about 2 hours while we went out to eat at a nice restaurant. This was the first time we had left Brieleigh to go on a date since well before she was born. Sad, but true. 1) We just really like little Brieleigh being with us, and 2) I don't feel like paying a babysitter is justifiable at this point (nor do I know any babysitters). Unfortunately, we do not have family around, but thankfully we have good friends who are willing to help out!

We ate at Suze's Restaurant. I worked here for a month during my dietetic internship. It is a very quaint, friendly, small place. It is locally owned. Most people who go there are regulars. The chef makes alot of special orders not on the menu, and has daily specials using alot of fresh, local ingredients. We shared two appetizers and a entree. We had Fried Pork Belly on top of blue corn grits with brussel sprouts, a sesame lavash pizza with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil, and Cowboy Rubbed Steak with Truffle mashed potatoes and asparagus. Chef Jeffery came out to talk to us (since it has been 2 years since I did my rotations there!) and sent us a dessert on the house- chocolate gob with vanilla bean ice cream and a hazelnut crisp. It was all delicious!! We then went and picked up Brieleigh who appeared to be having a blast exploring the Edson's house. We all three stayed the night at Embassy Suites. We stayed at one of these on our wedding night so though it would be fun to stay at one again and just to get "away" and relax a bit.



Here we are at Embassy Suites right after dinner. Brieleigh was just about to grab the camera right when the camera snapped the picture! I realized the other day that I have no pictures of just David and I since around when Brieleigh was born (excpet for those take yourself while holding the camera pictures).

We had a free cooked-to-order hot breakfast the next morning them went for a family swim in their new pool. It was a nice treat! David had to work all afternoon, but that night we went to Richardson's Wildflower Music Festival. And yes, we stayed there with our daughter until nearly midnight. It was so fun to be together though! We walked around, visited the petting zoo, got free iced coffee and slurpees and other free items, bought some fresh kettle corn (my favorite), listened to music, and got a bite to eat around 10:30. We heard Cracker, the Little River Band, Sister Hazel, and Better Than Ezra. I have always loved Better than Erza. We set our blanket up on a little hill of ivy  (it was crowded!) not too close to the stage so that it was not too loud for Brieleigh and so she had room to run around.

Better than Ezra singing "A Lifetime"- for Madeline my sister

I am so thankful that God has blessed me with such a sweet, loving, godly man to be my husband. He truly is a great picture to me of Christ's love for the Church and time with him is the highlight of everyday!

Words from the Brieleigh Bug

~We have always played Peek-a-boo with Brieleigh since she was very little. We say the usual, "Where is Brieleigh?", "There she is!" or "Peek-a-boo!" Now when we ask where she is Brieleigh always respeonds, "H'i s'is!" (Here she is!) She says that whenever we ask her to go find her cup or bottle or shoes or her Daddy, etc... H'i s;is!

~Unfortunately, Brieleigh has eczema so has frequent rashes. She always will scratch them and look at you with a pitiful little face and say, "Ity, ity!" (Itchy) The other day I told her to go get her Locoid (her prescription itch cream), and she went all the way to my room, dug around in the bathroom drawer (which she can barely see into), and brought me the right bottle!