Just Because

I just wanted to share some pictures....just because they are too cute not too. Thanks again to Stephanie for capturing them. We have had an eventful couple of days. Friday morning we went to the zoo with some friends. Ben, Dyson and Haley found a sprinkler and got SOAKING wet. They were having too much fun to stop them. Kate loved the swings and carousel. Later that day we went to Ben's soccer practice and then met up with Mike, Christina and Boo for dinner. David was having a sleep over at the hospital so we dropped off some food to him on our way home. Boo slept over last night and went with us today to 2 of Ben's soccer games as well as one for Katherine. Katherine is awesome. She did this little move with the ball and faked out a girl. I was so proud of her. I wanted everyone to know she was my neice. Rob, you would have been proud! I think I remember seeing you teach her that move in your backyard. Enjoy the pictures! They are growing up too fast.

Our Tiger Soccer Star

Ben started his second season of YMCA soccer this past week. My friend Stephanie took some great pictures of him and the rest of the team. Something really clicked in Ben's soccer brain between last season and this season. All of the kids were awesome. They figured out the object of the game and ran with it. Ben said he scored 5 goals, but it was probably more like 3 or 4. He only cried one time when he bumped heads with another player. We do need to work on his little temper though. He wanted the ball at one point and struggled to get it out of a pack of kids so he started throwing elbows and fists around. The coach had to restrain him. If any of you have seen David play soccer you will understand where this temper comes from. I will admit it probably doesn't help to have my competitive genes in the mix either. He just might end up being a soccer star though. He is quick on his feet and has the needed aggression soccer requires. A big thanks to Boo (Paternal Grandpa in Thai) for making the drive from Lawton just to watch Ben play for the day. It was Boo's first day off after being on call for 10 straight days. I am sure it would have been nice to just stay at home. It meant a lot to have him there. And thanks also to Aunt Di and Katherine, the rest of Ben's cheering squad. Go Tigers!

Seven Years

Its hard to believe that its been 7 years ago today that David and I were married in the Salt Lake City Temple. It feels just like yesterday. I still remember the first time I ever saw David. You could say it's the classic BYU story. It was August of 1997. We met on the field in front of M Smith Hall. It was a get to know you ward party, the weekend before school started. We were playing Duck, Duck, Goose! David was it. He started around the circle and said "Goose" when he came to me. I bolted up, he started running, tripped and fell. I got him. He had no idea just how competitive I would be. On the way to our dorms that night my new roommate from Puerto Rico said, "You like that boy." Claiming to be clueless, I said, "What boy?" She said, "the one who goosed you." I smiled as I thought of the slang meaning of what she had unknowingly said and realized I wasn't as good at keeping my cover as I thought. I had a crush on David from day one! My sister Ruth can tell you that we also devised a great plan the following monday. Ruth and I were in line together to get our ID cards when I spotted David in another line and pointed him out to Ruth. She told me to leave the room and she would switch to his line while I was gone. When I came back I pretended I didn't know where she had gone. She waved me over and we ended up right behind David. He was studying from a calculus book and I remember thinking he must be really smart. No one said a word the entire time until the very end of the line when David said his grand BYU pick-up line, "Are you going to family home evening tonight?" I said a quick, "Yes" and that was that. Young love and the games you play! How wonderful it is to be married. Now 7 years later here we are in Oklahoma...David and I graduated from BYU, David from medical school, and we have 2 beautiful children. What will the next 7 years bring? Another move or two?....another kid or two? Either way, we are in it together. Me and "that boy who goosed me." I love you David.

Happy 29th Birthday David!

Happy Birthday, David! Just thought I would post a quick message and some pictures of David today. I am sure he is going to love the 3rd one especially! It is one of my favorites! We are so proud of you David. We love you. We love how hard you work for us. We love how willing you are to serve others. We love how you make time to play with us. We love that you are willing to keep driving that non air-conditioned truck. We love all the little particular things about you that make you David. As Ben would say, we are so lucky to have you as one of our people. We hope you had a great day!
David at 1 year!

David at 7 years!

David at 12 years! WOW, Do I even need to mention those glasses?

Picture Day

David and I woke up at 6:30 am today to get ready for family pictures at Portrait Innovations. I scheduled it early so they wouldn't be running behind and Kate would not yet be sleepy or hungry. I think we got some good ones. Ben did great, besides his fake smile in the majority of the pictures. It was difficult to get Kate to stay where we put her. She kept crawling away. I know I am biased, but I sure think we have 2 cute kids. It was so hard to choose. Here are some of our favorites, as well as the new ones I posted on the top and side of the blog. Enjoy!

Gillett Family Reunion

Home Sweet Home!

How wonderful it is to be home! We had a great trip, but nothing can replace home. Our plane rides were very eventful. On the way to Denver our flight was delayed. This left me with virtually no time to make my connecting flight to SLC. I literally sprinted pushing the stoller and carrying the bags from B23 to B85! Ben enjoyed the ride. Thank goodness for my kickboxing and boot camp classes or I don't know if I would have been able to do it. We ran right on to the plane. For the most part, Ben and Kate did well on the planes. Kate played constant peek a boo with anyone who would or would not play back. On the way into Denver I thought we were going to die. Literally. I even wondered if they would make David go into the hospital the next day if his entire family died. The plane dropped several times. My stomach dropped worse than all the rides at 6 flags. I had to hold on to Kate for dear life and Ben was not pleased. The lady sitting next to me told me she flies all the time and she has never been on a ride that scary before. We were lucky to keep everything down. On the way home our flight was delayed in Denver. I pushed Ben and Kate around for nearly 4 hours. We arrived home at 2:30 am! Please remind me to never fly alone with my kids with a layover, no matter how much cheaper the tickets may be. I was also lucky enough to get caught in a massive traffic jam on I-15. It took me nearly 3 hours to get from Draper to Bountiful. A semi with a 210,000 pound tank rolled causing I-15 to close. During the middle of it Ben asked, "Are we in Oklahoma yet?" It sure felt like it. Despite all the wonderful traveling, we still enjoyed our trip and would do it again. My family had a great reunion. Ben absolutely loved playing with the 27 cousins that were there. He woke up very early every morning in excitement and was quite disappointed when his cousins were still asleep. He was often too busy to remember that he was now potty trained. I resorted to making him wear a diaper on multiple occasions. One of Ben's highlights was seeing a snake catch a mouse and literally strangling it to death. It was actually pretty cool. Not for the mouse though. It was so fun to see nearly my entire family, whom I don't get to see very often. My oldest male nephew Ryan, who was like a little brother to me in Minnesota, received his LDS mission call to Nicaragua shortly after we all returned home. We all made guesses at the reunion, but no one guessed it. Less than 12 hours after returning from Utah I repacked our bags and we headed to Dallas for a get together with David's family. We went to the Great Wolf Lodge Waterpark. It was a lot of fun, despite the firealarm that evacuated the hotel at 1 am one night. They have a great ride called the howling tornado. It was so fun, especially in the dark. We recommend the lodge to everyone. I believe it is a chain so maybe there is one near you. We are very blessed to have such great families and I can indeed say I enjoy spending time with both sides. We will miss our Oklahoma and Texas family when we move to Baltimore next year. Here is my top eight list of why I am greatful to be home sweet home!

8. We are now healthy. We all got pink eye and a nasty cough/cold. Kate's poor little nose was never without green snot and she even got another ear infection, despite her tubes.
7. Not having to live out of a suitcase and doing constant laundry.
6. I missed my kickboxing and boot camp classes. I feel like I am heavier and older without them.
5. My contacts. When I got pink eye I threw away my infected contacts. I saved my last pair for Dallas and ended up getting them switched with Davids and he threw them away. Yes, it was my fault. I had to wear my glasses the entire two weeks and still am until I can get some more.
4. Ben once again remembering that he really is potty trained.
3. Not having to sleep in the same room as my kids! It was difficult to keep Kate asleep and then hide from her if she did wake up. Ben kicks and enjoys waking up his sister!
2. Kate's bath chair. She is a maniac in the tub. It was literally impossible to bathe her by myself without her chair. Especially since her ears are not suppose to get wet with her tubes.
1. David. It was so hard to be away for so long without him. I salute single parents everywhere. It's tough.

I will add a slide show of the trip soon!