The Glenn Murphy Ranch: Spring Break part 2

Yesterday we got dirty and learned a lot.  Papa drove us around and we spotted Burrowing Brown Owls and Meadow Larks.  We went to the bone yard and the kids were introduced to the circle of life by seeing two decomposing cows.  They both rode Sassy, Avett's first time on a horse. He was beaming and mesmerized.  We watched daddy Papa Erin and Aunt Janice cut the calfs first thing in the morning.  We picked more fresh oranges and sat on and on every piece of farm equipment.  

After our hibachi Buffett dinner we came home and played another game of corn hole, (John and I won!) and then we put the kids to bed and watched a Elder Holland's LDS face 2 face broadcast. Lisa sang and I beamed with pride for my friend.  Wonderful gospel conversation followed by cards and a late bed time.

The kids woke up at 5:55am this morning, a fluke. But not a fun one. Now we will spen the morning at the Verona Lake beach to get all of the wiggles out we can before we take off for Georgia.  It's been a blast of a visit to the ranch.

pink pig

One of our new favorite Christmas traditions is for my dad and Jen to take Evie to Macy's Pink Pig at Lenox Square Mall. She looks forward to it SO much! This was our third year doing it and it is just always so much fun.  The tradition is as old as my father and it is such a fun way to kick off the holidays.  Avett and Kate were so obsessed with Priscilla that we kept thinking they were lost only to find them trying to get back on her lap after we took the picture.  We rode around yelling "Bacon!!" at the top of our lungs and the kids all got a kick out of that.  

I just love making memories with my family! 

anniversary shoot

I would literally go anywhere John Murphy led.  I trust him with my whole heart and my whole life and everything that we have ahead of us.  I am so proud of him and all that he is doing.  

Tonight he has a meet and greet with a top 10 in the nation accounting firm.  He got his suit dry cleaned yesterday just for tonight. They reached out to him a couple of weeks ago wanting to meet him after seeing his resumè.  We are hopeful for the prospects of upcoming internships next year.  I am so excited for what the future holds.  Most days I just sit back in awe of the man I married.  I am proud to be doing life with him by my side.  

I was so excited to get the rest of our anniversary photos back and I couldn't be happier with how they turned out.  Get ready for a lot of pictures of us.  Oh and we kiss and canoodle...a lot. 

f o u r. y e a r s.

 This week we celebrated four years of marriage.  A few years ago we came up with the idea to try to have an anniversry dinner in our wedding clothes each year.  Last year I was quite pregnant so this was the first chance we had to make good on that idea.  Yesterday I called John on his way home from work and told him to get ready for a suprise.  Evaleigh was enchanted with seeing me in my wedding gown and kept asking me to spin.  When he drove up the driveway I was standing in front of the house in my wedding dress.  I had Johns clothes laid out in the kitchen.  He slipped on his suit coat and we spent a little time outside.  We watched our baby roll around on the quilt I made out of the fabric from our reception table clothes.  Evaleigh played under the lace tablecloth we bought in Mexico on our honeymoon.  John put his arms around my waist and we took in the scene.  I said, "Look at what we've done in four years."  We both agreed that our babies are the best things we've done.  We had pizza for dinner and played music under the "blah-blah" tree for a few minutes after we got the babies to bed.  I love passing the time with my John.

a little too ambitious

The other night while Mr. Murphy and I were driving home from babysitting 4 precious kids we got to chatting in the car as Evaleigh slept in the back seat. I'm not sure how we got on the topic of our wedding but John came up with a lovely idea that made me mush inside. He sweetly suggested that every year for our anniversary we have a special dinner in our wedding clothes. I love this idea because it is a great incentive to get back to our younger and slimmer bodies and it's romantic. He said, "I can just imagine us at 60 still wearing our wedding clothes to dinner." of course I have a pass if I'm pregnant. That thought makes me happy. It's a great excuse to wear my wedding dress again, I've always hated that I only wore it once. I think it's one of my favorite traditions we have come up with, even if it is a little too ambitious.