"Marriage may be made in heaven, but the maintenance must be done on earth."

Do you ever find yourself looking at your spouse and saying, "now who are you and why did I marry you"?

One thing that has become an absolute must in the past 7 years is "date night". As we all know, life gets so crazy with all of the day to day events and then add 3 kids, Dental School, A Residency, Church Callings, and 2 Careers to the mix and you are bound to wind up in the nut house or on a totally different path than the one you love.

We have always heard how important it is to keep your marriage alive and find times to be alone with your spouse. That is next to impossible for us unless we set aside a time each week to go out together and JUST BE - no interruptions.

One of the funnest dates we have been on recently was a trip to the local ice-skating rink. They are easy to find here on the East Coast since ice-skating and hockey are so popular. It was great to do something active together - an evening filled with many laughs. Of course the evening would not have been complete without a hot cup of cocoa.

Just a fun date idea for all of you cute couples out there.

A teacher affects eternity; she can never tell where her influence stops.

Kaden has the most wonderful teachers this year at pre-school. I believe they have been so instrumental in his recent interest in social interaction. Anyone who knows Kaden knows he loves to go off in a corner and role play with his animals, quietly read his books or curl up in front of a good movie. He loves to be with mom and dad and he thrives on learning and quiet time.

Just recently he has been excited to go to play group, interact with friends, and chase his brothers around the house. He has learned so much and constantly surprises me with new ideas and forms of play. What a miracle for our sweet boy. He is so creative and loves to sing and dance (shhh we won't tell Dad. He wants him to be a baseball STAR).

Thank you Mrs. Hoyle and Mrs. DiIorio. We love you!

Exalting to the Spirit

My brother Ryan ran the New York Marathon. What an amazing sight to see him cross the finish line after running for several hours straight. My brother Brandon and I were lucky enough to be in the beautiful Central Park when the race finished and see what a true accomplishment this is. I have never even thought of attending a Marathon and what an inspiring event. I actually got quite emotional as I would see some of the people pass by and finish the race - the pure exhaustion, the faces of triumph and pride, the pain of running for so long, the will to persevere, it was all so exciting!

We were proud of him and thrilled to be there - just the three of us siblings together. It was a great time. It was Brandon's first time to New York, so of course we did ALL the touristy things as well. That city is jam packed with history, fun, non stop walking, and the hustle bustle of thousands of people at all hours. All of this and the weather was beautiful.

Thanks for a great time guys. The last shot is us in front of the Rockefeller Center watching the people ice-skate.