Remembering

Dear Marc,
As you know, I've had a little down time over the last few days. Well, I decided to spend some of that time organizing our photos. They were a terrible mess. But it's actually been a lot of fun. Looking through all our old photos brings back so many good memories. I have realized that there are a lot of things I always meant to blog about, but just never did. And I never want to forget them. So I thought now is as good of a time as any to post. So here goes.

Remember the time we went to Moab, and Bubba and Jordan tried to inflate their enormous bed in the back of their car and almost suffocated? And the girls went hiking and the boys rented bikes.

Or the time we went to a Bee's game



Or when our awesome friends Jenny and Marty taught us how to play SPLASH and we played for hours.




Or when we had Marty's surprise birthday party at our house.


Remember when we went to the Melting Pot for your birthday and they had balloons on the table for you?


Or when we went to a movie opening night and thought it would be busy but it wasn't, so waited in line by ourselves for a long time.

How about when we went to Las Vegas to see Garth Brooks in concert because I've wanted to see him my entire life. You are such a good husband.


Remember all the times we've gone to walk around Temple Square and how beautiful it is there, especially in the spring?




Or the time when we met up for breakfast at Kneader's with one of my very best friends from college, Wren, and her cute family. I'll always have good memories of crazy college times with her. Love that girl SO much!



Remember when we went to brunch at Little America for my birthday and we ate and ate until we could barely walk?



Or when we went hiking at Sundance with Brett and Sabrina and their family.




Remember how I wanted to hike a lot that summer (2010)? This was at Donut Falls.




Remember the time we went to the State Fair and I petted a pig and you stood next to the biggest cow we've ever seen. This picture just doesn't do it justice.




How about when we went to Island Park with your family in 2011 and I forgot to post about it? As always, we had lots of fun boating, talking, road tripping to Jackson, hiking around Jenny's Lake, and eating lots of good food.


Or all the times when we've hung out with my high school friends and had so much fun. I am so lucky to still be in touch with these great people. And I can't believe how much our group has grown over the years. I love all of them so much!



Please try to remember how cute and cuddly Marly is,

even when he does things like tearing his bed to pieces.

I've realized that I am an incredibly lucky to girl to have so many amazing people in my life. Life has been good to me. There have been many bumps along the way, but they have made me who I am today. Who we are today. We are stronger for everything we've been through. And no matter what happens in the future, we'll be okay because we have each other and we have the gospel. I got a little nostalgic looking at all of these pictures, sometimes even wishing I could go back to an easier time period. But then I realized that there is never going to be a perfect time. Life isn't perfect, it's messy and difficult. But it's up to us to make it good. To find the happy in the sad times. To make good memories. And I'm grateful to have you, Marc, to go through this life with. I know we have a lot more good memories to make. Here's to an eternity of happy memories! I love you.
Love, Diana

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This is my favorite picture of us from this year. It was taken at a friends wedding on my holga.

they say it's your birthday....happy birthday to you

Today is Marc's big day. To celebrate him on the blog, I wrote down 31 reasons why I absolutely love him. (31 is a completely random number that came to my head and has absolutely nothing to do with the age Marc is turning ;)).

1. He is exceptionally kind.

2. He has an infectious smile.

3. He inspires me to be a better person.

4. He makes me feel tiny, which has never happened in my life.

5. He gives me great foot massages.

6. He has big ambitions and works so hard for them.

7. He has stellar hair ;)

8. He loves to surprise me, which I openly hate, but secretly love.

9. He is a faithful and true friend.

10. He is very handsome.

11. He has a strong and inspiring testimony.

12. He would do anything to help someone in need.

13. He is a great housewife (he does the cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.)

14. He can fix anything and is extremely handy to have around.

15. He believes in me.

16. He is going to make a great dad someday.

17. He loves me just as I am.

18. He let me get a puppy.

19. He takes great care of the puppy.

20. He is making me new chairs.

21. He always eats my cooking.

22. He is a great cuddler.

23. He smells good.

24. He is willing to watch chick flicks with me.

25. He is a great dancer (love our kitchen dancing sessions).

26. He is the most optimistic person I have ever met.

27. He is goofy and funny and makes me laugh.

28. He is a great shopping partner. Almost every outfit I get compliments on, Marc bought it for me.

29. He never gets mad at me.

30. He loves making me happy.

31. He gets to make me happy for the rest of eternity.

More pictures of my handsome man:

And I threw one in there of us to show just how lucky I feel to have him forever.

Island Park with the Millars

I went up to Island Park to spend time with my sisters and their families, and my mom, too. Marc had to stay and be responsible and go to school and work. I missed him lots, but it was fun to see my family. And Island Park was absolutely beautiful! We of course went to Yellowstone. It's a family favorite. I didn't take a lot of pictures. I was a little focused on using my holgas and don't have those pictures developed yet. Maybe soon.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.

My Mom and I. It was a little windy.

Grandma and her grand kids. Ammon is giving himself bunny ears. That kid is hilarious! And I love Claire's cool pose with her shades. So cute!

Hiking near Henry's Fork River. So beautiful.

Another one of our hike. Ahhh...I love Idaho.

Independence Day

We spent the holiday with Marc's family this year just relaxing and enjoying each other's company. And eating. It wouldn't be a DeGraff get together if there wasn't lots of yummy food involved.

The party animals.

Us.

The tickle-monster and her victim.

Um...beautiful! That's all I'm going to say.

I love fireworks. They're just plain pretty.

Just because

Just because he's cute and we love him. Here are a few pictures of Marley. Everyone says he's getting bigger, but he still looks so small to me. He's just barely over 5 pounds. He's been such a good puppy and is such a fast learner. He's been so good, in fact, that Marc is wanting a second dog. I don't think that will happen, but it just goes to show how loveable Marley is.

Holding him in this position seems to make him the most calm.

I started carrying him around on my shoulder like this when we first got him and he would just rest his little chin down. It was so cute. I still carry him around like this sometimes.

How could you say no to those puppy-dog eyes? We sure can't! (Well, Marc can. I'm a sucker.)

pleased to meet you

Meet Marley.

As a follow up to my last post, the one where we couldn't even decide if we wanted plants, we decided to get a dog. I've wanted one for a very long time. I'm more of a big dog person myself, but we don't really have the lifestyle for one right now. And Marc has pet allergies, so this yorkie - shih tzu mix was perfect for us. And we sort of fell in love with him. He walked right up to me and plopped himself down, practically begging us to take him home. He has the sweetest disposition and has been a wonderful addition to our family. I just want to cuddle him all day long. But I do go to work every once in a while. So he's learning to like his kennel.