Long time, no write

So I have decided that I am going to be a better blogger. The reasons behind this decision are completely self-serving. As I'm sure very few are actually interested in the minute details of our lives, I am striving to become a better blogger because I'm a terrible journal keeper....and I feel like typing my thoughts and the every day awesomeness of our lives is much easier than handwriting them in a diary. I was inspired to become a better blogger over this July 4th holiday. My sister in law compiled all of her blog entries into an awesome book for posterity sake using blurb.com. I have been dong something similar with photo books, but as I am missing those maybe not so photo worthy, but just as precious moments I decided that I should re-commit myself to recording those aspects of our life as a family. If you decide to read along, you are more than welcome.

 I suppose I should start by catching up. Elise is now 2 years old and is the absolute joy of our lives. She has such a great personality - always happy, always singing, dancing, and so extremely thoughtful. Erick left shortly after her 1st birthday for Iraq. It was tough going there for a while, but he was able to come home early (right before Christmas) and we were just so happy to be a family again. While he was gone, Elise learned how to stand and walk...and talk. She also became quite proficient at using the iPad and the iPhone and would constantly try to Skype with Erick. One day we were sitting in Sunday School at church and our home teacher Brother Patrick watched her open the skye app, scroll to Erick and then push the video chat button. Bro. Patrick was so moved by this one year old's determination to talk to her daddy that he started crying. Thinking on it now, I tear up...it became so apparent to me during that time apart how important it is to have both parents in the home. Obviously with Erick being in the military, it's not possible for that to always happen. However, Elise just knew...even at 1, that something was different. She slept with me most of the time while he was gone...she wouldn't sleep otherwise - this coming from a girl who slept through the night on her own at 6 weeks. She just knew and she and I made a pretty good team, but we both needed that extra support that only a husband and father can provide. After Erick came home, we jumped on a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas and took a well deserved vacation. We had so much fun. Elise partied like a rock star...much to our surprise. Maybe she was just so stoked for daddy to be home, but she just really turned into a character on that boat. She stayed up late, climbed up and down the stairs, dragged us up to the top deck and ran to the pizza place for a midnight snack. She also discovered her love of the beach on that cruise. Castaway Cay was so gorgeous and Elise spent the whole day playing in the sand.

I have since posted the unpublished posts that cover these adventures in more detail, so some of that may be a bit redundant....all the more reason for me to be more committed to my blog.  Stay tuned for a blog about my first trip to Utah and our July 4th holiday!