Skyler and his MBA

Common celebratory phrases like "Yay!", "He did it!", or "Congratulations!" just are to... well common to even begin to describe or celebrate this amazing accomplishment Skyler has achieved. 

So I searched a thesauruses to make up for my lack in adequate vocabulary, and a few words seemed to ring more true:

Triumph

Victory

Noble

Jubilee

Honor

Distinction

Glory

I noticed most of these words can describe knightly battles,

 but that is what Skyler is, -- a Warrior.

He fought for his MBA, and it's much much more than a "piece of paper".

 So much more. 

I stand in awe of my husband everyday. I am amazed by the things he accomplishes just by his own sheer will. Nothing, absolutely nothing, holds him back. 

Skyler moves mountains. I am proud of him.

As I sat in that giant room, surrounded and supported by our wonderful families, I felt the greatness of the event. My heart leapt as his name was called, and with wet eyes and a big smile I cheered for him as loudly as I could. 

On the 12th of December, 2015

Skyler Christian Briggs

graduated from the University of Colorado

with His Master of Business Administration

with an emphasis in Change Management.

and it was Glorious!

We did it!

We did it!! River is Finally on the growth charts!! Woohoo!!

Height : 34 1/4 inches (1%)

Weight: 26.0 lbs (2%)

We'd like to thank Pediasure, Chocolate milk, Fries, and Nutella. 

You've done this boy's body good!

Now to Celebrate!!

Love you goose!

And We're Off ....

Robin's first trip to Utah. This little girl is going to get eaten up!

And River is beyond excited to go to "ah-tah" and play with his cousins!

Side Note: I love when people tell me how perfect my kids are on the flight. We've gotten things figured out: Bottles & Ipad movies. Now if Southwest can just be on time so they don't mess up my timing!

Our Colorado River Boy turned 3!

Our Colorado River boy turned three. 

Although If you ask him how old he is, he'll tell you "5". (??)

I can hardly believe it, I have a three year old. But sometimes his soul feels much older than that. Watching my son grow has been an exciting, and joyful experience. 

River talks and talks and works so hard to communicate. His vocabulary doubles daily and he surprise me with the words he says because I have no idea where he learned them. On one hand he's very polite using "yes, please" and "thank you" and very sassy on the other "Nope! No way!" And "Me Back talk!" But my very favorite is how he goes through and says everyone's full name "River Briggs, Skyler Briggs, Robin Briggs, Lindsey Briggs" The other morning when he woke up he called for mama and then Lindsey when I didn't answer right away.

He's so imaginative and needs time just to play. He loves cars, planes, space, and Star Wars. Everything becomes either a gun or light saber. He's been known to stack markers on top of each other and pull some awesome Jedi moves in the middle of the church isle. He also loves to pretend to fix things. He runs around the house with screwdrivers, tape measures, levels, and Allen wrenches. He gets it from his daddy and watching handy manny. Sky's really good about including him on projects around the house and River will go through the house pointing out the things they worked on together.

 Food. Although he's not much of an eater, he's starting to branch out a little. He now eats tacos, but only from Del taco or Taco Bell. He's started to eat mac and cheese and raviolis. But River would rather drink his calories and has become a chocolate milk fiend. Every meal he asks for his chocolate milk or his milkshakes (pediasure). I guess it's a good thing because we are trying to beef this cute tiny kid up. And it's working. He's finally sitting into size 2 clothes and I can see his arms and legs thickening up.

River is definitely a Stevenson, meaning he doesn't have an off button. This kid just goes and goes, and keeps going until he crashes. He has one speed -light speed- and runs everywhere on his tippy toes. He's a goer and a doer which is wonderful, but it had been a little rough since we had Robin because I am having a hard time keeping up and keeping him entertained while being so sleep deprived. It makes me wish he had cousins closer he could run around with.

River loves his family. He talks about his cousins often and asks constantly when they are coming to "my home"? Not a day goes by he doesn't talk about his Nana and Poppa and going to visit them in utah. I think his exact words are "Me go airport. Zoom! Drive red car, Nana home". (Yes I have it memorized because I hear it 20 times a day). I adore the way he say Utah, "Ah-tah", and I appreciate his gusto as he tries to talk me into making the journey to utah daily. I also appreciate that he can be pacified after our long debates with the conclusion that we will go to "ah-tah yay-ter". 

He's also the very best big brother in the world. I know I have gone on and on and done post after post on Instagram about how sweet and kind he is to his little sister "raw-bean" but I just can't get over their little love affair. When Robin was born River didn't skip a beat, it was like she has always been with us. I swear they remember each other from before. He just can't get enough of her. He dotes on her. I have caught him plenty of times leaning into her bouncer, toes barely touching the ground, and talking to her face to face. All he wants to do is be near her and give her kisses and cuddles and he can't hardly wait for her to be big enough to play. I hope and pray that their relationship is a close one through out their whole life. 

There is one thing that River loves as much as his family and that's his friends. His friends are his treasures. One of river's talent is to love people almost instantly. I am proud of my son and his ability to love others. In the same breath it also worries me because loving people so much also makes one vulnerable. He is such a people's person. He just wants to be with people all the time.

In short, River in an amazing, energetic, headstrong, loving, happy and funny little boy, who makes me laugh, cry and want to be the very best mother I can be everyday. He's my heart and my hope, and my very best buddy in the world.

the girls

my favorite of me and our girl 

Cheering On #25

Harry's personal fan section. 

Harry's biggest fan!

Harry's littlest fan.

River making friends where ever he goes.

Look at those sweat marks! Smell was just as awesome! :)

We got to spend a sunny and warm saturday morning cheering on our favorite BYU Lacrosse Player, Harry Bird #25! 

 River was his biggest fan and Robin was his littlest. 

"GO, my friend!!" - River 

University of Denver hosted a lacrosse day where multiple teams played each other, including: University of Denver, Air force, Adams State, and Colorado College. We were so excited for Harry to come to Colorado and to get to watch him play!  

I am so proud of him! It's awesome he's playing lacrosse at a collegiate level. Kinda a big deal. (I take credit for getting him interested in lacrosse, cause i played in high school. Otherwise he might be playing some lame sport like soccer ;) Oh I just made some family members mad....)

That's Harry on the front row, throwing some serious gang signs :)

(image via BYU Lacrosse facebook page)

only 2 weeks

Only 2 weeks left until Belly transfer :)

It's kind of weird picking your baby's birthday 

and even weirder being 37 weeks preggers.

Oh How Happy! Happy Happy Happy!

{and slightly crazy, tired, and achey} 

Hang out in there baby girl, 2 weeks isn't that long to wait.

Cars & Ni-Nites

How many cars and ni-nites do you need to be able to go to bed?

Currently we need 4 ni-nites (2 main ones, "Big ni-nite" & "Blu ni-nite") 

and about 4 cars, which must include the "big red car".

Also, he likes his "fyer" (humidifier) and ceiling fan to be on as well.

But I can't complain too much, he's a really really good sleeper!

(Knock on wood)

Twins?

"It's Yaing-Yaing"

Waking up from his nap to gaze out his window at some late summer rain.

36 Weeks

So this is what 36 weeks looks like:

dirty mirrors,

piles of laundry,

and half dressed women.
(I am always so hot!)

The Little Garden that Could

My favorite thing about the garden? The way the smell of the tomatoes plant lingers on my hands after I run them through the leafs.

River's favoirte things about the garden? Watering the garden with his spray bottle  & Picking the strawberries and eating them before anyone else has a chance.

Skyler's favorite thing about the garden? He requested jalepeno peppers and doesn't have to do a thing to grow them.

Charlie's favorite thing about the garden? Burying his nose in the strawberry plants and sniffing out the ripe ones. 

This is our second year planting our raised garden. I was so excited because we got a timely start this year, and I planted some of my favorites veggies, Pear tomatoes & lemon cucumbers -- only to have it ripped to shreds by giant hail storms at the beginning of the season -- Colorado weather! Erg!! But my young garden was a fighter, surviver, and thriver. I thought for sure we lost everything, and we did lose some stuff - 2 cucumber plants- but i am amazed at how wonderful everything is growing, even the pumpkin plant that struggled so in the beginning is starting to get big and stretch it's vine outside the walls. The strawberry plants have been a fun and pretty addition. It's been a fun thing for me and Riverboy to do together this summer. 

{And don't worry River didn't actually bite into the jalepeno, he knows it's "dada's hot num-num", but Skyler was a little surprised by how hot it was when he bit into it. Anyone have any good jalepeno recipes?}