HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JR!!

Today is JR's birthday.  This is a picture of him at Disneyland today.  I pilfered it off Facebook.  I am at work and only have a few JR pictures on my work computer.  When I get home I will post more.  But I didn't want to wait until midnight to post this.  Of course, it could be midnight or tomorrow before he actually sees this. 

Happy Birthday, Daddy!  JR and Ethan last year.

Everyone gets to help with so many candles!  It's Reed, JR, Kayla and Mackenzie.

Here are some things I really love about JR:

1.  He is an awesome father.  He is a get down and play with them Dad.  He changes diapers, gives baths, takes care of them when they are sick, reads stories, cleans up their messes, snuggles with them every chance he can, nurtures them, and loves, loves, loves being with his children. 

Will she ever be too big for a piggy back ride from Dad?

Mackenzie is old enough to be blessed by her father.

Another beautiful daughter:  Kayla is born.

2.  He is as devoted a husband as I know.  He wants to make Casey happy, and is mindful of what he can do to accomplish that. 

Wedding day

JR with Casey, the love of his life,  and baby Ethan.

3.  He is a selfless person.  He puts someone else's needs ahead of his most of the time. Even when JR was a child, he was the one who was the giver.  If there was a disagreement over who should have something, JR almost always gave it to the other person (mostly to Sam), not because he was weak, but because he cared about them so much.

JR with Sam

Do you ever just eat your own food?

4.  He loves to laugh and kid around. He even laughs at Sam's dumb jokes. JR joins in the fun wherever he finds it.

Sledding with Dad is the most fun.

5.  He is patient.  He is patient.  He is patient!  Working with computers requires much patience as things download and upload and all that stuff.  He is.  Working with people who want their computers working instantly requires patience and calm as he works through the necessary steps and explains all.  Being loving with tired, cranky or demanding children takes more patience than most have.  JR has it. I could go on, because JR is blessed with more patience than most of us, that is for sure.

It's fun if Kayla is having fun.

6.  JR is a problem solver.  That is one of the reasons his career fits him so well.  He can see the problem and begin to see the solution at the same time.  He is also willing to experiment until he comes up with a good solution. This applies both in his work, in relationships, and in life in general.

7.  JR can fix almost anything.  You may think this is the same as #6 and it sort of is, but he is not afraid to tackle some of the most difficult repair situations.  Ask Casey how he fixed her iPhone when Ethan threw it in the toilet.  On his mission to Colombia, he was known as McGyver. People had their repair jobs waiting for him when he came over and he always helped them. When he was a little boy, he loved to take things apart to see how they worked.  Sometimes he put them back together, sometimes he lost interest and left them strewn around in many pieces.  Now he uses this gift to help others.

With his brothers in LAX on his way to Cali, Colombia. Adam was on his way back from a week at Lake Powell.

8.  JR loves to participate in sports and play games, but he doesn't care so much who wins.  The fun for him is in the playing and association.

9.  JR is kind and loving.  He knows when I need a hug.  He knows that now and then a mom needs to just be held tight.  I had an infected toe at a big event and one of the children jumped off a low windowsill onto it and burst it open.  JR knew that the thing that would help me most was just to put his arms around me and keep them there to help me stand the pain.  When Alan was in his worst moments when he was so sick, it was JR's strong, loving arms that supported me through that first night and day.

Taller than Mom at Junior High graduation.  Do you love our hair?

10.  JR has always had a strong desire to do what's right. He is quick to apologize if he makes a mistake and makes it right. We named him JR after my wonderful grandfather who was such an inherently good and loving man.  JR is living up to his name.

Goodby for two years--the last we saw him as he was entering the MTC.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JR!  I LOVE YOU! 

Hello and Goodbye

Hello--We woke to a little rain.  It was mostly just pretty clouds, lovely wet foliage and great for the green hills and low water table. 
Goodby--No walking today.  We are not die-hard walkers, fair weather exercise is all we do.

Alan said this picture wouldn't show the rain.  Can you see the rain hit the water in the pool?

Interesting clouds early in the morning.

Hello--Alan had a good work day, closing two nice cases in one day.

Good-bye--My Aunt Sharee passed away this afternoon from esophageal cancer.  She was only 73 and it has been such a short time since Uncle George died of liver and pancreatic cancer. (Rosemary sent a picture, but it isn't the kind your post on a blog.)  I know she is happy now, though. She was a role model to me as a young woman and have always honored her example.  I am planning on going to her funeral next week in Utah.

Hello--Tonight at Base FHE we had three new Marines home from deployment.  They are all active young men.  They have been out on a miew--deployed on a ship that goes many different places.  Among others they said that Jordan and Kuwait weren't bad.  The chaplain on the ship was LDS so they got to have services weekly while they were deployed.  Here they are:

Sean Datwyler is from Provo but is going home on leave to Payson where his mom has just re-married and now he will need to get to know a new family.  He was planning a big biking trip, but has broken his finger (wouldn't tell us how) and that ends the bike riding.

Chris Saunders was a very willing participant in the FHE and quite outgoing.  I am told he is very active.  It helps to have others in your unit that are members.

Travis Wardle is excited to go home on leave after deployment, but more excited about getting out of the marines at the end of May.  We will only see him  a few weeks before he is gone.

Goodbye--Seth Carlson is leaving next week for Afganistan. He is excited to go because he has been in the marines two years and never deployed.  There is a stigma attached to that.  He drives a big truck for the marines. 

Seth doesn't really live in our ward.  He lives in barracks south of ours at Las Flores off Las Pulgas.  Seth comes from the island of Palau.  I think he is quite active, but he attends the Carlsbad singles ward.  When he found out we hold FHE on Wednesdays he works very hard to attend.  He doesn't have a car so takes a bus or finds someone to give him a ride the 15 miles it is from one camp to the other.  Of course, by the time we are done, no more buses go back to Las Flores.  We add more than 40 minutes to our drive home.

Emily telling Seth goodby.

Hello--We had a great attendance tonight and a nice spirit present. I taught from David Bednar's talk about the things we can teach our children so we will see the warning signs in their lives.  I just took out the teaching children part and applied it to our lives.  It worked well, I thought.

Carolina Rodriguez, one of the YSA's who came for the first time tonight.  The others slipped away before I remembered to get my camera out.

Goodby--Our committee is having a hard time doing all they have been assigned.  Alan conducted as well as led the song.  I brought refreshments again. Since that assignment is almost never made, I try to always bring a back-up.  I know that you need to let them fail so they will be accountable, but it is the marines who lose and I can't stand to let them down. 

This is Rachel Johnson.  She did not want to be photographed tonight and wasn't there for pictures last week.  She is the young woman committee chairman.  She is dating a marine officer who is now taking missionary lessons. Rachel is from Las Vegas and also quite outgoing and a great participant.  She has had this calling in the past and is very familiar with the marines and the base, which is so helpful to us. 

The Holidays in April?

Since this is more for Alan and me and our memories, I am using this commitment to pick up some of the past highlights again.  The holidays started for us when Jade came for Thanksgiving.  We were lucky to get the Schooleys to come for Thanksgiving and share that day and our mutual kids with us.  We also got Mao and Cathy and their kids for the first time in a few years.  It was a wonderful day with way too much good food.  We did this with them the first year we moved in this house.  We have a little different combination of our families, but it was nice to be with them again. Carla Birmingham from our office also joined us since her boys were with their dad this year.  We were so glad she came and that we could share with her.

As our tradition has been since Mackenzie was old enough to decorate a tree, JR brought his kids over and joined with Jen, Bailey and me in decorating our tree. 

Mackenzie is no longer content with the lower branches.

Bailey almost made the top branches.

Even Kayla wants a higher spot.

Ethan broke more than he got on the tree I think.  Jen helped him hit his mark.

For more years than I am sure of (maybe 27 or 28), the Christmas season doesn't truly start until our ornament exchange group gets together.  This is who are left of that group.  Now we buy the ornament and meet at Mimi's.  Next year we are not even buying an ornament.  I love these dear, dear friends.  We need to get together more than just this once.

Then we took time out from the Holiday busy-ness and flew to North Carolina for Sam's actual graduation.  (A separate blog some day.)  We were so excited for baby Ruby to arrive a little early so we could spend the five days with her as well as see Sam walk at his graduation ceremony from NC State. 

Isn't she a beautiful newborn?

We  went out and helped them buy a Christmas tree.

Fun to decorate the tree together.

Should this one go here?

Got to find the perfect place.

Aren't they good looking brothers ready for church?

Got to have a family picture, but the camera failed on most of them this trip.

We loved this cute little Ruby already.  We were glad we would be back in 2 months to see her again.  What a great early Christmas present!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TODD

Today is Todd's birthday--at least it still is on the West Coast.  We are so lucky to have him as part of our family.  I really wanted a picture of him by himself.  All I could find was a graduation picture.  I guess that is who Todd really is.  He is always surrounded by family and friends (not counting when he is out of town working.)  Almost every picture I have of him, he is doing something for others. 

Todd with little Toby and Baby Ben

Here are some of the things I love about Todd:

1.  He loves my daughter and brings out the best in her. He wants her to be happy and works hard to help her be that way.

The family grows and changes

2.  He is thoroughly committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ and shows it in how he lives.
3.  He is a wonderful father.  He loves to be with his sons.  Most of my pictures of Todd show him spending time with his boys.

At the top of the lighthouse.  A long climb with a son in your arms.

A snack in Central Park

Helping Toby fly a kite.

4.  He is the best kind of role model.  The boys not only want to skateboard  and surf like Dad, they will want to emulate him throughout their lives and he sets the example a mother-in-law can be proud of.

Skateboarding with Toby and Ben in Boston.

5.  Todd is so thoughtful.  If he is home, he is the one to get up when the boys wake up so Ashley can sleep in a little.  He doesn't seem to mind that he only got a few hours of sleep.  He loves being with them.

Not quite awake, but loved.

This was early morning in Outer Banks.  Where was Ashley?  Todd let her sleep.

6.  He is so patient and kind.  I have never seen him frustrated or angry, no matter how anyone else is behaving.

Helping them with computer learning games.

7.  Todd is blessed with intelligence and the wisdom to use it properly.  I guess that is easy to see since he earned his PhD in Bio Engineering from MIT and has a great job with McKinsey consulting.

8.  Todd is a very hard worker, whether it is going to school, applying himself to his career, or doing the dishes at my house.  It shows in his achievements. 

9.  Todd loves to engage me in interesting conversations about political and controversial topics (much to Ashley's consternation.)  I am an easy target.  Yet when we disagree, we both learn something and it never feels adversarial. Todd never lords his knowledge over me or puts me down.  He is humble enough to also see the other side and admit it.

10.  Todd is a great competitor, whether it is a board game, a surfing competition, or some othe sport, Todd puts a lot into it, is fun to play against, and often is the winner.  However, win or lose he is always on the same happy, even plane.  He is a good winner and a better loser.  Fun to play with him.

WE LOVE YOU, TODD!  HOPE IT IS A WONDERFUL YEAR FOR YOU.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!