Thursday, April 30, 2009

It's Joe's Birthday!



I love days like today, because I get full bragging rights of my wonderful Husband Joe. Today is his 29th birthday, and I have been teasing him, because he has one last year of childhood and then he is officially an adult. Oh how I love my Joe. Just like last year (except I wrote 28 things) I want to write 29 things that I love about Joe.

Here we go:

1. I have always been extremely weak. Seriously, I hardly ever beat anyone at a dang arm wrestle. Before marrying Joe, I remember dating one guy in particular, that I seriously thought I would have to protect if someone robbed us. That is when I knew that I wanted someone that I had total confidence that could actually protect me and I wouldn't have to "pretend". Well, with Joe, there is absolutely NO pretending. He is the strongest person I know.

2. Speaking of strong, Joe gets a high out of moving things. It's a good thing too, because shortly we will be moving into a new house. In Michigan, we acquired a playing piano. Believe me, this thing is MONSTROUS!!! Joe is excited to try to move it again (hopefully his little brother Josh will help him, I do want Joe to have a healthy back).

3. Whenever I ask Joe to do something, he does it immediately. Seriously! Where did he come from? Sometimes I mention that a drawer isn't working right or whatever, and next thing I know he gets his tools out and fixes it. No honey-to-do-lists for Joe. He gets it done right away.

4. I love that Joe is a dreamer. About a week ago we found the house we want to buy. He was so excited to see that the backyard wasn't done yet. That night, I found Joe in bed with paper, a ruler, and pencil in hand drawing out a fun backyard. It makes me smile.

5. Whenever Joe gets home from work it is family time. He centers EVERYTHING around us. The kids gets so excited when daddy gets home.

6. Joe is VERY loyal. If you are a friend or have ever been a good friend of Joe's, he sticks by you. I have honestly NEVER heard him speak negatively about his friends. What a great example he is.

7. Joe is in the process of planning out Isaiah's log bed. It has been Joe's tradition to make all of us log beds. When we were engaged he made us an enormous log bed. It used to dwarf the places we lived in Michigan, it is so huge. He has made a log crib, Kayla's log bed, and now it is on to Isaiah's. I love this tradition.

8. Joe loves his Mom. He speaks so highly of her and would do absolutely ANYTHING for her.

9. Joe loves potatoes. You name anything potatoes, and he loves it!!

10. But, I figured out why he likes potatoes. I think it is because of sour cream. He could eat that stuff on ANYTHING!! If I come home with 2 or more tubs of sour cream from the store, you know it has been a good shopping trip and it makes Joe very happy.

11. Joe is so patient. He has never-ending patience for me and for this I am grateful. He is so patient with all my many weaknesses.

12. Joe has a very strong testimony of Jesus. We sometimes get lost in conversation about the Savior and the love Joe has for Him overwhelms me with gratitude.

13. Almost every day Kayla asks Joe when they are getting married. One time I told Kayla that she would marry a different boy and Joe quickly responded and said, “Kayla, it’s okay, you can marry me!” I was put in my place. :) Kayla has Joe wrapped around her finger. It is so cute to watch the love they have for each other.

14. Joe has taught Isaiah how to use tools. Just yesterday, I took the kids to my moms house. My mom has a whole bunch of kid tools. My mom and I were chatting and Isaiah came up to my mom and said, “ I will fix you with tools.” He then proceeded to use the plastic saw and pretended to cut off her leg. It was so cute, and made me think of Joe.

15. If Joe sets his mind to do something, he will achieve it no matter what. He is a very determined person.

16. Joe is a very hard worker. Last year, he started studying for the bar 6 months in advanced and passed it with flying colors. I was so proud of him!

17. Last week was Kayla’s first soccer game. Kayla was so cold and didn’t want to play. My first instinct was to make her play, but Joe, the wise one, lovingly took her in his arms and walked with her by all her teammates while they were playing. He is helping her LOVE soccer, I probably would have helped her hate it.

18. Joe is a GREAT cook. Hands down, he is better than me. I look forward to the times he cooks. Too bad it isn’t too often.

19. Joe reads the scriptures every day with the kids. He is almost always the one to remember (but Kayla also won’t let him forget.)

20. Joe loves his family. It is amazing to see how close they are. I hope to incorporate this in our own family.

21. I don’t necessarily love this about Joe, but Joe likes the smell of skunks. Isn’t that odd? I love to make fun of him for it.

22. Once we were very low on food. I decided I would try to do what moms do best and mix a whole bunch of things from the cupboard and magically have a wonderful dinner appear. Well, I was a complete failure. When Joe got home, I told him to try it and he sweetly said, why don’t I go get us a pizza.

23. Joe loves to stay in shape and is health conscious.

24. When I asked Joe what he wanted for his birthday he said, “Something for you!” He would much rather take care of me than himself.

25. Joe loves to make new traditions. We try to make up fun, unique ones for the holidays.

26. Joe is a HUGE tease. We have been flossing consecutively for over a year and a half, because of a bet we have. After all this time, he STILL tries to hide the floss from me.

27. Joe just LOVES Porter. He can make Porter belly laugh so cute, and Porter’s little face lights up when Joe walks in the room. What a special bond those two have.

28. Joe loves my family and would do anything for them.

29. And last, I love that Joe asked me to marry him. How did I ever get so lucky?


HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Brushing Teeth



These are some cute fun videos of Kayla "helping" Isaiah brush his teeth. Kayla wants to show him how to do EVERYTHING. He has patience like his daddy. And, as you can see by the second video, he has a teasing streak, just like his daddy :).

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Who ever said.... "Bald Is Beautiful"?

After having each of my 3 kids, a strange thing happens that I still don't understand. My hair falls out in HUGE chunks and I seriously feel like I am balding. Thankfully I haven't taken pictures of all my hair balls, but seriously where in the world is my hair going and how do I have any left on my head? Every time I wash my hair I lose HUNDREDS of hairs. After I had Isaiah, my hair was very long and I decided to whack it all off because of all the gross hairs that Joe and I would find everywhere. And here I am again. I wanted to keep it long (or at least longer) but I think the time has come to chop it off. I just need my personal beautician from Michigan (when can I see you Janette?)





But, Mr. Porter sure makes a cute little baldy. It's just not fair it doesn't look good on me.

In the next life, if it is true that not a hair of my head will be lost, I will have BEAUTIFUL luscious hair...................won't that be the day, and with all the hair I have lost from having babies, will I really want that much hair?

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Kayla turns FOUR

On April 6th our little Kayla turned four. My how the years have flown. The morning of her birthday, I took her to the store to pick out a princess dress that she could wear all day! She was in HEAVEN.


Joe and Maryann (Joe's sister) worked long and hard on this rainbow cake. Maryann found a special recipe from her work and it turned out DELICIOUS!






For Kayla's birthday we decided to get her a whole bunch of dress up things. Thanks to the local thrift stores, we were able to fill up a huge trunk of dress up stuff for pretty cheap. Here's Kayla showing off the loot.




It was a fabulous day! We love our Kayla so much!

Precious Porter


A few mornings ago, I decided to get a few more shots of Porter in his Blessing outfit before he officially outgrows it. This one is my favorite. I love his bright smile. What a perfect little boy he is. I wish I could freeze him in this stage forever!!

Monday, April 6, 2009

The birthday bash............

Isaiah gave Kayla a pair of sandals for her birthday. He was having such a great time, until something happened unexpectedly. We love Isaiah, and we try not to laugh too hard at this video. Check it out........... we can't stop watching it.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Just thought it was cute......

Maryann (Joe's sister) had a birthday party at our home for her friend Brian. As I was decorating the house, Kayla wanted to help to9. One roll of tape later, here is what she came up with.

I am amazed at what this little three year old can do.

Happy Birthday Brian! Maryann made THE BEST strawberry cheesecake. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.