Husbands

I normally despise tags, but if you are a reader of this blog, you know how I feel about my husband. So I can't pass up an opportunity to say great things about him!
5 Things he loves:
- BYU football
- Jazz Basketball
- Playing basketball
- His kids
- His wife
5 Things on his to do list:
- Make out with his wife (just kidding)
- Christmas shopping (yes, this isn't done yet)
- design our new house
- clean up his work trailer and surrounding area
- make out with his wife (ok, Joseph doesn't really have a to do list, so I am just
making crap up)
5 Foods he enjoys:I must preface this section by pointing out that Joseph feels eating is a burden. He doesn't really enjoy food. That being said.....
- chips and salsa (only Santitas chips)
- gummy bears (the breakfast of champions)
- cheerios and corn chex (with no sugar on them, ewww)
- Sobe Adrenaline Rush (while not technically a food, he can't make it
through the day without this
- Hot and sour soup and lemon chicken (only from China Town)
5 things you may not know about him:
- He loves to do karaoke (only with family, not in bars or, ahem, on cruise ships)
- He can build ANYTHING. Seriously, anything. Without plans. Just looks at it,and says "I can build that", and then he does.
- He never swears. Ever. In the 11 years I have known him, he has never once used a
swear word
- He is a freaking awesome basketball player. Really-he's good.
- He knows A LOT about church doctrine and theology. Those are his favorite kinds of
books
5 quirky things about him:
- He says "forward fast" instead of "fast forward"
- He has to color coordinate his basketball clothes with his shoes
- He has really sensitive nail beds on his toes and fingers, so he has to keep his
nails a little longer than normal, because if they are too short, they hurt.
- He has a bad habit of interrupting. This is borne of ADD, not bad manners.
He is working on it.
- He has a nose thing. First thing he looks at on a person. Can critique noses
like you wouldn't believe.

There are a lot of other things about Joseph I could write (brag about), but in any case, he is amazing. He has so many good qualities and so few bad ones. What a great guy!

What's going on?

I was going wait until I had my pictures to include in this post, but at this rate, that won't be until next year, at which point I will have to do Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Joseph's birthday all in one post. So here's what we've been up to, minus the pictures (I promise I'll get to those).
The week of Thanksgiving was wicked fun. We went to Zak's wrestling tournament (he took first, of course) and showed our support in the form of custom made (spray painted in the parking lot) T-shirts and a "Zak Baker rocks my world" poster. I am pretty sure he won because of that. Just kidding-he's freaking awesome and he is going to take state this year!
Nikki and I went to the Twilight midnight show the Thursday it opened and I thought it was really good. So good in fact, that I took the boys to see it the next Tuesday, and went with Joseph and Zak and a whole group of people on Thanksgiving. We have Thanksgiving dinner at Joseph's parents house. I was glad to not have to make dinner, although I did make 4 different kinds of cheesecake and pumpkin pie. So now we are back to normal life, at least until Christmas break. I will get some pictures on her soon of our Twilight/wrestling/thanksgiving fun!

Thankful for.....

I know Thanksgiving was a week ago, but I a little slow (you know). So here is what I am most thankful for at this "most wonderful time of the year"!

Joseph- I have posted about him before, and I could post about him every day. I am thankful to have a husband that I am still crazy, head over heels in love with after 11 years. And I am thankful that I can be 100% positive he loves me right back. He is everything I'm not, but wish I could be more of - smart, kind, compassionate, patient, smart (did I say that already?), and a great dad. But aside from all that, he is just a great human being. He is truly one of the most generous, decent, honest hardworking people I have ever met and I am so, so, so blessed to be married to him.

Fabiola-I am thankful for all the help you are around the house and with the kids. I am thankful that, in spite of all you have had to endure in your life, you haven't let yourself become a bitter person. You are so generous and thoughtful.
Maryn-I am thankful that you wake up every day with a smile and are everyone's friend. You try so hard at school and you are learning so much.
Kaydin-I am thankful that you are my best bud. I would take you out of school every day just to hang out with you if I could. I love your analytical personality and your love of learning.
Trevin-I am thankful for your sense of humor and your compassion. I can't have a bad day or you will cry right along with me. And when you're done crying, you always have a joke ready to make me laugh. I don't know what I would do without you.
Tristan-I am thankful that nothing gets you down. You are like the little engine that could, and you just keep going, even though I know it is so hard for you sometimes. You are braver than I could be - I probably would have given up a long time ago.
Rylynn-I am thankful for having such a sweet little girl who sings for me. I love your singing and your happy personality and I am thankful that you love to read and are learning so fast.
Kellyn-I am thankful to have time with just me and you while the kids are at school. I love reading with you and talking to you and getting to see your awesome personality develop.
Ewan-I am thankful that we got to have you be part of our family. I am also thankful that you started talking and I love your little boy laugh.

I am also thankful to have a home to live in and for my extended family(parents, brothers, sisters, in-laws) for all the love, support and especially the laughs you provide me with!

The Right Stuff

I feel I can now die a happy woman, having fulfilled all my 4th grade fantasies. On Saturday night, after only 20 years of waiting and pining away, I got to go to a New Kids on The Block concert. Yes, I am not ashamed to admit that I sang along with every song, and still remembered all the words! And even though I am no longer 9 years old, I can say with all honesty that it was the funnest freaking concert I have ever been to. I went with 3 sisters-in-law and 1 brother-in-law, who filled in at the last minute when we found ourselves with an extra ticket. And yes, he did have a good time. And no, he is not gay. Natasha Bedingfield was the opener - also good. But come on, nothing compares to the New Kids. Here are some pictures of the most fun I have had in really long time. I am still riding my New Kids on the Block high. I would go again in a heartbeat and have considered abandoning my life to become a boy-band (no wait, they're a MAN-band) groupie.

Behold,the New Kids in all their middle-aged glory.I'd still make out with them.

Me smooching Nikki. Yes, I was that excited. Zak-wearing his New Kids memorabilia as only he can. We actually bought these for Jeremy to wear while he works out, but Zak broke them in for him!
Oh yeah, the right stuff indeed.

Lovin' the stars and stripes

On Veteran's day, we were treated to the most awesome program, by all the first graders (of which Rylynn is one). I was very impressed, and almost moved to tears at how hard they worked to honor and show appreciation to the men and women who serve our country. Rylynn was singing these songs around the house for weeks because she wanted to have them perfect for her program. They had a slideshow of all the veteran's that were relatives of the first grade kids. It was very sweet and I was proud of both these beautiful children singing (especially mine) and our amazing country and servicemen and women.

Kellyn!

Oh my goodness, I love this girl! Our baby girl turned 4 on Friday, and if she could read this, she would very adamantly point out that she is NOT a baby, but a big girl. And, since she is 4 now, her hair is almost blond (her words). When she was born, we prayed so much that she would live, but we told ourselves that if Heavenly Father needed her back, then that was how it was supposed to be. I am so grateful he let us keep her! She lights up our home with her personality and I don't know what we would do without her. Here are some fun things about Kellyn:
1. She can't say her V's. So, I am told at least 20 times a day "Mom, I lub you".
2. She is the only "mommmy's" girl. The other 3 "lub" Joseph, but I got Kellyn!
3. She had so much red hair when she was born, but she is right, it is all blond now
4. She can name every latter-day prophet.
5. She screams when she laughs! She also screams when she cries!
6. We love her "a million billion" as she would say!

Happy birthday my sweet girl! I love you!

What the funk!?!?!?!

I have been in kind of a funk lately - physically, emotionally, spiritually. Life is hard. I sometimes get tired of reading other people's blogs, which often seem like they are advertising how great their lives are..."Look at my wonderful kids, look at my perfect husband, look at my immaculate house, check out my perfect life"!!! My life is so far from perfect, it is laughable. I guess it is on my mind because in the past week, I have been in situations where my parenting, family, marriage, etc have been somewhat under scrutiny. Nothing big, but things like parent teacher conferences or visiting teaching. In these situations, I invariably hear comments like "You must be doing such a wonderful job with your kids" or "you are so organized and have it so together - how do you do it all"? I am not congratulating myself. When people say these things to me, I feel like a big, fat fraud. Not a day goes by that I don't wonder in what way I am permanently damaging my childrens' psyche; and organization and having it together are not concepts I am at all familiar with. I desperately wish these people's perceptions were true, but the fact is - they aren't. So when they say these things, which are meant to be compliments, I just feel even more lousy. My life is loud and messy, and I have managed to (unintentionally) trick quite a few people into thinking otherwise. Please don't misunderstand. I love my children more than anything, and I couldn't wish for a husband that I love more than Joseph. But life if still hard. I usually feel I am just barely scraping by, making it through each day. So, just for once, it would be nice to hear that it is not just me. That maybe everyone else's life isn't as idyllic as it is made out to be on their blogs and Christmas cards. For someone to just say, yeah, life is hard. I am reminded of that saying "I didn't say it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it". I know it will be worth it, but I wish I didn't have to expend so much enery trying to make it look like it is easy. Ok, enough of this emo crap. I need some ice cream.