Happy Happy Birthday, Mother Dear!

Today is a very special day in the life of my family. Today is the day that a wonderful woman, known as mom to me, entered this world. I honestly believe that I have the best mom in the world. She is not only the woman that kissed my scratches and wiped away my tears but she has also been my best friend and greatest example. I have always looked up to my mom and always wanted to be just like her. I have so many memories of my mom so please indulge me as I share a few...

• Studying for hours on end with her. We would come up with funny ways to remember dates, formulas, and sequences.
• I was so afraid to go to school when I was in 7th grade. One morning my mom gave me a little trinket to put in my pocket so that every time I was afraid I could touch it and remember she loved me. It helped a lot.
• Watching her and my grandma eat avocados, drink diet coke, and talking at Sizzler.
• Laughing, Laughing, Laughing
• Being so excited for her to come and visit me in college for mothers week. I dragged her all around my tiny apartment and showed her every nook and cranny.
• Laughing
  
• Going shopping with her when I was little and walking arm in arm and feeling so lucky that she was my mom.
  
• Sneaking a sip of her diet coke out of the fridge. I have never really liked diet coke but hers always tasted good.
• Going into her room to say good night and find her sitting in bed studying her scriptures.
• Watching her kick peoples hinneys while playing racket ball and thinking, "that's my mom, she is so cool!!"
• Laughing
  
• Introducing her to Jared and having her love him from moment one.
• Spending hours and hours doing my hair.
• Watching her always taking care of all those around her and doing so with so much love.
• Talking to her about anything and every thing. Asking advice, telling stories, sharing jokes and funny experiences. I have seen it doesn't matter how far away you are if you love someone you can always feel it.
  
• Have I mentioned laughing.

I have been so blessed with a wonderful mother that has taught me more than she will ever know. I am so thankful that she not only loves me but that she loves my sweet husband and little baby as well. It has been so fun to now wear the "mommy" shoes and have a better understanding of what it feels like to love a child. It has also been such a joy to watch her wear the "grandma" shoes and hear about how much fun it is to love your child and grandchild. I love you mom and wish you the happiest of birthdays. We are all thankful for you and your example. You have taught us how to love ourselves, each other, and most importantly, the Lord. Thank you for all you are and all you have inspired us to be.

Easter is Comming

Yesterday Cade and I went out to try to find an Easter outfit. We searched all over and found a couple things that I liked but nothing that I loved. We were on our way out of Babies R Us and happened to walk by Burlington Coat Factory. I have never been in the store before so I thought that I would try it out. Once I walked in I saw a suit that I fell in love with but never thought that in a million years I would find one in Cades size. We walked to the little kid clothes and sure enough found one that is a little to big but will work with a belt. I am so excited because it is so cute. It came complete with the coat, pants, collared light blue shirt, and orange and blue tie for only $40.00. I was stoked!! As soon as we got home Jared and I put the coat and pants on Cade and laughed and giggled at how grown up he is. It is so much fun to dress little boys! We cant wait for Easter!!

Lunch Time

I normally have my own little routine for the morning which usually includes a lunch by myself. I am not going to lie, I rather enjoy eating my lunch while Cade is asleep because it allows me to eat my food and enjoy every bite instead of either rushing to finish or giving him half of what I have. Well, for some reason he woke up early from his nap yesterday and I wasn't able to squeeze lunch in before he graced me with his presence. So, once I had our lunches made I decided that we would sit down at the table together, instead of him in his high chair, and have a nice lunch. I had to add a phone book to his chair so he could reach and we began. It was actually so much fun. He jibber jabbered the whole time and I actually felt like we were having somewhat of a conversation. He was so sweet to share his PBandJ with me and in return he helped himself to my chips. He was too funny, every time he took a bite he would let out an "mmmmmmm" that came all the way from his toes. All in all we had a great lunch and more than anything I realized that my little one isn't little anymore.

A Cut Above The Rest

As you can see we have officially welcomed summer with Cade's first big boy summer hair cut. I thought a lot about buzzing him and really wanted to deep down inside because I remember my little brother always having a buzz in the summer and looking sooooo cute. However, I was very hesitant to do it because I loved his hair and actually really liked combing it because it always made me feel like he was all put together. Well, we had one of our good friends cut Jareds hair the other night and by the end of the night Jared had talked me into buzzing Cade-os hair. I thought it would be a good idea because it is so warm here that when Cade is outside for more than 5 minutes his little cheeks get red and he starts to sweat. He loved having his hair buzzed. He giggled and giggled the whole time and thought it was so neat to see all the hair fall to the floor.
Well, it has taken some getting use to. He looks much older now but loves to walk around the house rubbing his head. I am also looking forward to him getting a little sun on his head because people stare at him as if he is a chemotherapy patient and say "what did you do to him!?" It has been a fun adventure, a very short adventure but he can pull it off.

Here are just a few shots of the park yesterday. A few friends of mine and I are going on a "park tour." There are 45 parks in our area so we have planned on going to a different one every week. It has been fun and the kids have loved the new playgrounds every week.

The Police Beat

In honor of my friend Candras birthday, which was yesterday by the way, I wanted to post something that reminds me of her and the good times we had in Rexburg, Idaho.

March 17-23 Rexburg Police Department had the following complaints...

• Lost children. Located when police arrived. Complaint of water balloons being thrown at pedestrians.
• Firework complaint.
• Complaint of rocks on roadway. Highway 20
• A student in dormitory called in to complain about students playing music and singing too loudly. The student reported that this has happened several times.
• A student driving a BYU-I box truck attempted to drive between two buildings and ran the truck into the awning connecting the buildings. When the student hit the awning he was thrown into the steering wheel of the truck and reported chest pain. The student was checked by EMT's and released. The damage is estimated at $10,000 to the awning and $6,000 to the truck. It was the student's first day driving the truck.

---BYU also has their fair of problems as well---

• A vending machine in the Taylor Building was damaged in an attempt to retrieve money from the machine Aug. 11. Neither money nor products from the machine were reported missing.
• A male student reported his car stolen from the parking lot next to the Student Athletic Building on Sept. 1. Upon investigation it was found the car was not stolen but borrowed by a friend.
• A building security officer was injured after biking down a grassy hill on campus. The officer did not see a bike rack at the end of the steep hill and ran into the rack. He suffered a broken wrist and elbow.

We would look forward to the Scroll being released so that we could find out what trouble the Rexburg natives had been up to. It is always difficult to have to deal with loud cows and messy potato fields. Love you Chandra and thank you for all the happy memories!!

What Does Love Mean?

I just got this email from my sister-in-law Melissa. I had seen a few of the responses before but some of the other ones cracked me up. Hopefully they will make you smile too. Thanks for the smile Melis!


What does Love mean?
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to
8 year-olds, "What does love mean?"
The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have
imagined. See what you think:

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint
her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands
got arthritis too. That's love."

Rebecca- age 8


"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4


"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne
and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5


"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French
fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6


"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4


"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip
before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7


"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of
kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.
My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8


"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening
presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7


"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend
who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6

(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)


"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it
everyday."
Noelle - age 7


"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still
friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6


"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked
at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.
He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."
Cindy - age 8


"My mommy loves me more than anybody
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."
Clare - age 6

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine-age 5

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is
handsomer than Robert Redford."
Chris - age 7

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone
all day."
Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old
clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little
stars come out of you." (what an image)
Karen - age 7


"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's
gross."
Mark - age 6


"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you
mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked
about a contest he was asked to judge.

The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.


The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an
elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.


Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's
yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor,
the little boy said,

"Nothing, I just helped him cry"

--Oh the innocence of a child. If we could all have the same outlook on life and love!

A Little Side Note

Just as a little clarification.... No I do not iron my sheets. I saw that once on Martha Stewart and I laughed, so no I am not that extreme. However, I do iron my duvet cover, not all the time mind you, but I do every once in while, which makes Jared laugh but makes me happy.