We finally celebrated Kyle’s 16 birthday. We gave him his present as he left school yesterday. Many of his friends were there to enjoy cupcakes and cookies. We’ve been building this car since April 2008. Yes, it’s a bit much for a 16 year-old. But, Kyle’s a good kid. I’ve always taught him that you get rewarded in this life based on your work. He works very hard and I couldn’t be happier with his efforts. As a Sophomore, he has AP Biology, AP European history and 4 more honors courses. He carries a 4.something GPA. (I know, us oldies are skeptical of GPAs better than the perfect 4.0; but they now add points for AP and honors classes). He’s finishing his Eagle now, and can’t drive until he does. He just killed the PSAT and prep ACT and is now getting emails from some great Universities; like 5 per day. So, it’s a cool gift, and he deserves it. Happy late Birthday Kyle. We love you.

Happy Birthday Elliot!

To celebrate Elliot’s 34th birthday I thought I’d list 25 reasons why I love my sweet husband, so here they are:
1- He completes me. I know that sounds cliché but I truly believe that I could not reach my full potential in life without him.
2- He writes me beautiful poetry. I would share them with you but they are too personal.
3- He has an awesome sense of humor!
4- He is more handsome today than ever before (don’t be jealous ladies).
5- He is an excellent chef. Considering that cooking is a chore to me this helps out tremendously.
6- He’s my best friend.
7- He has a photographic memory.
8- He’s very optimistic.
9- He’s extremely opinionated and he doesn’t sit on the fence of any issue. He’s also not afraid to voice his opinions, see #18.
10- He’s confident, not conceited. Yes, there is a difference.
11- He is an amazing father. Elliot is the only man I know whose hobby is his family. He would rather be hanging around with us than doing anything else in the world.
12- He’s totally selfless. Elliot got up at 4:30 in the morning just to get his workout in before he drove the kids to seminary and school so that when he got home from work he could spend that time with the family.
13- He’s a hard worker and he’s teaching our kids to be industrious also. Elliot finished BYU in less than 3 years while having three kids and providing for us. I don’t think people realize he took 21 credit hours for three straight semesters and 24 credit hours his last semester and he graduated with a 3.9 GPA.
14- He’s a very determined and driven man and heaven help the person who tries to get in his way!
15- He’s a natural born leader.
16- He’s never been beat in an arm wrestle. I won’t even tell you how much he bench presses (350+) but I am proud to say that Kyle is well on his way to being the first one to beat him.
17- He loves to practice cheer moves with the girls in the pool. It takes a real man to participate in cheerleading. Okay, I confess he just holds them up to practice their flying skills, he doesn’t actually do cheers or dance moves.
18- He couldn’t give a hoot what people think or say about him! See #’s 9&10.
19- He is extremely loyal and he always thinks the best of others.
20- He won’t skip church ever and he always goes above and beyond in his callings.
21- He loves to talk which is totally the opposite of me. I’m always dragging him out of places because I’m bored and he’s the center of attention.
22- He’s very forgiving which considering he’s married to me is a really good thing!
23- He’s very receptive to promptings of the Spirit and he follows those promptings, even when it means going tracting to someone’s door when they have a huge Rottweiler guarding their front gate.
24- He loves to serve others and always does so with a glad heart and kind spirit.
25- He loves me absolutely unconditionally.

I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface of everything I love about Elliot. So now I’d like to ask you all a small favor and leave a brief comment about what you like or admire about Elliot. Not that he needs it of course (see #10) but I just thought it would be nice!

Happy 34th Sweetie and I look forward to the next 50+ years with you!