Monthly Archive

Ahhh, the middle of August.  Summer and hot temps aren’t going to last too much longer, BYU football and hunting are just around the corner, but best of all around our house is that we get to celebrate not zero, not one but TWO birthdays within a week of each other!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BriAnne!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY Katelyn! Yes sirs and ma’am’s, this is mine and Ethan’s time to honor the births of the sweet ladies in our lives. Whatever would we do without them?  Well, half of our family wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for BriAnne giving birth to them, that’s kind of a big one. It really is hard to imagine my life without BriAnne, so rather than dwell on that I will share a small sample of the great things my sweet wife has brought into my life:

 1) I can’t look at BriAnne without seeing an almost perfect example of pure, Christlike love. Honestly, there is NOT ONE selfish bone in her body. Not even one. Not even a half of one. If someone somewhere is in need and she finds out about it, she’ll do whatever she can and more than she can to help. She’s a blessing to everyone who knows her, but no one is more blessed to have her in their life than I am.
2) BriAnne absolutely positively without any shadow of any kind of doubt, loves with her whole heart.
3) BriAnne is not only the perfect wife for me, but is the perfect mother as well. Sure, she might get a little frustrated every now and then when the kids go crazy (see post “Inquisitive Katelyn” below…) but she handles it well and is waaaay more patient than even the above average parent would be. Our kids are crazy about their mommy and will never, ever have to wonder how their mom feels about them.
4) In fact, Ethan has this to contribute: “Mama, goidey goidey baa wooh ha oohh [inexplicable]!” I believe he is saying “Mommy, your the best and I love you!”

And Without Katelyn, well, life would be quite boring around our house.  And condo complex. And primary. And…you get the idea. She is absolutely full of life and is the happiest little kid I know. She is a wonderful daughter who we are very proud of!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU TWO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This just in: The Guiness Book of World Records just called…they let us know that Katelyn has officially asked “why” and “how” and “how come” more than any other person in the history of Earth.  Congrats Katelyn! Seriously, I’m sure we were all the same way when we were going on 4, and we are incredibly happy that she is so curious and wants to know everything about everything, but wow, it sure does get a tad bit crazy. For example, I was talking on the phone with Clayton tonight about his upcoming knee surgery and here is a sample of the battery of questions I was presented with after hanging up the phone:

Katelyn: “who was that dad?”
me: “I was just talking to Clayton.”
Katelyn: “Are we going to go and get a drink with Clayton and Lauren and H~?”
me: “no, not today.  Clayton hurt his knee at work and has to use crutches like daddy did a few weeks ago”
Katelyn: “Is his knee bloody?”
me: “No, it’s just hurt on the inside.”
Katelyn: “Are we going to go with Clayton and Lauren and H~ to the hospital?”
“Are both of Clayton’s knees hurt?”
“Did Clayton cry when he got hurt like I cried when the little [neighbor] boy pushed me down?”
“Does he have to have an operation like Ethan did on his eye?”
“Can you get me some chocolate milk and crackers?”
“How did Clayton get hurt?”
Me: “I believe he got hurt saving a coworker’s life.”
“Will his knee get better soon?”
“Why did Clayton get hurt?”
“What are Clayton’s crutches names?”
….and on and on, all within about the first 30 seconds of hanging up the phone.

No, you may not have really won a world record in asking questions Katelyn, but you sure win the gold for being cute!

Just a quick update to let everyone know that our kids are as cute and fun as ever, and growing up far too quickly. Katelyn starts preschool in a few short weeks at a place in Pleasant Grove that came highly recommended by family. She has also informed us that she is finally ready to take a dance class, and that she won’t change her mind again when she walks in the door for her first lesson (actually, I think she’s done that twice now). It’s just mind boggling to her daddy…it seems like she was just born, just barely born, and boom. Before I know it my little girl is “busy”. Little Ethan starts Nursery this Sunday.  Crazy. BriAnne and I traded off sitting with him last sunday for his nursery orientation so that he can acclamate with his new surroundings. He did very well, but I have to say I’m very glad I’m not a nursery worker. With something like a dozen kids in there for two hours, odds are there is going to be some pooping going on at any given time. During my hour in there with Ethan, the air was so thick that I felt somewhat nautious on a few occasions. When I thought it couldn’t get any worse than dealing with other kids’ smells, Ethan dropped a load that smelled far worse than all the other kids combined. Anyway, my hat goes off to you valiant nursery workers out there…there are choice blessings in heaven awaiting you.  Ethan is also doing all the other little boy things that get done by little boys, such as covering himself with mud if he can find half an inch of dirt and water, eating small rocks, plants, and all of the ants he can find around the house, etc, etc. Though we discourage him from such activity, he must be getting some amount of nutrition from all that stuff because he keeps growing and seems quite healthy. I guess we’ll look on the bright side and enjoy our ant free abode!