Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Oh Sue-Hannah!

My chocolate covered pretzel Hannah had a birthday.
I sure do love that girl and all the opportunities she gives me to learn and grow.

I made and printed her a book, "A Girl and Her Skirt" for her birthday and I love how it turned out. Since Scrapblog no longer exists, Mixbook is my new online scrapping choice. I really like how it turned out and Hannah has enjoyed reading it. (It works better if you click on the link, Grandma.)


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I also made her a little birthday scrapbook.  Love you Hannah loo!

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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Goodbye Ogden Temple

A reminiscence in memory of our favorite LDS temple. . .
When Mike proposed to me he blindfolded me and drove me around wildly (if we were both blindfolded this could be an accurate metaphor for how we raise children).

It was a snowy December 1st, 2001 and to me it sounded like we were driving on a sidewalk or a seamed road. It turned out that we were driving on the sidewalk above Weber State's library. Mike parked the car right there below the gym and where one of the steepest staircases at Weber used to lead down to the library and pulled me out of the car.

When he took my blindfold off we could see the Ogden valley glittering below us in the cold. We could see the library where we were first set up on a date*. We could see the banks of the pond where we first said "I love you," (and made out). And we could see the temple that we had decided to get married in. After Mike romantically pretended to push me down the hill in the snow, he got down on one knee and pulled out the ring. Oh! My beating heart. I crushed him in an embrace before he could even stand up or put the ring on.

I still remember the day we were married in the Ogden temple-- a feeling that I hold close like the softest of blankets-- Happiness was poured into me. It was a feeling of peace and absolute contentment and commitment to the man I love.

We liked the uniqueness of the Ogden temple. It was beautiful in a different sort of way. I'm a little sad that it's getting a makeover, but I'm glad we have such happy memories and that we were able to go and get some pictures with the girls there before the construction work began.


This is the fountain out front. The whole time Hannah and Kenzie jsut wanted to play in the water and rescue ladybugs.

Out front. Tons of families were there taking pictures and a lday offered to take this one for us. Mike and I are still kicking ourselves for not getting a pictures of just us.

At the fountain again.

In front of the temple. When we were married here the spire was orange, so it had a little "fire and cloud" symbolism.

A bench on the side of the temple where the married couple comes out after the ceremony.

The back of the temple.



The tabernacle is also undergoing some changes so we walked over there and took some pics too.

Mike really likes that scroll work that decorates the tabernacle.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Happy Birthday Mike

I've known this man for 10 years now. 10! And he's still as hot as ever. Happy Birthday! You're the best husband in the entire mongscong.

Things Mike is good at:
1. Wiring. Yeah, he's pretty wired.
2. Any sort of sport. He's good at everything he tries. Honestly, this man can do anything, including beat me in every race, even if he's coming off the couch and I'm coming off 6 months of intense training.
3. Being nice. Mike is so nice that birds follow him all around. Because just like me, they long to be, close to him. No really. He's a nice guy, and he always finishes first in my book.
4. Laughing. I love it when I can hear Mike laugh. I love making him laugh too.
5. Daddy-stuff. Mike is good at taking care of his girls. Just tonight he started sewing a patch on Ellie's pajamas, because he was afraid she would be cold if her toes poked out of the holes. (Yeah, these jammies have been through three girls and they're losing the battle.)
6. Husband-stuff. Right now, one of the best things Mike does is take care of the girls while I'm writing a story or off doing church-calling stuff, or out working out.
7. Fixing things. Mike hasn't met a polly pocket, a dishwasher, a laptop, a situation that he hasn't been able to fix.
8. Patience. Mike is a very patient man. He has four girls to take care of. 
9. Speaking Engineering and Doing Engineering. I'm not sure exactly what his work entails, but it's very elaborate and math-involved. And it involves airplanes. And aliasing. And large computer screens. Whenever he speaks of it I have to ask him to please dumb it down a bit. And Dilbert? That comic is written for him.
10. Drawing Homer, from The Simpsons. He has passed this particular talent on to Kenzie, who has adorned our driveway with chalk drawings of Homer ever since.

I made Mike take the day off work for his bday because I wanted to take him to Salt Lake to get some form-fitted ski boots, which he has wanted for-ev-er.
When Kenzie got home from school she asked me where Daddy's present was. I said, "Shhh! You can't tell him but I am going to take him to get some ski boots."  Of course, Kenzie walked right out to the couch and said, "I'm going to whisper what we're getting Daddy to Ellie." Mike was holding Ellie on his lap, and Kenzie's whispering skills are about as good as my cooking skills--sometimes I get it right, but othertimes it's a real doozy. Mike just laughed and said, "What?! You're taking me to get a ski boat?"  So that was the joke of the day.

After a Burger Bar lunch we dropped the girls off at Gmas and we headed to Black Diamond, where they were out of his size :(.   Oh well, that just means we have to have another date!
That night we invited Mike's family and my parents over for some cake and ice cream. Except I forgot to buy ice cream, so it was just cake--the perfect cake for Mike. We call it "Better than Ezra" cake, you know that kind that you pour caramel over chocolate cake and then put whip cream on top with pieces of Heath candy bar.   

Holding a card from my parents.

That night we sang to Hannah and let her open a few presents too, since her birthday was coming in two days. Here is Mike, holding Hannah and a book that I made for her.

Look, doesn't my arm make a nice window?