Charlie bit my finger!!

A friend of mine had this on her blog and my girls and I have been laughing all day about it....I had to share.

Chris's B-day

There are exactly 27 days in the year that Chris is three years younger than me and it is a miserable 27 days for me because he loves to make sure everyone knows it!! Well, he is now only 2 years younger than me and I am going to tell you why the day he was born was the best day of my life. (He always says that I am sooooo lucky because he saved me from becoming an old maid....how sweet of him, I had no hope of marriage with out him.....ha ha) This is going to be very long and extremely indulgent.....just a warning.

1. The first thing I noticed about him when I first met him and the thing I love to this day is that he is REAL. He doesn't put on airs or pretence. What you see is what you get, flaws and all and he doesn't' have pride or feel a need to one up anyone. He always trys very hard to build up and complement those around him and never feels a need to make sure they think he is anything special. I love this sooooo much. It is one of the things that makes me crazy in love with him.....the way he doesn't need worldly accolades, position or prestige is just amazing to me.

2. He is full of light. I knew this early on and after 15 years of marriage it is more than ever. His smile and joy in life brightens any room or group we are with. There is always joy and happiness when he is around. Laughter comes so easy and it is straight from the belly with him. I have had 15 years of laughing, laughing and more laughing. He finds joy in everything and creates it for those he loves. I am so lucky to be the recipient of it all. Just tonight I had taken the 2 older girls to piano lessons and when we walked in the door all I could hear is laughter.....we went into the bedroom and there on the bed was Chris, Elle and Ava tickling and all laughing their heads off.....I love that sound and I feel blessed that I hear it often.

3. He is deep, thoughtful, self reflective and very smart. Because he is quick to laughter I think he is often underestimated. Often people will say to me....Oh your husband is that surfer dude guy??? His blond hair and easy manner make him seem to others to be a laid back, surfer type. I smile and think in my mind...yes he is that really good looking guy with a bachelors, masters and doctorate degree. He spends endless hours voraciously reading anything that will make him a better man. I have watched him devour a 700 page book on Gandhi and study all the works of C.S. Lewis in no time. I have never seen him without a book that he is currently reading and he has hundreds of notebooks (now computer files) full of notes that he takes along the way.....he is a student of life.

4. He is deeply spiritual. This is a man who has made a study of the gospel his life mission. He has worked out for at least an hour everyday for the past 10 years and he is always on the weight machines or treadmill with scripture memorization cards, his scriptures, or downloaded church talks. I mean it.....10 years, I have never seen him at the gym without a gospel centered study item in hand. He gets razzed a little about this by some friends (you know who you are)....I will say no more. He is constantly pursuing a knowledge of how to be a better man, husband and father. It is so evident to me as I have watched his personal growth over the years and feel a deep admiration for who he has become. He is painfully aware of his flaws and is on a mission to be better. I love him so much for this.

5. He is driven. Chris will never give up on a goal. If he has set his mind to something he will give every last breath to accomplish it. He is always prayerful and willing to change the goal if there comes a time when it isn't right for him or our family but he will work harder than anyone else if there is something to be done. I have watched him work 2 jobs, start and run a business, get a doctorate degree at night, study mandarin Chinese, run marathons and still make sure he is spending lots of quality time with his kids, all at the same time. He runs circles around me on a daily basis. I watch him with absolute awe and amazement all the time.

6. He is the dearest, kindest and best husband. When I think of all that he is, does, and accomplishes I feel so inadequate.....I am no where as good or great as him. I feel as though I am the weak link but he makes me feel as though I am jewel to be treasured. He never says an unkind or critical word to me. Over the years he has grown into such a dear man that words cannot describe how I feel about his goodness to me. He builds me up and encourages any desire, venture or idea that I have. He is patient with my faults and never points them out in any way. The other day as we were laying in bed he said "Gale, you have no faults, I just can't think of any" I rolled over and in the darkness tears rolled down my cheeks because I am so grateful for a man who is either very blind or very very good. He chooses to see only positive in me though I am such a piece of work.

7. He is an amazing father. When we first graduated from collage and he began looking for employment the only stipulation on the type of work he would do was...."I have to have a job that will allow me time with my children....I never want to miss a school play or soccer game" He has made good on that and his career path has always allowed him to be a "Father First". His girls are his life. All he thinks of, dreams of, and works toward is making a great life for them and our family. He kneels in prayer every night and seeks for guidance as to how to be a better father to them. I am so grateful for the fact that his heart is rooted in the gospel and because of that his priorities are a no brainer for him. We are his life.

8. He is extremely sexy. Yes I said it. I after 15 years of marriage still get knots in my stomach when I see him walk in a room. I really thought that all this infatuation was supposed to have worn off after 15 years but I can't help it. He is one good looking sexy man. What more can I say.

There is so much more I could say but I am very aware that I am getting cheesy.....this is one of my faults!!! Sweetie, Happy Birthday. We all love you so much and are so happy that you were born.......that day has made our lives so sweet.

Ski Pictures!

I thought I better add some pictures from the ski day!!

Elle and I had a great time skiing together
Chris with Rachael, Chloe, Olivia and ElleThe Allreds and the Orgills

Colorado!!

We just got home from an awesome weekend in Colorado. Our Great friends the Allreds invited us last minute to come to visit them and stay at their cabin in Silverthorn with the Orgills. We decided on Monday and we left on Thursday night. We had the best time! We loved reconnecting with our friends. They used to live in Oklahoma (he did his orthopedic residency here) and we consider them some of our dearest friends. Our girls just love their kids and they loved getting to know each other again. I think we spent the whole weekend laughing!!

Elle and Reilly playing games


Paris, Chloe, Olivia and Savannah in the hot tub.

Ava and Madeline

Lori with Elle and Madeline
Is it just me or are her eyes the same color as this light green blanket....so pretty!

Darin Lori and Ava!

Elle and I

The 5 big girls (I guess I should say "Older" girls)

Chris and I spent lots of time reading!

Elle gets her hair cut

Elle's best friend got her hair cut last week. Ella (Elle's best friend) had very long hair and she cut it really short. Well of course Elle had to follow her and begged me to cut her hair. I acquiesced and cut it to her shoulders. She is such a cutie it looks good long or short.

Sorry!

Sorry, I don't know how to post a music or mp3 file on this blog so if you want to hear the song Chloe and Olivia recorded you will have to email me and I will send you the file. They did a great job on the song. We are headed back to the studio today to record song number 2. They are on cloud nine and feel so lucky to be able to do this.

Chloe and Olivia Recording!

Today was such a fun day. After school I picked up Chloe and Olivia and we headed to the recording studio. The girls are recording one of the songs Chloe has written.

2 things of note: 1. It was so amazing to listen to my 10 and 12 year old sing, do harmonies, and rock out in the studio. They did such a great job. What talent they have.

2. How cool it was for Chloe to see to completion a song she has written. We all left on a high as it was so exciting to see this song we have heard in our living room on the piano form into this great pop song. Olivia has started writing some amazing songs also and it is only time before hers are ready to put to tape. It was such a fun day. I will post the song when it is mixed and completed.

This picture is bad because I forgot my camera so I took this on my phone and my phone died just as Olivia went in to sing her part......sorry Olivia!

I'm in business!!

I am cracking up....(laughing, not loosing my mind) Ok, if you have read Chris's funny blog then you know that he and I LOVE postum. It is the best way to end the day and we have made it an art form of heavenly goodness. I really feel we have perfected making the most delicious cup of postum EVER. (if anyone wants the recipe just email me). Well, just before Christmas we went to buy some and there wasn't any at the store, so we tried another store and another until we discovered that on Dec 17th it was discontinued. We were sooooooooo sad. Well, as Chris mentioned in his post we found a new top secret supplier. So my supplier and I decided to try an experiment.......sell postum on Ebay. Yes yesterday we sold our first batch for $125.00. I guess it just goes to show that a postum lover will not go without their postum even if it means breaking the bank!! Just such a funny day!

A quick Christmas glimpse

Our life has been so full and busy I haven't had time to post about our Christmas. With just a little bit of time today I will give a brief synopsis.

Pre-Christmas school plays and parties

Elle Performing in her school Christmas play

Olivia as Rosie (the lead) in her school play

Olivia with her teacher (the best) at her school Christmas party

It was a fun day for all of us!

My Birthday. We woke up early and went to I-hop.....no chance to do our hair or shower but who cares....we had a great time! Movies, food, presents...it was a great day!!

Christmas Eve, Honey Orange glazed Cornish hens with raspberry sauce by candlelight...yum yum.

Of course we acted out the Nativity!

New Jammies, Read the night before Christmas and off to bed!

We spent the rest of the week bowling, playing games, seeing movies and just being together!!

New Years eve is always a highlight for us....we have our traditional fondue dinner and invite friends. We all got to bed around 2am......oh Ava was grouchy the next day!!







It was a wonderful Holiday season.....The best part was just being together as a family. We loved every minute of it.