15 Years Down, Eternity To Go!

So this past weekend was Roberts and my 15th wedding anniversary. And how did we celebrate it? At the hospital with Faith and home with sick kids. Isn't real life wonderful. What a better way to spend an anniversary though doing the things you do all throughout your marriage! So with all the sleep deprivation and sickness we totally forgot to even celebrate it at all! This was the first time in 15 years that has happened and I have been thinking for months of things to do for this day. How pathetic! I plan to take him out tonight to make up for it though.

So in order to celebrate here are 15 things I love about Robert:
1. He is always very loving to me.
2. He works extremely hard to provide for our family.
3. He is always willing to help anyone out that needs it.
4. He is always willing to help out with the cleaning or anything I need at home.
5. He is always concerned about how I am feeling.
6. He loves being with me.
7. He listens to all my complains.
8. He likes to have fun.
9. He is very tuned into my feelings.
10. He puts up with all my moods.
11. He gives up his plans to go along with what I want.
12. He wants to teach our children strong values.
13. He supports me in my goals and aspirations.
14. He always knows when I just need to have an ice cream break.
15. He loves me and isn't afraid to show it.

Robert I love you so much and am so glad I get to spend my life and eternity with you. Thank you for all you do dor us!
Robert and I while we were dating (1993) Robert and I on our wedding day (1994)

Robert and I in 2006

Robert and I 2009

An Amazing Weekend!

This has been a great weekend full of some fun expressions of love for each other. It started out on Friday with Little Learner Preschools Valentines Day party. We had fun playing games, making cards, eating snacks, and checking out the Valentine's our friends gave us.Throughout the past few weeks, members of the family made Valentine's for each other and we hang them in the doorway for all to see. It was fun to see all the fun Valentine's everyone made. So after the party and lunch, it was time to quickly clean up the house and pack up the family for the night. The kids were going to spend the night with our amazing and dear friends the Ortons so Robert and I could get away for the night. Tyler was going to spend the night at a friends house so she bounced between the Orton's and her friends house. Shortly before it was time to leave the boys came running in the house saying someone was here. It was a delivering woman with a 1/2 dozen red roses and this beautiful sign from Robert. He had also given me a dozen yellow roses that morning. So I combined all the roses for this beautiful bouquet. I felt so spoiled!So then we dropped off the kids and went to our dinner reservations at the Mona Lisa. We have been wanting to try out this restaurant for years, but never had the money or took the time to do it. It was wonderful! The experience was amazing and the food delicious. It will probably be a really long time before we ever make it back, but it was worth the money. All I can say is thank you tax returns!Next we headed to the Anniversary Inn in Boise for the night. We stayed in the Enchanted Forest room. It was a very quaint room with trees throughout the room and a beautiful rock tub and shower.

We had a wonderful evening just enjoying the time together. With Robert's work schedule we have so little time together and we decided it was time to just take the time for us. I am so glad we did. We decided that this was our Valentine's gift as well as our anniversary gift to each other this year. Our anniversary is this summer and we will be married for 15 years. Wow that seems crazy! I am so glad for all the time Robert and I have had together throughout the years. I love Robert so much!

So this morning we took our time getting up (which we never get to do) had a great breakfast and then headed to the temple to so some sealings with our friends the Ortons. It was a great end to our date!

When we got home we made a special Valentines dinner for the family (Thanks Tanya for the idea!). We had individual heart shaped meatloaves, with heart shaped bread, mashed potatoes and salad. We then opened up our Valentine's to each other and watched a movie. It was a great weekend!

I just want to let my family know how much I love them! This is such a wonderful time to celebrate the love we have for each other!

How We Met

I submitted the story of how Robert and I met to a great website on Strengthening Marriage. They Will take all the submission and make them eligible for a night at the Anniversary Inn. That was plenty of incentive for me to submit. So our story was posted on the site today and if you want to know a little more about Robert and I, go check it out!

Special Delivery

So I have been racking my brain since I started this challenge for who to give flowers to. There are so many deserving people that I know that I just kept rolling through names in my mind. I really wanted it to be someone who could really use it but the problem with that is who doesn't need a friend to drop off flowers for them. So I knew I needed to deliver them this morning when a friend named Jody popped into my head. She is the stay at home mother of 4 wonderful children. Over Christmas vacation they went to visit family and then came home and moved. I wanted to help them move, but by the time I knew they were home, the move was finished. I figured after all that work flowers would be nice.

So I dropped them off about a half hour ago. When I pulled up her husband was bring a strip of ripped up carpet out to put in a trailer. He called for her to let her know she had company and she called back that she couldn't come so I left the flowers with him. Obviously she was knee deep in ripping out carpet, she did need something to brighten her day. As a sat down to write this she called to say how that was exactly what she needed today. Isn't it great how when we listen to the spirit he will guide our actions. This was a great challenge and I am ready for next weeks (as soon as I figure out what it will be). Enjoy today!

P.S. Apparently I wasn't the only one in my family thinking about flowers lately. This is what I found on the seat of my car when I got out of the temple last night. What a great husband I have! Even when he is so busy working he still has time to think about things to do for me.

Christmas Get Together

With Robert working so much, we were unable to get together with family for any holidays this year. While it was nice to have some low key holidays with the kids, we sure missed the families. So when I read on my friends Emily's blog about how they got together with her husband's family for Thanksgiving by meeting in the middle of where they live, it was a great solution.

So on Tuesday I loaded up the kids and met my family in Twin Falls for the day. We first went out to lunch and walked around some stores. Then we went bowling. Jesse, Britain, and Faith were on one lane while Tyler, my sister Kassie, and I were on the other. My parents decided to be the cheering section. It was crazy for me jumping back and forth between bowling for myself and helping Faith (who only wanted mom to help) while also making sure Jesse was in check. However it was a lot of fun. Faith was able to use a ramp that helped her to get enough momentum for the ball to get all the way down the lane. Jesse was the big winner for the day with 121 points. He was very proud of himself.

We then were heading to a museum when we noticed that my mom's brake lights weren't working (it took me almost rear ending her before I realized it). They decided they better head home before dark so they could get their lights fixed. We headed home to and got home just after Robert got off work. Robert informed me that we were going out and so after being in the car all day we headed out again.

We ran some errands and then went out to dinner. First we tried Texas Roadhouse which Robert has been wanted to go back to for awhile, but they had a big wait time. So we went to Outback. While we were waiting we saw our friends the Mayes. They weren't sure if they wanted to wait so we added them to our table and had a great dinner together. Then it was nice to head home, do some exercise, and rest for the evening.

Rappellin'

It's hard to see, but this is Robert rappelling in his favorite style, Aussie style, which is going face forward!

Robert took the elders quorum rappelling this past Saturday. Unfortunately it was a back weekend and only a few brethren could make it. Robert was set on me joining him. I have not rappelled since we were dating. At that point I was 15 years younger and a lot thinner. Needless to say I wasn't that excited about going.

So knowing none of the other wives were going to make it, I took my time going to the temple before heading to Black Cliffs. After resting from the hike to the bottom of the cliffs, we headed up the cliff to rappel down. It had been so long that I forgot how to do everything. I finally headed down and was pretty nervous doing so. However, I made it and went down a few more times before it was time to go. We will have to go again sooner that 15 years so I can do it without freaking next time!

Robert heading down Aussie style.

Home Renovations

There are several things around our house that need fixed and upgraded. Robert decided it was time to work on two of them so he talked with some friends with the knowledge and got to work. First Robert and I went and picked out a fan and light to go in the living room. Since it clashed with the old dining room chandelier we decided to get an updated chandelier that would match the fan. By the time we were done we ended up getting new fixtures for all the rooms in the house except the bathrooms and kitchen. Our friend Terry Tucker came to install all of the lights. As he was getting ready to install the fan, he realized that it would hang to low to be safe. So I headed to Lowe's to return the fan and get a new one. I could not find a fan that met all the criteria that Robert had as well as matching the new chandelier. So I headed over to Home Depot and tried again. I found one fan that would work if I changed out the glass, but when I checked with an associate he said that the motor on the fan was huge and would hang down quite low as well. He helped me find a fan that would be close, but not quite match. I needed to buy new glass for it and then hurried home so we could get it installed.

Terry worked really hard to get the fan in and it looks great! He was also working on installing a new outlet in the garage to plug in the garage opener. This will make it so we don't have to run an extension cord all over the garage to have the garage opener work!
Next he headed off to change out the chandelier. It was nice to move out of the 80's and into the 21st century!
Then Terry replaced all the fixtures in the family room, hall, and bedroom. The family room, halls, and boys room all have the antique bronze fixture.

The girls room and the master bedroom have the brushed nickel fixture (we couldn't find any more of the bronze).

The other project we needed to do was to redo the master bath shower. Robert met with our friend Jeff Miller to find out what we need to do to start the demolition phase of the long process. Robert started tearing out the shower and sheet rock Friday before work and then continued late Friday night after work. He worked until about one in the morning and then was up at 6:00 this morning so he could get all his supplies to work with Jeff today. Britain was very excited to be able to help Robert during the demolition of the shower. He had the job of taking out the nails.

When Robert tore out the sheet rock he found the the wall was not insulated and so he ended up insulating the shower before putting up the concrete board. After the insulation they put up vapor barrier to help protect the walls.

Robert and Jeff worked hard to get the concrete board up in preparation for the tile. Rob ended up being late for work so he could help Jeff finish. This means that he will work until midnight tonight to make up the time.

Now the concrete board is up and waiting for Robert and I to go pick up the tile. It will be fun to pick out some beautiful tile to transform our bathroom (and make it so it can be used). I am excited to see how it will turn out!

I am so thankful for Jeff and Terry who spent their day helping our family to improve our home. They are great men who are very caring. Terry's help today was on top of his rescuing Robert on Thursday night when his truck broke down on the way to the temple. I am so grateful that we have the opportunity to associate with these great men! I am also so thankful for Robert. He is such a great husband who sacrifices so much for our family. He gives up sleep, time with us, relaxation time, and so much more to work two jobs just to make it so I can be home with the kids. Then he takes on additional work around the house that causes him to give up even more. I love my husband so much for all he does for us!

Sweet Hour of Prayer

On Sunday night Robert and I went to the Boise Institute's Unison choir's performance of Sweet Hour of Prayer. This was such a great time together. The music was so uplifting with remarkable thought provoking narration. For Easter I had taken Tyler and Britain to hear them sing at the temple during a morning devotional. This was a wonderfully inspiring time with the children and it was great to have a similar experience with Robert. It was wonderful to listen to a program that was dedicated to prayer and our relationship with our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the opportunity we have to daily commune with our Father and to have His daily influence in our lives.

Jesse's Blog: My Family

I like my family. I want to play the bass like my brother Britain. I like my sister Tyler, she plays the cello. I like my mom, she teaches children. I like my daddy, he goes to work. I like Faith, she is a baby.

Chili Cook-off

Last night was our ward's chili cook-off. Robert has been anticipating this event for weeks! He decided he wanted to experiment to see if he could get the hottest chili. He made a batch a couple of weeks ago and wasn't satisfied with how hot it was, so with the batch for the cook-off he made it even hotter. He accomplished his goal by being awarded the hottest chili award (an oven mitt). After eating, we were treated to some skits from different ward members. Everyone did a great job. Jesse was in a skit with the cub scouts and I was very proud of how well he behaved on stage. Tyler also was in a skit with the young women and they did an excellent job. It was great to see the lighter side of the ward.