Liquid GOLD!

Have you ever wondered what liquid gold looks like. Well, my friends, take a gander at the little beauties above and fill your eyes with an absolutely breath taking view.

I canned peaches for my very first time and while I didn't find it to be much cheaper, I took pleasure in 2 things: I learned a new skill that was actually really fun in a self-satisfying way and after Jason had his first taste he declared, "Oh honey, I don't think you made enough....these won't last a week at our house!"

I have to admit that I am keeping a tight reign on how often we are allowed to open a bottle of peaches, I am hoping these things are going to last us until the millennium. It's true that every time a bottle is opened I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Just knowing that I am 1 more bottle down for all my hard work....it's right up there with all those sick things like spilling freshly pumped breast milk.

*Go ahead and shudder, I know you want to*

Yeah, but can your 3 yr old do this?!?!?!

A couple of months ago Dallin learned how to ride a bike without training wheels. I couldn't believe it. I helped him 2 different times to practice riding and on the 2nd time he was yelling at me to let him go....I figured that he would crash and burn and that would be the end of his independence, but to my utter amazement....he rode away from me and turned around and rode back. I went right in and called Jason.

Jason: Hello?

Jen: Hey hon, I just had to apologize but I accidentally taught Dallin how to ride a bike.....

I figured that this was something that Jason would want to teach Dallin and somehow I had taken that away from him.

Jason: Yeah, it's something I would have liked to do with him, but I understand....there's just no holding that kid back!

Ain't that the truth!

Surprise, surprise!!!

Sung to the tune of "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree"

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Jason bought a boat and it's in our drivew-ee.

We've been out on our boat everyday we see the sun,

Wakeboarding and skiing is sure a lot of fun!!!

For the past year, Jason has been researching boats and watching Craigs list. Last spring he started ground on creating his own company called Wakeshares (basically ski boat time shares but for really nice ski boats. :) And when that didn't happen he has been dying to get his own boat. All along I was firm on...."No, we are not getting a boat. Our kids are too little and we don't have a permanent place to live yet." Nevertheless, Jason was persistant in finding something that would work for us. He became so obsessed that every other word out of his mouth (for the past 6 months) was either: boat or wakeboarding.

I do have to admit that on especially sunny days as we would pass the Lake as we drove in that car I would think to myself, "It would be so fun to have a boat!" But, then I would remind myself..."Get a grip girl, do not let your guard down for 1 minute."

Well, it happened a couple weeks ago that Jason found this little gem of a ski boat.....in San Francisco. He sent his brother Jeremy to look at it with a check list of about 50+ things to look at. Jeremy and his family took the boat out on the water, drove it around and gave Jason a big thumbs up. It was then that I had a moment of weakness. After talking to Jeremy, seeing all the pictures they took that I said...."Hmmm, it is kindof a cute boat......" Jason looked at me and was ever so hopeful. "OH, ALRIGHT! You better call the guy right NOW and make a deal before I change my mind in the next 5 minutes." Which he promptly did....and voile! We had ourselves a boat. The only problem was that we were here and the boat was in California. Minor details. Jason spent the next 4 days driving down to get the boat and back home. Crazy boy.

But, I do have to admit. We are LOVING it! The only thing I can say about my moment of weakness was "WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG!"

This is our first evening out on Lake Sammamish. And this is what I loved so much about having a boat growing up. We were always eating pizza on the boat and after we would each take a couple ski rides. Now the legacy lives on. :)

I always thought the kids were too little to enjoy being in the boat and out on the water but they are really loving it. And they get braver and braver every time we go out....which is everyday the sun in shining....no joke!

O Canada! continued...

I know I left everyone hangin' on that last entry but I want you all to know that everything worked out and Jason was able to come back into the US. It did have me worried though, I kept imagining him being denied as we got on the ferry back to the States and I was going to have to run home and get his birth certificate and drive back to the border or apply for an expedited/renewed passport as he sat in a hotel in a different country all alone. Believe me, my imagination ran wild with all different scenarios. You may think, why didn't you just contact the US Embassy and get things straightened out so you didn't have to brew about it your whole vacation....well, little did we know that the next day, July 1st, was CANADA DAY!!!! And nobody was working....and the next day nobody was working either.....and the next day, was the day before our US Independence Day and nobody was working and the next day, July 4th.....yep, you guessed it nobody was working. Those darn workers at the US Consulate in Victoria, they were double dippin' in both Independence Day pots and so ....we didn't or I should say we couldn't contact them.

Our hotel was amazing! It was a 2 bedroom suite with a kitchen that had a double balcony that opened up right over the main harbor in Victoria. (I found a guy in CA desperate to sell his time share because they were no longer going to be able to use it and so we got a great deal.) It was perfect for watching all the seaplanes and for watching all the great fireworks on Canada Day. Above is a picture of us standing in front of the harbor, a little ways down from our hotel. Behind us is the famous Empress Hotel.

We spent the first evening walking around the city and getting acquainted with some of the famous buildings right around the harbor. The picture above it a life-sized cut out of famous people from Canada. You can go and stand behind it and have your picture taken. Do you see my parents and our kids? ;)
This was a park filled with a whole bunch of totem poles we played around here while we were waiting to get into The Old Spaghetti Factory which has been a favorite since I was a little kid. Once we found out Victoria had a Spaghetti Factory there was NO question where we would dine tonight.
As we walked back to the hotel, the Parliament Building lit up. Come to find out the light the whole building up every night. It was really cool!

The next day we took a city tour on a double decker bus. There's just a bit of British influence here. :) It was fun and we got to see a bunch of stuff and hear interesting facts that we wouldn't normally have learned had we just gone off to see the stuff ourselves.

Then we went and took a tour through Craigdarroch Castle. It was really interesting, but our kids were getting a little tired by this point and they were running through the rooms and trying to get away from us. This is me, holding Dallin in a vice-grip trying to get him to hold still for a picture. Needless to say, we didn't fully get to read about each room and a lot of the history we found out later as we read through the brochure while waiting for the bus. That afternoon we went to Butchard Gardens. My Dad said that he wasn't all that excited to go see some gardens (Jason felt the same way) but they were amazed and glad they had gone by the end of the trip. The kids even had fun, because there was a lot of winding paths and little streams for them to play around. This garden was my favorite. It is called Sunken Gardens.

Even though this picture didn't show much of the gardens, I thought it was a cute picture of my parents.

Dallin found his favorite part in the Japanese Gardens....

It was Jason's favorite part too. :)

The gang hangin' 10 in the Italian Gardens....

Dallin decided to feed Thatcher some of his muffin...

The next day was by far the most fun. See, the great thing about going on vacation with your parents is that if you want to do something that the kids can't do, then they stay with Grandma and Grandpa. :) Jason and I went on a huge zip line in the morning while my parents watched the kids and then that afternoon my parents went on the zip line while Jason and I watched the kids. It worked out perfect and it was SO much fun!

And then by the time we got home, we needed a vacation from our vacation.

O Canada!

Since my parents were already up here to watch Dallin and Thatcher while Jason and I went to Youth Conference we decided that we would all take the next week off as well and go to Victoria B.C. It was so much fun. We have lived here for 4 years now and this was the first time we had been to Canada. First of all we rented a minivan so we could all ride in the same car together and then we drove up to Anacortes and took a ferry through the San Juan Islands before landing on Vancouver Island.

It was about this time here, while we were driving off the ferry our first 50 feet on Canadian soil, that Jason looked at his passport and said....."Holy Cow! My passport expired 6 months ago!" Now, for all of you thinking that my Jason is a big joke-ster....um no....this was no joke. I was sick. Here we had planned this whole vacation and made alot of reservations and I was thinking they would probably turn us right around on the ferry and send us home. You would think getting into Canada with an expired American passport is tricky but the guy at customs assured us it was A-OK. Just as we all breathed a sign of relief thinking that our trip was going to still be fantastic, Jason asked if it was going to give us trouble getting back into the United States. "Uh, you might have a problem there...." the customs agent said, at which time our hearts all re-constricted and doom sat upon our shoulders.

To be continued.....

Babies babies....and still more babies.

Dallin has been "talking babies" at our house quite a bit lately. We went and saw our good friends Spencer and Kathie Arneson who had just brought home their new little girl and Dallin was enamored.

When we got home later that evening Dallin said, "Mommy, lets bring home 3 babies to our house too." Meaning Dallin, Thatcher and new baby = 3.

"Is that a plan?" he asks.

"Yes, that sounds like a great plan to me," I answered.

"And lets have a sister baby!"

and then out pops this little gem

"I won't hit her mommy!"

Just so you know, Dallin, I am holding you to this. ;)

This perception has actually gotten alot better, he used to ask me if we could bring home another baby to our house and name it Thatcher too. Then we could have 2 Thatcher babies!! "Is that a plan, mommy?" We are forever making plans....

Youth Conference 2008!

Jason and I were in charge of our ward Youth Conference this year and even though it was a lot of work we had a blast.

This is the cabin were we stayed near Leavenworth Washington. It was gorgeous....I thought it was funny because the owners, John and Hollie Hansen, kept telling everyone not to get their hopes up because their cabin was only 1 step above the uni bomber cabin. Ha, yeah right!!!

They had an old barn in the back and we set up a zip line out to a tractor in the meadow. It was a lot of fun. We started to get a little crazy and try new things....This is me being pushed out of the loft of the barn...ha, jk.

That first day, we did a service project at Wenatchee State Park by doing a beach clean up. We hauled away 4 truck loads of driftwood from off the beach. It looked really nice after we were finished. The park rangers were amazed to say the least. :)

That night we had a speaker and he talked on our theme which was "Build Upon The Rock" meaning the rock of Jesus Christ. We gave the kids bracelets that said "Rock Solid" on them. They really liked them and I tried to get the kids to make a pact that they would wear them for a year until the next Youth Conference, but they didn't go for that.

For the late night activity, we projected Shrek 3 up on a sheet for a really cool outdoor movie. After it was over, we had about 4o minutes until midnight (lights out) and so we put in Brian Regan. He is a comedian that is VERY clean and so funny. We were all ROLLING on the ground it was so funny. I don't know if he is really as funny as we all thought but, maybe it was that we were all really tired. :)

The next day we went on a white water rafting trip. It was so fun and the water was really high because of the late thaw we had this year. Which translates into: Late thaw = Big water = Really Big Rapids! = An unforgettable good time!

Later we had a testimony meeting which was really neat because we all sat in a circle and went 1 by 1 around the circle and everyone bore their testimonies. It was really spiritual and it was great to hear the testimonies from some of the kids that you don't get to hear from that often. I felt like after this night, we really grew closer as a group.

That night after a campfire and smores, the kids all wanted to watch the 2nd DVD of Brian Regan and so we did.... :)

The whole 3 days was such a fun experience, Jason and I felt like we were really blessed to have been a part of it. The whole time I was up there I just felt like one of the kids. It was awesome.

We only had 1 minor problem on the ride home. A little swerve and drive off into a ditch so as to not hit a car that suddenly stopped right in front of the YM President. The good thing was that it was right next to a little Espresso stand and so Jason bought us all Strawberry Smoothies while we waited for the tow truck. :)

The best part of the whole trip was that my parents drove up here from UT to stay with Dallin and Thatcher at home and so I didn't have any worries about them. Jason and I could just concentrate on the schedule and making sure everything ran smoothly. And it did....slick like butta.

Remember when...

This comes from my friend April! Thanks for the idea April...I was just sitting here thinking "Hmmm...What shall I blog about?

Don't ask about the picture....Youth Conference was a blast, what can I say?

Remember when? Here is a fun little game...Leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time, or a long time, anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. On your mark... Get Set... Blog!

Green is the new Black!

I'll have to admit, when we first moved to WA I thought that recycling was Such.A.Pain. Why in the world do we have to sort our trash? I mean, come on.....it's garbage for Pete's sake! I thought it was insane to wash our empty cans and yogurt containers before throwing them away. I mean, what a waste of time and water, right?Well, I must say that after living here for 4 years, recycling is starting to grow on me. And frankly, I really enjoy putting a little tiny garbage can out on curb while rolling out a humongous one of recyclables to sit right next to it.

It seems like being green has really become trendy lately. And I admit, I ain't exactly jumping completely on the bandwagon but the idea of eating "organic" and "recycling" is appealing to me. I'm not exactly making my own compost though.

Now there is one area of the green-scheme that is driving me crazy. And scheme is exactly how I feel about it. The idea of purchasing your own grocery bags and using them over and over. I can just imagine the pitch meeting for this idea.

"Attention members! Profits are down....now what are we going to do about it?"

"How about we stop making grocery bags altogether....in fact, we could manufacture canvas bags and sell them to the consumers. Thereby eliminating our cost from the paper or plastic bags and making the consumers buy their own."

"Do you think the consumers would really fall for that?!?"

"Sure! We'll tell them it's better for the environment and they will be crawling all over themselves to buy their own reusable grocery bags! It's brilliant."

When I first saw the bags for sell at Costco, I scoffed. "Are you serious? Who in their right minds is going to buy their own grocery bags, when they can get all they want at the end of the check stand for free?"

When I saw women carrying in their own grocery bags to shop, I scoffed. It's like they were members of their own exclusive club and I wasn't invited.

You know, if the grocery stores would just give us a small percentage off our total bill if we brought in our own grocery bags then I could totally see the reasoning behind it. Come on, they have to be making bank off this new idea. Spread the wealth, why don't ya!

The other day I was at QFC and as I was nearing the cash register there was this stack of really cute reusable grocery bags hanging there.....and I was tempted. When I thought about it long and hard ....I guess I could see the wisdom in using reusable grocery bags. I glanced quickly over my shoulder to make sure no one was looking before I purchased my first reusable grocery bag. I loaded my bananas in my very own bag and practically skipped out to the truck. Like I had just been inducted into a very exclusive sorority.









We, the sistas of the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle sorority, promise to stop using paper products, use our own grocery bags when ever possible, use both sides of each sheet of paper and wash and recycle all yogurt containers.

I guess it's all starting to grow on me.....Ew, something green is starting to grow on me. Gross! :)

Here are some great ideas for helping to keep Mother Earth green:

1. Use two sides of every sheet of paper.
2. Start reading an e-books , not hard copy of books.
3. Switch off all electronic appliances when you don’t need them.
4. Use rechargeable batteries.
5. Sort your garbage into bio-degradable and non bio-degradable.
6. Plant a tree and take care of it.
7. Try to make compost from organic household waste.
8. Don’t use disposable cups, plates, and cutlery.
9. Refuse plastic bags when you don’t really need them and use your own bag instead.
10. Use Public transportation more often.
11. Check the emission of your vehicle regularly.
12. Learn how to reduce, reuse,and recycle.

A VERY happy Mother's Day!

Sorry for the sabbatical! It seems I have so much to blog about lately that I don't know where to start. I guess I will start with the most important :)

Last Mother's Day was really wonderful. Not because of how great it was for me but because it was a miracle for my own Mother....

My mom had never been sealed to her own parents because although they were members, they were not active and never went to the temple together. My Grandma Ruby later became active and became a temple worker out at the Jordan River Temple. This was after my grandparents had divorced and my Grandpa remarried. My Grandpa Joe never came back to the church. After my grandparents both passed away, my parents tried to get them sealed in the temple but were told they couldn't do that because Julie, my grandpa's new wife was still living. My mom was heart broken. She had been waiting for this day for a long time, and she felt like she would never see it!

About a month before Mother's Day, my sister, Kelly, called me to see what I thought about trying to find Julie and see if she would give us permission to do the sealing. We decided to do it and also fast and pray as a family (without mom knowing, of course) that Julie's heart would be softened and she would allow the sealing. My sister found Julie's address and phone number and my Dad contacted the Temple recorders office to see what kind of paperwork we needed to fill out and have Julie sign to allow the sealing. After explaining to the recorder about the situation and telling him what we wanted to have done, he told my Dad we didn't need Julie's permission because Julie and my Grandpa were only married civilly. My Dad went right down to the Temple and got the needed paperwork for the sealing. It was truly a miracle and we hadn't even started fasting as a family yet!

Now we had about 2 weeks to wait before Mother's Day and it was torturous trying to keep the secret from my mom. Finally Mother's Day arrived (I flew to UT with Dallin and Thatcher the day before and surprised my mom...Jason had to work...:( The BBQ and daily events took forever because everyone was so anxious to have my mom open her presents. After opening presents from each of us, my sister pulled out a big box and said this was a little something from all of us. She unwrapped it and inside was a smaller box, and then a smaller box and then smaller, and on and on until she got to a single envelope. My mom was really nervous because she could see how intense and anxious we all were. When she opened the envelope it said "Here is a copy of the family group sheet that is on file at the Jordan River Temple. For Joseph Mark to be sealed to Ruby Gregory Mark for time and all eternity."

My mom cried and cried! It was so beautiful. It really broke my heart when she said that she had been praying and praying for this since she was a little girl but stopped because she could see it was never going to happen - at least not in her lifetime.

That Tuesday we went to the temple as a family! My sister Kelly was truly inspired and we were blessed so much as everything just fell into place. It must have been the right time for my grandparents!

More Potty Trauma

So, I hate to always be writing potty stories on my blog, but it just happens that those are the funny or trying stories that my life is filled with at the moment. And that's exactly what I have to keep reminding myself.....this is just a small moment in time.

"This too shall pass!"

I can tell all of you right now, that letting Dallin think that (just 1 time) going pee pee outside was okay. Because now Dallin makes a special effort, whenever he needs to go potty, to go outside and find a bush or a tree to pee on. And sometimes he doesn't doesn't even have the modesty to find a bush or a tree.

The other day Dallin was paying outside with 2 other neighbor boys and I was putting Thatcher's crib together in his room. I had the window open so I could hear the boys, when suddenly my ears perked because I heard Dallin say, "I need to go potty!" I ran to the window and said, "Dallin come on home and I will meet you at the door and take you potty." I went downstairs and opened the door but Dallin was nowhere to be found. I walked down the front steps and out to the street. Hmmm. ...no Dallin. Then I turned and started walked back up to the house. He had run down the driveway along the side of the house and was standing there, pants down to his ankles and was "lettin' it fly!" While his two friends stood a few feet away and laughed and pointed out his "nekedness." Yikes....

Well, it gets worse, that was on Friday. On Saturday, Jason and I were upstairs when Dallin came up and said he went poo poo outside. What?!?!? We have childproof doorknobs and everything. "Show us!" we said. Not really believing....or maybe it was just some serious hoping. But, sure enough he went poo poo.....on the front porch! When we asked him "Why he would go poo poo outside?" He excitedly explained that he went poo poo on the grass like a doggy.

On Sunday, we had just gotten home from church when I sent the kids in the backyard while I made dinner. A few minutes later Dallin came into view of the kitchen window struggling with the button on his pants. I ran to the screen door, "Hurry, hurry Dallin lets go pee pee on the potty!"

"NOooooooo.....I already went" he said.

Of course he did. Wow 3 days in a row. Lucky Me! :)

Today is Monday and so far there have been no outside potty episodes. I will cross my fingers that we break the cycle. Maybe you could cross yours as well!

Jen Olson: All about Me...

The Rules are as follows: The rules are posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves at the end of the post the player then tags 3 people and posts their names. Then the player goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged, and asking them to read your blog.

10 YEARS AGO: Lets see, 10 years ago I was just finishing my sophmore year of college at Utah State University and it was also my 1st year as a piano major. I was still dating my piano teacher (which was just a bad idea altogether). Teacher/ student relationships just don't work, especially when the teacher is completely domineering. Oh, it wasn't like that at first. He was completely charming and gentlemanly until I was swept. And then he started trying to make me into a little Audrey Hepburn. There were things about me that were ALL wrong. Things like: I didn't dress right, I didn't speak articulately, I used conjunctions and slang!, I didn't wear my hair right, I liked to go dancing, I was seen talking to another boy in my practice room, my intellectual conversation wasn't stimulating enough....and believe me the list was a lot longer. And, how do you suppose I reacted?!??! I told him to stick it in his ear !@#@ :) haha jk. No, unfortunatley I groveled at his feet and tried to make so many changes about myself to make him happy that I wound up with a self-esteem that was a big fat ZERO. Luckily, he dumped me, because after 2 years of that I was certainly not able to make even minor decisions for myself. The good news is that I emerged from the relationship with a vengence. I auditioned for the ballroom dance team and made it, I cut my hair, I got a new group of friends and we took road trips and used words like: can't, don't and funky to our hearts desire. Over the next year I grew so much and really became a much stronger and confident person than had I not had that experience. More importantly I realized how easy it was to become sucked into something that was so negative and just accept it as life, all in the name of love. It really helped me look for something that was so much more in relationships. One where we could genuinely lift each other and not be so one sided. I am SO GRATEFUL for the relationship Jason and I have in our marriage. Whew!

5 THINGS ON MY TO DO LIST:

1. Sand Thatcher's crib down to repaint it....again!!!
2. Take a load to the D.I. Trailer
3. Pick up my books at the library that are on the hold shelf.
4. Clean the bathrooms - ugh!
5. Make up a new aerobics routine

3 BAD HABITS:

1. Walking on the carpet with my shoes on
2. Putting off cleaning the bathrooms as long as possible - Ugh!
3. Not brushing Dallin's teeth regularly.....
and 1 more...
4. Eating whole bags of popcorn...by myself.

5 PLACES I/WE HAVE LIVED:

1. Midvale, UT - Growing up
2. Logan, UT - Going to USU
3. Pleasant Grove, UT - first two years of marriage
4. Mercer Island, WA - looking for a place to live in WA
5. Sammamish, WA - finally settled....until we move again. :)

5 JOBS I HAVE HAD:

1. Car hop at Hires Big H - all through high school
2. Telemarketer for Feature Films for Families - 2 summers during college
3. Private Piano Instructor for USU Youth Conservatory/ Theory teacher for 3rd to 5th graders/Kindergarten Music Teacher - during college
4. Estimator's Assistant for Harper Contracting - last 2 summer's during college
5. Sheet Music Buyer for Daynes Music - after college

5 THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME:

1. I teach aerobics 2 days a week. This is really random. My friend that taught the class had a baby and I was an attendee and she asked me to fill in for her through her last few months of pregnancy and while she was recouping. I really didn't want to but I said yes to help her out...and it turns out I absolutely am loving it. I will be sad when my time is up. :)
2. I have scoliosis as a result from a car accident when I was in college. (Scoliosis is when your spine starts to curve and so you may slouch to one side. It progessively gets worse as you get older but so far it hasn't been a problem.
3. Both times that I have been pregnant I have gotten a toe-nail fungus. Ewww!
4. I got my first cavity at age 27 (and never floss). ha!
5. As a kid I didn't like: chocolate, fudge, frosting or cream cheese because they were gross!!! As an adult that has altered a bit. I actually really like hot fudge and dark chocolate, but milk chocolate is just so-so and white chocolate is still one of the nastiest things on earth.

I tag: Katie Hilton, Kari Tuttle and Mindy Birch

The age of discretion...

Jason and I have often talked about "what is the right age for us to start being more discrete when going to the bathroom in front of our children." You know, because there are times when your kids are so little that for a mom to go into the bathroom and shut the door inflicts feelings of panic so significant you might as well have dropped your child off in a foreign land all alone. So we instigated the "open door policy". Sure kids, come on in! Play on the floor, check out what's in the cupboards, throw pieces of cheese in the tub....but don't mind me, I'll just be sittin' over here in the corner mindin' my own business.

So a year or two may pass....and somehow the open door policy has remained....until you hear a little conversation like this:

Daddy: Come on Dallin lets put your big boy underwear on.

Dallin: NNNNNooooooooo, I want to wear a diaper.

Daddy: What?! You don't want to wear a diaper! You want to be a big boy. Does Daddy wear diapers?

Dallin: No....

Daddy: Does Mommy wear diapers?

Dallin: YES! Mommy wears tiny diapers!!!

That's it!

Time to be discreet.

Ode to my dad!

Today is my Dad's Birthday!!! He is going to be 67 again! How great is that?!? He told me other day that for the past year he has been telling everyone that he is 67, when really he was only 66 going on 67....so he gets a repeat!

Aren't Daddy/Daughter relationships the best? I think so!

Ya know, kids now days are lucky if their mom is able to stay home with them through the day. And if that's luck, then I practically won the lottery. My dad worked from home my whole life, which meant the moment I walked through the door from school, mom and dad were both there with a soft place to land. I remember many times running through the door from school and straight down the stairs into my dad's office; Dad would ask about my day, hold me on his lap and hug me before sending me off to read to my mom or to play with friends. It became a ritual that lasted through high school.

My dad was an amazing teacher and no oppportunity was ever too small. Every ride in the car turned into a heart to heart. He was always asking, "So how's life going for ya?" "Are you happy?" "Is there anything you would change?"

He was such an amazing communicator and I am so glad that he cultivated our relationship from the time I was very small so when those times came when I needed life-changing advice and counsel those doorways of communication where always wide open and inviting.

My dad was always creating opportunities for us to feel the spirit and feel what it was like to have our prayers answered. One example was when I was a small child and we traveled down to Lake Powell for our annual family vacation. You can imagine how disheartening we felt when half way into the first day our boat stopped working. After working on the boat for an hour our more, my dad finally stood up and announced, "I know the reason the boat is not working." It's because we didn't have family prayer this morning." Now as a parent I can't imagine the amount of faith that it would take to stand up and announce to your family that the boat isn't working because we forgot to have family prayer. And then insist that all we needed to do was to say that prayer and then the boat would work again. So our family all gathered down on the floor of our boat and kneeled to have our family prayer. We prayed that our boat would work for the rest of our vacation. After the prayer, we stood up and the key on the boat was tried yet again....only this time the boat started right up. I remember being overwhelmed by the spirit as it testified to me of the power of prayer. This is just 1 of many opportunities that my dad "gave" to us, so that we could be strengthened and develop our own testimonies.

There were many times that I would run down to my dad's office before school to tell him goodbye when I would bust through the door and find him quietly kneeling and counseling with the Lord. My dad truly lived what he taught and what he believed; he is so genuine and so faithful.

As a parent, I have just been amazed at his wealth of knowledge. He is such a hard worker and very willing to help. My dad knows: mechanics, engineering, gardening, plumbing, home repair, remodeling, cement work, yard maintainance, and ANY other handy man, fix-it problem you may have....he can fix it! (Give him a call today!)

When I went in to the hospital to be induced with Thatcher, my mom was going to be out of town. So, my Dad drove up here to WA and stayed with us for 2 weeks; 5 of those days he was home alone babysitting Dallin because Thatcher was in the NICU and Jason and I stayed at the hospital with him. I was afraid that my Dad would be sick of tending and ready to go home but when I got home they had both been having a blast and totally bonded. Dallin is CRAZY about Papa Pat.

My dad is an amazing people person. He relates well with people and he knows how to make everyone feel comfortable. Because of this, he has been an amazing missionary and I have been blown away with his boldness and humilty in sharing the gospel with those around him. Be it, complete strangers while on our family vacation or a good friend that he has lived near for many years. He has been a great instrument in helping people change their lives and this is something that I have admired my whole life.My dad is a stalwart and an exemplar, but more than that, he is one of my closest friends. When I look back to the time when I was dating, I thought it was near impossible for me to find anyone with all the "spousal" qualities I required. Infact, I pointedly remember my dad asking if the guy I married was going to have a big "S" on his chest and wear a red cape. And while I did finally find my "Superman", it only took so long because not many people could measure up with my Dad!

Happy Birthday Dad!

I Love You!

It's a trick and it's a good one...

When daddy says it's time for bed and you definitely do not concur.

Sometimes he'll say,

"Okay, you don't have to go to sleep."

"But just come over here and lay down by me.....and we'll see what happens."

Smart Daddy!!!