birthday shout out

on my side of the family, most birthdays are in may or november (my sister-in-law who was is expecting, just had her due date moved from june 1st to may 31st - very fitting.) while i hesitate to start acknowledging sibling birthdays, i feel i should mention a happy birthday to my sister and my niece since i'm mentioning all the november birthdays. without further ado,

happy birthday, wendy!! thank you for being a true sister and friend to me throughout the years.


happy birthday, maddie!! your quotables list would put mine to shame. i love what the things that you say and your spunk.

p.s. here are a couple of my favorite quotes from my niece:
"mommy, how come jesus gave you a sister and not me?"
"when i grow up, i want to live by myself and have lots of cats!"

faves about jake

jake turned 11 in november. belated birthday wishes, buddy!

below are some pictures of jake through the years. (once again, pictures that i had previously scanned in). i wish i could have scanned in a good picture of his curls - does anyone (besides kayla) remember the curls he used to have? his hair straightened in the past few years, but now seems to be getting curlier as he approaches being a teenager.

in honor of his birthday, here are some of my faves about jake:

• he is such a trooper! his physical limitations are severe, yet he rarely complains. he seems to patiently persevere through whatever is asked of him.
• his laugh is just pure joy!! my sister-in-law has done a good job of capturing it in photos; i've included a few below. when my opa was visiting, we had jake sleep upstairs with us so opa could use his bed on the main floor. one night when pat and i got in our beds, we heard jake just busting up in laughter. he will sometimes just randomly laugh for no apparent reasons. other times, he is laughing in response to such things as pat blowing his nose, the girls crying or when i raise my voice.

• jake loves the extreme: the faster, the higher you go, the happier he is. i've always dreamed of taking him on a rollar coaster someday, but i wouldn't do it because i would worry about his safety since he can't sit up independently.
• he has beautifully long eyelashes.
• jake loves to be read to and listen to music. he calms down and listens to you when you speak to him.
• he's probably the only person around who actually likes when i sing to him, and he giggles when pat or i sing his lullabuy ("abide with me") hymn to him.
• helen keller once said: "the most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. they must be felt within the heart." i don't know if its his physical limitations, but jake is very aware of the things of the heart and soul. he loves unconditionally. his physical therapist once said: "not liking jake is like not liking puppies." not only is he lovable, but jake is pure and so very giving.

WE LOVE YOU, BUDDY!

belated birthday blog mention, dad!

my dad celebrated his birthday on november 7th. (i actually did celebrate with him around his birthday as evidenced by that cupcake - just slow to write about it here). my scanner is still not hooked up and i actually can't locate the real gem of a picture that i recently found of him (i think i put it in a "safe" spot that i would remember. OI!! it will have to wait for another moment to be shared.) anyhoo, here are some pics from through the years that i had happened to previously scan into my computer. i absolutely love the one of my dad with gracie on the top left corner.

here are some of my favorite moments with my dad throughout the years that i do think show his character:

• my dad is very "book" smart (graduated from caltech, could've gone to MIT as a sophomore). he traveled a lot when i was growing up, but was always willing to help us with our homework when he was home. i have lots of good memories of my dad helping me, especially with my english papers. asking him for help with math or science homework was a little like playing russian roullette. he usually came up with the right answer, but took ways to get there that were far above my understanding. case in point: my dad often drove me high school which was located about 20 minutes from our house. one morning at the start of our drive, i made the mistake of asking my dad what a quark was. he lost me by the second sentence in his response, but yet still managed to talk about quarks for the whole 20 minute ride!
• as you can guess, my dad did instill in me a love for learning and the importance of an education. he often told me that he found it very helpful to read books twice when he was in high school! HA! i was proud of myself if i actually read all the required books.
• my dad is a hard worker. he gives his all to his job, yet still makes time for family and helps around the house. sometimes he is a little too helpful around the house and tries to fix things that should probably have been serviced out (remember i said he was book smart - not so much mechanically smart.) he has earned the nickname of "Tim the toolman Taylor" by doing things such as setting the kitchen cabinets on fire because he didn't notice a hole in the gas pipe he was using to weld some pipes together.
• my dad is a prankster. there's the infamous $200 water damage bill that his parents paid while he was in college for one of his pranks where he actually got caught and the time when i came home from college and he told me to wait in the car cuz they wanted to get a picture and then the whole family comes out with super soakers and yes, i pretty much got drenched - just to name a few. joking around with each other as a family made for some good family memories. we also had lots of water fights and i think there was a time when everyone in the family had their own super soaker.
• just for fun: i remember the time that my dad poured hot soup on his pants and then immediately started stripping out of them despite the fact that my best friend from high school was at the dinner table with us. (dar, do you remember that?)
• my dad has taught me to be honest through example. we share a love of mysteries and puzzles.
• thing that my dad most often repeated to me growing up: "tis better to remain silent and be presumed a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt." -Mark Twain. this is probably a testament more to my character than his, as i don't think all my siblings repeatedly heard this quote. when he taught me to drive, the phrase "your other left" was used a lot. once again, more descriptive of me.
• my dad has a big heart and tries to help when he can. i remember he once used frequent flyer miles to fly home one of my sister's friends so she could attend her father's funeral. when i was pregnant with evan, my dad would often come and help me (especially would go to church with me since pat usually sits on the stand and goes to early meetings since he assists our local bishop.) he stayed with me for a week and worked from my house when evan was a newborn so he could help me. my family has always been affectionate, but my dad has also shown he cares through his actions and service.
• my dad is a big kid. he loves to run around and play with my kids and they adore him for it. he truly spends time with them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO A GREAD DAD AND WONDERFUL POPPA! WE LOVE YOU!!

coming up for air

yes, yes, i am still alive. in my absence, i have missed four birthdays, been tagged twice, had a two week visit with my opa and a hospital stay for a scheduled procedure for jake (plus had an old roommate find my blog - bloggin is the best!).

sooooo, get ready for a marathon of posts.