Happy Birthday, Paul!

Tuesday, April 27, Paul turned 38 years old! He is a wonderful husband and father. We are lucky and very blessed to have him in our lives.

38 things we love about Paul
1)He is honest
2)He is thoughtful
3)He is charming
4)He is handsome
5)He works hard
6)He plays with the kids
5)He makes friends easily
6)He does a good job for his employer
7)He never complains about his commute to work
8)He helps out at home and even does laundry and dishes (well not anymore, but he used to all the time)
9)He always takes the trash out (well I guess I do that now, but I never did before)
10)He is strong
11)He eats healthy
12)He takes care of himself
13)He loves his kids
14)He has strong opinions and isn't afraid to stand up for what is right
15)He has a strong testimony
16)He serves the Lord
17)He knows the scriptures
18)He is very smart
19)He has individual interviews with the kids and me every Fast Sunday
20)He budgets
21)He is real and not superficial
22)He is grateful
23)He is genuine
24)He is romantic
25)He is compassionate
26)He is artistic
27)He is humble
28)He is well versed in Star Wars lingo and Star Trek lingo
29)He is empathetic
30)He loves movies
31)He loves Hot Wheels
32)He loves to read
33)He builds us up
34)He is determined
35)He is faithful
36)He is fearless
37)He is creative
38)He is our hero

Pinewood Derby

This was Brayden's first Pinewood Derby. He has watched Paul and Tyler make cars and compete over the past 3 years and it was finally his turn to be a part of the Pinewood Derby craze. Unfortunately, Paul was not so excited. In the past he and Tyler (we believe it is important to let our boys be a part of the experience) have worked and worked trying to make the best car possible and have left the Derby disappointed. Some of the dads are crazy competitive. So this year Paul and Brayden started working on their car late, 2 days prior to the race. Brayden drew out the plans and then they worked to make the car that Brayden wanted. Paul added fishing weights to the back of the car and we hoped for the best. On race day we were thrilled to see that Brayden's car was winning a lot of races and he took 2nd place overall, 1st place for the Wolf Den. He was beaming with joy the whole day!

Alyssa is a teenager

Alyssa turned 13 on March 5th. My Dad has the same birthday, he turned 63. We always get together to celebrate their birthdays. We had a great time!

How time flies!!

Alyssa is 6 months old in this picture.

She is 2 years old in this picture.

Alyssa is about 4 years old in this picture. She was always so happy and smiley!

Me with my dad.

My dad was in the Air Force and after 20 years of service, he retired.

My dad was Bishop of our Branch when I was baptized. I always thought it was fun to say that I was baptized by my Bishop (you gotta love the military glasses).

Here are some pictures of Alyssa and Papa on their birthdays.

Alyssa loves to sing

Alyssa had a couple of solos this month. She is in the 7th grade Performing Choir at school and she sang "Silver Bells" for the program. Her nerves got the best of her and she forgot part of the song, but she still sounded good.




She also sang "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" for the Ward Christmas Party at church. She was a shepherd in the program. I love to hear her sing!

Ryan turns 5 years old!

Ryan's birthday is the day after Tyler's. This was his first birthday party that he could invite friends. We had the party at Chuck E. Cheese.

Ryan and some of his friends



Ryan and his best friend, Cam.



I love my sweet Ryan. I call him "babykinz" and one day he said, "I'm not a baby webkinz!" and I told him, "I just call you that because you're my sweet baby and I love you." then he said, "Oh, okay." and now he likes me to call him "babykinz".

Tyler turns 11!

Tyler just had a birthday on December 6. He is now 11 years old, I can hardly believe it. He has worked really hard in scouting and at the last pack meeting he received the Summit award, meaning he completed every requirement in the Webelos book. They said at the meeting that he is the third boy to have earned this award within the past five years. He worked hard and also received his Arrow of Light award. He doesn't like public attention, so he had a scowl on his face the whole time. But at home he was jumping around like a crazy man. Notice the difference in the picture taken at the meeting and the one at home.









Tyler also crossed over into the Boy Scout program. He walks across a bridge and leaves his Cub Scout leader and meets his Boy Scout leader on the other side. There is also a tradition of signing the bridge. Paul is his new Boy Scout leader.




His Birthday Party!

Brayden's Debut

Brayden sang a solo at his third grade music program. It was a song about the end of Fall and the beginning of Winter, he thought it would be a real tear jerker. He did such a great job. I was very proud of him. Too bad I couldn't figure out how to put the video on here.