My Chad

There is yet one more birthday that we have to celebrate in March and that belongs to my sweetheart, Chad. Today is his birthday and he is 31! There are so many reasons why I feel blessed to be married to this great man and I think I will share them. I love him because:
* He has a vast knowledge of the gospel and the scriptures and can out-school me anytime.
* He has a great love and testimony of the gospel too. The picture above is one of my favorites of him in "Joseph's window" at Carthage Jail.
* He is very competitive and hates to lose (especially to me :)
* He always compliments my cooking, and helps me do the dishes.
* He never wants to buy himself anything and let's me shop instead.
* He is a HUGE BYU and Jazz fan. I love to see how mad he gets when they lose and yet how happy they make him when they win.
* He loves his kids and will usually give them baths since I don't like to.
* He tries so hard to understand me when I am not doing well mentally, and does everything he can to help me. He has even gone with me to doctors appointments as my "coach".
* He said he didn't want a dog but I think he is secretly happy we have "Po" (our pug) and likes to have him on his lap.
* He has a great laugh and good sense of humor.
* He was a great missionary and an excellent student.
* He holds a Bachelor's degree and is an Eagle Scout.
* He gets along great with everyone I know.
* He is the perfect mix of his Mom and Dad. I can see the things that I love most about them in him as well.
* He gives 110% to everything he does and is a great provider.
* He is very sweet and thoughtful and tries hard not to forget those important dates for me such as Mother's Day :)
* And last but not least, he is so very handsome, especially in a suit and tie :)

I love you Chaddy...Happy Birthday!!
Chad and his family in the fall of 2000, just before we got engaged.

I Turned My Back On Emmi ...

for 1 minute and she had convinced "Damma" to help her put on all 4 pairs of Sam's new underwear. (I think it was "Damma" that decided to put one on her head.) My Mom also said I needed to take pictures of this because it would be good blackmail when she's a teenager :)I turned my back on Emmi for 1 minute at Payless, and Emmi had managed to pull off her boots and has grabbed 3 pairs of shoes off the shelves that she wanted to try on. (All Dora or princess ones of course). I spent the whole 20 min in the store following her around and putting away the shoes, purses and socks that she kept taking. Needless to say, my boys NEVER did this and would rather run down the aisles as fast as they can. I guess I have me a future shopping companion.I turned my back on Emmi for 10 min. at home and she had gotten into the Desitin. I walked into the room to find it not only all over her, but the carpet and couches. Yep, just great! Emmi will be turning 2 here in just a few months and has been quite a little handful. If she wasn't so cute, I'd sell her to the indians! :)

My Little "Hess-ey"

Today I turned 28. Yay!! No, it sounds too close to the big "30" to me. More importantly this week, my Samuel Hess turned 4! We had 2 different celebrations for him and still have one more coming up.

There are so many things that I love about Sam...I love his cute little dimples and perfect teeth. He was such a beautiful baby and is growing into a handsome little devil. I love how he is constantly eating or asking to eat something. I love how he crawls into my bed and snuggles into me the first thing in the morning, and gives me only a few seconds before he asks me to get him cereal or turn on the Wii. I love his constant "hum". (Really, he is always saying, "hmmmmm, hmmmmm" and doesn't stop.) It very useful though, because I always know where he is :) I love how compassionate he is to Emmi, and somehow always manages to get her to stop crying when she is having a tantrum. I love how he is afraid of cats and will do anything I say if I threaten that he will sleep outside with the kitties, if he doesn't be good. Too funny! I love how Sam's clothes are always on backwards, shoes on the wrong feet and how he doesn't seem to mind it at all. I love how he is quite the little gymnast and is always doing somersaults and headstands. I love how he is quite a solid little guy and my brother-in-law Rob has nicknamed him "Samma the Slamma". I love his little accent, and how he says door like "duh" and floor like "fluh". I love how he says his name is "Hess-ey"because that's what we do like to call him. I guess he told his new friends in preschool that that was his name and his teacher thought he was saying "Hussy" which she quickly told him "we don't say that in pre-school." But the best is when he ends his sentences with "that'd be great!" Needless to say, Sam always puts a smile on my face and I thought he deserved to be spoiled for his birthday. The first party was when...my parents and brother came down to visit and gave Sam some early presents. This is my Mom and the kids unwrapping them."Darth Sammers" :) My Mom and Dad bought Sam this Darth Vader costume since he is obsessed with Star Wars. As a funny side note, Chad and I overheard the boys calling Darth Vader "Master Vader" which doesn't sound too good considering my boys' "v's" sound like "b's"!! ;) We tried to not smile when we quickly told the boys that his name is Darth Vader and he is NOT a master.He also got this cool Kung Fu Panda sword from my big brother "J".
The morning of his birthday he happily found this big wheel that I covered over with a blanket.Then later that night- we met up with Chad's family at Jumpin' Jacks, my kids' favorite place to jump around. There were more presents and food before it was time to go home and his birthday was officially over. Thanks to both families for making his birthday so special. We love you Sam, Happy Birthday!!

A Special Birthday Message...

Today I have to say Happy Birthday to my Momma, who is a great lady and one of my very best friends. She is a wonderful grandma and my kids adore her. I wish that we lived closer to her as well as the rest of the fam, so we could say happy birthday in person, but today we had to say it over the phone. That just wasn't good enough, so the kids wanted to give "Damma" a message. Happy Birthday Momma, we love you to bits and bits!

Our little "Student of the Month"

It was no surprise to me when Chad received a call from Keaton's teacher, informing us that Keek is "Student-of-the-month" in Kindergarten. I was able to be there when the principal gave him his certificate and gift certificates. I was not suprised because I have been in his classroom and noticed how quiet he is and how well he gets his work done. It was another proud moment for me. After school I took the kids to get a hamburger, which was one of Keek's spoils from his win. What a great way to celebrate and make him feel special! Hopefully this is just the beginning of certifcates, but only time will tell.

Meet "Po"...

Reluctantly Chad allowed me to get a new puppy. (We bought a puppy a couple years ago and it was too much for me, so I sold her.) I found this little guy on KSL and was able to go and get him on Tuesday. We spent the first day calling him "puppy" until we took him up to show my family and they suggested we call him "Po" after the Kung Fu Panda. I thought it was cute since pugs are Chinese and no doubt he will be a solid little ball in no time. The kids are absolutely in heaven and really have been great help with him. What's even better is that he is been a great dog. He chases the kids but hasn't scratched or bit them; just barks at them with his little growl. We haven't had many accidents to speak of and he didn't cry at all last night (so nice!). So be prepared for more pics of Po in the months and years to come. He is now part of the family.

Here we go again...

No, we are not building another house. This is my father-in-law Kirk digging the foundation of his and my mother-in-law's new house. It was very exciting to go and see the work starting and imagine the beautiful home that will soon reside there. It is even more exciting for us because they are building fairly close to us and we will be able to see them more often. It brought back a lot of memories of when Chad and I built our home back in 2005. Chad and I had been married for 4 years and our boys were very little. Keaton was 2 and Sam was only 4 months old when Kirk started to carve our home out of the dirt. It was overwhelming and scary to take on such a project, but very exciting too. Watching the track hoe move the dirt around, it didn't seem like it was all that long ago, but it really was. I couldn't help but be excited for my good in-laws for the good times and memories that will be made in this spot of dirt.This is Sam waving while going for a ride with "Bumpa Saker." Kirk has always been so great give the kids rides in the track hoes whenever he gets a chance. I was really shocked when Emmi wanted a ride and sat and smiled the whole time. That is her below with Grandpa.My nephew Chaston, niece Mccall and Sam and Keaton playing on top of one of the dirt piles.At one point the boys plopped down in the dirt and just watched the track hoe. I love how you can see how intrigued they are by their little profiles. They are just like their Papa, all about construction.