Mother’s Day 2014

On this Mother’s Day I cannot express my gratitude for my beautiful and amazing wife.  I don't know how she shows so much love, gives so much of her time, worries so often, and shares so much of herself. Her life is full of service and kindness towards others.  I am lucky that I have married a wonderful companion who dreamed of one day growing up and becoming a Mother.  She takes amazingly great care of each of our children.  She constantly worries for Treven and Ady when they are not here.  She worries that they are getting all that they need.  She does so much for them and worries and prepares for the times that they will return.  She loves and laughs with our little Jonah.  She helps him to be happy and to make good choices.  The happiness of that little boy should be a testament to what kind of Mother she is.  She loves and cuddles and cares for Wyatt so much.  She makes sure that he is getting every little bit of medical care necessary and she constantly does therapy with him to help him.  She worries about the house and my well-being as well.  She is a supportive and loving companion and I find peace throughout my day knowing that she is home with our children.  All of us are so lucky to have her. She has truly partnered with our Heavenly Father in raising these four great kids.  She seeks his guidance, she follows his ways, and she is doing everything necessary to draw four of his spirits back towards their eternal home.  Words cannot express my love and appreciation for my wonderful eternal companion.

 

My Mother has been watching over us for three years as an angel in Heaven. She earned her wings long before she left this earth by raising all seven of us children. She taught us right from wrong and loved us beyond human capability.  She was tough when she felt it was necessary to see us do our best, but she showed so much compassion and love when times called for it as well.  I do not know how she had time to attend to the needs of seven children.  I have no idea how she found the strength to push forward when I knew she was beyond her limits.  I remember her staying up late to help me complete school projects I had procrastinated.  I remember her contagious laugh and how much I loved being the cause of it.  I remember how sweet and gentle she always was to each grandchild.  She truly is an angel and I cannot wait for the day when I hold embrace her again and tell her how much I love her. 

 

Ashley's Mother has loved me as her own son.  I am so grateful for this second Mother in my life.  There is nothing that requires her to love me this much, but she does it anyway.  I love to be in their home, to share experiences with them, and to laugh with them as well.  I am blessed to have another Mom in my life to talk to.  I am blessed that my children have such a wonderful Grandma.  I am blessed that she has raised such an incredible daughter that I now get to call my wife.  We are blessed by her continued love and support in all that we do.  I love her and am so thankful for all that she does.

Graduation

Today was the commencement for my graduation from Utah State University.  My Dad and Arlene, and Ashley’s parents were all there to celebrate the big day with us.  Afterwards, we went to the Bluebird Restaurant for lunch.  The commencement was a great experience and the speakers were excellent.  I cannot believe the day has actually come and I was not sure it would ever arrive; it still feels very surreal.  I am actually really proud of myself.  I do not want to compare myself or wish for the challenges of others, but I feel that I have had to work with a lot of weight on my shoulders to get to this place.  That is not to say that others had it easier, or that I had it harder, just that I am happy with what I have been able to do.  I have to acknowledge that things would have been even harder had I not had such an amazing wife in Ashley, a supportive family, the blessings from a loving Heavenly Father, and many other things to help me.  I started school as a single Dad with two kids.  I was working full-time and the children were with me the majority of the time.  Early on, I often even took them to my classes with me at SLCC.  Since then, I have been diagnosed with a chronic medical condition, I have dealt with people who would seek to harm our family relationships, I have often worked 60+ hours per week, I have married my amazing eternal companion, we have had two additional children, and we have dealt with the challenges of having a child with medical conditions of his own, just to name a few.  I don’t journal these things to brag or to complain, but to show what we are all capable of if we only persevere.  While some of the these things were far more blessings than burdens, each one brought increased pressure or responsibility.  Each one of these pressures, challenges, or responsibilities, at times, has caused me to feel a crushing weight on my shoulders.  Some times I wondered if I would survive.  Some of these pressures still exist and new ones come along all the time.  The point is that if we use our strength for a good goal, eventually, we will make it.  Accomplishing this degree has shown me that I am capable of accomplishing anything.  The thing is; I am no different than anyone else.  If anyone had told me the challenges I would face, I am not sure I would have believed them.  I certainly would not have believed that I would survive them.  But, just like anyone else, we get through some things because we have to.  We survive by finding the joy in the little things.  We survive by taking a breath, a drink of water along the way, or talking to someone.  In the end, nothing can stop us but ourselves.  No one who is still living has been killed by a bad day.  We all have a perfect record for surviving even our worst day.  While I may not have been the valedictorian at my commencement, I feel no less accomplished than anyone else in that room, because for me, this was a huge victory in my life.

Tulip Festival

This afternoon we went to the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival with Grandma & Grandpa Haberle and Aunt Alicia.  The tulips and grounds of Thanksgiving Point were beautiful as always.  We had a great time walking around and talking, and watching Jonah explore everything.  The boys were happy and had a great time.  Afterwards, our little family made our way to the Thanksgiving Point cafe for dinner.  The food was great, and since we were all good little eaters, we decided we could all share one of Thanksgiving Point’s famous banana splits.  It is a little slice of heaven, and enormous.  Surprisingly all of the food actually cost less than the entrance fee to the tulip festival for just Ashley and me…which is probably why we don’t make it down there every year.

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

This morning we went to our neighborhood Easter egg hunt.  We have a big breakfast with everyone bringing food, then we have Easter egg hunts, where different ages go to different neighborhood yards.  Afterwards the kids all cash in their empty Easter eggs for a fun prize.  At the end of the hunt, there are age appropriate games at many different homes.  It is always a fun event and it is great to spend time as a family and as a neighborhood celebrating the Easter holiday.

Biking

  

We decided to invest in a new bike trailer/jogging stroller for our little boys.  We both enjoy biking and we both want to get back in shape.  With us, that only seems to happen when our exercise involves our kiddos.  We have been biking almost every day and we feel ourselves getting slowly stronger each day.  The boys fall asleep more often than not, and it is cute how they cuddle up to each other.  We also prefer the trailer to our regular strollers as it can handle almost any terrain and actually folds flatter.  We have a lot of fun and we are grateful for the opportunity to exercise in a fun way together.

Two Twins Turn Ten

 

I can’t believe it, but my once tiny twins have hit double digits.  It is hard to believe that these healthy big kids were a 3 pound girl and a 4 pound boy on ventilators in the NICU ten years ago.  I have enjoyed every stage and every age of their lives.  Treven is such a great example to his little brothers.  He is always willing to help and he is smart and funny.  Ady is a sweet big sister who is constantly ready to help others.  She does sweet little things and constantly gives gifts to others.  I am so proud of these great kids and all that they have become and the ways they learn and grow each day. 

For their birthday, we went to dinner at Noodles & Co., bowling at Fat Cats, and then we got ice cream at the BYU Creamery.  Ady had the game of her life and scored 140.  Treven also broke 100, and Jonah got a couple of strikes and spares.  Let’s just say that my old high school injury was acting up and I got beat by 3 of my 4 children that night.  The fourth one did not play.  As I stood in line at the Creamery, looking at the different flavors (haven’t been there in years) I kept focusing my eyes to make sure I was reading one flavor correctly.  I kept thinking that it could not be correct, but the font of the board was a little tricky.  Finally I asked out loud, “What on earth is in the Bishop’s Bush?”  A guy in line quickly corrected me and told me that the flavor was actually the Bishop’s BASH!  We all started to laugh and I actually felt relieved that someone was not that careless in naming the flavors at the BYU Creamery.  All in all, I think we had a lot of fun and the kids seemed to have a great birthday.  We love them so much and are so grateful to be parents to these great kids.

Auto Show 2014

 

Once a year, Ashley humors me by going with me to the auto show.  I have only missed two auto shows since moving to Utah at age 5.  It is something that I look forward to, which is odd because I normally don’t like to look at lots of things that I would love to have, but are not really planned out in our budget.  Jonah loved exploring all over the cars.  He literally wanted to “drive” every single one.  He reminds me of myself at that age.  He did not seem to comprehend that it is not really kosher to stand on the seats and hang your head out of the top of a brand new Corvette.  We saw a few vehicles that we would love to have, had some fun, and mostly just explored the show.  We had a great time.  We dreamed of buying some amazing new vehicles before walking back out to the one we own.  We once again realized just how grateful we are to be blessed with all that we have.

Ice Castles

Today we went with some friends to the Ice Castles in Midway.  We had a great time.  We explored all over the Ice Castles and even ate at our favorite Train themed restaurant in Heber.  Jonah is really into trains right now and he was loving life.  We even got a picture with Olaf the Snowman from the recent Disney movie “Frozen”. 

Morning Cuddles

These two little boys love to cuddle in the morning.  Jonah is really cute with his little brother Wyatt, and Wyatt is always looking around to see where Jonah is.

Christmas 2013

   

This Christmas Season was filled with a lot of love, fun, and excitement.  We went to the Christmas tree lot and found our tree.  We spent some time decorating it and the house for Christmas.  We enjoyed the time we had to relax.  Ady did an outstanding job performing in her Christmas dance recital.  We were all spoiled by Santa.  Mostly, we felt the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We felt his sweet, humble spirit in our lives as we reflected on all of our blessings, and as we had the opportunity to give to others.  We enjoyed being surrounded by family and friends and knowing that we have a loving Heavenly Father and Savior who are always there for us and have given us so much.