Great Grandma Monson

This past weekend Kent’s grandma came to town for a family reunion.  Grandma Monson is 96 years old and always sports a pair of crazy glasses.  She also wears a pin that says “I heart Ken” in remembrance of her husband. In a lot of ways she reminds me of President Hinckley.  She is sharp and possesses a great sense of humor.  Trev and Ady were so excited to see great grandma.  Kent made a special appointment so we could have some one-on-one time with her. Grandma is a busy woman with 11 kids, 55 grandkids, and who knows how many great-grandkids.  It is sad to know there are so few left from Grandma’s generation.  I hope Trev and Ady will be able to remember this remarkable woman.

The Karate Stage

Trev is going through what I label the “karate” stage.  His imagination is full with superheroes, cops and robbers, and he has plenty of karate moves to fight his enemies.  He is six and I might want him to stay six forever.  I love that Trev wants to be a big tough man but is still a little boy who makes his way into my room every Saturday morning to cuddle.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed my silverware seemed to be in short supply.  I shrugged it off as needing to do the dishes again.  When the weekend came, I told the children they needed to clean their rooms.  Kent went to Trev’s room to help him and he discovered about four forks and four knives in Treven’s closet.  When questioned about the silverware, Trev’s reply was that he needed weapons to fight any bad guys that come into our house. 

I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of my six year old with a butter knife and fork in his hand scaring off an intruder!  But I’m glad to know he loves his family and wants to keep us safe.  What more could I ask for?!

Kindergarten Graduation

On Friday, the kids graduated from Kindergarten.  We of course drove down to their school to be part of their graduation and enjoy their program.  They did an amazing job.  I especially loved one of their songs entitled “Fingerprints.”  It was so cute to see them up in front of everyone performing.  I am sure all the kids and especially the teachers worked hard to put it all together. The only thing that makes us sad is that the videos of them singing are too big to upload, and because of the distance of the chairs to the stage, some of our pictures turned out blurry.

 

 

 

 

 

Here the kids are receiving their Kindergarten diplomas.  Holy Cow!  They are officially first graders and I am feeling OLD!

 

 

 

 

 

Here are their great teachers.  Ady’s teacher is Mrs. Davis.  She was great to help Ady and taught her so much.  Mrs. Mitchell was Treven’s teacher and she seemed to take him under her wing.  They both love their teachers so much.

 

 

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS

KIDDOS!

 

Projects

Last weekend, Trev and I worked on the back brakes on my car and the front brakes on Ashley’s car.  If you can believe it, my car has lasted 163,000 miles and this is the first time I have EVER had to replace the rear brakes.  One would think that would make me have to change the fronts really often, but that isn’t so.  I only have to replace the front brake pads every 50-60,000 miles.  I love these pictures of Trev helping.

 

 

 

While we were changing the brakes, Mom and Ady were stripping the paint of an old dresser.  We got this dresser from my brother and sister-in-law and decided to paint it.  The paint was not terrible, but not in the best of shape, and we decided to make it our own.  We finally finished it last night.  Below are some before and after pictures.  We could not paint the top because it was made of a plastic material, but I think it actually gives it a nice contrast.

BEFORE

 

 

 

 

 

AFTER

Our Newest Addition

We recently had a new addition come into our family.  We got our very first family pet.  It is a beta fish and we named him Louie. The best part of his name is that he is actually a she.  It is a female beta fish, but the only name we all could agree on was Louie.  We make her feel better by telling her that it is short for Louise, but let’s be serious; we could care less.  We like the name Louie and that is what she is stuck with.  It is also sort of sad, because we refer to her as a him quite often as well.  Despite all of that, we love our very first pet and think “he” makes a great addition to the  family.  We let Trev pick out which fish we would take home.  He looked past all of the ones with the beautiful fins and colors.  He said, “this looks like a nice little fella, let’s get this one.”  It was funny at the time, but I think that shows a lot of Trev’s sweet, gentle nature.  He definitely is one who can look past outside appearances.  This can be a side of him that he protects from the world around him, but he is a very tender hearted little boy.  We now know he made the best choice and love our family pet. While Ashley is an old pro and has had many family pets, this is the very first pet the kids or I have ever had.  Welcome to the family Louie!

Wedding Pictures

 

I had THE perfect wedding day. Everything went off without a hitch and was better than imagined. I was completely calm with no wedding jitters of the sort. Surprising, huh?! I was prepared for a February snow storm but look at how blue the sky was that day!

  

I was so pleased with our wedding ceremony.  We didn’t know our sealer beforehand and I was concerned he wouldn’t give advice that was tailored to Kent and I because he didn’t know us personally.  I couldn’t believe how strong the spirit was during our sealing.  It was amazing to hear the blessings and responsibilities we could have through the covenants we made.

Trev and Ady were so excited for us to get married after many months of dating and doing family things but not being an “official” family. I heard they had a hard time holding in their excitement while we were in the temple. After I came out and was greeting everyone, Trev and Ady stooped down to lay my dress just right. It was adorable.

I have been so fortunate to develop close relationships with many women.  I was ecstatic to have some of these girlfriends fly in from all around the world. And my friends living in Utah were so kind to dedicate the entire day to the wedding events.  Thank you girls.

All of Kent’s siblings and all of my siblings (minus Jeff on his mission) were there to celebrate and show their support.  I have married into a great family and I think Kent has married into a great family as well!

 

 

Aren’t we a good looking couple? I mean seriously?!!! I have to say I LOVE my wedding dress. It fit like a glove and I didn’t want to take it off for the luncheon.

 

 

This is one of my favorite photos. Our luncheon was inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building; here Trev is with his cousins looking out to the temple and watching us below.

It is tradition in Kent’s family to roast the bride and groom instead of toasting. Kent comes from a family of six boys and one sister, so it only made sense that the youngest (Kent) would get picked on even if it was his wedding day.

I was royally embarrassed when my brother, Tyler, and sister, Kim, roasted me. However, it was hilarious because it was all true.

 

 

My colors were silver, black, and baby pink.  I wanted Ady to feel special because it was a significant day in her life. I decided she would be the only one to wear pink.  She is such a doll.  I am lucky to have her in my life. 

Our reception was at Noah’s. It is contemporary, spacious, and has a dance floor.  It was everything I envisioned with pink roses, votives, hurricane candles in the windows, and dropped down lighting.  It was so beautiful.

 When I was little, I went to a cousin’s wedding where there was dancing.  I remember my dad wanting to dance with me but being too shy to get out on the dance floor.  I’ve always regretted not dancing and made sure we danced on my wedding day.

 

I’m so happy to have finally found Kent.  He is a wonderful, righteous man who loves the Lord and loves me.  I’m excited for this new chapter of my life with Kent. 

Thank you to all our friends and family for your constant support and love.  

A Mother

For fairly obvious reasons, we celebrated Mother’s Day on the Saturday before the actual holiday at our house.  For a few weeks, the kids and I worked on a homemade DVD and a homemade (Snapfish) book.  We laid out the story of how Mom came into our lives and how much we love having her in them.  The kids were so excited!  I have to express how grateful I am for my wonderful wife and the Mother of our children.  She didn’t have to give birth to them to love them as her own.  In fact, it is truly one of the things that I find most attractive about her.  She has “mothered” so many children and they all seem to flock to her.  She Mothers in such a natural way and shows so much attention and care.  I am truly blessed to have her as my wife and for her to be the Mother of our children, now and in the future.  She definitely has challenges to deal with and hardships that some Mothers may not, but that doesn’t stop her.  I think that is the true definition of a Mother; they never stop loving, even when it may feel like everyone else has, or even if it is difficult.  By that definition you will not find anyone who is more of a Mother then Ashley.  I am so grateful for Ashley and I KNOW that Trev and Ady are as well.

I am also very grateful for my Mother-in-law.  I am convinced that Ashley would not be the woman and Mother she is today without great parents.  They have certainly taught her well.  They have accepted me as their son, and my kids as their grandchildren.  They have shown nothing but love and support and are continually great examples to us.

Finally, I want to express my gratitude for my own Mother.  I know that I have tried her patience more then anyone’s over the years.  I am grateful for her warm smile and her kindness.  I am grateful for the laughter we have shared and for all the things she continues to do for each of us.  Her love seems to know no bounds as she shows it to 7 children, 6 in-laws, and 19 grandchildren.  We are truly grateful each moment for her.

Race for the Cure

This morning, we woke up really early and met Ashley’s parents at the Trax station.  We all rode downtown together to participate in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K.  Ashley’s Mom beat cancer a couple of years ago and we were happy to walk with them and show our support.  Ashley even made these cute little t-shirts for the kids to wear during the race.  The kids were real troopers and we all had a great morning together.  We found it fitting that the race was the day before Mother’s Day.  We had a lot of fun and participated in a great cause.  Most of all, we are glad Grandma is a part of our lives. 

Two Great Photographers

Photographer(s) #1: Kelly and Stacey - We had some close friends take our engagement pictures and even some family pictures on the same day.  It was really kind of them and we really appreciate it.  Not only do they do photography, but they do wedding videos as well.  They were even kind enough to shoot our pictures a second time for us (because of how we looked, not because of how they took the pictures).  We will definitely hire them in the future to take more family and individual pictures.  They did an awesome job.  As great as they are as photographers/videographers, we are even more grateful to call them our friends.  Check out their great skills at Stacey Jewkes Photography.

Photographer #2: Justin Hackworth – We certainly did not want our good friends working on our wedding day.  We wanted them to spend the time with us and be relaxed.  So, Ashley found a great photographer by the name of Justin Hackworth.  He seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  When I wasn’t paying attention, I never noticed him.  When I looked to see if he was around, I thought his camera was going to catch on fire.  He did a great job for us.  I won’t post any of the pictures that he took; I am sure Ashley is going to do a wedding post complete with pictures.  You can view his work, or even order pictures, at Justin Hackworth Photography.

Unscripted and Unplugged

Out-take Pictures Part One

I try to make a habit of writing down most of the funny things the kids say. Often times I will also write down some of the sweet things they say as well. Here are some of the things they have said in the last couple of months:

• The kids were playing in the house in a place I could hear them, but not see them. I heard Trev teasing Ado by saying "I am a princess" (he LOVES to tease). Ado eventually got upset and said, "TREV, I AM THE REAL PRINCESS! I have both grace and beauty!"
• We got talking about wedding stuff just weeks before the wedding. Ado asked Grandma to show her their wedding album. My Mom got it down and showed her the pictures. She was so excited and wanted Trev to see. He wasn't really interested. Ado said, "Trev, you have to see it, Grandma and Grandpa were so young and beautiful!" My parents smiled and Grandma walked over to show Trev the picture. Trev glanced up, and with a bit of surprise and complete innocence, he said, "wow, you guys were young, beautiful, and handsome......and skinny too." All of us, including my parents had a good laugh at that.
• The kids came with me to run an errand. We went into an office building with stairs. The kids seemed somewhat enamoured with the protective plastic covering over the carpeting on the stairs. They kept asking me all about it, and what it was for. I kept wondering if this could really be the first time in their six years that they have seen such a thing. Finally Trev asked, "I mean, who lives here, the Queen or something?"
• I retold the above story to Ashley in front of Trev and Ado. Ashley said, "Trev, I would love to be inside of your head for just one day." Trev sweetly responded, "well guess what, you are in my mind everyday."
• I had every intention of literally taking my wife to the temple. Since I was coming to her house anyway, she wanted to do Ado's hair. When she got done, she turned Ado towards the mirror and asked, "well, what do you think?" Ado responded, "OH Ashley this is how I have always dreamed I would look!"
• A week or two after we were married, we went to Idaho for our nephew's baby blessing. The kids were so excited by our mini vacation. They especially LOVED the hotel. We had told the kids a lot about Cancun, and how they spoke Spanish there. On our way to Idaho, Trev asked, "do they speak English in Idaho?" He also could not quite grasp that we were not leaving the country, just the state. Both kids wanted to know when we had crossed from Utah to Idaho on the way there, and Idaho to Utah on the way back. Trev kept asking if we had left America yet, or if we were back in America yet. We worked really hard with him one time and explained the difference between a state and a country. We asked him if he now understood. He said he did. The very next thing out of his mouth, 20 minutes later was, "are we back in America yet?"

Our cute new nephew

• The first week in our new ward was a fast and testimony meeting. A little girl no older then 9 got up and related her testimony. She told how she was playing in a spot and something told her she needed to move. A few seconds later a large rock feel right where she was playing. When she finished, Trev (who we didn't even think was paying attention) said, "nice story little lady."

The Honeymoon-"Tips not Included"

We went to Cancun, Mexico for our honeymoon. It was a great time. While Ashley is a world traveler, this was my first time out of the United States (not counting Tijuana). We spent Saturday and Sunday night in hotels around Salt Lake. Then, on Monday, we flew out bright and early (at 6AM) to Denver. All of our flights were on United Airlines. The service was great, but the jet was tiny. This thing probably only carried 26 passengers. I swear if this thing were any smaller, it would have propellers instead of jets. In Denver, we didn't even go to a regular gate, we actually had to walk in from outside. Once there, we hopped on a much larger plane and headed to Cancun. We spent the next seven days and nights exploring all over the Cancun area and having the time of our lives. It was gorgeous down there. Here are some things that we saw and did:

In Mexico, they are apparently VERY proud of their tequila. It seemed funny to me, because while I have never drank, I have heard that tequila is like the worst drink ever. That suddenly made sense when they explained that it is made from cactus plants.
On Thursday, March 4th, we went on a day-long tour of the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. It got annoying to pronounce, so I just started referring to it as Itchy Chicken. It even made the pictures more entertaining when we told the kids about our honeymoon. Our tour guide cautioned us to make sure to get back on the right bus at the end of the evening. He explained that if we got on the wrong one, we could very literally end up in Guatemala or Belize. When I looked at our globe at home, I realized just how close we were to both of those countries. We both loved seeing the ruins and would definitely love to spend more time there. We were able to see only about 4 of the 17 miles that are encompassed in Chichen Itza. Sadly, we were only able to spend about 3 or 4 hours there. The rest of our time was spent traveling on the bus, going to a modern Mayan reservation for lunch and shopping, and swimming in a cave full of water that some claim is a fountain of youth. Don't worry, we made sure to swim in it. While we had a great time, we would have loved to spend more time exploring Chichen Itza. If we get the opportunity again, we will probably just rent a car with a GPS and drive ourselves there so that we could have the entire day.
On Friday the 5th, this sweet bus picked us up at our hotel and took us to a cool place called Xcaret (pronounced more like "es-car-et). It was a ton of fun and had a ton of things you could do. You could swim with dolphins or sharks, watch sea turtles (of literally every size) swim around, swim in an hour-long underground river, see wildlife, enjoy a great cultural show at the end of the evening, hang out on the beach or in hammocks, get massages, eat, shop, and much more. It was a lot of fun to spend the entire day there.

Down there, Iguanas seem to have the same population as squirrels do in the United States. They are EVERYWHERE and they are LOUD! The amount of noise they make as they go through forested areas would make you think an alligator was in the trees rather then an Iguana.

Hanging on (barely) to a giant hammock, while posing for a picture that another nice couple offered to take for us.

Just one of the many, many sea turtles swimming around down there.

Just a beautiful place to hang out. Even though it looks incredible, the picture just does not do it justice.

There are two things that I thought were very peculiar down in Cancun. The first one was that the speed limit meant NOTHING!! We would be on a city bus doing double the posted speed limit, pass a cop, and nothing would happen. That says nothing of how fast some of our cab drivers got going. Despite it all, it seems to work. We didn't see one accident while we were down there. It is like organized chaos. I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The second thing, I found slightly more annoying as time went on. EVERYONE down there expects a tip! I have no problem tipping when it is customary to do so. In fact, I consider myself to give tips that are above average. The problem I had was that there were signs everywhere saying "tip not included." It was never, "we appreciate your tips," "tipping is appreciated," "thank you for your tips," or anything like it. It was as if it were written in red ink "TIP NOT INCLUDED!" As if that weren't bad enough, the people then all made a point of telling you that the tip was not included as well. Also, some of the things they expected a tip for were ridiculous. I have no problem tipping for good service and I usually give a decent tip for bad service as well, the part I didn't like was the demanding (and somewhat demeaning) nature of it all. I nearly had a nervous breakdown when the sign above was displayed just before exiting a STORE! Seriously, you expect people to tip you for browsing or purchasing something in your store?!! The only thing that kept me sane, and made me laugh and take a picture instead, was that it was the first sign that said "thanks" on it. Ashley and I still joke about "tips not included" a month later.

The rest of our days and time was spent out on the beach, body boarding, hanging out, sleeping in, shopping the malls and flea markets, and exploring around Cancun. On our way to the airport, I tried to strike up a conversation with our taxi driver. I asked her "habla ingles?" She responded "no, habla espanol?" I responded, "muy, muy poco." It was only after Ashley corrected me by saying "pocito" that I realized I had said "very, very slow" instead of "very very little." We all had a good laugh as I wondered if she thought I talked slow or if she just thought that I am slow. Our honeymoon was great, we loved just being able to be together and to relax. Life continually seems so busy, it was nice to have nine days together to just relax, have fun, and hang out. Did I mention that this was the first real vacation I have taken since before the kids were born? At the beginning of this year, they turned six. I loved hanging out with my best friend on our nine day vacation. We had a great time and hope to make it back there again one day. For now, we are happy to be together and see each other every day. We are slowly settling in and love being together as a family.

Going to the Chapel

In 10 days Kent and I will be married in the Salt Lake Temple for time and all eternity.  I am so excited for the adventure that lays ahead of us.  I realize some of the things I am excited for today may not be things I am excited about in years to come.  I want to remember these things and remember this moment. 

Here are some things I am excited for:

1.  I am excited to spend more time with Kent.  I'm looking forward to seeing him every night and every morning.  I'm excited for the week nights I get to spend with him and not just the weekends.

2.  I am excited to go to church with Kent and the kids.  It will be nice to stop splitting my Sunday's between two different wards. 

3.  I am thrilled to have a place of our own.  Living at home has been a great support for both of us but it's time we had some room of our own.

4.  I'm excited to watch TV with Kent and sew/craft while Kent does homework.

5.  I'm excited to create a home and environment where the spirit can dwell.

6.  I'm excited for date nights and family vacations.

7.  I'm excited to have more children.  Children that look like me and stay with me.  Children I don't have to share.

8.  I'm excited for more sleep!!!  (These 2 and 3 am late nights are bad for my beauty)

9.  I'm excited to cook and eat healthier and go to the gym together.

10.   I'm excited for some Whoopie!  I'm freaking 28 years old.  It's about time!

Happy Valentine's Day

WARNING: This post is filled with all of the sappy, lovesick, stuff that many people find annoying around Valentine's Day. The views expressed DO represent the feelings of my heart and mind, and its managment. If you find such material offensive............then I would go to the most extreme measure and burn my eye balls with acid so that I would not have to read stuff like this. Just an innocent thought for all of you black-hearted people out there. :)

I feel so blessed this Valentine's Day to be two weeks away from marrying my best friend. I am so grateful for Ashley and all that she does. I have never realized before how great life can be when you are in a relationship with your best friend. We have experienced tough things, but we have had an amazing amount of fun times. We have cried some, but have spent far more time laughing. We have worked hard together, yet we have also had great moments of play. In the end, we have passed both the good tests and the bad that great friendship must pass. I feel closer to my sweetheart, and ever more grateful for her. I know that all of the tests, trials, joys, and happiness have only brought us closer. I feel so empowered with Ashley by my side. I truly do feel as though I can conquer the world as long as she is there to support and lift me. I hope and pray that I give back to her at least a small portion of all that she is and does in my life. More importantly, through all of this, I KNOW who Ashley is. It has been said that the more you are around a person, the more imperfections you find within them. I find the opposite to be true with Ashley. The more I am with her, the more we communicate, the more we work through challenges, the more we laugh, the more I realize just how close she is to heaven. I thank a loving Father for sending me someone who could only be considered an Angel among men. I thank Ashley for her love and willingness to marry such an imperfect man, and to stand by my side. I am so very grateful for you Ashley. I love you.