My wife is great. She means a lot to me. Even though I’m a pretty lame husband when it comes to lovey dovey stuff and buying her things, she still loves me. I really like how well she cooks. She’s even made an all veggie dish that I like. (Eggplant delight or something) She can bake the best cookies! And she frequently makes me cheesecake even though she doesn’t even like it. Happy Valentines Day Joy! Will you be my valentine?
A couple days ago, an amazing friend gave us a tub of size 3T girls clothes for Charlotte. I cannot tell you how grateful I was! It’s a challenge to keep up with buying kids’ clothes as they grow so rapidly. So I felt like she was basically handing me a couple hundred dollars when she handed me that box of clothes. Of course she wouldn’t accept payment, but I will figure out some sort of repayment! I’m glad to know that I can “pay it forward” by doing the same for someone else someday.
Also, when Charlotte was still an infant, another friend (you know who you are) gave us a grocery bag of baby food that her toddler no longer needed. I wanted to reimburse her because she had paid good money for that baby food, but she declined it. She mentioned that people had given her baby food, clothes, etc. in the past, and we all just pass things on to others. “What goes around, comes around” was the gist of it. I was grateful for that message and example. I know that when we see our cup being filled to the brim with blessings, we can show our gratitude by giving to someone else (by way of a helping hand, or a kind word, or material things, whatever it may be). Because when we’re serving others, we’re serving God.
We’ve been enjoying this Christmas season! It was nice to get all the shopping done early this year, because we’ve been able to just relax. Luckily, I had nowhere I needed to go today, because we had a very large dumping of snow, probably the most snow that’s come at once, since I’ve lived in Utah! When it comes to the freezing white stuff, the tricky thing is that Chase LOVES being out there, whereas Charlotte HATES it. I’m not a huge fan either, so I generally just tell Chase he can go out and play while Charlotte & I peer out the window at him from inside the warm house. Lame of us, I know! But as soon as Pace is off work in a few days, we’ll all have to go sledding somewhere so our poor little boy can have some real snowy fun! Luckily, he has a blast when neighbor kids are out there (like this afternoon) & he joins in their adventures.
We’ve had lots of family adventures lately, despite my lack of photos. I’m bad at remembering to take pictures!!! Lately, I am feeling comfortable “managing” our two kids and I’m enjoying how much fun they are. Last night, we saw the movie Tangled, which was great, especially because it was the first movie Charlotte has sat through (it was only her 2nd time going to a theater). We have a great time with our kids. I am working on my patience and trying to get down and play with them more. Today I had some Little People “oohing & ahhing” at all of Chase’s awesome stunts with his boats & planes… For about an hour. Chase LOVED it!
Over the weekend, we went to a UVU basketball home game (vs. Utah State), where Grandaddy Jim was doing the radio announcing. We saw a few people that we knew which is always great, the atmosphere was exciting, and the game would have been enjoyable… But 3 rows behind us was a group of rowdy/loud/crude USU fans that were indirectly teaching Chase some naughty words… So we left to put the kids to bed up at Pace’s parents’ house, where we spent the night.
Pace & I went to the Conference Center Sunday morning sans kids (thanks to GG)! Despite the pouring rain and the long lines, we got to experience the David Archuleta + Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. The Gardners had given us their tickets (thank you!). Words can’t describe the magnificence of all the lights, choreography, music, etc. of the show. And who doesn’t love cute little David, who is about to turn 20, but still looks like he’s like 14!?! His version of Silent Night was the best I’ve ever heard (and apparently it will be on his Christmas album next year). Afterwards, he talked about how he came a few years ago to the MoTab Christmas concert, not thinking that in a million years he could be up there on the stage. And yet, there he was! Lesson learned: Pursue your dreams/goals and work to make them a reality.
Apparently, the beautiful Provo Tabernacle burned down today. Sad news. Glad I was able to go in there and see it a few times!
http://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/article_616dbab4-09db-11e0-972b-001cc4c03286.html
Does anyone recognize these keys? They are to a nissan and have been in our drawer for a while
Hey, remember when Cotton came to Utah? This is what he looked like when he got here. It’s really a miracle, now he’s walking pretty normal. Some of you might say this is embarrassing, but I’m not posting to say look at the freak, I’m saying WOW, this is amazing! I found this old video on my computer while cleaning files off and thought this is an example of hard work and faith paying off. Many, many nights we prayed that he would not be stuck in a wheelchair his whole life. And I watched as Cotton worked hard everyday to increase flexibility and push himself past using canes and all of that; so when I saw this I was really proud and grateful.
Ahh memories.
My mother came over tonight with a couple of items from her treasure box. The treasure box is a pile of stuff she wanted to keep from when we were kids. Some of the items she brought over were not labeled, so without further introduction, here are some poems which are probably by me at age unknown:
Place
It is very strange, this place of mine,
it is a place of dim sunlight.
My place is a wonderful place.
Where you go to fly jets,
shoot at enemy spys,
or kill the bad guys.
You can go flying through the air,
and land anywhere.
You can stay all day,
but you have to wake up with the sun rays.-Unknown McCulloch Son
Mom
Mom makes me laugh
Mom makes lots of crafts,
Mom lets me go and roll.
Mom likes to make bread
but can’t do it on her own.
Mom has a million recipes,
three boxes it’s true.
Mom burn food, no way,
just a little dark.
“Mom, lower your voice.
What’s for dinner? Make a choice.”
“What looks good?”
“I don’t care.”
“Good night. I love you.”
“Ditto, Mom.”-Unknown McCulloch Son
Can you watch this video without getting up and scarfing some chocolate afterwards?
The main reason the Fernstens came to Utah over Labor Day weekend was see us. The second reason was to celebrate Rachel’s old friend Allison Funk getting married! The reception took place over an hour away from where we live, but it was a lot of fun to be there in that beautiful backyard setting.
Here is a photo of Chase, and Allison’s nephew, Bryson. He’s the son of Allison’s older sister, Jamie. Jamie was my best friend growing up, and without her, my teenage years would have been a lot more boring! She is such a beautiful, vivacious, entertaining person.
I love the photo below because the two boys were just sitting there, enthralled as they watched the newlywed couple have their first dance together. So precious!
I was so glad the groom’s parents had this ground-level trampoline in their yard for the kids to enjoy! I loved it that Chase had such a blast running around with all those little Funk cousins. He doesn’t have any cousins of his own, but he’s always glad to adopt any that he comes across!
Becky also came with three of her four kids, and I was glad they came to join in the festivities. It’s always so much fun to be with my friends that I can laugh with and with whom I also used to laugh when I was 13. Becky is not only one of my favorite people ever, she’s also gorgeous, and she is raising four healthy kids!
The girls and I also met up once at Becky’s place a couple days before the wedding, because we love every excuse to spend time chatting and laughing together. (Photo courtesy of Becky’s talented 4-year-old daughter).
Nathan & Rachel rolled into town for a quick Labor Day weekend visit. What fun! It was nice to lie around, chat, play, eat, have extra help with the kids, etc.
Below was the T-Girls’ favorite photo. For whatever reason, it cracked us up big time. The uninteresting background info is that Jessica kept putting her foot on Rachel’s tummy, claiming that there was nowhere else to put it, but there really was elsewhere to put it! I loved how we were all just sitting there, entangled.
We went out to Red Robin to celebrate Jessica’s and Nathan’s birthdays. Look at this cute newlywed couple!
….And this semi-cute non-newlywed couple.
Chase insisted on wearing this blue bowtie when we went out to dinner.
On Sunday, we had a huge barbeque feast, including these 3 chocolate cakes that ended up at our house! (Laura, Gretchen, and Chase had each made one.)
Charlotte really loves men. When Nathan’s around, she is content to sit with him and check out the phone (or computer, or printer, or whatever techie gadget he may have on hand).
