Happy Birthday to the Best Wife!

I don't contribute enough to the blog as it is. It is probably better that way, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity to wish the most wonderful wife, best friend, and mom a Happy Birthday today.

Cheri doesn't get enough credit for all that she does and is. With each passing year and birthday, I can't help but think about how wonderful Cheri is and how lucky I am because she is part of my life. She is the best wife a guy could have. She is supportive of me in everything I do. She is a great friend. She makes me a better person with each passing day. Each time I see my wonderful children, I see so many of the incredible qualities they have and realize they come from her and not from me.

This past year further told me how amazing Cheri is and how strong she is as I watched her go through so many trials and still see her smile despite the trials. I wish Cheri a very happy birthday today with all of my love!

Your loving Husband - Spencer

p.s. Emma, Tyler, and Macie wish you a happy birthday too

Lurkers

Do you blog-lurk? I sure do. Spencer likes to tell me I "blog-stalk," but I don't like that word as I don't like to think of myself as any type of stalker.

There are six or seven people whose blogs I "lurk" on. I don't know if any of them knows I even check their blogs. The first girl I know quite a bit about. I know she's an amazing scrapbooker and photographer. She's a darling mother of 3 who is incredibly talented in so many different areas, all areas I am interested in. I guess that's more like "blog-envying."

I read a couple of blogs involving those who have had difficult tragedies involving stillborn children. I don't even know how I found some of them. A couple know of me but the majority don't. It's a little bit of a support group, and they often have great ideas of things that apply directly to me. So, instead of "blog stalking," I think I'll call this "blog-supporting." Much better.

There are another two blogs I read because the bloggers are incredible writers. They can turn ordinary - or even boring - situations into something hilarious, interesting, or insightful. I like their perspectives and how they make me feel happy. This could be called "blog-pick-me-up'ing."

Do you lurk? (I don't mean reading a famous blog like PW or Hostess.) What would make you de-lurk? I often wonder if I should de-lurk on one or two of these but have a hard time finding a good reason to do so. Are comments from lurkers ever un-welcome?

P.S. What constitutes a lurker?

These are just 4 of my favorite things...

...about my little guy! He turned 4 this week and I'm admittedly a little sad as I see that my kids are getting so big, and I'm trying so hard to hold on to every little detail!

• This kid loves to sleep. He's even been known to ask for permission to take a nap. He wasn't always this way - just the last 18 months or so. He even sleeps through Sacrament Meeting every Sunday. I love it!


• On the topic of sleeping, he always has at least one of his eyes slightly open while he's asleep. It's a little creepy. He also sleeps with his mouth wide open.


• He is an incredible athlete. He's a killer fast runner, he learned how to ride a 2-wheeler in about 90 seconds (before his older sister, mind you), and he can hit a baseball across the yard.
  
• I hope there are Goldfish in heaven, just for him. An unlimited supply.
  

Happy Birthday, my boy. I hope the next 4 years are just as picture-perfect. P.S. Thanks for asking me if we could go to the cemetery so you could show Macie all your birthday presents. You made my day. And you surely made hers.

I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with this kid. Spencer was at work and it was the beginning of December. I took two pregnancy tests (I think I always do this - I never believe the first one), and then I wrapped them in a Christmas box (yes, gross). I could barely wait until he got home and I made him open it right when he walked in the door. Neither of us was really surprised, but it was a crazy month anyway with the holidays and with Spencer in his very last semester of grad school. We had to move out of our house, and we all got hit with a nasty stomach bug. Aside from throwing up a few times from that, I wasn't sick one day during this pregnancy with Tyler. I was really tired though, and would nap every day during Emma's naptime, but it was smooth sailing.

Then Tyler was born... and the smooth sailing was over. He either enjoyed crying or hated life his first few months. That first year of his life was so hard on me with two tiny ones, but Emma was so easy going that I was able to (or had to) spend that extra time with Tyler. They are the best of friends these days and he's just the most pleasant person to be around, especially for a 4-year old!

the consequences of family videos

I must say that I have an extraordinary husband.

Aside from that...I felt a lot of things come full circle this week. My daughter is very much into watching old family videos (DVDs) of me as a child. She knows so much about me. Both kids have seen me run races, boogie board, go on vacations, act in roadshows (I use the term "act" loosely), etc. They recognize when I should be utterly embarrassed (which I am) on video.

This week they got to do many of those things themselves. We flew to visit my parents while Spencer worked his tail off at Disney World (really, he did!). On the first day, my dad took the kids boogie-boarding. The next day we did it all again. I loved seeing Tyler roll around, get buried by waves, and then exclaim, "I saved myself!" My dad even spoiled them and let them buy candy at the store near the beach. And Tyler had his first Snickers bar ever. If he's like me, his life will never be the same again.



We got to pay a visit to the Dodger game on Mormon night, which I did on several occasions as a child. However, this time we all got spoiled and had box suite (yes! our own room!) with free dinner (wow, "dinner" is such an understatement) included. As my mom so simply put it, "I can never watch a game like a regular person again!"



One of the things I hated most as a child was having to go running. I ran lots of 5k's and 10k's as a kid, and my parents have saved all our old racing numbers. One morning we took the kids (per their request) over to the track, pinned numbers on their shirts, and let them loose. Emma liked it about as much as I did 20 years ago (love that girl!) but Tyler really enjoyed himself. In fact, my favorite part was watching him sprint, with a grin on his face, past all the sloooowww middle-aged women. No, I take that back. My favorite part was watching the faces of those he was passing - being passed up by a little 3-almost-4-year old! Awesome. He ran a mile and a quarter. Emma had to be bribed to run a mile. I ran a lap and couldn't be bribed to go further (I was on vacation after all!). [love that lady's face]


Next on the "tradition" list was Newport Beach. It was just fantastic to be there this week. The beach is gorgeous, the jetties supply endless treasure-hunting fun, and I guess it's fun to ride the merry go round and ferris wheel (though I sorta wanted to puke). We even visited the shell shop where I used to love to spend my money. I let the kids spend a few dollars each. That's one tradition I want to remember better--Newport Beach--and the beach house tradition is one I'd love to keep up with my kids...if we can ever afford it.


Moral of the story: Let your kids watch your family videos, and then do it all over again...with them. It would have been icing on the cake if Spencer could have been here. He was helping put on a global intern training for his firm...and playing with Mickey and Donald. Like I said, he's pretty great to let us have so much fun without him. We are so lucky.

And me...I'm trying to carefully stack all the little details in my memory; things like Emma developing a love (obsession?) for Uncrustables, like the charming and thought-provoking book I read this week (The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society) that really makes me want to be a writer, like how my kids exclaimed they were "on top of the world!" not only on the airplane but also on the ferris wheel, like Tyler getting to blow out a candle on a piece of cake a couple different times, just for the heck of it, like how my dad came to the beach on his lunch breaks so my mom and I could get a break and he could take over in the water with the kids, and like how Spencer's phone calls were few and far between but were still extra special, especially when the kids got to talk. I know just how much absence makes the heart grow fonder and can't wait to see him at the airport.