Fun with IVideo on a Sunday Afternoon

The kids and I are having fun learning to use the video editing software on my (Jordan's) new macbook. Enjoy this short, poorly-edited but fun and spazzy video featuring me, Peter, Leah and Hannah!



P.S. - made while Andrea was napping, of course- otherwise there would have been much eye-rolling! :)

My Sweet Valentine

I am pretty sure I married the most thoughtful man alive.
When I met Jordan that was one of the first things that attracted me to him. He was serving as Elder's Quorum President in our ward and he often made deliveries of golden brownies to all kinds of people in the ward. He tried to think about the needs of people without them telling him outright and made sure those needs were met. This kindness, generosity, and thoughtfulness has been shown time and time again throughout our almost 13 years of marriage. Let me name a few of my most memorable gifts from him:

Coming home from work, hugely pregnant with Peter. I walk into the room and find nicely laid out on the bed a lovely dress, nylons and a card asking me out

to the BYU homecoming dance. I didn't know it until he snuck out but he was hiding in the closet watching my reaction.

A few years ago I got one of the most wonderful gifts- Jordan burned CD's of lots of different songs that mean something to us. Songs from when we were dating, songs about our kids, about our future, etc. He burned two CD's worth of songs and wrote me a beautiful letter with details about why he picked each song. I will always treasure that gift.

There are the COUNTLESS times when Jordan will come home with some kind of treat for me (he knows the way to my heart is through treats! He knows all my favorites!). The many times he lets me sleep even though he is just as tired as I am. The times he spends hours trying to prepare the perfect breakfast for me. The times he calls me just to say hello (several times a day!). The times he stays up to make sure the whites get into the drier. The many homemade cards he and the kids have made together for me. Although we have had our share of rocky times and I can't say our life is just perfect I can say I have NEVER doubted that my husband loves me and would do anything, yes, anything, to make me happy. I know this with certainty. He is my best friend, my confidant, my love. I am grateful to have him by my side as we make our way through this difficult life. Our children are blessed to have him for a father. He loves them so much and would do anything for them. He goofs off with them a lot and is good at making them laugh. He tries to speak to each child in their own language by doing the things they want to do. He is constantly trying to be better. If he falters or gets angry with the kids he is quick to try to fix it and do better tomorrow. I am so grateful I have a good man by my side. I love you Jordan and am so blessed to have you in my life.

I'm Back!

Wow, how very quickly life can change. Most of you readers know that we moved to Austin in January of 2009. We were moving close to family; my sister and parents both live there. We were excited about living in the hill country of Texas as well as being in a smaller city. Well, unfortunately our stay in Austin did not last long. In September of last year my husband's law firm decided to close down their Austin office. They gave a reasonable severance package which bought us some time. Within a couple of months Jordan had two offers. One in Dallas, one in Houston. None in Austin. The one in Dallas did not feel right for our family so off to Houston we went! Jordan started the new job in Houston at the beginning of December. I stayed behind with the kids (with the house on the market mind you- not a small feat!) and saw Jordan on the weekends. We moved here on January 7th. The house is still on the market and we pray it'll sell soon. For now we are renting a darling little home in a beautiful neighborhood full of huge pine trees. We are really loving it here! We are astounded at the mercies of the Lord through all of this. Although is was hard for Jordan to lose his job we are so grateful he found a new one so soon. We are so happy to be in this lovely place and for the opportunity to meet new people and let the kids stretch their wings a bit as they acclimate to yet another place. They are doing great! We are so proud of them. People have been so kind to us here. I was asked last week to serve as 1st counselor with the young women at church which I am thrilled about. I love working with the youth. So far we have all good things to say about living here. Except for the commute. It's long. And I am sure we will have something to say this summer!!

So moving on...here are a few pics of our life recently. Just last week (Feb 2) our sweet Matthew had his 4th birthday. He had such a fun day, eating his breakfast of choice (cinnamon toast-crunch) and going to Chuck-E-Cheese's for the afternoon. It was so fun to hang out with him while the kids were at school. Our Matthew can be a handful- very busy and VERY LOUD but we love him so much. He is really funny, always coming up with the most bizarre things and doing things that just make us laugh. Just last week I asked him what the most fun thing in the world would be for him to do and without missing a beat he answered, "I would take lots of handfuls of mud, make a pool of mud and go swimming in it." Sounds fun to me! Awhile back I had several of my kids at the store with me and as we were walking out the door I noticed Matthew had gone to one of the produce bins by the doors, taken a cantaloupe, and was hauling out the door with it. He looked so funny trying to run with a big cantaloupe I couldn't help but laugh! So here are a few pics of him celebrating with his desired dessert- strawberry shortcake. We love this boy so much!

My goofy kids.
I am this many now!! He says it "fowa" instead of "four." He sounds like a New Yorker.
Isn't he the cutest little guy? I just want to eat him up sometimes.
In other news, Hannah has a toothless grin! She loves that she is missing teeth and is sure to point it out to anyone willing to admire her. She's such a goof-ball.
I promise I am going to blog more! I just have to make time! Life is going too fast and I want to document it better. For now I will close by saying we are grateful to be here, loving our new life and feeling so blessed to have all these sweet little people in our lives. We couldn't ask for more.