Ryan's Birthday!

Oh how I love my husband! And I was so excited about my ideas to celebrate his birthday and how it played out! Ryan loves to be celebrated and I must say that Pinterest is a godsend!

It all started with a card I found months ago about how if it were up to me his birthday would be declared a national holiday.

Ryan's birthday fell on a regular Tuesday work day but this was great for my plan! I found little things to wrap up so he could open one each waking hour commemorating the hour of his birth. I hear his coworkers got a kick out of joining in the fun too which was just what I wanted! He really has been blessed with some great people there! 

For the ones he would open at work, I put them in a basket for him to tote to the office. Here's the 8-5 loot!

And the gift list:

7:05am - Powdered donuts for breakfast.
8:05 - A card that told him to check his email. I'd videoed the kids singing him Happy Birthday!
9:05 - A new framed picture of our family - his biggest fans - for his office.
10:05 - Muddy Buddies Chex mix - to celebrate all the yummy treats Ryan makes us!
11:05 - An itunes gift card because we love how his whistling and boisterous singing make our home happy!
12:05pm - His favorite sweet/salty roasted pecans I made. YUM!
1:05 - MadLibs to do with his coworkers or to bring home and do with Easton who laughs hysterically at them!
2:05 - A pack of gum because if you know Ryan, he must have gum!
3:05 - An Almond Joy bar because he's sweet, nutty, and brings me JOY!
4:05 - Deal Monopoly card game. We have a fun joke about when we found a tshirt this summer that said, "I'm kinda a big deal," apparently a great line from the Will Farrel movie Anchorman.
5:05 - Another card telling him to check his email for a video of the kids singing "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home!"
6:05 - We ate his requested BBQ chicken pizza which I bombed, but I tried. It's real good when I do it right!
7:05 - Ryan let me try a new cake on him. My friend Lara had made this caramel flan bundt cake last spring for a Relief Society meeting and I LOVED it! I knew Ryan would like it too so I've been saving it for his birthday. Turned out real pretty too and is super easy!

8:05 - A small iPod speaker/charger station for his bedside table so he can enjoy his music and podcasts.
9:05 - A bottle of stress relief massage oil for a good ol' back rub we never got around to because I was pooped! We'll get to it.
10:05 - New huge pillows for the bed since he loves to prop himself up in there for some quiet down time.

I loved getting emails from Ryan throughout the day after he'd open his gifts. It really did feel like a day long celebration! We sure do love him!!! He's such a good dad, great husband, and all around fabulous guy! Happy 38th my Cute Boy!

We had a fun chat with Ryan's mom this past Sunday for her birthday. We joked about how SHE should have been the one to get presents for each hour of Ryan's birthday! Wouldn't it be awesome if mom's were given gifts on their kids' birthdays?! I guess we'll have to be content with Mother's Day!

Morgan is 3

My fairest little baby is growing up.

This little blue-eyed blondie is excited to be getting big!

When asked how old she is now, she declared, "16!"

When asked how he'd describe Morgan, Ryan said, "She is large and in charge!"

Dr. Grumbach, our local German pediatrician adeptly surmised last year, "She's not the biggest, so she's got to be the loudest!" I quote him often!

Her Favorite Foods:

Peanuts, rice cakes, yogurt, cheddar cheese, sour cream (on its own, everything else is a mere vehicle to deliver), whole wheat bagels with strawberry cream cheese, frosting but not really cake, and popcorn.

Her Favorite Activities:

Playing with "my boys" or girlfriends, jumping on the trampoline with them, snuggling and being tickled and thrown around by Mom or Dad, brushing teeth like the big kids and an electric toothbrush, being read to, counting (2, 9, 10 = 1, 2, 3 to her), singing songs at the top of her lungs, bossing her toys around, having her nails painted, and now potty training - she's in it for the treats!

Her actual birthday was a bit of a crazy day so we celebrated a day later. I wrapped her gifts and Ryan and I collaborated on her cake as the kids swirled around us. Morgan was so excited for her "birttay cake" and "p'esents". We invited our neighbors, the Blauchs, over to join us for her cake and presents which she thought was great! I loved hearing Morgan sing Happy Birthday with us.

McKay's favorite thing about Morgan on her birthday was "She blowed the candles out all by herself without me." I definitely saw a crosswind from his direction as she blew them out, but it sure was fun to see this little miss sunshine so excited about the celebration in her honor!

After cake and presents, she and Sophie jumped on the trampoline as giggly girls. When the boys joined, it just got louder. Easton's favorite thing about Morgan is that, "She plays fun!" Especially on the trampoline. He likes to make up little games kinda like Simon Says as they hop around. The rest of the kids love how he mixes it up.

Morgan's gift to us - staying dry with no accidents and much less reminding today!!! YAHOO!!!

Morgan Turned 2!

This little baby girl isn't so babyish anymore.

She celebrates each day with an "I do it!" and hardly ever sits still!

Things I love about my two year old Miss Jane are:

• She wakes up each morning happy to see us!
• Her vocabulary is starting to explode but the "Vut?!" reply to everything we say kills us! It sounds so German as does her occasional "Nien!"
• She carts the bathroom step stools around the house like an extra appendage. They're great for opening doors and getting to things on shelves or counters. She recently mastered light switches without the step stool much to everyone's chagrin!
• She loves her songs and requests them all the time. She knows how to manipulate the ipod to some extent and hollers with glee at each new song. If in the car, she's incessently calling for "Shi-shuhs!" = Scripture Scouts. But she only wants the songs, not the storytelling. Oh the joy that is for me, the constant reassuring that a song is coming.
• She will allow me to braid her hair! She saw me do her cousin Lizzie's recently and marveled at it. Oh how I love having her hair out of her face!

• She loves to eat nuts and is obsessed with gum. She has daddy wrapped around her finger in this regard. {Hmph.}
• She loves to be the center of attention and as the pediatrician observed, she's got the vocal volume to make it happen if she's not.
• Morgan does not appreciate being taken from her mom by strangers and is still pretty clingy when drop-offs to nursery or babysitters occur. She is getting less shy with strangers and prances around until they acknowledge her, especially if she says "Hi."
• She has no fear of animals, no matter what their size. She runs up to our neighbor's doberman with squeals of delight and is known to haul her stool over to the tv to shower smootches on some cute animal on screen.
• Morgan is often asserting her independence but is beginning to understand time outs and such rationale. {Heaven!} But sometimes she'll lean over with her little index finger in the air and roughly whisper, "Un mit" = one minute, to me when called! It's hard to be upset with that cute one!
• Her favorite toys are anything musical or baby related. Her babydoll and stroller or dollhouse family's baby with baby furniture get the most action. Her baby gets lots of kisses and choke holds, rides in the baby buggy, naps when she's done with it, snuggles in a bed under the covers, and diapering and babywiping it so that it resembles a diaper baby pita sandwich. She kills us with her antics! The fastest way to walk with her to McKay's school is to let her take her baby in its stroller. WHY didn't I think of this sooner!!! It's a much more direct route now.
• She whisper copies anyone saying a prayer and is an ardent supporter of our eeny-meenie-minie-moe prayer selection process.

We love our Miss Morgan Jane and that big grin of hers brings such joy to our family!

Holiday Favorites

An effort to document some of our holiday happenings . . .

Easton turned 6! True to the Bare within me, we didn't get to have his ice cream cake on his birthday - just a couple days late although it was made on his birthday! More on this in another post soon hopefully!

Christmas

To help our kids get and share the Christmas spirit, I baked like a mad woman one day to pull together cookie plates for a FHE. We sure enjoyed singing and chatting with our friends!!! We may have to add more night of this next year it was sooo fun! With all us Americans and a British family so far from home, it just felt that much better to be out spreading Christmas cheer!

I gathered some new ward friends for a Christmas Eve party to enjoy food, chatting, a small-kid-friendly nativity play, and a fun game. What's Christmas without a gathering?! The fun Palmers hosted the whole crowd and the kids loved Staci's classic toys! Hurray for a yummy wassail recipe!

I got such a kick out of Ryan waking up early on Christmas morning to create a dreamy ambiance in the living room - lit up the tree, started the soft Christmas music, and lit candles. Every day he comes home, he lights up the tree and I love that about him!

Watching the kids handle the nativity set while Ryan read the story was real special to me. Baby Jesus definitely got some lovin' from Morgan's slobbery teething lips!

Easton opened DS games and tried to patiently find the elusive DS which Ryan had hid. All morning we captured his search with the camera but I won't post the whole thing! After the tree was emptied, he was so sure it was in his stocking and there were hints of waterworks when it wasn't there! Easton sure was in HEAVEN and Ryan loved orchestrating the run around!!!

(I'm still torn on the DS, but ordered a parenting book to salve my conscience and teach me how to set healthy age appropriate gaming limits. We'll see if it lives up to its good reviews! Easton will forego meals and all else to continue playing video games but he's also intuitively good at them. Striving for a healthy balance.)

McKay's waterworks were for real. New Leapster games paled in comparison to Easton's DS, unfortunately. Good thing Easton was such a good sport sharing and he knows how to work McKay by offering to help him get through rough spots!

Morgan burnt her finger on a candle Christmas morning. More waterworks, poor gal. Guilty parents! I think she likes her new pink bedding. She's been sleeping on the boys' old sheets her whole life so we were overdue! I'm sure she doesn't care, but I get a kick out of them!

I got the printer I really wanted and the Serenity pass which produced only internal waterworks that I kept in check. PHEW! That was close! Thanks Santa!!! I wish I was better at surprising Ryan although his Amazon wish list was such a blessing! Once again I vow to begin our shopping earlier especially now that shipping plays a key role!

McKay loved all the candy in the Christmas stockings. Yes, that's plural for a reason! I could do an entire post on what treats I find in his bed from his early morning kitchen raids! I don't even hear him up anymore!?

That weekend we enjoyed watching the Dicken's Little Dorrit mini-series, White Christmas, It's a Wonderful Life, and A Christmas Carol (Richard Scott version's the best but we also did the audio book, great new tradition). The boys sure love all the old and new Christmas movies played on TV during the holidays - especially the old Rudolf, Frosty, and Santa ones but also even Barbie Nutcracker! Shhh, don't tell!

And what about the four-way Skype family call with my brother Matt serving his mission in Brazil?! Fresh out of the MTC in Brazil - that was AWESOME! Two US coasts and two foreign countries. Not bad, not bad at all! Love you, Matt!!!

At Home . . .

Easton using his new reading light to read stories each night to McKay. Oh how I love this!!! And with the rouland shades down during the day making it pitch black in their room, they can play with it during the day too! BONUS!

Having everyone home reinstated my belief in our need for a family responsibility chart! Maid is not spelled m-o-m!

Morgan decided she likes sleeping in! Her own rouland-down-black-out room, a growth spurt, hearty appetite, and new teeth made for even a couple 15 hour stints! But it also means she's unwilling to take any naps during the day.

Many musings over how to manage a large frisky Primary class this year. Help!!!

Happy New Year!

At least 45 minutes spent watching fireworks in cousin's Munich neighborhood! In addition to the big orchestrated shows, anyone in Germany can shoot off whatever they can afford and it's simply WILD and lasts forever! We also had lots of fun playing new and old favorite board games with cousins! Move the cheese ball dip away from me, I have NO self control!

New Year's Day I saw my first 3D movie - Avatar. Pretty cool, but I'm still just as happy at home watching shows in my pjs! Love that pause button and popcorn the way I like it! I'll leave it to the guys to be wow'd by all the new tech stuff.

Inspired once again by my sister-in-law's memory books for each person in her family! Oh she rocks this in such a manageable way that I again resolve to do better . . . once I get my house recovered from the holidays and school starting . . .

One of our favorite lines from that cute movie "Dan in Real Life" is when Steve Carrel's character is yelled at by his daughter for not understanding love as he sends her boyfriend packing. Oh it's tooooo classic! When our sister-in-law took down her Christmas tree Jan 2, Ryan playfully hollered a doctored version of the line at her: "YOU are a murderer of Christmas!" My cute boy loves Christmas trees, yes he does!

Now back to the school routine and soaking up what time I get with my little brew! Today it meant missing preschool for errands, playing in the snow instead of cartoons and naps, "Crabby Patties" for dinner (aka Sloppy Joes, but Easton often descends into a puddle of tears if he doesn't recognize what's being served), and playing with a new used doll house! Inspired by my family watching all our old family movies over the break and making me homesick to hear it, I took a lot of my kids tonight just being themselves. That was time well spent! Fun times, lots of pics and maybe I'll get around to sharing soon!

My blonde baby is ONE!

Showin' her spunk and trading squawks with her dad! A favorite past time.

Our Morgan Jane is a year old! It's been fun to read over her arrival from last year's post. My friend Heike had asked what time Morgan had been born as we were walking kids home from the bus and I honestly couldn't even remember! Here's the scoop from a year ago.

The boys were so excited to celebrate another birthday with candles and were even happier we did cupcakes. You can see Morgan's reactions to her first birthday's cupcakes - it's a mixed bag!

She sure likes the candle lit on top!

What's this pink stuff on top of my cupcake?!

That's my sweet baby girl! Oh how I love my babies and having a girl has been so much fun! She's not so much into dresses because they get in the way of her crawling. The ladies at church have gotten a good chuckle out of her bear crawl down the halls, bum high in the air to keep up her pace!

She's really into kisses lately which is just too fun! I was sitting on the floor helping McKay with his socks and shoes and she crawled up, scaled my lap and planted a kiss on my cheek. She also did this to Easton as he was playing his Xbox game. Oh she's so sweet! She's a true momma's girl, loves snuggling and smashing nose to nose with giggles.

She loves her brothers and tries to keep up with them. Easton loves to tickle her belly and play peek-a-boo. McKay's still a bit rough and likes to tease her to screams, but it's outta love and cute in its own way. He doesn't hold still enough for her to get in her kisses, but I love watching her be affectionate to her brothers. She's fascinated and energized by their crazy, silly rowdy games!

Both boys were walking at a year old and she's done a couple steps unknowingly so she'll get there soon! I really enjoy watching her make her rounds in our apartment, a.k.a. Morgan's circuit gym:

- Kiss her babydoll and other stuffed animals as well as test drive whatever cars suit her fancy in the playroom. To chill her out, I either go for her blanket or a soft plush toy to kiss - works every time!

- Crawl into the laundry room to check on the washing machine spin cycle.

- Check out the living room for any leftover toys or interesting objects like Ryan's water or milk glasses left on the floor. (not my favorite)

- Give the Man Chair a few go-arounds being sure mom or dad plays her peek-a-boo game as she comes around.

- Check under the table for any leftovers.

- Take the tupperware out of the cupboard and the silverware out of the dishwasher if it's open. - Crawl into her room to pull her blanket out of her crib for a few comfort munches.
- And play with the boys' letters and the door stop in the entryway.

She's a busy low-maintenance gal and meant to be in our family! We can't imagine life without her! She's my least sound sleeper and sure enjoys sprawling on me in my bed when I'm too tired to stick to my guns in the wee morning hours. Aggravating and pure sweet joy in the same weary moments! Oh I love her and can't wait to see what she'll become as the years will roll by too fast!

** I would have gotten to this last night after putting the sugar-highed kids to bed, but Ryan and I were riveted on the runaway hot air balloon that possibly held a six year old inside. I'm soooo relieved the little guy was found at home where he'd been hiding in the attic from getting in trouble earlier. PHEW! Kids!

Catching up with home-bodies!

Home Sick:

While I was homesick last week to be with my family and send Matt off on his mission, I got to experience the other home sick instead. Easton caught a virus at school and it's been making its way through the family for the past week. Our week has seen variations of the following: headaches, fevers, coughing, runny noses, tissues, naps, scratchy voices, too many midnight wakings, meltdowns a plenty, too many kid movies and cartoons, Vicks vapor rub, Tylenol, Motrin, Robitussin DM, a doctor visit, reading books, and lots of snuggling!

Ryan took this unflattering picture weeks ago, but it captures our rag-taggle sick bunch this past week pretty well. It's moments like these where I feel claustrophobic and complete joy in the same moment! I can't get enough of McKay's hugs and affection!

A couple days ago in the wee morning hours when McKay had woken up every hour coughing with a 103 fever, he totally freaked me out! He'd finally settled in on the couch and I was in the laundry room close by when I heard his clear voice (not his sick raspy voice) say like he often does, "I love you, Mom." It scared me so bad I had trouble getting back to sleep the rest of the night for fear that it was a farewell. Needless to say, with a few H1N1 virus cases and a case of tuberculosis here, we saw the doctor that morning! A friend even told me last night their family got whooping cough these past few weeks!

The plus side of this, I must admit, was how nice it was to have a break from our morning flurry of activities to get everyone out the door! I even cajoled Ryan into letting me go to German class in the evenings for him so I wouldn't have to miss class or find a sitter willing to watch my sickies. After long days at home with sick babies, I was always dying to get out and he was happy to be home after work even if it meant he had to cover the bedtime and medicine routines.

Autumn is Here!

For the past few weeks, I've enjoyed the changing view as I'd leave to trek over to get McKay from kindergarten or Easton from the bus. Such great colors and everything seems to be peak right now!

And coming home . . .

McKay insists on riding his scooter to and from the bus pickup. This requires a supreme dose of patience on my behalf, but he's a determined little guy! The wrist band isn't for wiping sweat away. Oh no! It holds all his super powers and boy does he use them!

Brothers are the best!

Seeing these two laughin' it up together, the best of friends, makes my day -- even if they're not allowed to sit on top of the couch! Since McKay likes to avoid giving good smiles when asked, I had to post this one and also show how he likes to dress himself!

I knew the boys were feeling better for sure when I found them dragging each other back and forth across the apartment floor last night without someone descending into a meltdown every couple of minutes! Notice the cushy booster seat they used to make the ride more comfortable. McKay definitely got the best of this game since Easton was too heavy to pull for long.

When the brothers leave the door open to the back yard, Morgan makes a bee line over to it and out she escapes! Last week I found her rolling this car across the lawn, happy as a clam, still in her pjs!

I had the scare of a lifetime yesterday when I discovered they'd let her out without me knowing and the gate was open! The boys had already headed back inside to continue a game they were playing and I'm not even sure they knew she made her way outside. Luckily, she enjoyed pushing the gate back and forth and hadn't made it far!

Time to Report:

I finally did it! Ryan was genuinely pleased with our little birthday evening for him a couple weeks ago! The boys rolled the roulands down so it was completely dark in our apartment. We sat in the dark for a half hour until Ryan got home because they were so excited and wanted to practice jumping out and surprising their daddy! McKay unwrapped one of Ryan's presents before Ryan got home and then once again before we sat down to eat. He just couldn't wait to show dad what we'd gotten him! I was once again reminded why I never got picked for singing solos in elementary school like my best friend. I can't even sing "Happy Birthday" in tune! These kids better grow up fast so they can drown out my voice. It hurt my ears!

The picture above is the birthday boy with this goods. His favorite dinner - roast beef enchiladas with fresh guacamole, sour cream, tortilla chips, and Rotel cheese sauce. I surprised him with a German chocolate cake. No one else but Ryan likes the coconut-nut frosting so I never make this. Turns out I made it just right - HURRAY! Thank you Trisha Yearwood for sharing Garth Brooks' favorite recipe on some cooking show!

Happy Birthday, Ryan!!!

Here's the birthday boy last weekend before he ran the Berlin Marathon. So cool! I was surprised to be reminded this week how old he is today because I wasn't ready for my own corresponding age! Age became irrelevant to me when I got married and I can't seem to keep track. Isn't it funny to re-examine where and what you thought you'd be doing by a certain age? I'm positive that bringing his family to live in Germany with a new job and running the Berlin Marathon were not what he imagined last year at this time!

My greatest hope is that he knows I love him the mostest and that I hope the roast enchiladas will be gobbled up in his happy devouring way! I know I've done well when he doesn't say much until after the second plate full and he's put the leftovers away practically before I've finished. Here's hoping! The boys are so excited to have his party and what fun it'll be to have their "help"!

This week’s Top 5 things I wish to celebrate about the cute boy I married:

5. I love how Ryan prefers to spend his spare time with just me and/or our kids. Family outings, playing super powers and smack down, dates and getaways, morning flashlight snuggling with the kids – how lucky are we?! I truly appreciate Ryan’s “free spirit” side pushing us out the door to go have adventures wherever we live.

4. I love seeing Ryan play, teach, and correct our children with the pride and love of a father.

3. I love how Ryan provides for our family’s needs allowing me to be a mother at home. That is too simplistic a statement for such a weighty, thankless responsibility that he shoulders and routinely critically examines.

2. I’ve deserved quite a bit of correction lately and it’s never easy! However, I truly appreciate Ryan’s kind way of correcting me and allowing me to process it in my own time. I love that I can trust my heart, my family, my hopes, my sorrows, and our future in him.


1. I love watching Ryan succeed and being his biggest fan! First and foremost, he is the cute boy I fell in love with.

I’m lucky I’m in love with my best friend
I’m lucky we’re in love in every way
- Lucky lyrics by Jason Mraz

December catchup!

It's been forever, sorry! There's lots of fun photos from the past month to tell a bit what we've been up to and I'm just to lazy to really detail it all right now, but wanted to post a quick update. For those interested in the pictures, I commented on most of them so just click on the slideshow above to be taken to the bubbleshare website to read my comments.

If you've seen the cartoon "Over the Hedge" and remember the squirrel voiced by Steve Carrel who has dizzying energy, that pretty well sums up the past two weeks of me on high doses of steroids and finally feeling much better! YAHOO!!! I've been buzzing around catching up on my life and getting Christmas things together, just having fun! I feel like every mom should be given this wonderful gift in a bottle just before Thanksgiving because not only do I have everything done I wanted to do, but I had the energy and desire to do it through the most crazy season of the year! Gotta say though, the side effects aren't all that hot, so I think the "eat right, get enough sleep and exercise" thing would probably be much better holistic advice. I'm working on that - even began tracking everything I eat, all my symptoms, and all my meds daily on a worksheet I made myself! I'm telling you, me on high doses of steroids - watch out world, I'm taking over! (Watch out, I jump topics w/ wreckless abandon from here on out - another side effect, just ask Ryan or Janelle who've witnessed my very buzzy behavior lately!)

Oh how I've loved the Christmas season! Too much to say about this, but just know I am loving reconnecting with the reason for the season -- Our Heavenly Father's gift of His Son and our Savior's gift of the Atonement in order that we may have the gift of eternal life. I feel so blessed to know of the plan of Salvation! I'm learning so much right now about getting back to the nitty-gritty basics of the gospel as I try to be a good mom and teach my boys the true path to happiness. I found a great article about Christmas that took me back to my Holy Land Study Abroad 1997 - totally worth the read to learn maybe some lesser known universal symbolisms in the nativity story. Click here - "Tasting the Bread of Life."

Looking at the pictures of the past month, Easton is front and center in my thoughts. Our "SuperEaston" has turned 4 years old this past week. He is such a sensitive, contemplative boy who proclaimed this week,"We're a silly family!" I love that I can discuss with him how he and I can help teach McKay to be a good boy by sharing, not screaming through tantrums, saying sorry when things happen . . . it's great to have a partner in crime and my just Easton gets it!

This was the first year we've had a birthday party with friends his age over and we only began this year because it mattered to him. It was a real low key event but the boys had fun. It was really a glorified playdate but they seemed to really enjoy it. I was just so pleased with myself because I didn't stress over it and the cake and food we ate was eaten and enjoyed by all three boys who are very picky! HURRAY for me!

Within an hour of the party being over, Ryan and I were off to enjoy Ryan's Christmas / birthday gift to me. A getaway to the Goodstone Inn B&B of Middleburg complete with a tub soak finishing up "A Christmas Box", professional one hour massages, dinner at the Red Fox Inn c. 1724, journaling by the fire, FABULOUS scrumptious late breakfast, and perusing the cute shops of historic Middleburg. Ryan and I just had such a great time chatting and being in love - ah we just love quick getaways to refresh ourselves! I say the best gift you can give a young mom is to let her be pampered, fed extravagantly, and engaged in great conversations. I'm just so lucky to have a husband who picks up on my greatest needs! It helps me be the woman, mother, and wife I want to be!

A Merry Merry Christmas to YOU!!!

Top Ten Reasons I LOVE Ryan!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!

10. Ryan encourages me to keep learning. I really appreciate him valuing me as his equal and I love telling him new things I’ve learned and hearing his thoughtful perspectives. I love how smart he is!

9. Ryan is tall, dark and handsome! I love his salt and pepper hair which as he grows older will make him look distinguished. And with those glasses, he’s the perfect sporty-smartypants I’d always wanted.

8. Ryan makes me feel safe. I feel secure in his love, secure in his leadership of our home, secure when the uncertainties of life bear down on us. I do not fear the future and haven’t since dating him.

7. Ryan is the best person to have in an emergency or through a trial. He’s able to keep a level head and get things done. When I had to be rushed by ambulance to the hospital late one night, he showed me all the concerned attention I needed without fuss. When I’ve suffered through health problems, he’s been very supportive.

6. Ryan is cool under pressure. Recently we were part of a marriage and dating panel for the youth of our church and while I was sweatin’ bullets and my lips were stuck to my teeth, he was cracking jokes and giving fabulous heart-felt comments. The bishop’s wife even commented on how lucky I was to have such a sweet, articulate husband. This was a true source of comfort during the layoff period last year because I knew he’d be a good interviewee!

5. Ryan keeps me grounded. As an oldest child in a big family, I wasn’t used to being called on stuff – I was usually the one dishing out. However, his comments are always to the point and right on time in the moment. Not fun for me in the moment, but I’m so glad he has this ability and I admire it.

The late President Spencer W. Kimball said, “We need an unspoiled companion who will not count our wrinkles, remember our stupidities nor remember our weaknesses; . . . we need a loving companion with whom we have suffered and wept and prayed and worshipped; one with whom we have suffered sorrow and disappointments, one who loves us for what we are or intend to be rather than what we appear to be in our gilded shell.”

4. Ryan is a fabulous father. I always tell Ryan he’s like a rock star to our kids. The minute he arrives, they’re running to him to climb all over him. They love their daily smack-down time with Dad! Yet he never hesitates to step in and discipline and make sure the boys honor their mom. Very grateful for his leadership in the home! The picture above is with McKay.

3. Ryan is quick to help! Perhaps my favorite quality of his, he never complains when I ask him to help me around the house. I find this truly amazing. My mom calls him the cleaning tornado because he jumps to it and does tidies up so fast.

2. Ryan bakes pies and other yummy treats! I did not know this when I married him so YEAH FOR ME!!! My favorites are: his chocolate chip cookies that he makes me just because I have a craving; fabulous apple pie with Grandma Dale’s flaky crust (drool!); and Christmas turtles (roasted almonds covered with homemade caramel dipped in chocolate). Ahhh, can’t wait til this diet is done!!!

1. Ryan makes me and others laugh easily and often! While we were dating, he used to entertain my roommates with mini-talent shows (such as the trick above with the collapsable screwdriver) which I now know I can attribute to the “Smith” gene in his family line. I love sitting by him in meetings because we can always find something funny to amuse ourselves over in the proceedings. In parenthood, we get a kick out of this fun new phase laughing at silly things the kids or we as parents do. His disarming, fun personality was his best first impression when I met him (it helped that he was the one holding the Reeses pieces too)!

Love ya, my Birthday Man!