Big Moments

Jackson turned 8 months on the 27th and Ben turned 30 on the 28th! Huge moments- and I was so busy packing for Gualala and trying to get Livy's fever down (she had a 106 fever the night before we left) that I didn't even record anything.

But better late than never, Right?

Jackson is still the smiliest little guy! He grins all the time. And he is so handsome. he really does get more handsome every day.He is still a big eater. 2 packs of baby food at each meal. (Or two whole pieces of fruit or big spoonfulls of veggies in the babyfood grinder). He weighs 25 lbs. (I know he is huge.) He is starting to scoot in circles on his bum. He still has no interest in crawling. He just started liking standing while you hold his hands. He laughs when livy tackles him. He smiles when Brooke carries him around, even when he is practically slipping out of her arms. He has a great belly laugh. He has the two bottom teeth, but no others have come in. He loves to swing, especially at gualala! He loves to nurse. He pulls on his ears when he is tired. It used to make me nervous that it was an ear infection, but after getting it checked a few times, i realized that is just what he does when he is tired. He likes to blow rasberries as soon as you put a spoonful of food in his mouth. We cannot be more in love with him. Brooke still brags about him to her friends and family, it is so cute becasue I thought by now the "newness" would have warn off, but that little girl still can't get enough of him. Brooke and Livy talk baby talk to him in his face while shaking their heads, (hmmm, wonder where they get that from? :)). I wish the time would slow down so I could soak his sweet smiles in even more each day!
And for the Big Moment....Ben started a new decade!

Thirty things I love about the old man, Ben! (in no particular order)
1. He is tall.
2. He lights up the room with energy, love and fun when he walks in.
3. His red hair.
4. he loves playing sports, especially basketball.
5. his hands
6. how much he interacts and plays with his children
7. how much he loves me
8. how he doesn't care at all what other people think
9. that he loves to read the scriptures
10. he is such a great role model to his seminary students
11. that he tells stories to his kids every night, even when he is tired and still has to finish his seminary lesson. (we love the magic fruit tree stories right now.)
12. How he builds confidence in anyone he comes in contact with
13. what a great worker he is
14. that he never, never, never speaks unkindly about anyone-even when they deserve it.
15. that he loves to have fun
16. he is so smart.
17. he is ambitious
18. he isn't afraid to try new things
19. he forgives people instantaneously
20. how much love and effort he puts into making his family his first priority.
21. that material things don't matter to him.
22. he supports me in everything, and encourages me in everything (even when it takes up a lot of his time)
23. that he always came to my volleyball matches
24. he genuinely loves to share the gospel
25. he loves to travel and see and experience new things
26. he is proactive in teaching and guiding his family
27. He makes goals and sets out to achieve them.
28. that he is an incredible writer (i keep telling you, ben, that you should write a book-maybe by the time you are 40?!)
29. He is incredibly patient
30. I love that he chose me!

I love you Ben! I could go on FOREVER With things that I love about you! Thanks for being so Awesome! We love you! Happy 30th birthday! Can't wait to go to Monterey!

30

I feel like it is still the beginning of February. For some reason, when someone talks about this summer, I keep thinking it is 6months away-and really it is around the corner. Wow- we are almost to April and Easter! It has been a fun and busy month with lots of birthdays, including mine!
I am officially into a new decade! But as my friend Melanie put it, 30 is the new 20! Also, my friend Laura told me once that she was so excited to turn 30-and now I am too! I had grand plans to run a 12k around angel island on my actual birthday, but life got crazy, as usual, and I didn't start training early enough, and when my dad broke his leg and wouldn't have been able to take us on the boat to the race, and we were going to have to pay for us an dthe kids on the Ferry, I decided to change plans. Friday night we went to Maggiano's!! Awesome food! And it was so much fun to go with Brandon and Annie. She turned 30 today. Then saturday, ben said he was taking me to dinner and it was going to be a surprise where we were going. Well it turned out to be a surprise party! It was so much fun! A huge surprise, my face was so red. We had dinner and played catch phrase and hung out. Loads of fun. Ben and I have such incredible, fun, awesome friends! It was a great way to bring in the new decade of my life. And I am so excited for the rest of my life. Every year you learn so much. This past year, I feel like I have learned so much and changed so much for the better. I haven't had any huge life changing experiences or any extremely rough times that has changed my outlook. But, i feel like life has chiseled away some of the layers little by little and I can see more of what I want to be-and I am closer to it. I can see a lot more glimpses of that person that is within. I know it sounds weird, and I can't fully explain it. But it feels good. I guess it is because this birthday I have reflected and thought so much about all the changes that have occured over the last 10 years and seeing what and who i was then as compared to what and who I am now. And life was SOOO fun then, but even better now!

Twenties in a nutshell: Seeing parts of the world:backpacking Europe, road trip across the United states, Bahamas, guatemala, Hawaii, china, the caribbean, mexico, costa rica, and more-seeing different parts of the world opens your eyes and makes you different, Finishing my volleyball career in Florida, learning to be a division I volleyball coach and trying to swallow the sad truth that my life will never revolve around playing volleyball all the time anymore, Marrying the most awesome guy ever, moving to Utah and finally getting the "BYU experience", coaching and starting my Masters Degree, teaching PE,living in China, having three kids, moving back to California, coaching high school volleyball, making a difference in kids lives, raising my own kids and trying to make a difference in their lives, buying our first home, remodeling our first home, Finishing my Master's Degree, starting traditions with my own little family, learning to accept that it is the time in your life that you always thought about and making it what you dreamt it would be!

The 20's were fun, but I think my 30's will be even better!