We like to do things 50/50 around here.

(#1: notice the 4th of July attire circa 2004...and #2: how could I look so much younger just 3 years ago?)

So I've heard that on your 100th post, you are supposed to put 100 things about you (or maybe I just made that up and wanted more attention for myself?) But 100 is hard and since Ryan contributes 1/7 of the time, I'm making him do 50 and leaving 50 for myself.

Ryan's Fifty--(read them, they are so interesting!)

1. Think of myself as a marketing genius.
2. Prefer T-shirts to any other type of shirt.
3. Never wear black.
4. Love ice cream in almost any form.
5. If I could live anywhere for a year I would want to experience China.
6. Love higher end compact cars (Audi A4 and Vlovo S40 are my current favorites).
7. I think life should be fair and it bothers me when it is not.
8. Can’t remember names to save my life.
9. Could live on nothing but bread and various cheeses (perhaps I am French).
10. Have poor hand-eye coordination
11. Have good endurance
12. Tan easily/quickly.
13. Remember historical/scientific facts pretty easily
14. I will either die from Parkinson’s or Melanoma … both are pretty much a sure thing at this point, it just depends which one gets me first.
15. Competitive by nature (it is in the Romney blood)
16. I have attractive feet
17. Enjoy good science fiction (unfortunately it is hard to find)
18. If I had it my way I would eat one huge meal a day at about 3:00 pm.
19. But since I think that is not very good for me, I try to eat 4-5 small meals a day.
20. Believe that honesty is the best policy.
21. I still nurse a secret childhood fantasy of going through special forces (preferably Navy SEAL) training.
22. Enjoy the mental exercise in a good argument, but hate the stress of a real one.
23. I have only gotten an F once on a Semester report card (I think). It was in book reports. My teacher conducted oral book reports and I believed that since they involved no writing that they needn’t involve any reading either, other than the reading of the summary on the back cover as I approached Mrs. Jones’ desk.
24. Hate being an unwarranted inconvenience to others
25. I wouldn’t trade my “Haytown” upbringing for any other
26. Believe that increased kindness and social sense improves every human interaction
27. I would never hunt unless it was my only means of acquiring food.
28. Most often recurring nightmare involves being hunted by Nazis (the many concentration camp films my Dad showed me when I was about 8 really did a number on my subconscious).
29. Hate watching sports (why watch others do what I would rather do myself)
30. I can’t sit still.
31. Love to joke and laugh at myself as well as others.
32. Like to think of myself as more capable of being objective than most.
33. Really enjoy having the hottest wife there is.
34. Think that it is a sin to not care about the environment
35. I am almost always too hot and rarely uncomfortably cold.
36. I believe wholeheartedly in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
37. Would be willing to pay $1000 for each inch I could adjust my height upward. I think 6’1” is my ideal height.
38. I hate wasting anything. I don’t waste food, or hardware, or money or anything if I can help it.
39. I actually take pride in not having the nicest (car, clothes, house, etc.) I would seriously start to hyperventilate with joy if Jessica ever came to me and said “I think we ought to downgrade our (fill in the blank).”
40. My most enjoyable college class was a survey of feminist theory.
41. Favorite Comic Book Hero – Spiderman (not really a fan of the movies though)
42. Constantly have to do battle with bad breath and dirty ears.
43. I have an obsessive craving for order that I actually have to fight back to live a happy normal life.
44. Against my mothers wishes, and for only 1 week I proudly owned a wore a half-shirt (circa 1987)
45. I wish I would have been one of those boys whose moms made them take clogging lessons as a kid, for the sheer comedic value that it would be today to be able to break into a wild clogging routine in unexpected places and circumstances.
46. I really enjoy the love of siblings. We get each other in a way that no one else really will. We have been each others worst enemies and best friends at different times. We know each others pasts and witnessed each others metamorphosis. I love that connection and because of it, I love being around them.
47. Cereals I love but almost never get Captain Crunch (w/o those gross berries), Quaker Granola, Coco Puffs, Grape Nuts, and Cracklin’ Oat Bran.
48. I don’t like not knowing almost anything.
49. I get most mad at being laughed at in a mean way and being physically confronted in any manner.
50. Given the choice between a day by myself and one with my kids, I would pick the day with my kids 9 times out of 10.

Jessica's Fifty:

1. I can always find something to say about anything.
2. I Love cookies so very very much and really hate the idea of eating less than 5 at a sitting.
3. I Can really appreciate art of any kind, but feel very inadequate at actually doing any of it.
4. I have good hair.
5. I read more than almost anyone I know.
6. I have a complete need to follow rules/recipes/instructions as a way to absolve myself "I followed the recipe exactly, it's not my fault if it didn't taste good."
7. I love to cook. I am a good meal planner and what I make tastes good...but am not good at improvising with food (see #6).
8. I really find children and what they say and do so funny (runs in the Nelson side of the family.)
9. I would choose no other life or circumstances than my own. I am blessed with the ability to be content.
10. I love to teach.
11. I am very bad at physical organization. A messy closet makes my heart pound because I have no idea how to fix it.
12. I like almost everyone and don't hold grudges.
13. I have to work hard on not talking about people (rarely done mean spiritedly...I'm just curious and talkative and it's a bad combination).
14. I love numbers and percentages and figuring stuff out that has to do with statistics.
15. I like SUNNY.
16. I am getting neater and neater as I grow older.
17. I bite and pick (nails, hair, kids' growths).
18. I am way too open. And really think everyone else should be too.
19. I love games. Especially trivia and right brained ones...but I'll play anything. Except Acquire. 20. I love music--listening to it, playing it, dancing to it and singing it.

21. I have bad skin...prone to wrinkles and zits and paleness.
22. I have a close relationship with my father. We talk easily and often.
23. I have the best in-law (mother, father, sister and brother) situation in the whole world.
24. I love red.
25. My favorite thing to do with my kids is go places.
26. I am the road trip queen.
27. I want to be with my husband more than anyone else 99% of the time.
28. I am a girl person...as opposed to a guy person.
29. I love to exercise.
30. I love that my church gives me the oppurtunity to bear testimony of its truthfulness often.
31. I love my calling in Primary.
32. I yell at my kids too often...but it is getting better.
33. I'm controlling within my family. Outside my family I can easily curb it, because hello! I want people to like me.
34. I ask my husband for blessings, like, once a month.
35. I love fried foods.
36. I love all foods actually. I, only, kind of don't like mushrooms, but I've had recipes with them that I think are yummy. I pride myself on liking everything. Also, I don't like oysters.
37. I start going stir-crazy if I don't have a date or an exciting party planned on the weekend.
38. I kiss my kids alot.
39. I was blessed with really obedient children.
40. I think my husband is very sexy, especially when I watch him make others laugh and when he knows stuff.
41. I have an addictive personality. I can get sucked into things easily--food, TV, books, blogging--and only survive because I am also self-disciplined.
42. I value my long term friends more than I ever thought I would.
43. I hate crafting. (Projects, again!) but will make cards if surrounded by food and talking or TV.
44. I learn so much from watching my mother around my own children.
45. I find myself having more and more in common with my younger sister (by 13 years) and am getting so excited about it!
46. I would love to serve a mission with my husband.
47. I am a morning person. I get, truly, 80% of my life accomplished before 1pm.
48. I love love love backrubs.
49. I love talking about the gospel in everyday conversation.
50. I am an optimist. I always think I will never go gray (I am), never have anything bad happen to me, and always shocked when anything bad does happen.

Thanks for the indulgence. Let us know if we missed anything.

Hard at Work

After I got to work today I realized that most of the office had taken the day off. Those who did not take the day off, found various reasons to leave. By noon there were only two of us left at work. When Emma and Gabe were small I brought each of them to work with me one day so I thought today would be the perfect opportunity to keep my promise to Jane that "someday" I would bring her to work with me too. So she has quickly caught on to what daddy does at work (pronounced wook).

1. Take a seat (Find a chair since dad's office only has one ... roller chairs are better than chairs with legs)



2. Work on the computer (use Microsoft Paint to make "pwetty pictuwes")



3. Look up important information (Surf the net to http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/)



4. Collaborate with co-workers (visit only other employee who stuck around because she has a bowl of mini Snickers on her desk ... er um ... I mean because we thought she would like to meet Jane).



5. Test system hardware (Rustle up speakers to listen to audio content on the Sesame Street website).



6. Troubleshoot hardware malfunction (Find out that the speakers won't work because the PC Jane is using doesn't have a sound card).



7. Coffee Break (hot chocolate in our case).



8. Do paperwork (Color pictures printed off sesame street website with 3 different colored highlighters and a red and blue ballpoint pen).



9. Tidy up the office (After spilling a bottled H2O all over the desk, mouse, leather roller chair and herself, Jane learned how handy it is that dad keeps a Gym towel in his office).


10. Call it a day (When asked if she was ready to go home Jane said "hey ... I want to color some more").

(returning from a hard day at work, coats slung over shoulders--oh yeah...bought the camera today)

I'm just happy knowing that now Jane will understand how hard I work to bring home the bacon.

Who's Got Spirit?

You want to talk about Holiday Spirit? Oh, we win. (Unless you are talking about decorating the house, because that falls under the heading of Projects, and I don't like them--see Awesome post of last Wednesday)...but if you are talking about traditions, food or clothing--I got you beat. As you continue to read, I'm sure I will highlight the holiday celebrating we do around here, but today I would like to concentrate on Holiday Shirts. (Because I finally borrowed Penny's camera this morning and took a picture in this year's Halloween Shirts):

These are the Romney Family Holiday Attire Guidelines:

1. The children wear the Holiday Attire for the month prior to the following holidays:

Valentines Day (can be worn after, cause hearts are year round)

Halloween

Christmas

2. The children wear the Holiday Attire ONLY on the day for the following holiday:

St. Patrick's Day

3. The children wear the Holiday Attire on and anytime after (but not before) the following holiday:

4th of July

Easter (dresses, etc.)

4. The husband must wear the Holiday Attire on the following holidays:

4th of July

St Patrick's Day

Christmas Eve (a red or green shirt will do)

5. The mom will wear the Holiday Attire as long as it is stylish and she has money left over in her holiday budget:

We take pride in our festiveness and our cuteness. Don't even try to compete.

Okay, this one's for real...

We have a crying disease at our house.

I seriously have 2 kids that cry all the time. Okay, not all the time, like they lead miserable existences, but like, if they don't get want they want, then they just cry. And cry. And cry. And cry.

Until, I honestly cannot remember what they were crying about in the first place. Seriously. I will realize that Seth has been whining and crying in my vicinity for upwards of 30 minutes and I will try to figure out what started it. And half the time I can't even remember.

This is what I've tried:

1. OBVIOUSLY: addressing the problem. With the 4 year old, she's usually just mad because she has to do a job, or can't do I want, so she begins to wail. And I usually can't give in so what then? With the 2 year old (despite above average verbal skills) he usually can't or won't tell me, what the problem is...

So this doesn't work all the time.

2. I try the Positive Parenting method of: only reinforcing the GOOD behavior--so I just ignore them. I pay no attention and hope it goes away. But the next 20-40 minutes of having a whining sobbing snotty blotchy kid in your ears, is really REALLY hard to take. (And then I go to #4) I do try to notice and compliment when they react without crying, but it doesn't seem to be working.

3. Ryan sends them to their rooms ("If you need to cry, you need to do it somewhere else.") It sort of works, but I feel like I'm stifling emotion and teaching them they can't express themselves? And plus, half the time, I don't want to stop what I'm doing to remove them. And then I just hear them crying from up there anyway.

4. Yelling "STOP CRYING RIGHT NOW!" Guess what? That doesn't really work, either.

So any ideas? Send them my way. If you don't want to put in in the comments section (OR YOU AREN'T COMMENTING WHEN YOU VISIT--how rude!), you can email me at jessicaromney@hotmail.com.

Thanks!

The warning has been brought to you by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

I've got a troubling announcement to make. It seems that here at the Romney house...we have a disease. It is rare and un-named, but worrisome nonetheless. We've taken to labeling it

Bunny-earitis.

It has struck poor Jane the hardest:

Symptoms seem to include bony finger-looking nodules that grow out of her head (resembling the ears of a bunny) whenever a camera opportunity presents itself. It doesn't seem to cause her much pain, but MANY times she seems highly irritated by it.

It seems to be very contagious. Those we love and spend time with seem to present the same symptoms, without any warning:

We don't know where WE caught it ... but we suspect the dirty Daines:

Luckily enough...Gabe has been immune to the disease (It seems to strike everyone and everything but him).

Until recently.

We've done our best to warn you. All we can hope is that this dreaded disease doesn't strike you.

Quick Quote #13

We were driving in the car listening to "Little Mermaid". It was Ursula's song. Jane comments: "I love this one, Mom." Mom asks: "Why?" Jane replies: "Because sometimes I just like to follow Satan's way."

Poor unfortunate soul.

Sunday Summary

(This is a big old copy from my friend Celia. This is how she assuages her guilt at blogging like crazy. Not that I have guilt. Not that I blog like crazy. I just thought this would be nice to do.)

Emma had a soccer game, activity girls and piano, as usual. She also elected me as her illustrator for her Terracotta Warrior book. (I was so honored. I love doing homework.) I ran into her teacher at school last week and she was glowing about the similes Emma was coming up with: "As white as the pearls and diamonds my mother wore on her wedding day." She has just started really enjoying chapter books (yay!) and reading into the night...she felt very proud when she finished two in one night last week. And also she got 100% last week on her spelling test (thanks to her father's Nazi quizzing: "Are you sure?! Cause if you're wrong, you're going to bed." Truly.), and 100% on her spelling pre-test (obviously trying to avoid any special daddy-daughter time)this week. Emma also got a clothes shopping date this week...she's such a fun shopping buddy.

Gabe got invited over to his favorite place this week (the Daines' house). He hadn't finished his homework and was about to die of sadness, as his sisters were ready and leaving, so I took him over there and made him promise to do it before he played. He did. (Is that the most unbelievable thing you've ever heard?)

He also didn't think he needed to wear shoes to Emma's soccer game , "cause I'm not playing, Mom", which I discovered halfway there. It was 50 degrees and raining. Of course people were horrified and glared at me...like I purposely didn't put my kid in shoes? I'm hoping he learned his lesson through frostbite. He played later that day and did well.

He was also unfortunate in the game of Life this week...salesman, making $20,000, yet still landed on the plastic surgery square, as well as opting to sponser a golf tournament. But he decided to be a good sport, and continued playing (with tears running down his face) until the end of the game. How sad/sweet is that?

Jane looked forward all week to our "date" on Friday: "Mom, what if I forget to get dressed on Friday for our date?" "Mom what if I'm still sleeping and you leave on our date?" "Mom, what if you take me to playgroup with Seth and don't take me on our date?" Luckily, we avoided all those possibilities and truly enjoyed our morning together--and got the cutest stuff.

Jane lost Bunker Bear (the fun toy they send home from preschool to stress Moms out) 4 times over the weekend, but managed to find him, by knocking on our neighbor's door at 7am and retrieving him. Phew.

Seth does nothing...and everything. He's talking like CRAZY. I honestly cannot believe the stuff that comes out of his mouth. Right now, he's in my face (literally) asking, "Hey, mom, where's dad...he's talking a pone?" He loves nursery and runs away from us when we try to pick him up. He's obsessed with his ow-eys, Dora, and his little plastic horse. He gets dragged to everything and anything and is a pretty good sport.

He was really appreciating the sacrament today...as he went back for a second handful of bread and blew bubbles into the water cup. When he was done with that, he enjoyed the choking hazard/noise-maker that is the not-returned plastic cup.

We enjoyed the end of our visit with Greg and Christy. We slept little, ate much and enjoyed talks and games late into the night.

Ryan put the finishing touches on his Masters' Thesis defense (boring!), and took the kids to the school movie night on Friday. And didn't purchase Jessica a camera.

Jessica went to "Sisters in Service", a night sponsored by a woman in the area. We attended a cooking class and then spent the night putting together napkins and quilts for the local community center.

We went to a play at the local community college for our date on Saturday. We tried to seem educated and appreciative of the social commentary that "Antigone" was. But we were mostly bored. We came home, made cookies and were not bored by "The Office" and "Survivor". Judge if you must.

.

Maybe this is boring for you, but this is what I'll pull out years from now, when my kids come home from their therapists and want to discuss my blogging obsession. ("Stop your whining...here's proof I was involved in your life.") Thanks for indulging/vouching for me.

Food for Thought

Yesterday, Ryan and I happened to be "lunching" with friends at the same time. We thought it would be fun to do some compare and contrast.

Where:

J--McDonald's playland. Decibels at unhealthy levels. We tried moving to a different spot, so we wouldn't have to yell at each other while we ignored our kids, but it didn't help much.

R--Spokane Subs ... apparently a very Christian establishment, I gathered from the plethora of crosses and John 3:16 citations on the walls, shirts, & necks of those in the building. Noisiest part of the restaurant was the four of us as we laughed our heads off.

Invitation:

J--standing. Every Friday at 11:30ish, unless our kids are out of school, because then it gets too pricey.

R--Ours is a bi-monthly quest. Every other Friday we are on a mission to determine where the best burger in Spokane is. It was my week to choose a restaurant, and I like sandwiches better than burgers, so I guess the quest got put on hold this week.

Number of kids present:

J--13.

R--There were only four of us this week (poor turnout), but Patrick and Aric (I don't know why they spell it that way in N. Dakota) were in suits so maybe we can count them as adults. But if I don't count as an adult then Aric definitely shouldn't. (J "it would have been funnier if he'd just said 0.")

Menu:

J--With so many yummy choices, we don't know where to start. The Grilled Chicken with the mayo scraped off? The Salads, where you have to every time ask them to put something on they forgot? Of course, there's the fry-stealing (so we can pretend we didn't actually eat them.) And lots of Diet Coke.

R--Sub sandwiches. (It would be funnier if she'd not try to control me and let you all know what would be funnier in her mind.)

Interruptions:

J--Uncountable. Noteworthy: one kid having to be pulled off a stranger's kid, the screaming party that went on in the bubble above our heads as the kids realized how echoey and loud it is up there, a toddler falling from the high chair he was crawling on, and, our playdate is never complete without: the 4 year old wetting her pants.

R--WAIT A MINUTE!!! I see where this is going. She's trying to turn this into a pity party about how us guys just lounge around in our cushy lives while the ladies have to deal with unreasonable, ungrateful, unmanageable little monsters in their mired lives. (Were you hoping I would just type zero here???)

Topics of Conversations:
J-- (seems a little defensive, huh? Thou dost protest too much...)

• whether to have one more kid, or "how you knew you were done."
• what great deals we got on the kids' clothes.
• how ONE MOTHER HAS DECIDED TO FORGO INTERNET AND CABLE...this took a lot of time to understand.
• how to get 3 year olds to nap ( I just sleep with mine) and go to co-op preschool
• the merits of Pilates vs. Pump class at the local gym
• blogging
• hair

R--(Methinks she forgot the methinks)

• Various tactics employed to delay or completely avoid having "just one more." (Jessica just pointed out that no one brought up the most biologically sound way to avoid having one more ... oh no.)
• Indirect ways that our wives try to get us to go to the gym without coming out and just saying what they mean.
• Adam instituted a new system for approximating the reliability of the information he was disseminating. He would conclude each story or statement with something like "I am 60% sure that is true."
• A clogged sweat gland (this one was rated as 80% reliable) that got as big as a large grape and how many kneads were required to drain the "sucker" as well as a sub-discussion revolving around the actual intent of the owner of said gland, when he took off his shirt to get an opinion from another one of our wives since she has a background in nursing.
• City Council Drama (Patrick is on the council)
• Young Mens stories (Aric and Adam work with the YM in our ward)
• A couple other topics that have been censored to protect the innocent and the guilty.

Using your comparing and contrasting skills ...which lunch would you rather have attended?

(OH REAL FAIR! ... we all know that this blog is read by an audience which is 98% female and 2% male)

Cat's Out of the Bag

Minutes after Jessica left me for the evening with the kids I began sharing the 80's with them in my own special way by singing "You gotta fight!! For your right!!! To PAAAAARTAY!" At the top of my lungs. Since I don't know any of the words other than the chorus, I repeated it several times. Yet my exuberence was quickly squelched by Gabe who soberly informed me,

"Dad ... mom doesn't partay with us when your not here."

"What !?!?!" I queried agast.

"Really ... she doesn't" he reaffirmed.

"Well, I can't belive what I am hearing." I said deflated "I specifically instructed her to party with you guys while I am at work," I informed him with disgust.

"She doesn't."

"Well, what is she doing then??"

"blogging."

"Blogging!?"

"Yes, just blogging."

I think my surprised expression communicated incredulity to the boy so he asked his sister to corroberate his story, "Does mom blog all the time Jane?"

"huh?" she asked distracted.

"Does mom blog all the time?"

"what?" still distracted.

"Does mom blog all the time!!!" now getting exasperated.

"yep." she finally answered emotionless.

So there you have it. Apparently Jessica isn't partying all the time with the kids. Rumor has it she is blogging. I just can't believe this. Can you?

Hot Date

• He was cute. (big green eyes and dimples)
  
• He was super easy to talk to.


• He wanted to go shopping with me. (Even did little dances in the fitting rooms to properly display the merchandise.)

(these are pictures from our back to school shopping...no camera yet (getting one today)...apparently fitting rooms bring out the disco in Gabe.)

• He felt like discussing the fashion sense of those around us. ("That lady is too dark: black hair, black clothes and her lipstick was kind of black.")
  
• He decided on Cinnabon for dessert and even shared some with me--don't tell my diet, as I'm only eating dessert on the weekends. ("This is even a little bit better than Krispy Kreme.")

It's when you spend one-on-one time with your kids that you remember why you wanted to have them in the first place.

Why I'm Awesome

First of all, let me apologize again, for the lack of pictures. We have learned how hard life is without checks, debit cards and credit cards!! You go to replace the MP3, or the camera, or the new clothes (I guess that doesn't count as replacing) and then you realize that without a credit card number, you are purchase-less. We've received the credit and debit cards, and have ordered the MP3, but are having a disagreement about the camera (he thinks, as this is our 4th one in 4 years, we should buy cheap--does that surprise anyone?--and I think we are learning so much about how to NOT keep cameras around, that this time is the MAGIC time!)--so I have no picture with my post.



Wait, since this is about me being awesome...I'm going to go find an old one that properly displays awesomeness... (See, now the post is so much more interesting.)

I'm ready to give you the reasons that I am awesome:
.

1) I just ALL BY MYSELF set up automatic bill pay. It's not that I'm not reasonably tech-savvy (I am) or that I haven't seen a need (oh, there's a need, when twice a month, I spend hours handwriting bills)...it's that I am NOT the project person in our house. I am very good at doing the regular stuff (food, clothes, hair, straightening up, yelling at kids, my calling). I honestly just get completely stressed out if I have an extra project to take on. So Ryan usually has to organize really messy closets, plan the landscaping, build stuff and USUALLY would have to set up stuff like the bill pay account. BUT NOT THIS TIME. Nope! Awesome Jessica, realizing that since the new checks have not arrived, bills would be late (see, I'm responsible) decided to just bite the bullet and set it up. Which I did, after an hour of frustration and 2 mad phone calls to the real live persons I actually talked to, after yelling into the automated phone system "Get me a person!!". So now it's done. And I am awesome.
.

2) I am the star of our volleyball group. Okay, I'm really not the star. Really, not at all. In fact, I'm the worst person there I think. But it is the FUNNEST morning of my whole week. There's usually 8-10 of us that meet at the church, and, while the kids run around and clog the nursery toilet (really happened, thanks Jensen kids), we play 3-4 games of decent volleying volleyball. Are you jealous?! It's so fun. Because normally women just sit and have lunch (second favorite activity of my week: McD's on Fridays), for entertainment. We don't play games and move around (at least not for entertainment...because I promise I move around like crazy trying to rotate car seats for preschool carpool). And I was really hitting my stride today...maybe I even saved as many points as I lost. And I did, like, 3 dives to try to get the ball. I even have a scab on my knee. So even though I wish I was the star, I am awesome just for being a tough mommy, right?
.

So, feel free to comment on my awesomeness (and you could also add that due to said awesomeness, I should get a good camera.) You're welcome for knowing me.

Elder Uncle Sam

There are a few different kinds of Mormon boys.

Type A: These are the boys with testimonies who, step by step, make the choices that get them onto to their missions right around age 19, hopefully ready and worthy to serve. (I'm married to one of these, and am grateful for these kind of men).

Type B: These are the boys who basically decide that they don't believe the Church is true enough to change what they need to change or sacrifice what they need to sacrifice and they never go on missions.

Type C: These are the boys who know the Gospel is true and, little by little, fix their lives, allowing Christ's Atonement to work and change them, as they become men with knowledge and a burning desire to go on missions despite great personal sacrifice.

Guess what kind my brother Sam is?

I am deeply proud that he is my brother. I am humbled by his example, as he has shown us that progress is progress and that Heavenly Father doesn't care when we get there...as long as we do. He has shown me that Christ can change our hearts and our lives, if we let Him.

He enters the MTC on Wednesday and will serve in the Ventura, California mission for 2 years. We have no doubt that he is ready and will be a valient missionary. We will be excited to learn from his experiences as he bears witness that Christ's gospel has been restored to the earth.

We love you and we will miss you. Thank you.