Poor Pookie

Emily is always so good at playing with the kids and keeping them entertained, there is nothing they would rather do than spend time with Aunt Emily. One of the fun things they like to do with her is ride on the back of her bike. Well, the other night it was Gemma's turn and some how she got her foot caught it the wheel spokes of the back tire as they were riding down the street. And well, the pictures tell the rest. Immediately it was bruised, swollen and bleeding. We thought for sure it was broken because of the large bulge and the way her ankle looked so bent.
Rob took her to urgent care while the rest of the family met for dinner for Craig’s last night home. Fortunately it was not quite as bad as it looked and according to the x-rays it is not broken. Just a pretty good sprain, with some tearing of the soft tissue around her ankle and of course some really good bruising.

Elder Craig Roberts

When Craig received his mission call to serve in the New Jersey, Cherry Hill mission, Spanish speaking it seemed like his departure date was so far away, but just like always time flew by and this past week we took him to the airport and just like that he is gone. We are so proud of him and his decision to serve a mission. He has been such a wonderful addition to our family these past few years and we are very grateful to all those friends, family member, ward members and leaders that helped him to get to this point. He has been looking forward to his mission for so long, and has done such a great job of preparing himself to serve. I think his suitcases were all lined up and packed in his room for almost a month before his departure date. And he would review his "list of items to bring" almost nightly to make sure we were not forgetting anything.

We can’t wait to hear from him and how his first few days in the MTC are going, we will try and get a blog started for him where we can post his letters and emails for friends and family to read.

Love Advice From Mason

We were sitting at the dinner table talking about how cute it is that Tanner thinks he has two girlfriends. Mason asked Tanner if he would like some love advice.

Mason said, "what do you want to know first? How to love a girl, or how to dump a girl." Tanner picked love.

How to love a girl according to Mason: "First lay down on the ground and pretend to be dead. When the girl leans over to pick you up, wake up and tell her she has beautiful eyes and that you love her."

How to dump a girl according to Mason: " Tell her she has smelly armpits."

What a Lovely Day!

Goodbye summer!

Hello 2nd grade round 2! Mason has been soooo good about me deciding to hold him back. It was a hard decision. One that I thought about after kindergarten, and 1st grade. His teachers just kept saying Mason is so smart don't hold him back. I know he is smart. His IQ is in the 99th percentile but it wasn't showing in his work. He has struggled every year. So I went against the teachers advice and made a MOM decision to hold him back. He used to be the youngest in his class now he will be the oldest. He was one of the tallest kids in his class last year, so I hope he doesn't stick out too much this year. I love you Mason. I hope you have a great day and make lots of new friends!

These 2 will be in the same preschool class starting in a couple of weeks. We are all very excited! Bless their teacher. They better behave themselves!

9 amazing years down, an eternity to go

Today it’s my (the husband of the most beautiful bride in the world) turn to use this blog to publicly tell my wife how madly in love with her I am. It was 9 years ago this very day that she made me the happiest man in the world. At that time I was sure life could not get any better, I mean what could be better than marrying your best friend? Well I was wrong, it does get better! Better every single day for 3,285 days! I never could have even imagined back than the absolute joy she would bring into my life. She has been so kind, so patient, so loving and so supportive. I know for many, 9 years is nothing, but when you’re putting up with all that she has, me included, she gets credit for at least double that amount of time. Besides she shared with me her love and friendship for 5 years before we were married.

Julie has given me 3 beautiful children who light up my life, she is so good with them, and they love her so much. She is so good and patient to put up with taking care of their every need. I know it’s not easy, they sometimes try my patience and I’m only with them a fraction of the time. There is no greater sacrifice than that which a mother makes, and I want her to know I will love her forever for being willing to give of herself so selflessly. She has also been a shining example for her siblings as we have been blessed to have them become a part of our family.

Julie has always stood by my side, a couple of years ago when the opportunity to open our own business arose; it was her support that made it all possible (and a gracious loan from loving parents). I know she was nervous about the amount of risk we were assuming but her vote of confidence made me fell like I could do anything. That means so much to me, I am so blessed to have someone that believes in me and supports my dreams. Sometimes at night while she is sleeping I lay there staring at her, wondering how it is that I am so blessed, surely I don’t deserve all that she has given me.

Happy anniversary Julie, I wish I could say it in better words, but always know, I love you, oh so very much!


She was hot back then, but somehow she just keeps getting prettier each day!

That's Better

So I know you all thought to yourselves wow she really does look like JoJo. It has been requested that I post a picture of myself all made up. So here it is.

Just kidding. This picture was taken at the youth museum where we just got a membership. The kids loved this place and the exhibit right now is about monsters. We can't wait to take cousin Parker with us, but it will have to wait until the monsters go away.

Here I am all made up. I like the darker color. I don't think my husband loves it though. His response was, "you mean you're going to keep it that way."

This is my brother-in-law Matt. He told me that I must have a lot of self confidence to post a picture of myself looking the way I did. He also said it's great that I know how to laugh at myself. I'm pretty sure Matt is the same way.

Good Morning!

I woke up this morning and looked in the mirror, and this is what I saw.

I turned to my husband and said "I look like the mayor's son in Horton Hears a Who."

He started laughing and said "you sure do, go take a picture."

So here I am in all my morning glory. I'm gonna go shower now, put on my makeup, do my hair, and try not to think about JoJo the rest of the day.