If I had a Million dollars....

So we went to Dylan's open house at school last week. This is where all their 2nd grade masterpieces are on display for Mom and Dad to see. They had a lot of "family" themed projects and papers they had been working on. I thought a couple of them were worth documenting for prosperity...and for a good chuckle. I'm wondering if I should be a little worried about this first one? It's titled:

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If I had a million dollars to buy gifts for my family, here's what I would do....

"First, I would run home and show my mom the million dollar bill.

I would show her the bill because if I surprised her

she would be mad that I didn't show her the million doller bill.

Next, I would buy a mansion for my family.

It would have six bed rooms.

Each bedroom would have a flatscreen TV and I would also have a butler.

Then I would buy an R.V.

We could get somewhere faster because someone could get up early

and bring us somewhere we need to go.

Last, I would buy presents for my family.

We could have more things to play with.

I would get all of this stuff so we cuold mostly just lay around."

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I asked him "Don't you want to give some of this money to help people?". He simply shook his head and said "Nahh". Granted the paper was titled If I had a million dollars to buy presents for my family and he is pretty meticulous when it comes to following directions to the letter but I'm just wondering if I should be concerned? Don't get me wrong I would love the RV, mansion, and flatscreen T.V.'s.and he's right, I would be mad if he didn't tell me about the million dollars. Although I may have to trade the butler in for a housekeeper. :)

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He had another paper simply titled: My Family. It was sweet but the interesting part was where he had to pick a word for each letter of F A M I L Y that described us. Here's what he came up with:

My family is special to me because they always help me, make me happy, and they give me advice when I need help....

F - Funny (I'm glad he finds us amusing)

A - Athletic (I assume he's talking about Mom here :))

M - Muscular (Wasn't sure who he was referring to but when I asked him he pointed to Mark ..that's probably a good thing :))

I - Intrepid ( What in the world does that mean? I had to look it up. Turns out it means fearless, brave, valiant - I'll take that!)

L - Loving (definitely important)

Y - Youthful (gotta love that one!)

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What a funny and sweet little boy we have!

Making my first post count

For most of you, you will notice that this is my first of what will most likely be very few posts to the family blog. Those of you that know me know that I am not very creative in terms of making things flashy and exciting. So because of that, I will be leaving most of the blogging to Joanne. She has a way of making things exciting and creative. I would say that she has truly exceeded all expectations with this blog. But as this Mother's Day was approaching, I tried to think of something that I could get for Joanne or do for her that would be something that would be truly unique or something that is unexpected. Usually, I end up taking way too long to think of something and then get too busy that I end up having to do something pretty lame. Well, this year was no different, by the time I figured out what I wanted to get, it was too late. So as I was planning my excuse last night, I thought, since I usually get chastised for not being very public with my feelings, perhaps that might be just the thing this year. Those that know me well know that I can come across arrogant and stubborn every once in a great while. I know, shocker! Anyway, I sometimes play down the fact that I have been blessed beyond anything I could have ever expected. I don't know where I would be if about five years ago I didn't meet the most amazing person who would ultimately become my wife. Joanne, you have truly allowed me to experience a greater level of joy than I could have ever imagined. I look at our family and I can not believe how blessed I have been. I am also amazed that you have put up with me the way you have. At times I know I take for granted all the work that you do in order to keep things functioning properly. Not to mention all that you have sacrificed in order to be at home with the boys. Many people don't know what you gave up in order to be with them, but I do, and I don't know many people that could make that decision. Joanne, I cannot begin to tell you how much I love you. You have given me things that I would never have felt I was worthy of. I look at you and what you have been through and what you go through on a daily basis with just our small family and think, "there is now way I could do it." You are and amazing example to me and to Dylan, Luke, and Tryg. Not to mention the countless other who look to you as a source of strength. I hope that someday I will be able to properly show you how I feel about you and what you mean to me. I am constantly amazed at how lucky I am and I know I take it for granted on a regular basis. But when I think about it, I know that what I have is truly wonderful. Thank you so much for all you do for me. You are more than I could have ever hoped for. You have made me happier than I could have ever imagined. I hope that this day I can show you exactly what you mean to me. At least for one. I love you! Mark

It only took 16 years!

Well, he finally did it! A couple weeks ago Mark officially graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelors Degree in Business from the Marriott School of Management. I say finally because technically it did take him about 16 years...talk about persistence! It's a long story but I'll give you the short version in bullet points (the way I like long stories :))

• Mark goes to Ricks college (93-94)
• Serves a mission in Washington D.C. (94-96)
• Mark returns to Ricks College (97-98)
• Moves to Provo to attend BYU night school because he's applied 4 times and been DENIED acceptance as a regular day student (Fall 98)
• 3 days later Mark returns to San Diego to work and attend classes at a local college (98)
• Mark goes back to Ricks college (Winter 99)
• Back to Utah to attend the University of Utah (99-00)
• Mark decides to give BYU night school another try (00-01) Note: He was advised from guidance counselors that he could complete all the course work via night school and receive his degree. Half way through this year he was then told that he couldn't receive a degree attending just night classes unless he enrolled in this special 'general studies program' which he then did.
• Mark leaves BYU to return to San Diego with 1 online class left to complete and 1 class that needed a re-take. The thought was that he could just finish those up quickly at home and find a job, etc.... He enrolled right away in STATISTICS 221.
• Mark gets a full time job in the City of Poway and is still working on STATS 221(03)
• Meets yours truly and gets married (04) Note: Mark does not disclose to wife that he technically has not received his degree yet :) It became more apparent a year or two into our marriage.
• Still working on STATS 221...(04-06)
• Has two more children and is still working on STATS 221 (06-08).
• Mark finishes STATS 221 and the rest of his requirements!!! (09)

I told you it was a long story! Now keep in mind during his college days he was working multiple jobs to pay for his tuition, rent, food, etc.. That's right he was definitely a self made man. For example at Ricks College he worked part time at Hogi Yogi, construction, installed carpet for a local company, and milked cows for the nearby dairy....ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!! He also donated plasma on a regular basis to make ends meet. All of this on top of studying for his classes! You can see why he thought that finishing up a couple measly little on-line classes would be a breeze compared to what he's had to do in the past. Well...as you can see above, LIFE tends to get in the way and things never seem to turn out the way you plan.

Now for those of you that have been to a BYU graduation know that there are always two days of festivities. The first one is for everyone and there are always some great speakers. This year it was President Uchtdorf of the first presidency and Elder Russel M. Nelson of the quorum of the twelve so that was a real treat.

If you're going to go all the way to Utah you gotta have the standard BYU sign and cougar pictures above.

Mom, Dad and the graduate after day 1 of graduation

Back to my parents house for some celebrating. Now we're on day 2 for the graduation ceremonies. The first day we left the kids back at the grandparents house. The 2nd day of graduation is actually where they receive their degree and you get to hear their name called, etc.. I thought it was important for the kids to see their Dad receive his degree so they came with us. I had heard that these ceremonies can be pretty lengthy especially if the college if they are graduating from has a lot of people in them (Mark's is one of the biggest). Well...I was going in prepared for the worst....

As you can see we had DVD players, nintendos, snacks, etc.. Well, it worked for about the first 2 hours. About 3 hours into it Dylan was in tears because of sheer boredom and the little ones were in complete meltdown mode. Also, if you've ever been in the Marriott Center those seats are extremely uncomfortable and cramped! Of course Mark was about the 1,997 name of about 2,000 called but after 4 hours he finally had his moment of triumph! Sharing in the moment... C'mon, I helped a little...I nagged some, and tried to keep the kids away when he was doing homework:) A bunch of tired and very hungry little boys but very proud of their Daddy! We are all very proud of Mark and his accomplishment. He is a great example to our family of how hard work, persistence, dedication, and a willingness to never give up will always pay off in the end. I'm grateful that our children will always know how important it is to finish what you start and that a good education was a priority to their Father.

Now.... on to his Masters Degree :). Hey you know me....always looking for the next goal :) CONGRATULATIONS MARK!

Finding Joy in the Journey

So I gave a lesson a couple weeks ago in Relief Society on President Monson's October conference talk titled "Finding Joy in the Journey". He stressed the importance of prioritizing the things that are really important in life and not letting the little things pass us by because they will be gone all too soon (i.e our kids and all their chaos). This was definitely a talk that felt like it was just for me and gave me an opportunity to really take a look at how and if I was truely finding joy in my journey. For those of you that know me, you know that I have a tough time enjoying the little things and being in the moment. I'm such a to do list - goal oriented type of person. After I quit my job last June and found myself having to adjust to a new change of pace, I actually thought that if I made a list and inlcuded things like change six diapers today, put Luke in time out, make Dylan's lunch, etc.. that I would feel better about my accomplishments for the day when I got to cross each one off. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and I know that being at home with them is the right thing for our family....and I know that the rewards people tell me about usually come much later, but it is so dang tough for me to really enjoy my journey when things around me are in a state of chaos or when my "To Do" list is looming! President Monson had some great quotes in his talk that I need to plaster all over my house. One of my favorites is "Never let a problem to be solved be greater than a person to be loved". Since giving that lesson at church I have really tried to stop and enjoy the little things that will all too soon be a thing of the past (i.e. the messes they make, the fingerprints all over the windows, the noise, etc..). I know I don't usually share my deep thoughts on this blog but I thought I'd share this one. I took these pictures below when my natural reaction would have been to get a little frustrated but I decided to pause, laugh, get the camera out and Enjoy the Journey.....

I had literally just cleaned Lukes bedroom and the game closet when I stumbled across these impossible to get mad at faces! Seriously though...why do we bother???

And this one....Luke has been really into drawing lately. This time the masterpiece was his face...and arms...and feet. Of course this was not your easy to clean off ink. It took some scrubbing which Luke did not appreciate. I let him wear it for most of the day :).