Happy Birthday, Jon!

Guess who's birthday is this very day? Why - this handsome devil right here! Happy birthday, honey! We want you to know how much we love and appreciate you around here.You're a great dad: Alex loves that you coach his soccer team (along with 2 uncles).You're a hard worker - not only to you work extra hard at your "day job", but in the summer you spend hours on yard work. Even though it's a beast, we know you secretly enjoy riding the John Deer. :)

You're constantly working on home improvement projects to make our house nicer for us.

Aidan loves his "Da" and excitedly waits for you to walk through the door after he hears the garage door open at the end of the day.

You're not afraid to try new things - like carving the turkey for Thanksgiving. You did a great job - what a work of art!

You're a great skiier and it's so neat that you're taking our little tiger to learn, too.

I really am a "lucky girl" to have such a good husband and father to our children. I love that after nearly 10 years of marriage, you can still make me laugh, and my heart still skips a beat when you give a genuine laugh at something cute the kids do/say. I wish you didn't have to work so many hours, but I know that you do it for us and I appreciate that you're such a good provider for us and that I get to stay home with our precious children.Happy Birthday, sweetheart!

A Tiger on the Mountain

Today Jon took Alex skiing for his first time. Jon went skiing two weeks ago, and Alex tried to stowaway, so he was very excited to be officially invited this time.Alex looked great in all of his ski attire, and picked up the basics in a flash.Brighton's kinder ski group helped Alex learn the ropes. After his first lesson, he was well on his way to becoming a Little Ripper.

He enjoyed riding the lift on a sunny, warm day.
And he did a great job skiing! He can't wait to go again to practice his pizza and french fry moves.

Thanks to ski school, Jon was able to rise above the bunny hills to catch this great view of Mt. Timpanogos and the surrounding scenery.

I have to admit that I may have enjoyed their ski day as much as they did: I was able to nap with Aidan catch up on my Twilight reading. Aidan and I went for a walk around the neighborhood and had a relaxing day enjoying the warm weather. I'm glad the boys were able to take advantage of Jon's passes before the snow melts away.

Jon is Akela?

Last Thursday night, Jon helped present an Arrow of Light for one of his Webelos. He played the role of the Indian Akela. He looks pretty good, right?
After the ceremony, the Scouts put on a small Halloween carnival for the kids.Alex loved this game where you try to eat the hanging donut without using your hands.The donut was too tasty and the "right" way took too long, so Alex just grabbed it and ate it.One of the Moms there took a picture of Aidan. I guess you could say that he had her at "hello" (or should I say "cheese"?), because she thought he was cute enough to take a few pictures of him. I love my boys - all of them.