Tara's Birthday (month)

Well, you all are quite familiar i'm sure of Tara's infatuation with her birthday and how it basically lasts almost two months. Well, she has insisted that I write a little post to commemorate her birthday. So me being the loving husband that I am will oblige. But first, a few pics from her birthday party.

Poor little Mya, she has no idea what she's getting into by being born into this family. This is just a little taste as to what it's like to live with Tara.

You may all remember that she posted a little questionnaire for me on my birthday last year, so I thought it would be a good idea to copy her idea and post one for her. I think it's time you all got to know her a little better.

1. How old are you now? 24, according to the candles (no, they are not saying 42!)
2. What is your favorite food?  Um, I'd still have to say spaghetti.  I also love a good bowl of stew or soup with artesian bread to accompany it.
3. What's the craziest (PG rated) thing you've ever done? Maybe I'd have to say... wow, how to choose?  Um, probably jumping off a 65 foot bridge that I'm sure cracked my tailbone when I hit the water.
4. What would your dream vacation be? A food/history tour of Italy.  Or maybe a food/hiking trip of New England.
5. If you could choose anywhere to live for a year, where would it be? Italy, Norway, Denmark, or Austrailia.  Probably I would choose about 2 or 3 years for those places though.
6. What do you want to be when you grow up (or at least when kids don't require your constant presence)? I want to have a pumpkin farm, with a patch that kids can come pick their own pumpkins, a corn maze and a farmers market. That's for the fall season.  Then I'd want a Christmas tree farm where people come chop their own too.  And maybe I'd want to be a Dr. on top of that.  Maybe own some horses and a place for people to bored their horses, with an arena...
7. Who is your favorite person in the whole world?  This is definitely loaded.  Good thing I don't need to think about this one, but it's my dearest husband.
8. Who is your hero(s)?  Steve Jobs.  Just kidding.  My mom- she isn't afraid to do totally new things and be good at them.  My dad because he always talks positively about my mom.  Entrepreneur bloggers amaze me too.  Randy amazes me with his patience, except in the middle of the night when he's asleep, he's pretty grumpy then.
9. What did you use to do for summer jobs?  Well, first I worked at shopko, then at a fish cannery in Alaska, then at a ranch/resort in southern Utah bordering Zion National Park, then I was a CNA at a nursing home and also worked at the Olive Garden.
10. What is one goal you have for this next year?  Become fit and run another 1/2 marathon.
11. What excites you?  The holidays.  Doing family activities.
12. If you were an animal what would you be?  I don't really go around thinking about what kind of animal I'd like to be.  Maybe a gazelle.  Since they're graceful, free, and run fast.
13. What is your favorite movie? White Christmas.
14. What is your favorite quote?  Right now it is: "Why not?"
15. What is your favorite hobby?  Crafting in general makes me happy.  And reading, and playing sports and winning.  Oh, and making good food.  Sorry, I'm not the kind of person who can choose just one thing.
16. What has been your greatest adventure? Marriage.  Not even kidding.  This includes everything that came with our marriage- children, Oklahoma, school, just the relationship part...  Now, You CAN'T post this until you put at LEAST one normal picture of me on here, Randy.

Ok, here's a pic of the Tara that you all know and love.

Well that's a few things about Tara that you may not have known. One thing I have learned from being married to Tara is that I just always need to expect the unexpected with her. She always amazes me with her many talents and I know I take them for granted way to often. I am very lucky to be able to call her my wife. I love you Tara! Happy birthday (month)!

Happy Birthday Kenadi!

Our little Kenadi is 5!  Her birthday was April 4th, and she was lucky to have Papa Hempel here to help us celebrate it.

Kenadi LOVES everything princess.  So, I made her this Little Mermaid cake- and she loved it.

Too bad the picture's a bit blurry, but here you go.  I borrowed the cake pan from a friend of mine who does beautiful cakes and cupcakes- her stipulation for borrowing the pan is that I post it somewhere for her to see.  So here you go Melissa!  Thanks!

Our happy birthday girl.  We love you Kenadi!

So what else did we do to celebrate?  Well, Emma sat on Kenadi's head for a while...

and we spent a nice warm weekend with Papa- enjoying the weather.

They love the sprinkler and anything that has to do with water.

 Lately we've been teaching Kenadi to ride her bike without training wheels.   She is a bit reluctant, but she does pretty good.

 Would you like a Mya update?

Well, I'm sorry to leave you all wondering how everything went.  Lets just say that it went as well as surgery can go.  The mass was exactly what the surgeon expected it to be and it's not anything dangerous.  It came out all in one big piece and was deep in her neck, but there were no issues at all.  She's been such a happy baby even after it all-and her necck is healing up wonderfully.  I just know that everthing has gone so well because of all of the prayers from family and friends.  Thank you all!

 Here's a graphic view for you- just so you can see how big her incision was.

I love my baby!

Happy Birthday Handy!

I mean Randy. He IS Handy. Anyways, he's a big 2-9 now, and lucky him, he doesn't worry about aging like I do. I love this guy. He is the best husband. So good to me and the girls. He's gentle and kind, and so manly all in one. =) I could go on and on, but you all know how I love and appreciate him. So, I am going to do a little questionnaire and let him answer them so you can get to know him a bit better.

1. What is your best feature? My ability to not take things too seriously
2. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Copenhagen (I hear people ride cool bikes there)
3. What is your worst feature? Same as #1
4. What do you want to be when you grow up? Good question, I'm still a student so I don't have to answer this, but I'm thinking patent attorney for biotech stuff.
5. What is your favorite household chore? I don't have one, this is an oxymoron, chores aren't something I enjoy.
6. Who is your hero? Probably both my Mom and Dad. My mom because she's kept a positive attitude through huge challenges (being diagnosed with both multiple sclerosis and breast cancer, which she conquered). My dad because he has always stuck by me and been supportive of all I've done. I'm realizing that I am the way I am because of the way my dad taught me. I just wished I paid more attention to him when I was a punk teenager (sorry Dad). I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the idea. I love you Mom and Dad!
7. What is your biggest pet peeve? Leaving something for tomorrow that I could have done today.
8. What was the best day of your life? Umm, i think some of these are loaded. But I would definitely say the day I married my beautiful eternal companion and soul mate :)
9. Are you excited about life? Yip.
10. Do you snore or talk in your sleep and keep your wife awake at night? Of course not!
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Once, it was suppose to be blonde but came out orange.
12. Would you ever have plastic surgery? If so, on what? No. Weird question.
13. Who has the cutest feet in the world? I hate feet, they're nasty. But I would have to say Tara's for obvious reasons.
14. What is your favorite food? Probably lasagna.
15. Favorite color? Either blue or green.
16. Favorite hobby? Cycling.
17. How are you so talented at fixing things? I get it from my Dad. I love to know how things work and so I like to tinker. But I don't think I'm really talented, just curious and a bit obsessive compulsive.

Ok, there it is, folks. Hope you enjoy your Randy fix for the day.

Love you honey! Oh, and Happy Mothers Day to all of our Moms and any Moms who read this. I'll do a tribute another day.

Kenadi is 4!

Sweet Kenadi is 4! It goes fast. She was excited to turn 4, and when the day came I don't think she believed she was really 4 because she didn't feel any different. She kept saying, "When I get 4 I'll be your age!" "Am I 4 now? Am I taller?" Stuff like that.

This was her first big friends party. We had it on Wednesday, and Randy was at school. We had a family party for her this morning. She loved her friend party. They all dressed up for our theme of dressing as your favorite character. Kenadi was.... Cinderella, of course. I finally finished her dress. She LOVES it, which makes me happy because I spent a lot of time on it. Well, it wasn't too hard, just dumb instructions. I also made her a "Princess Carriage" cake. She was definately in princess heaven.

Her birthday fell on Easter this year. So, we had our family party in the morning, after our Easter celebrations. Here are some pictures so you can see a bit of what we did that day.

The weather has been so nice. We've been outside every day, soaking up the sun, and mud.

Notice the pink chap-stick all around Kenadi's lips? She got some in her Easter basket and will put it on constantly for 20 minutes until I put it away. Emma does the same thing, except it goes in the hair, on cheeks, and eventually gets eaten.

The above picture and the ones to follow, are of Kenadi's party on Wednesday. I never did get a picture of all of her friends who came. I thought about it once, but was too busy to remember to do it. They were all so cute, I wish I did. We had a Cinderella, a Princess, Batman, a Wizard, a Knight, Woody, Buzz, another Princess, and I think that is it. Hopefully I didn't forget anyone. Make sure you pay attention to Kenadi's dress that I worked so hard on. I might have to post a better picture of it later.

"Duck, Duck, Goose!"

Here is the cake. Don't look too closely. It was a quick job, but I think it turned out pretty good. I think I'm going to dedicate the rest of the week to pictures of Kenadi from newborn to now. So, expect to see some more of her tomorrow!

Who knew one day could last two months?

Since marrying Tara I have been introduced to the concept of the birthday month (I know, it doesn't make sense to me either). However, it should be called the birthday couple months. She believes her birthday starts a month before her actual day of birth and ends about a month after. So for two months every year I hear things like: "what are you going to do for my birthday month", or "but it's my birthday month". I keep hoping that this will decrease over the years since a birthday just means she is getting older, this has not yet occurred. I barely remember my birthday, usually Tara is the one that reminds me that it is coming up.

So in tribute to Tara's birthday couple months I decided (actually, i was poked and jabbed in the side several times and missed out on precious sleep (the best way to get me to commit to something)) to write something nice about that wife of mine. Tara is a beautiful woman (even some creepy guy in the grocery store parking lot agrees with me). She is definitely my better half and has made me a much better person. You might just say that we are soul mates. It's hard to imagine my life without her. It seems like my life didn't begin until we were together (but she thinks I did way too many fun things before we were together, and that i should have waited to do them all with her). I will be forever grateful that she is my eternal companion. Happy Birthday Months Tara!

It's My Birthday Month!

It's my birthday month. I DID have a wonderful, and great birthday thrown by my dear husband and girls, and attended by them (and me, of course). I felt loved, 1 year older, wiser, and like the years are going by faster now that I'm closer to 30. Well, I am going to say THIS about my birthday: Thanks for the wonderful day little family of mine! Thanks for making me feel loved! Thanks to all of my parents and in-laws, brothers and sisters, grandparents, friends, and aunts and uncles for remembering me. It was great. Now, the next post will be Randy's. Since it is my birthday month.

Now, moving on. On Emma's birthday Kenadi got some stamps. She decided on Sunday morning to smell them, or something, and came out with this blue nose. I tried for a while to get it off, and finally concluded that she was going to church like this-with a blue nose. A couple hours later I got it off, and luckily, because it was right before church, and Kenadi didn't want to go to church with a blue nose. I had a good laugh about it though.

Kenadi has been doing preschool lately. Well, it's Joy School. Some other moms and I are teaching it. It is so cute to see Kenadi in her little back pack. She does really well in preschool, and has amazed me with how fast she learns.

Emma is walking like crazy now. Well, she mostly runs. It doesn't mean that she gets into more things than she used to, but she just does it faster now. You should see my house. Or maybe you shouldn't.

Happy Birthday Mr. President

Before I get started, you must notice the picture of that nice sewing machine. It's much better than the bike Randy had up, isn't it? I think I need a sewing machine like that one.
Randy has been voted in as the College of Medicine Graduate Student Association President. The funny thing is that he didn't run for this position, nor was he there at the gathering when he was chosen. I feel a little bad because I tried to convince Randy that it was a joke and he really wasn't the president, but I guess it's been confirmed and he is. So, you can all call him Pres. now.

So, "Pres" turned the big 2-8 on Thursday, May 7th. He's now closer to 30 than he is to 25. Scary. He's aging before my eyes. For his birthday we went to a nice cabin of some friends of ours. It is by a lake, and we went swimming there. The water felt so good, just a little cool, but you didn't really have to get used to it, which was unusual for swimming in a lake in the beginning of May. It was so much fun. We had all the family time that we love, and I wish we could have stayed longer.

We went on nice walks, and we even drove down to Dallas to see Ikea. I've never been there, but it's been one of my dreams, so Randy took me. It was as cool as I'd imagined.

We had a nice birthday party which included cake, ice cream (chocolate chip cookie dough is his favorite), and presents.

Kenadi always has fun helping us blow out our candles.
Here are some quick facts about The President.

• He's patient. Well, he's patient with me and the girls. He can be impatient sometimes, but that is rare.
• He is handy. He can build things, fix things, and he doesn't mind getting dirty. If he doesn't know how to fix something, he's not afraid of figuring it out.
• He has a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is very faithful to our church.
• He rides his bike almost everyday to school and back. (about 12 miles)
• He is stubborn. I'm stubborn too, but not as stubborn as him.
• He says he can't cook, but if you give him a grill, he's a master chef.
• He is practical. He won't just go on a trip or go camping on the spur of the moment. He likes to have things planned out.
• He can be violent if woken up in the middle of the night.
  
• He is smart. Out of all his graduate school classes, I think he got 1 B+, and the rest are A's. He learns and doesn't just memorize, which amazes me. He can talk to you and tell you all about subjects he studied 5 years ago.
• He likes scary movies
  
• He used to have a go tee, but refuses to grow one for me to see.
• He's hairy
• he grew up riding dirt bikes and LOVES them
  
• I think he's mostly Italian and German, and claims that he still has Italian mafia in Chicago related to him. (Im not sure about that one)
  
• He snores a lot lately
• His favorite sport is baseball. He loves to watch football too.
  
• He had skin cancer when he was 3 or something.
• He was 10 lbs 2 oz when he was born. AHHHHHHH! I don't even want to think about it.
• His clothes are well organized in our closet.
• He doesn't complain
• He helps me get the kids in bed every night
• Served his mission in Chicago and speaks Spanish fluently
• He has the kindest, most beautiful, blue eyes
• He is kind
• He's a very hard worker
  
• He carries bugs outside instead of squishing them
• He gets up early to study his scriptures every day.
• He loves his family and talks to his parents about once a week.
• He likes to laugh, and makes me laugh.
• I love you Honey!
  

I could go on and on, but this post must end sometime soon. So, I thought I'd finish with some more picutres of our trip. We forgot our swimming suits, so this is how Kenadi swam. Randy and I swam naked. Just kidding.

Me and the girls. Aren't they getting so big?

Our little family.

Kenadi likes to ham it up. This pose made me laugh. This was on one of our walks in the woods.

Emma had it the best. Just riding in luxury. Oh, it's a good life.