The Good Outweighs the Bad

Picture this: you're driving in the car with your daughter, talking away, about to enter a busy freeway, when all of a sudden something slams into your windshield, completely obscuring your view. You then realize it's your own hood that has flown open, smashed your windshield, and you're in big trouble because you're going fast and you can't see a thing. That was Angela and Micah on Friday afternoon.

I took my car in for a routine lube & oil and smog check during the day Friday, picked up the car and drove it home in time for Angela and Micah to leave for the City. Apparently the smog check place didn't close the hood properly, but since I wasn't going freeway speeds on my way home, there was no indication of this until Angela got going fast enough where the wind picked up the hood and folded it back on itself. So the car's a mess, but honestly we're pretty unconcerned about that because it could have been so much worse. If the hood had flown open just a couple of seconds later, after she had merged with busy, speeding traffic, I don't even want to contemplate the enormity of that disaster. So yeah, we feel very, very blessed that it wasn't worse.

This was a big weekend for Angela and me. Sunday was Angela's birthday, and today is our 16th wedding anniversary. We started the festivities by going to a nice dinner at the Los Altos Grill, followed by a late movie - Robin Hood. It was fun to exchange anniversary gifts at the restaurant. I made an Apple iPhoto book for Angela called "Mom and Me" and put in many of the best pictures of Angela with family members and friends over the years. She gave me a little getaway vacation she's been promising for a while now - complete with reservation this time :-) - in Carmel over the 4th of July weekend, which will be awesome!

Angela's birthday was actually a very busy Sunday. we had meetings and activities and stuff going on until we finally all got back together for a birthday dinner. I made BBQ ribs and baked potatoes with fruit. Angela got an iPad for her birthday, which predictably she said was too much, but because Micah and I knew that she would think that, we conveniently didn't include the receipt in the gift so she can't return it. Yeah, it probably is too much at this point in our lives, but hey, who gives a .......

So it's on to this week, the last week of school for the kids, getting the car fixed, and me taking a little trip out to Boise at the end of the week to cheer on Spencer and Dave in the Boise 70.3 1/2 Ironman. I think it's actually going to be a decent week...

Memorial Day

We had a great Memorial Day weekend with a quick jaunt down to Newport Beach to hang out with Spencer & Molly and their kids. It was so fun on many levels - mostly just being with them, but also the beach, the warm weather, the pools, the good food, the roasting marshmallows, the kids scootering, and more. So fun to be with them, and it was totally worth the 6+ hour drive each way. Funnily enough, that doesn't seem to bad any more...

This is the last real week of school for the kids. Micah has a few tests this week, so it's forcing her to stay focused a little longer; Kennan had a big book report due today, so she was working at it late last night, and Morgan just loves school so she's hanging on to the bitter end. Kennan is going with her school class on an over-nighter field trip later this week, and she's very exited. We THINK she'll be fine...

This weekend is big for us ... Sunday is Angela's birthday, and Monday is our 16th Anniversary. I don't know what she has planned for me, but I can with great confidence say that I believe I have, once again, easily won the great anniversary gift contest. She's going to be very happy, and yes, that will make me very happy. I love my hot wife!

Great, Busy Weekend

Hey all, we had a seriously great weekend (I know, it's now Wednesday and I'm just getting around to catching you up...).

We had both sets of grandparents, plus Katie-bug, join us for the whole weekend, and we had a really nice time. It started with Dad, Brig, and I going down to Camp Lehi in the Santa Cruz mountains for our stake Fathers & Sons campout. Brig was in serious heaven - there were friends to run around with, sticks to collect, fire to play with, hot dogs and marshmallows to roast/burn, and he could get as dirty as he wanted. We loved having Grandpa there with us, and I'm sure Brig will remember that for a long time. One particularly funny moment came when I was helping Brig go to the bathroom in the trees. Angela has been teaching him the anatomically correct names for body parts so he can be mature about them, and he's most of the way there, as evidenced by him asking me to help hold his "peanuts" up so he didn't go peeps on his pants & shoes. Classic.

The whole reason for the family visitors was for Morgan's baptism. It was so special, and such a sweet time for our family. Morgan was so prepared, as she had led and inspired weeks worth of FHE lessons in preparation for the actual baptism. We had quite a few nice friends come support us, including her non-member school teacher, and one of Angela's close non-member friends on her school board. We're so grateful for wonderful friends. As it turns out, even though it was the third baptism for our family, we still forgot some important items. You'd think we'd remember that we needed to bring towels with us, since we believe in this funny thing called baptism by immersion... but nope, no towels. It occurred to me as I remembered a towel I always keep in the trunk of my car, that we had the exact same quandary with Kennan's baptism, and used the exact same towel that time too - well, at least we're consistent. Highlights of the baptism were Angela's testimony, Kennan's Holy Ghost talk, and Grandma Richards' baptism talk. We had a big gathering at our house afterwards and, thanks again to so many wonderful friends, we had a beautiful spread and too much to eat.

We also got to support Kennan and Morgan in their school play, Willy Wonka. Kennan was Willy himself, and Morgan was a very precocious Veruca Salt. I have to tell you, Micah didn't get all the acting and singing talent in the family - the girls were absolutely incredible! I'm so proud of both of them, particularly Kennan because she memorized so many lines, acted beautifully, and sang confidently as a real focus of the show.

And finally, I got a new calling on Sunday. I've been called as the Ward Mission Leader in our ward. I have to admit I have mixed feelings about the calling, since I was sort of under the impression I would get more than a week break from my last calling. But I'll do my best and hope we continue to have good missionaries who work hard and teach with the spirit. I guess it's back to PEC meeting before church (hmmm)...

My knee continues to get a little stronger and more flexible all the time. It's definitely not pain free, but I'm pretty active, and the physical therapy seems to be making a positive difference. I'm sort of in this period right now where I feel like it should be getting better faster than it is (like no pain), but I have to remind myself that it takes time and weeks/months.

Finally, as we round out the school year - the kids are literally counting down the number of school days left (16 as of this morning) - I'll post our summer travel schedule in the near future.

Oh yeah, Mothers Day

I forgot to talk about our Mothers Day in my blog post yesterday. I guess that's kind of typical isn't it - to be really grateful for mothers, but sometimes forget about them because they're always there in the background. So I just have to remind you all of what a great mother Angela is. She is incredible in every way, and no doubt that's an understatement. I'm so glad to have her as the role model to our girls, and as the primary care giver, school supporter, shuttle driver, activity arranger, fun-time planner, and hug giver to our kids. Of course I participate in all of those things, but in many ways I'm another kid - I do what I'm told (usually with multiple reminders), and things generally turn out just right. I love Angela very much and am grateful for our nearly 16 years of marriage and 13 years of parenthood.

I also love my own mom and am very grateful for her continued and ongoing support and love. I heard an interesting perspective in an outstanding sacrament meeting talk on Sunday, and that is that we need to be humble enough to realize we still need our mother's help. I agree.

Resolution

On this gray, rainy, Monday morning, I am resolving to be happy and positive. I'm going to focus on good things in my life. I'm going to stop thinking about long term "what if's" and "when's", stop worrying about unsold houses, up and down relationships at work, and what we'll be doing this time next year... none of that matters. All that's going to matter to me today is today, and what kind of person I am during each project, each meeting, etc. There you go - I feel better already.

We had a great weekend celebrating Morgan's birthday. Friday night there was a fun birthday party with 7 girls over for a birthday late over. It was so great to see Morgan just on top of the world. I admit I snuck out a little early to go see Iron Man 2 with some friends, and that was great (movie's good, probably not as good as the first one because of expectations, but fun and my kind of move - sit down, shut off mind, relax).

We're super excited for Morgan's baptism this coming Saturday. She's very ready, as she's been leading FHE discussions on baptism for the past couple of months. I'm thankful I get to baptize and confirm her - I love being the Dad at times like that. It'll also be fun for her to have both sets of grandparents out here, as well as a cousin or two, to participate.

My Dad is a great sport because he's agreed to join Brig and me at our ward Fathers & Sons campout this Friday night. Now I'm sure when Dad thought about coming to visit, going camping didn't cross his mind. But I can guarantee you Brig will think it's awesome, and he'll remember having his grandpa go camping with us for a long time. My guess is by Saturday you'll have one very happy young boy, and two very tired dads.

Gr8ness!

Happy, Happy, Happy birthday MORGAN!!! Our newest 8 year old with the smile to match her cheery personality is already having a great birthday. A kitchen brightly decorated, chocolate chip bagels this morning, fun gifts including some really thoughtful ones from the other girls, as well as tickets to Peter Pan up in SF for Mom and the girls... Morgan just drinks this stuff in.

Morgan is our peacemaker. She's always the one who is first to think of others, including the good of the family, when disputes arise. It doesn't matter if she's right or wrong usually, she will just try to make people happy. I love her smile and her fun personality. She takes lots of joy in things she likes, and her smile radiates her happiness. She is of course very beautiful, and has many talents, which are part of the great package that is Morgan. But the thing we love most about her is who she is inside. She brings happiness and joy to our family.

Fun friend L8te over tonight for her bday party!

Love you Morgan!

:-)

Two significant events in my life happened over the last couple of days.

First, I was released from the bishopric in our ward. When the member of the stake presidency came over during the week to extend the release, I was at first very sad about it. However, as each successive day passed, I felt better and better about it, until finally yesterday as I sat in sacrament meeting and the release became official, it was all good. I feel a lot of peace about the release, because I feel like I did a decent job and I tried hard to be faithful. It's been a really great 3 years, and I was lucky to have been able to serve under 3 excellent bishops. And now, for the first time in 6 years (Elder's quorum president before bishopric...), I don't have to go to PEC meeting before church, and that brings a smile to my face.

Secondly, I had a GREAT doctor appointment this morning. The medieval torture contraption otherwise masquerading as a straight-leg knee brace is history! I'm done with it, and he was very pleased with my progress. He has given me the green light to start riding my bike in controlled environments, and I can basically do most things short of running and jumping. Very cool! I feel like a new man walking around freely, and I'm super excited to get onto my bike, even if it's just in the garage for the time being.

And on top of that, 75-80 degree sunshine every day lately hasn't hurt anything either...