The kids!

On the 19th of this month Nathan was 2 months old. I wanted to do a post each month of his first year and I'm already behind. These pictures were taken on the 19th though. He is such a darling boy! He is so happy and good. He is the smiliest baby and it just melts my heart! He is sleeping good and eating good (pure cream it looks like!). At his 2 month apointment he weighed 15 pounds and 3 oz. (At one month he was 13 pounds 3 oz! I don't think I recorded that on my one month post and I wanted to just in case I ever get going on his baby book so I don't forget!) He has the cutest rolls! Honestly I think Maddie and Bella weiged 15 pounds at about a year! After a day of toting Nathan around my back is feeling it that is for sure! We are of course biased, but Scott and I are always commenting about how he has the cutest face ever! Seriously the sweetest boy! He is finally taking to his pacifier (hooray!) after a little persistence! You'd think I wouldn't want him to have a pacifier after my girls who have been SO attached to theirs. I like them when they are babies though! He is getting used to being dragged all about on errands and outings with the girls, although he still isn't a huge fan of the carseat. He is really strong, alert, and has a cute little giggle! We love this little boy and are grateful for what he has taught us already. There is nothing like a baby to put life in perspective. It is quite the difference to only have one little baby to feed and get to sleep and I have to say that I'm grateful for it! Maddie and Bella are still a handful themselves. I'm working on my patience daily! We already have a lot of DRAMA in our house. The girls are both quite emotional and sensitive so it is a good thing Nathan can bring a new dimension as he gets older. I'm exciited about all the good things ahead for him! We love you little bud!

This picture was after our friday night date. It is a weekly ritual that the girls have come to eagerly anticipate. They always think that date night means ICECREAM! They LOVE frosty's or soft serve cones. One of these days when friday night date means a date only for mom and dad they are totally going to be crushed! They love our dates with dad. Anyway, on the way home from getting icecream at the mall they wanted to play at the park. We decided we could since it was still light. As we were driving to the park it started pouring rain. I mean seriously pouring. The girls were pretty upset about it and I was trying to explain that they couldn't play at the park in the rain. When we got home they still really wanted to go and I made the mistake of saying they could just to get them to stop whining about it. I figured as soon as they got out of the car and got totally drenched they'd back down. Well, I was wrong. Scott was a good sport and he walked with them over to the park and played in the pouring rain. They definitely had fun and besides when else do you ever play in the rain except for when you are little?

The Parable of the Silverware

Whenever I write letters to Katie or think about our marriage I am reminded of a conference talk by Elder F. Burton Howard that we heard in the Conference Center while we were dating in April 2003. This Parable of the Silverware has since had a special place in our marriage and relationship. In fact, a quote from this parable has been taped to our bathroom mirror for nearly half of our marriage. I am putting this on the blog as a reminder to myself and so that you can enjoy it as well.

"Most of all, I think eternal marriage cannot be achieved without a commitment to make it work. Most of what I know about this I have learned from my companion. We have been married for almost 47 years now. From the beginning she knew what kind of marriage she wanted.

"We started as poor college students, but her vision for our marriage was exemplified by a set of silverware. As is common today, when we married she registered with a local department store. Instead of listing all the pots and pans and appliances we needed and hoped to receive, she chose another course. She asked for silverware. She chose a pattern and the number of place settings and listed knives, forks, and spoons on the wedding registry and nothing else. No towels, no toasters, no television—just knives, forks, and spoons.

"The wedding came and went. Our friends and our parents’ friends gave gifts. We departed for a brief honeymoon and decided to open the presents when we returned. When we did so, we were shocked. There was not a single knife or fork in the lot. We joked about it and went on with our lives.

"Two children came along while we were in law school. We had no money to spare. But when my wife worked as a part-time election judge or when someone gave her a few dollars for her birthday, she would quietly set it aside, and when she had enough she would go to town to buy a fork or a spoon. It took us several years to accumulate enough pieces to use them. When we finally had service for four, we began to invite some of our friends for dinner.

"Before they came, we would have a little discussion in the kitchen. Which utensils would we use, the battered and mismatched stainless or the special silverware? In those early days I would often vote for the stainless. It was easier. You could just throw it in the dishwasher after the meal, and it took care of itself. The silver, on the other hand, was a lot of work. My wife had it hidden away under the bed where it could not be found easily by a burglar. She had insisted that I buy a tarnish-free cloth to wrap it in. Each piece was in a separate pocket, and it was no easy task to assemble all the pieces. When the silver was used, it had to be hand washed and dried so that it would not spot, and put back in the pockets so it would not tarnish, and wrapped up and carefully hidden again so it would not get stolen. If any tarnish was discovered, I was sent to buy silver polish, and together we carefully rubbed the stains away.

"Over the years we added to the set, and I watched with amazement how she cared for the silver. My wife was never one to get angry easily. However, I remember the day when one of our children somehow got hold of one of the silver forks and wanted to use it to dig up the backyard. That attempt was met with a fiery glare and a warning not to even think about it. Ever!

"I noticed that the silverware never went to the many ward dinners she cooked, or never accompanied the many meals she made and sent to others who were sick or needy. It never went on picnics and never went camping. In fact it never went anywhere; and, as time went by, it didn’t even come to the table very often. Some of our friends were weighed in the balance, found wanting, and didn’t even know it. They got the stainless when they came to dinner.

"The time came when we were called to go on a mission. I arrived home one day and was told that I had to rent a safe-deposit box for the silver. She didn’t want to take it with us. She didn’t want to leave it behind. And she didn’t want to lose it.

"For years I thought she was just a little bit eccentric, and then one day I realized that she had known for a long time something that I was just beginning to understand. If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. You shield it and protect it. You never abuse it. You don’t expose it to the elements. You don’t make it common or ordinary. If it ever becomes tarnished, you lovingly polish it until it gleams like new. It becomes special because you have made it so, and it grows more beautiful and precious as time goes by.

"Eternal marriage is just like that. We need to treat it just that way."

I LOVE YOU KATIE, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY AGAIN!

Happy Mother's Day Katie!!!

When I married you Katie nearly 6 years ago (wow that sounds like a long time) one of the things that I loved most about you or saw in you was someone who was going to be a very successful mother. Now I look back at the last three years and the three beautiful kids that have come into our lives and your nurturing and love for them have exceeded all that I thought possible. I just wanted to tell you Katie, that as I watch you raise our sweet twins and new son my love for you is deeper than it has ever been. You amaze me in every way, with your energy, selflessness, service, dedication, and optimism. You are the reason that our daughters are the amazing little girls that they are, so smart, sweet, gracious, and easy to love. Thank you sweeheart for everything you do and know that I feel like the luckiest man on earth to have you as my wife and the mother of our kids. I look forward to standing by your side through all that lays ahead and will at some future date, join with our grown children, and call you a special and blessed Mother and Wife.

Love,

Scott

Lately...

Spring has finally come to Cleveland! It is beautiful around here. Shaker has so many huge trees and it makes it so nice to have everything green again after a long winter. We had a wonderful surprise when our big tree in the front bloomed lavender! We love it. There is cute little Maddie next to the tree.

Things are going well with all the kids and we adore little Nathan more and more everyday.
We had to take a picture in his Rhino shirt. I have a feeling that his dad's nickname "Ryno" will be carried on.

This week the BYU Ballroom dance company came to Cleveland on their summer tour. We had two cute girl dancers, Elisha and Shayla, stay with us. They were darling and it was fun to bring back the BYU memories- especially the tour days. We loved that. We went to their show and even took the girls. They loved it and thought that all the dancers were princesses. We had to talk about all the colors of dresses in each number. They were definitely thrilled to have "BYU Cougar dancers" stay at our house. We are brainwashing them early!

Blessing Day

Scott gave Nathan a sweet blessing two sundays ago. We were glad to have Grandpa Randy here in the circle as well. What a special day. He looked so sweet in his blessing outfit that Aunt Lacey found for him.

The girls were of course darling too in their sweet white dresses from Grandma. I still can't get them to smile good for the camera. Oh well.

Visitors!

We were so lucky to have Scott's parents come out to visit us! Scott had to take a test in Kirksville and from there he flew to Vegas where he met his Dad. He and Randy drove our new Toyota Sienna all the way across the country here to Ohio. Melanie came out to help me with the kids while the boys were driving. It worked out well and I was grateful that I didn't have to make the drive! Scott and Randy took about 3 days to get here and they made sure to hit up a few Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives restaurants along the way! We have LOVED the van though and are so grateful to have a little more room. The three kids' carseats were definitely squished not so safely in our other car. Anyway, we had a blast with them here and are so grateful for wonderful family. We miss you!

We went to Kirtland and saw the church history sights.




Scott and Randy grilled some delicious steak, salmon, and chicken- all bought at the west side market. We love going out there and always find the best produce and yummy treats! We convereted Randy and Melanie to the falafel too! We love it!

Nathan and Grandpa!

We played at our favorite park, ate at Cheesecake Factory, went to Westside market, the boys hit up an Indian's game, we did a little shopping, and the kids loved playing with the grandparents. It was such a treat for us to have you all here! Hooray for the new van too!

First SMILES

Nathan has been smiling tons the past couple weeks. How can you not love this chubby face?