Happy Late Birthday

I haven't been on here for a long long time and I need to post a lot! My first couple are a couple of late birthday posts!!!

POPI and  Kendra had a birthday in June!!! And I don't want to miss an opportunity to say a few things about these two AWESOME people!! 

My dad is one of the greatest people in the entire world.  And I don't know what I would do without him and he has taught me SO much!  He has a pretty good reputation of being competitive, but is one of the sweetest people in the whole world.  He will do anything for somebody that needs help, and will go out of his way to help someone that is close to him.  He is such a good example to me of being a hard worker.  I have so many memories of my dad coming home from work and then working away on something for the family until the day was over.  Not to mention the many times I didn't understand or know how to do my homework, and he would take the time to teach it to me in a way that I would get it.  

Also, I can't forget to mention that he has actual, magical power!!  Any time I had a bad day or was in one of my crazy Sunday night moods (the family will understand that one), all he had to do was give me a good long hug.  And suddenly I would feel complete peace and comfort again.  I remember there was a while in college where i was struggling with a couple of different things and all I wanted to do was drive home just to get the magical hug. I also loved how when we were little when we had nightmares, we would go into our parents room and wake up our mom and tell her we had scary dreams.  She would then tell us she was sorry and to go see our dad.  We would then walk over to the other side of the bed and all my dad  had to do was hug us for a while.  I remember most of the time he'd still be half asleep, but the hug really did make me feel better!!! He'd hug us until we said we felt better and then we'd then go back to bed.  

My dad has a way of always making me feel better.  School has never come as easy to me as my other siblings, and I remember one year I got a B in a class and I was afraid I'd get in trouble. Because my older siblings would have NEVER seen such a thing on a report card.  Well anyway, I remember talking to my dad about it and he said, "Did you try your hardest?" I then told him I did, then he said "Then I am proud of you." I can't express to any of you how much that meant to me.  He taught me right then that I didn't have to be perfect, but I DID need to try my hardest.  There are a lot of other really personal lessons that my dad has taught me that are too personal for me to share online, but because of some advice my dad gave me, I feel like I decided I wanted a life with the gospel in my life.  I wanted the happiness the gospel gave my dad and mom. I am so lucky to have such examples in my life.  I also will NEVER get tired of hearing my dad tell us how lucky we are to have the mom that we do.  I love that he always treats her so sweet and helps her and loves her so much. 

I am a lucky girl to have the dad that I do.  I love his advice to "not screw up too bad". I love his hugs.  I love how tall he is.  I love that I can blame how unflexable I am on my dad. I love that I got my BIG bones from him.  I love that he taught me to love camping. (my mom taught me that too). I love when he gives me advice. I love when he makes me cool pens. I love that he is so stinkin good at woodmaking. I love that he likes having bird feeders by the window like grandpa. I love how much he loves and lives the gospel.  Thank you dad for teaching me so much about working hard in sports, school, helping others, in my marriage, and for the church.  You are the best dad a girl could ask for! 

CHENJA had a birthday too!!!  I'm SO glad that Kendra decided to come to BYU for school.  Last year she lived just a few minutes from us, and it was so much fun to get to see her so often.  She's back again for another year but so far, we don't see her as much because I think she's having too much fun to come hang out with a couple boring married people.  But when she does, it's so fun! I love how easy it is to get excited and have fun with her.  Out of all my siblings I feel like Kendra has enjoyed similar silly things as me.  Whether that is watching a music video over and over again until we learn the dance, or getting excited about putting a pink streak in our hair or about cheesy Disney channel shows that we secretly love.  Also, she's always let me get excited and talk to her about hair and make up.  Some of my other siblings just don't understand why I have so much to say about it.  Even when she was little, she'd let me spend a couple of hours playing with her hair and practicing make up on her.  I love that last year she'd come over on the weekends and let me wax her eye brows and highlight her hair and do whatever I thought would be best.  Most people will be really specific what they want.  I love doing Kendra's hair because she just says, "I know i'll like how ever you do it" and just lets me do whatever.  Ok, playing dress up is not the only reason I love Kendra.  It's just an example of how easy going and fun she is.  I love how she will also get obsessed with specific songs and play them over and over and over again. I have so many memories of driving around with Kendra because we needed to escape for a little while and all we needed to do was drive and sing and dance our hearts out.  If you've ever been around Kendra, you have probably noticed she has the most contagious laugh.  She is so good at making someone feel like her favorite and is soooo good at acting appreciative for something.  I don't know how she'd get me to help her out with some stuff, but I just loved helping her because she made it so much fun.  It is really fun to be a "Kendra fan".  While she was in High school I loved coming home and going to one of her games because she was so good! It's fun to have a sibling that is so talented.  When we ran the half marathon last year I think she did the same thing as Connor and only ran a few times to train and then rocked it! She's so talented and so stinkin cute and SO much fun to be around.  I know that since she's the youngest of a big family, she probably gets a lot of parenting from the older siblings and I apologize if I have ever done that.  But I think she handles it very well.  Anyone that gets teased from 6 older siblings deserves some type of award!  Thank you Kendra for being my friend and being so awesome!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE SIS!!