Happy 40th Birthday My Love!!

January 30, 2011

This year was the really big one for Russel. Unlike me, he welcomes the years with open arms. I'm starting to really dislike the birthdays and think they come around way too quick....BUT I am still MUCH younger than Russel so I'm not even close to 40 yet!

For the last couple of years I kept just thinking I'd do this really big surprise party for his 40th... after all, I did a big surprise party for his 30th. But as the time started approaching he made many comments about how he didn't want a big fuss made, etc. But of course everyone says that, right? Well, not with this boy. He truly means what he says. So I started thinking about his 30th and realized that while we had a blast and it was a great party, I remember him feeling uncomfortable as the center of attention. So this year, I gave him exactly what he wanted....no fuss....well in the "surprise" fuss realm. Instead we planned a fabulous weekend to sunny Arizona and it definitely did not disappoint. Warmer than normal....high 70s, low 80s. It was fantastic. We took sweet Mei Mei along and we have absolutely made her a lover of Arizona and all the trimmings....Crackers, Joes, Bahama Bucks (soon to be Tia Rosa's on a subsequent visit), etc. When we got to Arizona and started walking around she wondered where all the snow was?

So I was trying to think about what kind of tribute I could pay to Russel on his personal birthday blog post and there's a million things I could say about this wonderful man but of course since I'm already over a month (well when I first started this post it was just a month......now it's 3 months!!) behind in the blogging world, I decided to limit the list to 40. Of course you don't need to read them all, this is just for him.....to show him how much I love him and to remind him of all the wonderful things I notice every day.

Top 40 Reasons Why We Love Daddy.....(in no particular order)
1. He loves to play golf with the kids (even as we speak he is putting a very large range-type net in the garage so the children can practice shooting the golf ball).
2. Loves the Jazz even when they aren't doing so good.....and even without Korver (I KNOW...that's a tough one). Love our dates to the Jazz games.
3. He loves to go on dates and make sure it happens quite often.
4. He brings me little gifts for no reason at all.
5. He would drop anything to take the kids to Bear Lake and play all day.
6. He cleans up the dinner dishes almost every night.
7. He loves to take the kids for 4-wheeler rides and hikes.
8. He tells me I'm beautiful every single day.
9. He winks at us during sacrament meeting from the stand.
10. He leaves sticky hearts in random places to let us know he loves us.
11. He never complains about the amount of money spent for treats when friends come over for late nights....which is a lot....which I LOVE and is one of my favorite things.
12. He is very dedicated to his church calling and does his very best while busy with so many other things.
13. He serves others ALL the time. The charity care he gives is enough in itself to show what an amazing man he is.
14. He loves to keep our yard looking great and works very hard to keep it that way.
15. He will make breakfast for dinner in record time just to let me know that it's okay when there is no dinner on the table.
16. He is SOOO handsome.
17. He will shop with me anytime, any place.....and that's a lot.
18. He helps put the kids to bed every night and even sometimes does it all by himself.
19. He is amazing with the camera and will take lots and lots and LOTS of pictures to get that perfect shot.
20. He will take me to lunch whenever I'm downtown at lunch time.
21. He loves to ski and is quite good.....I am not so good, but I started learning about a year ago just for him. I do okay now but still very slow. I always tell him to go ahead or take a different run down but he claims he just wants to ski with me.....so we do....slowly. I love his patience.
22. He is an amazing doctor and I trust him like no one else.
23. He has cute ears.
24. I love the way his smile lights up a room.
25. I have loved to see his hands wrapped around our little babies over the years and he's making sure that he makes up for the first 3 years of Meili's life.
26. He lets me go to Arizona every year.....sometimes even more.
27. I love that every night before we go to sleep, he makes sure we pray together.
28. He's always game for anything......not too many times I can think of that he has told me no.
29. Wednesday is usually his day off and I honestly can't think of too many Wednesdays that he didn't spend the entire day with me.
30. He adores his mother.....need I say more?
31. He has a very tender heart and I love to listen to his testimony of the gospel and his love for his family.
32. He bought me a spin bike last week because I messed up my foot and he knows it will absolutely KILL me to not run.
33. He is a perfect example to our boys of the way they should treat their wives someday.
34. He never forgets a birthday or anniversary and you can always feel his love especially on those days.
35. He works extremely hard and NEVER complains.
36. He always the sees the very best in everyone.
37. In the summer on Sunday afternoons, he loves to take the kids up the mountain in front of our house so they can see the beauty all around them.
38. He would do anything for his family.
39. He adores his children with all his heart and sees every potential in them.
40. He is my best friend and I would feel lost without him.

Russel is loved by so many because of his goodness and love. What an amazing man and we are so lucky to be loved by him and taken care of by him.

Here are some pictures from Arizona!!! After we got back we had a dual Birthday Bash with J.D. and invited my family and his over for cake and ice cream. J.D. got the traditional chocolate cake......Russel got a little different version....one that could be saved for later.





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