Arabella does not have school on Friday's so her class party was on Thursday.
It is unfair that I caught her just as she was putting a handful of goldfish into her mouth but she is still so cute!
Lily even joined in on the lunch eating fun!
Peter surprised her by showing up too.
The whole class + Lily!
My Valentine's "box" of chocolate. When I came home from work on Thursday morning Peter presented me with a cookie sheet of homemade "BYU" mint brownies. He is the BEST! They are delicious and I have eaten a fair amount but I had been sharing too.
I took my camera with me to Jon's class party that I helped with but I forgot to take pictures- doh?!
We had a delicious candle light dinner (it was easier to serve with the lights on) of chinese take out!
Then Peter helped the boys with a flag scout fundraiser they have been doing together and I took the girls to deliver treats to the ladies I visit teach. Are we romantic or what?! I then went to bed earlier since I am working a day shift today. I think what matters about Valentine's is that those you love know you love them and you do something different to make it special. So check and check on that!
It was testing for my ATA boys last night and it was a great night!
Father and son in line, waiting to start.
Joey showing off his boxing moves.
Peter doing his weapon routine.
Joey doing his weapon.
Peter's form. It was fun to watch him do something he has wanted to do for a long time.
Joey doing his form.
Yes, I believe Joey had his tongue out for this portion of his form. Silly kid.
If you look closely in the mirror you can see just how high Joey was kicking.
Both of these pictures show really high kicks. Joey could barely kick above his waist about a year ago. He has come so far and learned to push his body to do hard things.
Peter even got a chance to do some sparring though technically he will not spar with equipment for a few more months. He is moving so fast he is a blur! I was impressed with his high kick too since he is not the most flexible person I have ever met. Way to go dear!
And the board breaks that caused us trouble last time.
He practiced in class the day before with wood boards and finally broke all 3 on his first try! He was so elated. Even better is that we had cut his wood boards too big and so they were harder to break but he did it. This gave him the confidence boost he needed to break smaller boards at testing without a bit of trouble!
Above is his hammer fist!
Round kick
The elbow strike which was his nemesis for the last 2 months but he went right through!
Watch the video below. He was so excited he screamed so loud! I wish I could have captured his face but I was at a bad angle- priceless.
Peter's new belt. It was really fun to see Peter achieve something new that he has wanted to do for a long time. I have not seen a smile of satisfaction on his face like that since he earned his Wood Badge beads for Scouts.
Joey was so happy about this. He was the first student to sign up at this school when it opened. He came having taken class for awhile in Las Vegas but due to differences in how the programs were run they had him start over again several belts lower than he was. Either way they said he was their first "home grown" 2nd degree black belt.
The first degree belt has American Taekwondo Association written on it in Korean.
A second degree belt is personalized by your instructor. Joey's instructor left unexpectedly in January but since he was supposed to get this in December Mr. Coleman (old instructor) had picked the words to go on it. The two symbols are confidence and victory. Very fitting for Joey. He has had to learn to believe in himself and what his is capable of doing.
The girl on the right also earned her 2nd degree.
Peter, Master Pechacek (6th degree and school owner and instructor until a permanent one can be found) and Joseph Moroni Rabner (that is how he presented himself to the judges-love that kid!).
It really is exciting to see a kid smash through a 9 inch board!
During the month of January, Joey's taekwondo school hosted
Biggest Loser contest for the parents of students.
The parents could attend the adult classes for the month of January for free and then at the end of the month, the parent that had lost the most weight would get a year of classes for free.
Peter has wanted to take classes for quite awhile and this seemed like the ideal opportunity to give it a try.
The classes were good. There was one class on a Thursday night that consisted of a great deal of calf work and Peter walked with a limp the whole weekend.
The point is that he won! He lost 20 pounds over the course of the month. He showed really good self control and endured two separate weeks of the cabbage soup diet.
The kids were very excited for him and very encouraging, especially Arabella.
Now Peter has his own white uniform and casual shirt (shown above- he chose the pink one).
He has also worked hard on learning all of the white belt requirements so that he could test tonight for his next belt. It will be a great night because Joey is testing again for his second degree black belt. Joey has overcome his fear of wooden boards and broke all three on his first try at practice tonight. He will do great because he knows he can!
I am proud of Peter and look forward to the time I can exercise and workout alongside him for now I will continue to enjoy dessert and snacks!
He is a good, hardworking, faithful, funny, loving, strong, talented man!
My mom shared the story with me once of when they found out they were going to have their first baby. She confessed she was a bit overwhelmed but happy. But she said my dad was over the moon happy!
There are many things I love about my Dad. I have been converting negatives to digital this week and found this gem. I have no idea how old it is but I believe it was before Jana was married so 2003 or 2004.
This picture shows a few things about my dad:
He makes his salad the same every time at Brick Oven (which is one of his favorite restaurants).
He gets the hawaiian pizza.
He would not dream of having alfredo sauce.
He loves their root beer, or root beer at a restaurant.
Other greats about my dad:
He loves hot french fries.
He tears up when he feels the spirit.
He usually has a joke for you.
He is willing to help those who need it (little red comes to mind as well as several examples of paying for various things for people with no thought of being paid back).
He has a firm testimony in the priesthood and the gospel with all of the blessings it brings.
He loves my Mom- I have never doubted it!
He likes his back scratched.
We loved to take his socks and shoes off for him when he would come home.
He loves a BYU sports game.
If you want to know anything about Disney pin trading- he is your man.
He has always been someone I could turn to.
He has stayed in touch with his childhood friends.
He won my grandmother (my mom's mom) over by being a handyman around her house.
He loves to find ways of helping me still to this day.
He surprised me when I had Arabella by painting my garage- I was thrilled.
All in all my dad is a truly GREAT man!
I hope to be like him someday!
Love you Dad- Happy Birthday!
I had the best moment the other day when for some reason my mind was turned to the day I married Peter.
It was a beautiful summer day and he looked so handsome all dressed in white. As I walked out of the dressing room, at the Manti Temple, he was sitting in a chair waiting for me and his old wrestling coach was rubbing his shoulders. It was like he was getting a little pep talk before the big "match". I am not certain how to describe the look that was on his face until he looked up and saw me but it was a mixture of nervous, anxious, worried- not sure which of those is right. The best part was that when he looked up and saw me and our eyes met there was relief and then his whole face was smiling! I knew I was making the right choice, his face was the one that had been in my dreams for years and every boy/man I met was compared to him. I believe there were boys that were compared to him before Peter and I were even dating; he had become my standard and I did not even realize it.
Anyway, my thoughts the other day were more about what I, at 21, thought marriage was about. I thought as I was kneeling across that alter staring into his face and listening to those words that would seal us together for time and all eternity and saying yes, that I knew what marriage was all about. I did but really I did not. I knew we would live together, work together, have children together, we would love and be happy together and yes, I knew we would occasionally fight together and suffer challenges together.
Those things are true of marriage but there is a whole element of marriage that I could not comprehend or begin to understand. I realized that marriage is being ready to pick up where your spouse has left off. It is being the calming influence or rational mind during an intense situation or bad experience. It is reassuring one another that everything will be okay when you don't know how it will be or how you will help to make it so but that you know together it will be. Marriage is letting your spouse lean on your faith in God and his plan when their own is weak but they have faith in you. Marriage is saying you are sorry. Marriage is learning to face those parts of yourself that are your weakest and knowing that you need to work on making them better for this person that you love so much and that they will help you on your way. Marriage is being able to figure out how to address the shortcomings in one another without making yourself appear without flaw. Marriage is knowing when you need to take over where your spouse usually manages because they have hit a breaking point. Marriage is figuring out what your new goals are as your life changes and the dreams you had for yourself and family are altered by the reality you live in. Marriage is seeing the hand of God in your life daily and helping your spouse see it too if they need it. Marriage is all consuming as it should be. Marriage for me was when I knew I did not want anyone but Peter in this world, not even my mom (sorry mom) as I faced what seemed to be a challenge beyond my own strength. Marriage is encouraging and allowing your spouse to fulfill their church calling to the fullest because you both know the blessings that will come are many and great! And yes, marriage is monotonous sometimes. You will do the same thing day in and day out for weeks on end. But, it is highlighted by the moments you steal together and the times you find to laugh at the things your children do or the silly things you say to each other as you scrub dishes after putting children to bed.
I am so thankful for my marriage to Peter. He is part of me and I am who I am today because of the things he has taught me, shared with me, and brought out in me. That day in August over 13 years ago, I did not fully know what I was saying yes to but it was the best yes I have ever said!
We had spent a fair amount of time working on cars and finished them Friday night about 10:30.
Lily was content to use Arabella's old Minnie Mouse Bow car.
Jon had a really rough week at school with lying and not doing his work so he was only able to race by the skin of his teeth and we decided to show some mercy. It twas a good thing to because his car was FAST!
Joey at one point asked if he could switch and use his car from last year-it won. (We had taken our old cars so that if there was a tragedy with a car we had a few back up cars.) I told him no because he had chosen his design and that is the car he was using. Joey took 7th place I believe.
By Jon's face I am sure you can tell that he won! He was so excited. Next year I am going to tell him that we are not going to worry about making the fastest so that someone else can win-he has had his day of glory!
Yes, after the races when they opened the track up to anyone who wanted to race, Joey raced his Onyx car from last year against Jon's Dragon car and Joey's won. He just had to win. But, he was a good sport and he did a lot of work on his Sewaddle car this year.
Both boys were great! I can not believe I did not get a picture of Arabella's pink race car- that is what she chose this year.
The Pinewood Derby is always fun and Peter was a trooper running the timing system again.
