This is Jake. Jordan is asleep. She is rightfully exhausted, as she has literally worn herself out serving our family. So I hacked her blog to give her audience further confirmation of how wonderful she is and how grateful I am for her.
Long before I met her I made a mental list of all the things I wanted in a wife. Here's what I can remember of the list:
- Smart;
- Ambitious;
- Strong in the faith;
- Good with people/has lots of friends;
- Athletic and appreciates sports;
- Physically attractive;
- Strong believer in family and good with kids;
- Good with money/not overly materialistic; and
- Someone who inspires me to be a better person.
I got to know Jordan in fall 2001 in Washington, DC where we were interns in BYU's Washington Seminar program. The better I got to know her, each item on the list got checked off. What follows is a chronological account of how each item on the list got checked off:
All it took was one look at her in her running outfit when she stopped by my apartment to say hi to me and my roommates to get the ball rolling. Physically attractive? Check. Athletic? Check. I knew she was ambitious because she was the student leader for the interns that semester. I also found out that she was on scholarship, had a much higher ACT score than me, loved learning, and laughed at my smart [aleck] jokes. Smart? Check. On our outings she was always careful with her money. (I didn't know her dad at the time, and now I know where she learned to be judicious with her cash). She also had one nice, smart jacket that she wore every day. Good with money/not too materialistic? Check. Also, the way she talked so glowingly about her parents, brothers and sister made it obvious that family was very important to her. When Jordan's sister Claire came to visit, I could see the excitement overcome her because she could experience DC and New York with her sister. Strong believer in family? Check. She also talked a good game about how important BYU football was to her and her family, although she didn't stay until the bitter end of all the games. She even arranged for us to go to one of her friend's house for a game that I couldn't get at my my apartment. Appreciates sports? Check.
I also remember wanting to be so good, among other things, to impress her. I went to a Sunday night fireside at the church instead of watching the World Series. I opted out of an intimate Sunday night John Mayer concert at the 9:30 Club, which was right as he was starting to break it big. (I later briefly regretted that act of righteousness when I learned about the Amy Grant concert--a story for another day.) Throughout those months in DC, I found myself wanting to be better to be worthy of her. Someone who inspires me to be a better person? Check.
I was disappointed when I learned that she had decided to go on a mission after the Washington Seminar was over. I knew she would be great, but I was hoping that I would have the chance to woo her. We kept in touch casually through letters during the 18 months that she was gone. Over that time, my feelings gradually faded. When she got back, I went to an open house the Saturday before she gave her report in church. I gave her a hug, and all the feelings came rushing back with a vengeance. The next day, as she gave her talk, I don't know if it was the Spirit or manly hormones flooding my body, but I was overwhelmed with the feeling that I needed to make a move.
One thing led to another and 10 months later we were sealed for time and all eternity in the temple. It was a beautiful spring day almost 10 years ago. At that time, the one thing I hadn't checked off the list was "good with kids." I felt like I knew her well enough that it wasn't a worry for me because I saw her mom in action. I saw that she had been trained by an expert mom, one of the best. It didn't take long after we were married for her expertise in children to manifest itself. We were asked to team teach a class of five-year olds in our first church. She was so sweet and so kind with the children. The kids absolutely loved her. There was one cute, blonde painfully shy girl whose mom told us that Jordan was the only reason that she would go to class. She would go sit by Jordan the whole time she was there.
I hope Jordan doesn't mind me saying this, but I've already hacked her blog so she has no choice. When we were first married she was a little skeptical about having children. She was on scholarship in a Master's program, and children weren't in her immediate plan. After a very powerful spiritual experience when we had been married about a year, she reset our course. Watching Jordan love, nurture, instill confidence, teach, discipline, guide, and train our children over the past eight years has been one of God's greatest mercies in my life. Words simply cannot do justice to the beauty of a mother's sacrifice and true love of her children. That said, Jordan's gift with children goes beyond ours. Kids of all ages are drawn to her and love her. Of her many gifts, this one might be the most important because she is affecting generations to come.
Jordan has many other qualities, talents and abilities that have emerged beyond my "list," surpassing my hopes and expectations. It hasn't always been rose petals for us. We've had to learn to live together, but at the end of the day, I feel beyond fortunate to have found such a wonderful companion, lover, help meet, and best friend.
Jordan, sorry if this embarrasses you, but you had it coming. You've taken such good care of me and done so much for me. Love you.
PS, loyal readers, feel free to give an amen in the comments section if you're so inclined. She already embarrassed me by soliciting comments about me when I was in surgery.
Monday, April 28
Friday, April 25
The limousine ride
First off, Jake only has one week of chemo left!!!
He has done remarkably well with the medicine and was out playing basketball at the church last night. He is tired and food doesn't sound that good, and I tell him that his symptoms remind me of how I feel during the first trimester of pregnancy.
However, he is almost there and will then have the month of May off before he starts the 5 pills a month regimen at the beginning of June.
So, back to the limo story...
A couple months ago we asked the girls to tell us one thing that they'd like to do in the near future.
An item on their bucket list.
Ada said she wanted to ride a horse.
Ellie said she wanted to ride in a limo.
Lauren said she wanted to go camping.
Over spring break, we were able to make two of those dreams come true.
On Friday of that week I'd arranged a 3 hour limo rental for our family. Jacob and I kept it a surprise from the girls and were just hanging out in the yard when the limo drove by. It had to circle around and as it did Ellie said, "Mom, I thought we were goign to ride in a limo sometime," to which I replied, "Well, today's the day!"
I thought they'd jump around and scream with excitement, but they were just kind of in shock that the limo ride was actually happening. Lauren kept asking, "Is this for real?" with a huge smile on her face. We all jumped in immediately into the car and started exploring.
The limo had a large rounded bench and a back bench near the trunk. There were lights, a mirror, a corded phone, and a drink bar with soda and water. The girls loved pouring their water bottles into fancy glasses and spreading out all over the limo. We'd brought a movie and the driver had it playing on all 3 screens in the car. Once we'd scoped everything out we headed to our first destination- a horse ranch.
There is a great place in Scottsdale that gives pony rides for $5 so we had the limo take us off roading through the sagebrush to let Ada have her horse ride.
She was in heaven. She wasn't scared at all to climb up there, and her smiles throughout her walk around the circle were priceless. It was the perfect first horse riding experience for this 4 year old girl, and the bigs enjoyed their time in the saddle too.
After the horse ride, we decided to stop back at the house to get Jake's dinner and for Ellie to change into fancy clothes. She emerged in her white dress from my brother's wedding and her high heeled church shoes. She looked the part for sure.
The girls main wish the whole time was to actually stay in the limo, so we had the driver take us to the other end of town to get some dinner at Cafe Rio. We called ahead and placed our order so that we could eat our dinner in the car, per Ellie's request.
As we were driving, somehow we decided to stop at the Last Chance to get the girls each a "new" pair of shoes. That may be the first time a limo has rolled up in front of the LC with a family of 6 piling out. :)
They each got a pair of shoes, and then we picked up our dinner. We had 30 minutes left, and it worked out perfectly that our drive home was through Paradise Valley as the sun started to set.
By the time we got home, everyone was full of food and happiness and we watched our limo drive off into the sunset. It was a wonderful family experience for sure.
He has done remarkably well with the medicine and was out playing basketball at the church last night. He is tired and food doesn't sound that good, and I tell him that his symptoms remind me of how I feel during the first trimester of pregnancy.
However, he is almost there and will then have the month of May off before he starts the 5 pills a month regimen at the beginning of June.
So, back to the limo story...
A couple months ago we asked the girls to tell us one thing that they'd like to do in the near future.
An item on their bucket list.
Ada said she wanted to ride a horse.
Ellie said she wanted to ride in a limo.
Lauren said she wanted to go camping.
Over spring break, we were able to make two of those dreams come true.
On Friday of that week I'd arranged a 3 hour limo rental for our family. Jacob and I kept it a surprise from the girls and were just hanging out in the yard when the limo drove by. It had to circle around and as it did Ellie said, "Mom, I thought we were goign to ride in a limo sometime," to which I replied, "Well, today's the day!"
I thought they'd jump around and scream with excitement, but they were just kind of in shock that the limo ride was actually happening. Lauren kept asking, "Is this for real?" with a huge smile on her face. We all jumped in immediately into the car and started exploring.
The limo had a large rounded bench and a back bench near the trunk. There were lights, a mirror, a corded phone, and a drink bar with soda and water. The girls loved pouring their water bottles into fancy glasses and spreading out all over the limo. We'd brought a movie and the driver had it playing on all 3 screens in the car. Once we'd scoped everything out we headed to our first destination- a horse ranch.
There is a great place in Scottsdale that gives pony rides for $5 so we had the limo take us off roading through the sagebrush to let Ada have her horse ride.
She was in heaven. She wasn't scared at all to climb up there, and her smiles throughout her walk around the circle were priceless. It was the perfect first horse riding experience for this 4 year old girl, and the bigs enjoyed their time in the saddle too.
After the horse ride, we decided to stop back at the house to get Jake's dinner and for Ellie to change into fancy clothes. She emerged in her white dress from my brother's wedding and her high heeled church shoes. She looked the part for sure.
The girls main wish the whole time was to actually stay in the limo, so we had the driver take us to the other end of town to get some dinner at Cafe Rio. We called ahead and placed our order so that we could eat our dinner in the car, per Ellie's request.
As we were driving, somehow we decided to stop at the Last Chance to get the girls each a "new" pair of shoes. That may be the first time a limo has rolled up in front of the LC with a family of 6 piling out. :)
They each got a pair of shoes, and then we picked up our dinner. We had 30 minutes left, and it worked out perfectly that our drive home was through Paradise Valley as the sun started to set.
By the time we got home, everyone was full of food and happiness and we watched our limo drive off into the sunset. It was a wonderful family experience for sure.
Sunday, April 20
What this Easter Has Meant to Our Family
I asked Jake to write up some thoughts on Easter:
"We celebrate Easter every year, but this year is different. Although we still did some of the frivolous fun things like an Easter egg hunt, most of all we are celebrating Christ's resurrection. The question of "what's next?" weighs heavily on us like never before. It gives us great comfort to know that my corrupt body will put on incorruption and that Christ declared victory over death. As Paul put it so beautifully in
1 Corinthians 15:
"We celebrate Easter every year, but this year is different. Although we still did some of the frivolous fun things like an Easter egg hunt, most of all we are celebrating Christ's resurrection. The question of "what's next?" weighs heavily on us like never before. It gives us great comfort to know that my corrupt body will put on incorruption and that Christ declared victory over death. As Paul put it so beautifully in
1 Corinthians 15:
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
All of a sudden this passage and the doctrine of the resurrection has become so much more meaningful. I love the expression of gratitude in verse 57 because that's how I feel today."
Here's our family right before we went to church
(Thanks mom for the kids Easter clothes, and Jake for my beautiful new dress!)
Friday, April 18
Counseling
Last week I met with a psychologist who does counseling out of her home.
The counseling session was so very helpful and I am grateful for this added resource to help me cope with Jake's cancer.
She has been counseling people since 1982, and is a member of our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. Because we are talking about existential things, it was important for me to speak to someone who shares my beliefs.
Let me say, clearly, that Jake is doing VERY WELL right now.
However, one of the things that is overwhelming me are thoughts and fears about the future- when he may not be doing so well and ultimately when he may not be with us anymore.
One thing the counselor recommended is that Jake and I sit down with a pen and paper in hand and make a plan for our family life if he is gone. She suggested that we write down things such as practices that I will continue with our family (church attendance, prayer, scripture study, Family Home Evening), and traditions and milestones that we want to celebrate for our children. She also suggested that we write out a financial plan, such as how we want to allocate life insurance and social security benefits to best take care of our family. This exercise will help Jake to see that no matter what happens with his health, his family will be provided for because of his hard work and wise decisions he made.
We are still in the process, but after a week of talking about and writing down these things out I feel so much better. I find that I am actually able to feel more hopeful about Jake's prognosis as we make these plans together, rather than thinking about facing all of these decisions on my own. It seems counterintuitive, but Jake explained that it makes sense because planning and talking about these things takes away one of the main things that is driving our fear -- the unknown. A lot about our future is uncertain, but there are certain contingencies that we can plan for right now. By acting now and eliminating as much fear as possible, we have more room to hope.
We will finish this process in the next few weeks, and can then put our notebook in a drawer and get on living our life. We both know that it is there and can go back and make adjustments any time. But having the bulk of the work done and the decisions made together frees us to live in the present and be grateful for every day that we have together.
In addition to making this plan, the counselor gave me some helpful suggestions for being more present. I've never been good at living in the moment. I've used her strategies many times over the past week and have been in a better place with my thoughts and been able to enjoy little moments of each day so much more.
I have always been a believer in counseling. . . for other people. But it was very hard to pick up the phone and make that call for myself. I am so glad that I did.
The counseling session was so very helpful and I am grateful for this added resource to help me cope with Jake's cancer.
She has been counseling people since 1982, and is a member of our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. Because we are talking about existential things, it was important for me to speak to someone who shares my beliefs.
Let me say, clearly, that Jake is doing VERY WELL right now.
However, one of the things that is overwhelming me are thoughts and fears about the future- when he may not be doing so well and ultimately when he may not be with us anymore.
One thing the counselor recommended is that Jake and I sit down with a pen and paper in hand and make a plan for our family life if he is gone. She suggested that we write down things such as practices that I will continue with our family (church attendance, prayer, scripture study, Family Home Evening), and traditions and milestones that we want to celebrate for our children. She also suggested that we write out a financial plan, such as how we want to allocate life insurance and social security benefits to best take care of our family. This exercise will help Jake to see that no matter what happens with his health, his family will be provided for because of his hard work and wise decisions he made.
We are still in the process, but after a week of talking about and writing down these things out I feel so much better. I find that I am actually able to feel more hopeful about Jake's prognosis as we make these plans together, rather than thinking about facing all of these decisions on my own. It seems counterintuitive, but Jake explained that it makes sense because planning and talking about these things takes away one of the main things that is driving our fear -- the unknown. A lot about our future is uncertain, but there are certain contingencies that we can plan for right now. By acting now and eliminating as much fear as possible, we have more room to hope.
We will finish this process in the next few weeks, and can then put our notebook in a drawer and get on living our life. We both know that it is there and can go back and make adjustments any time. But having the bulk of the work done and the decisions made together frees us to live in the present and be grateful for every day that we have together.
In addition to making this plan, the counselor gave me some helpful suggestions for being more present. I've never been good at living in the moment. I've used her strategies many times over the past week and have been in a better place with my thoughts and been able to enjoy little moments of each day so much more.
I have always been a believer in counseling. . . for other people. But it was very hard to pick up the phone and make that call for myself. I am so glad that I did.
Wednesday, April 16
Thankful hearts
As I sit here thinking about our life over the past 3 months, I am overcome with gratitude for all of the people who have helped us.
The response of kindness and service to our family has been overwhelming and Jake and I daily kneel in prayer to thank Heavenly Father for the things people do to help us and show us love.
We know that there is no way that we could survive this without help.
I usually try to write thank you notes when people do something nice for me. That is not possible now, but in some small way I hope those of you who have been so good to us will read this, and know that we are more grateful for your help than we can even hope to express.This list is in no way exhaustive, but in a small way reflects the help, service, and love we've received.
Our parents have been our first resource and came to our rescue in the middle of the night and over the intervening weeks and months that followed. They are, and have always been, there for us and our children.
The bishop of our ward has gone above the call to visit, encourage, bless, counsel, call and support us in any way possible. We are so grateful to him and his family.
Our next door neighbor has completely taken over our yard work. His wife waters my plants, delivers fresh eggs, and watches the kids.
We get packages hand delivered and in the mail full of thoughtful things for us and our children. Food, books, activities, crayons, toys, treats, gift cards, money, movies and all sorts of things have just arrived on our doorstep. Many have come from people we have never met.
I've had fresh flowers on my table for the last two months thanks to the deliveries that seem to come just when the current flowers start to wilt.
Women from our church come every Monday morning to our home to help me clean. They donate their time to scrub our floors and bathrooms and help me keep order in our home and have time to care for our family.
The young women in our church made us freezer meals, an extended family member took my dirty van and brought it back clean, and my dear friend and her family have opened up their home for me to teach my music class during the last 6 weeks.
For the duration of Jacob's chemotherapy, friends have brought us dinner several times a week so I can focus on making Jacob's meal and still have dinner for our children. Their meals have been delicious and plentiful and given us food for days at a time.
People have reached out to us through blog comments, email, letters and cards, facebook messages, texts, phone calls, and visits to let us know of their love, to send uplifting messages, and to express their sympathy. These notes have been an especially beneficial source of strength for me and I am so grateful for every minute people have taken to communicate with us.
I received over 100 stories from friends and family members about memories they have of Jacob. He loved reading every one, and I appreciate the time and effort so many people took to send them in to me.
Several friends and family members have put us in touch with many important people to guide us in this process. Other cancer patients, doctors, dietitians, and new friends who have given us resources and information that has proved critical to Jacob's treatment and would have taken us much longer to find on our own.
We also know that our names are continually on the prayer rolls of many temples. Individual names are are prayed for collectively by those people in attendance at the temple that day and we have felt of the uplifting and strengthening power of these prayers.
We have been the beneficiaries of countless hours of babysitting. I couldn't even begin to calculate the hours that family and friends have been willing to watch our children to help us attend appointments, meetings, the temple, get extra sleep, and even go on dates.
Our siblings and their families have made special visits to our home, call, and keep in touch with us to let us know of their continuing support. It brings tears to my eyes to hear of our many nieces and nephews who pray for their Uncle Jacob and I know that every one of those prayers is heard.
Thank you, thank you all. We could not do this alone.
The response of kindness and service to our family has been overwhelming and Jake and I daily kneel in prayer to thank Heavenly Father for the things people do to help us and show us love.
We know that there is no way that we could survive this without help.
I usually try to write thank you notes when people do something nice for me. That is not possible now, but in some small way I hope those of you who have been so good to us will read this, and know that we are more grateful for your help than we can even hope to express.This list is in no way exhaustive, but in a small way reflects the help, service, and love we've received.
Our parents have been our first resource and came to our rescue in the middle of the night and over the intervening weeks and months that followed. They are, and have always been, there for us and our children.
The bishop of our ward has gone above the call to visit, encourage, bless, counsel, call and support us in any way possible. We are so grateful to him and his family.
Our next door neighbor has completely taken over our yard work. His wife waters my plants, delivers fresh eggs, and watches the kids.
We get packages hand delivered and in the mail full of thoughtful things for us and our children. Food, books, activities, crayons, toys, treats, gift cards, money, movies and all sorts of things have just arrived on our doorstep. Many have come from people we have never met.
I've had fresh flowers on my table for the last two months thanks to the deliveries that seem to come just when the current flowers start to wilt.
Women from our church come every Monday morning to our home to help me clean. They donate their time to scrub our floors and bathrooms and help me keep order in our home and have time to care for our family.
The young women in our church made us freezer meals, an extended family member took my dirty van and brought it back clean, and my dear friend and her family have opened up their home for me to teach my music class during the last 6 weeks.
For the duration of Jacob's chemotherapy, friends have brought us dinner several times a week so I can focus on making Jacob's meal and still have dinner for our children. Their meals have been delicious and plentiful and given us food for days at a time.
People have reached out to us through blog comments, email, letters and cards, facebook messages, texts, phone calls, and visits to let us know of their love, to send uplifting messages, and to express their sympathy. These notes have been an especially beneficial source of strength for me and I am so grateful for every minute people have taken to communicate with us.
I received over 100 stories from friends and family members about memories they have of Jacob. He loved reading every one, and I appreciate the time and effort so many people took to send them in to me.
Several friends and family members have put us in touch with many important people to guide us in this process. Other cancer patients, doctors, dietitians, and new friends who have given us resources and information that has proved critical to Jacob's treatment and would have taken us much longer to find on our own.
We also know that our names are continually on the prayer rolls of many temples. Individual names are are prayed for collectively by those people in attendance at the temple that day and we have felt of the uplifting and strengthening power of these prayers.
We have been the beneficiaries of countless hours of babysitting. I couldn't even begin to calculate the hours that family and friends have been willing to watch our children to help us attend appointments, meetings, the temple, get extra sleep, and even go on dates.
Our siblings and their families have made special visits to our home, call, and keep in touch with us to let us know of their continuing support. It brings tears to my eyes to hear of our many nieces and nephews who pray for their Uncle Jacob and I know that every one of those prayers is heard.
Thank you, thank you all. We could not do this alone.
Sunday, April 13
Happy birthday Jacob, part 2
After the morning festivities, Jacob and James went to shoot some baskets at the church and then got ready and went into work. Jacob set James up in a conference room at his office and the brothers spent a few hours working. After that, they went and golfed at a course downtown and then came home for dinner.
Jen spent the day at home with me, watching Ada and Tommy while I spent 3 hours going through a stack of medical papers and bills. It sounds horrible, but I actually like doing the money (I've always been the one who handles our day to day budget) and it was nice to get things in order and paid up. Jen was a trooper to hold Tommy to his hearts content and watch Frozen with Ada.
In a departure from heavy cream and butter, I found a recipe for a chopped salad that Jake could eat on his diet, and that with a chocolate cheesecake made his eating for the day something to look forward to. He spent several hours reading the compilation of stories that people sent in for his birthday, and I couldn't help but take pictures of the perma smile that he had on his face the whole time that he read.
At night, James and Jen watched the kids while Jacob and I went to see the new Captain America movie. We came home and spent a few hours visiting and laughing with them. It was a wonderful day.
Jacob also received some generous gifts from our other family members. His parents bought him an awesome motorized leather recliner and our girls love to use the remote several times a day to recline and relax. All of our siblings generously pitched in to get Jacob a new Mac laptop to help him write his personal history with ease.
And Saturday night, April 12, the surprises continued as a few people from Jake's work arranged a suite for him at the Diamondbacks game. He thought we were going to meet up with some friends, and was totally surprised to see some of his coworkers there to wish him a happy birthday. We loved visiting with them, and are grateful for all of the people in his office who have reached out in support of our family at this time. Jake works with the best people. They are truly all such good, genuine, caring, and bright individuals and he feels so fortunate to work in an uplifting environment with such outstanding people. I've always wanted him to enjoy his work and the people he works with, and that has been his experience in his 7 plus years with Perkins Coie.
Jen spent the day at home with me, watching Ada and Tommy while I spent 3 hours going through a stack of medical papers and bills. It sounds horrible, but I actually like doing the money (I've always been the one who handles our day to day budget) and it was nice to get things in order and paid up. Jen was a trooper to hold Tommy to his hearts content and watch Frozen with Ada.
In a departure from heavy cream and butter, I found a recipe for a chopped salad that Jake could eat on his diet, and that with a chocolate cheesecake made his eating for the day something to look forward to. He spent several hours reading the compilation of stories that people sent in for his birthday, and I couldn't help but take pictures of the perma smile that he had on his face the whole time that he read.
At night, James and Jen watched the kids while Jacob and I went to see the new Captain America movie. We came home and spent a few hours visiting and laughing with them. It was a wonderful day.
Jacob also received some generous gifts from our other family members. His parents bought him an awesome motorized leather recliner and our girls love to use the remote several times a day to recline and relax. All of our siblings generously pitched in to get Jacob a new Mac laptop to help him write his personal history with ease.
And Saturday night, April 12, the surprises continued as a few people from Jake's work arranged a suite for him at the Diamondbacks game. He thought we were going to meet up with some friends, and was totally surprised to see some of his coworkers there to wish him a happy birthday. We loved visiting with them, and are grateful for all of the people in his office who have reached out in support of our family at this time. Jake works with the best people. They are truly all such good, genuine, caring, and bright individuals and he feels so fortunate to work in an uplifting environment with such outstanding people. I've always wanted him to enjoy his work and the people he works with, and that has been his experience in his 7 plus years with Perkins Coie.
Friday, April 4
Happy birthday Jacob!
The birthday surprises started out last night, when the doorbell rang a little after 7:00. There, standing on our porch were Jacob's brother James and his sister Jen. He had no idea that they were coming, and was so happy, in his calm understated Jacob way, to see them there.
We always open birthday presents first thing in the morning, and around 7:30am , the girls came bursting into the room to get me up so we could give Daddy his presents. The girls have some of their dad in them and love to show their love for others by giving good gifts. My idea was for each girl to get him a new item of clothing. Lauren and Ada went along, but Ellie really really wanted to get her dad some sports equipment from sports authority, so he got two new packs of tennis balls from her. Lauren had also been working on a gift for Jacob for the last two months and presented him with a finger crocheted coaster and scarf. Ada spent over an hour last night decorating the wrapping paper of her gift for her Dad and showed her love through her drawings for him. It was a sweet moment for them to make their Dad happy on his birthday.
As many of you know, I've been contacting family and friends to write up a story or two of and experience that they've had with Jacob. I had over 100 contributions and printed them up into a wonderful150 page book for him. As he thumbed through the pages this morning his eyes filled with tears as he read the names of so many people who love him and with whom he has shared many life experiences. Thank you to all of the contributors to his book. I appreciate your help more than you know.
Finally, we got a package in the mail yesterday from Jacob's dad that James, his brother, had been orchestrating for the past few weeks. Jake opened the box, and to his great surprise found an autographed basketball from the 2013-2014 BYU basketball team. His eyes again filled with tears as he read each signature, and was especially touched by the message from Coach Dave Rose, a fellow cancer fighter.
So far April 4 is off to a good start for this amazing 35 year old man I love.
We always open birthday presents first thing in the morning, and around 7:30am , the girls came bursting into the room to get me up so we could give Daddy his presents. The girls have some of their dad in them and love to show their love for others by giving good gifts. My idea was for each girl to get him a new item of clothing. Lauren and Ada went along, but Ellie really really wanted to get her dad some sports equipment from sports authority, so he got two new packs of tennis balls from her. Lauren had also been working on a gift for Jacob for the last two months and presented him with a finger crocheted coaster and scarf. Ada spent over an hour last night decorating the wrapping paper of her gift for her Dad and showed her love through her drawings for him. It was a sweet moment for them to make their Dad happy on his birthday.
As many of you know, I've been contacting family and friends to write up a story or two of and experience that they've had with Jacob. I had over 100 contributions and printed them up into a wonderful150 page book for him. As he thumbed through the pages this morning his eyes filled with tears as he read the names of so many people who love him and with whom he has shared many life experiences. Thank you to all of the contributors to his book. I appreciate your help more than you know.
Finally, we got a package in the mail yesterday from Jacob's dad that James, his brother, had been orchestrating for the past few weeks. Jake opened the box, and to his great surprise found an autographed basketball from the 2013-2014 BYU basketball team. His eyes again filled with tears as he read each signature, and was especially touched by the message from Coach Dave Rose, a fellow cancer fighter.
So far April 4 is off to a good start for this amazing 35 year old man I love.
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