HAPPY 26th BIRTHDAY CHRIS!!

26th Birthday, 26 memories together…

1. September 8, 2004
The first day I met you. You blew me away. I knew there was something special about you. Truly, you have been angel sent. You really caught my full attention. Just you and I sat and talked for hours and hours on end. We were totally oblivious to everyone else around. You were worth stinking around in San Diego for.

2. September 20, 2004
The first time I saw you again, after the first night I met you. You just disappeared that first night, and didn’t ask me out because “you thought I was 17”. Well, thanks, because that would have been creepy if I was 17, I suppose. This night you finally got the courage (and figured out the right age!) to ask me out---with my help ;)

3. September 21, 2004
What a day!! Our first “date”. Sorry I messed up all your plans, but what could have turned out better?? After this day, I knew I was a gone-er and that my life would never be the same... Of course, I can’t forget to add: this was the first time you kissed me thanks to Chris Carr for the slight encouragement.

4. September 28, 2004
The day you asked me to be yours forever…You told me to wait to answer, because you wanted me to pray go home that night and pray about it, then tell you my answer the next day.

5. September 29, 2004
The best thing I have ever said “YES!” to.

6. December 31, 2004
You proposed to me (officially---with ring and all) on New Years Eve (just before the New Year count down) at the San Diego Regional Young Single Adult Celebration. It couldn’t have been more perfect---you out there, skating on the cleared off floor with the spot light on you, and microphone in hand. You rocked my world that night!

7. February 4, 2005
You took me to the Salt Lake City temple to get my endowments. What a special day! My parents and my brother were there, along with Jesse and Steve, or course! It was so amazing to sit in the celestial room with some of the people that I cherished. Thanks for making that happen for me. 8. April 1, 2005
Our wedding day. Everything went perfect. It was the ideal wedding, any bride could have asked for. Between your 16 handsome groomsmen, and my hair-half-done bride maids, me had one great dance party! I remember being rushed all day long starting at 5:00 am, and finally getting to sit alone with you in, just before we were sealed in the San Diego temple. We just got to sit and be alone, just the two of us. That was so perfect! What a still moment. The words we exchanged will forever be embedded in my heart. I’m glad we had that private moment before all the madness or the day started up again.

9. April 6, 2005
Our first cruise together! Gosh that was so much fun! We didn’t have a care in the world. I loved exploring with you, and going on all the different expeditions and adventures. I loved just being with you. I felt so proud to be your wife and have you as my very own.

10. June 2005
Our first move! We sure have moved a lot since, my goodness. We lived in the condo in Keary Mesa for less then two months, but then you got offered to go back to Surf Sessions. So, we moved to La Jolla for the rest of the summer. What a fun FREE place to live! We spent our summer doing one fun thing after the next, trying to keep the kids entertained!

11. August 2005
Spencer and Lindsay, and Jesse and Doretha get married a week apart. That was so fun, because they had the same sealer as us! It was fun to get a re-fresher course of our own sealing. Remember how Doretha, Lindsay and Hanna all lived in that tiny little studio, and they were all dating Ramona boys? That was such a fun summer! “The boys” and “the girls”. Lindsay and Doretha (obviously) ended up getting married, and Hanna decided to go on a mission. Only a couple weeks later, we had to say goodbye to those two couples, because they were off to Hawaii. We promised that we would catch up with eventually…

12. September 2005
We moved to Utah! Never saw that one coming, did you? You just decided to move there two weeks before we moved. You thought that it would be the smartest route to go with flight school. So, you said it, and in two weeks, you were totally registered for school, we had jobs, and we moved into our wonderful cherished Utah apartment! That place seemed like our first real place because we lived there for 8 months (longest we have lived in a place so far!), and we made friends there to last a life time! You pretend like you hated living there, but you know that we cherished our Utah life…

13. December 25, 2005
Our first Christmas together! We went to San Diego to be with your side of the family. It was fun to be warm, and out of the snow for Christmas—my first time not having a “white Christmas” in a long time. It was fun to start our own family traditions and celebrate this time together.
14. February 2006
You got your pilots license! It was a great day, and I was so proud of you! You had worked so hard, and of course you passed your exams with flying colors. You fly all winter, sometimes in terrible snow storms, and it would scare the day lights out of me! I’m so glad that we got to spend time in Utah during that time of our lives. It was such a fun pit stop along the way.

15. April 2006
We celebrated our first Anniversary at a Bed and Breakfast for a long weekend. It was absolutely perfect, and great to get away! It was conference weekend, so we got to watch it from our own room, just relaxing and getting pampered all weekend. What a great idea!

16. May 2006
Two weeks (we have always moved last minute!) before we moved, we decided to go back to La Jolla for another summer of directing Surf Sessions. This year, I worked for Surf Sessions too. Sometimes it was like we were chicken running around with our head cut off, but we had a great time together! We spent our days having fun in the sun and getting paid well for it—to this day, it was the best paying job we have had. We were so blessed to get to work together, and by the end of the summer I was moved from managing the office, to co-directing and that was when the real fun began! I was scared to death of the water, and had to teach kids how to surf. Oh my.
17. August 2006
On the spur of the moment, we decided to do one last road trip up to Utah to surprise my family before we made our big move. It was fun to go back one last time to visit our friends that we had left behind. We knew that we would be saying goodbye to Utah for a while, so it was fun to have a whole week to just play with everyone and not worry about work. The best part was after we left, we brought back my little brother, and took him to Disneyland for a few days!


18. September 12, 2006
We made it! We finally moved to Hawaii like we were always planning!! We surprised Jesse by showing up at church while he was conducting. It was great, because I think you both almost started crying! We were so happy to living on the island with so many of the people we loved. We were so lucky to have our happy little Ramona circle of friends, and meet man more people that we have grown to love! We lived in our tiny (TINY!!) studio, and were happy as can be.




19. September 2006
I woke you up at 3:00 AM to show you what I found out! We jumped up and down, hugged, laughed and cried. Finally!!! It was such a miracle, and the start of a whole new chapter of our family!
20. December 2006
Your family surprised us with last minute tickets home for Christmas! I was very home sick, being 4 months pregnant and just wanting to be with family! It was the best Christmas present from them! We then decided to surprise my family by showing up at the airport a few days before Christmas. It was perfect! No one knew we were coming, and they were ecstatic! It was a great trip, except that when we were in San Diego, you got a staf infection in your toe, and they literally almost had to cut your foot off.

21. January 2007
We had our “20 week ultra sound”. This was not actually our first ultra sound, but priceless none the less. Because I was considered high risk, we already had a couple ultra sounds to make sure everything was going well; however, this was THE ultra sound. The timing was a little hectic because you just got out of class and had to hurry up to the doctor office. The crazy scary nurse was trying to make Doctor Lyons start without you, but he was so kind and waited… I was freaking out, thinking you were going to miss this moment. In the chaos of it all, I almost forgot to tell him that we didn’t want to find out what were having—which was a good thing, because he was stopped mid sentence of his announcement! We got to see the little baby move all over the place, and it was truly joyous! We had been waiting for so long to have this miraculous moment…
22. May 2007
We were offered the dorm parent job! This was another huge blessing in our life! We have continued to be so grateful to have a place that we can work together, and I can still be a full time mom. We moved into TVA for 6 weeks before J was born, because tiny little Kahuku studio was just not going make it. We were so sad to leave, because we loved our little place, and our land lord was such a saint! We will always love our little hut that we lived in!

23. June 22, 2007
We (after what seemed forever), finally became parents! It was a truly frightening, thrilling, unexplainably elated, spiritual experience. You were such a trooper through the whole experience, and so patient through those excruciating 33 hours. We cried together for a good solid 45 minutes straight, exhausted and mystified by our experience together. After two years we had our miracle boy. Beyond your love, giving me our son is the greatest gift you could ever possible give me. Thank you so very much!

24. July, 2007
Your family came out to visit! They stayed at a house on Sunset Beach. It was so great to escape, and go play with them! It was almost like our own little vacation, even though we didn’t go very far. It was so fun to have them here so they could meet baby J. You had a lot of fun surfing all day, every day with all of your brothers and your Dad. J and I had fun playing on the beach, swimming in the hot tub, and playing with cousins. Then, we flew back to the mainland to go to my family reunion, take a road trip exploring all over the US, and be with Aaron when he got endowed. It was such a busy summer!! It was so great for you to finally meet a lot of my extended family, and explore the US with you. You had never been East of Colorado, so I was excited to be with you at this time!

25. August 5, 2007
You gave J a name and a blessing. It was so very sweet and tender. I was so proud to be your wife, and mother of your child at that point. J has such an amazing example for a father, husband and friend.
26. September 22, 2007
You and I had the opportunity to work on the set of LOST. It was so much fun! It was fun to just spend the day with the two of us. The Prices watched baby J for us all day, and we just played around!
26. October 31, 2007
We put on a killer Halloween party for the Hales!! This just goes to show one of the many reasons why I love you. You worked so hard, and never complained. You were so helpful and cheerful while some of us were not so excited about the work cut out for us. You were one of the first ones there, and one of the last ones to leave. I was so proud of you! We were both pirates, and J was a chicken! It was so much hard work, but we enjoyed the final result!

To my husband who I love more than I ever thought possible; to the greatest man I have ever met; to the father of my children; to the man who makes me want to better every day; to the man who has made me laugh so hard I could die, who always been my shoulder to cry on, my rock, my pal, my dearest, my heart: I LOVE YOU! Happy Birthday!