{happy 29th...birthday matthew}

well...i thought i would be a good wife and get my act together to wish my darling husband a happy birthday 17 days late.  a couple of days before matthew's birthday my mom called wanting to know how old he was going to be, and to be honest i had to count...so while i was counting matthew got on the phone with my mom and told her he was turning 29...{which is what hes been turning for the past..."pause for counting"...5yrs)...to which my mom replied, "ha, ya right...the older you are the more money you get."  so matthew decided to celebrate his 57th birthday this year...which i thought, if you want to celebrate your birthdays out of order then go for it...who the heck cares.

we spent matthew's birthday driving to nebraska and the way i attempted to celebrate his birthday was buying hostess cupcakes around 9pm at some random gas station.  matthew wanted to know where the candles were, and i said that was the best i could do with the resources i had.

seriously tho...matthew is such a wonderful husband and father.  i am so grateful to his parents for raising him the way they did.  i would be lost without matthew in my life, he makes me smile on a daily basis...usually multiple times a day.  matthew is so great with the boys, he is so patient with them, and is completely willing to put aside whatever he is doing to give them the attention they are seeking.  i.am.a.lucky.girl...very much so.

{bragging rights}

Before we went on vacation to Nebraska, Matthew's commander submitted his name for the CGO (Company Grade Officer) of the quarter for his squadron...2SOPS. He ended up receiving the award and then went on to win the CGO of the quarter for the group as well. I am so very proud of him. He works extremely hard and tries to be an example of integrity for those around him. He deserves both of these awards 100%.

Shortly after Matthew received the news of winning the group CGO award he received an email stating that Brigadier General DePalmer would be visiting Schriver AFB in the middle of January and was requesting all of the award winners of last quarter to accompany him to lunch. So Matthew ate lunch with a general...

CGO of the Group

CGO of the Squadron

(Unfortunately I was unable to capture Matthew at either awards ceremony. The security at Schriever AFB is very tight and I would've had a VERY difficult time maneuvering through security by myself with two little boys...oh well hopefully I will be there for other awards...)

{rolling, teething, flatulence, and funerals}

This morning Carter some how managed to wiggle his way into the corner. He has been rolling like crazy, and on a daily basis works himself into some sort of predicament. But he still keeps at it, he really wants to be on the move.
P.S. don't you love the way I captured Carter's spit up on the carpet? I didn't realize it, until after the pictures.

For the past couple of days Keegan has been teething. He has the works, drooling, slight fever, runny nose, and a little cough here and there. Just to be on the safe side we called his doctor and asked if it might be a cold, and he said that all the symptoms he has are totally normal for teething. Well we also found out that because of the runny nose and the fact that he has a VERY sensitive gag reflex, he also likes to throw up towards the end of the night. He has done it every night for the past 4 days. He will be completely fine the whole day and then right before bed time he will have a coughing attack and gag and throw up. Last night we had the boys on our bed, playing with them and trying to get them to laugh. That is when Keegan has his coughing attack and so Matthew picked him up really quickly so he didn't throw up on our bed. As a result, Matthew got the brunt of it. I was just standing there for a second kind of in shock and kind of wondering where to start the clean up when Matthew said, "take a picture." At the time I thought he was serious, so I ran and grabbed the camera. Later on after things had calmed down, he informed he that he was being sarcastic and didn't really want me to take a picture. He just said it because I was staring at him. Also, I have no idea why he is smiling.

After all of the drama last night and we had put the boys to bed, we were laying in bed and I asked Matthew what the Young Men were doing this week for their activity (since he's the Young Men's president and all. I figured he would know). He told me that the 2nd counselor in the bishopric offered to give the boys a tour of where he worked. Turns out he works at a mortuary. Well that conversation led to talking about how although I have been to quite a few funerals and had close family members die, I still have a hard time with touching dead people. Then Matthew said he likes to poke them, which made me laugh. After which he followed up with saying, "when I die I want you to put a farting machine in my casket during the viewing so when people walk by it sounds like a dead person is flatulating." Then he went into detail about how he wants one that even makes smells and that when people walk by I have to push a button to activate it. Which made me laugh even harder. He made me laugh so hard I started to cry, and then Keegan woke up and was very upset. THEN after we finally calmed down and got Keegan back to sleep, and we went to sleep, all I could dream about was farting machines. It was quite an eventful night.

On a side note, we are coming up on our 6th year of marriage and Matthew still has not farted while I am in the room. I am so proud.

{hockey}

Matthew had the opportunity to attend a Colorado Avalanche Hockey game this last weekend. He went with his brother Eric, dad Rick, and 3 cousins Nate, Chad, and Brady. They had a blast. Hockey is one of Matthew's favorite sports. Eric played hockey in high school and his mom promised him a ticket when he received his eagle scout. So this last weekend Eric was able to cash in on the promise, 9 years later.

Final Score


Zamboni

Matthew, Eric and Rick


Eric and Matthew