I'm constantly in awe of her amazing personal strength. And the source of her strength is the Savior. I see her turn to Him through prayer, the scriptures and priesthood blessings and I'm grateful for that example for me and for our boys. They love their mom fiercely and so her example is so important for them. I know they'll grow to love and trust the Savior as well.
I love that Stacie is so active and athletic. It was her idea to get us both enrolled in a crossfit gym recently and it's been a great experience so far. We just started last week and I've been so sore that I haven't been able to walk normally since, but it feels good to be exercising. We usually go at separate times because of the kids, but we've gone to a few classes together and it's fun to be working out with her again. I also have to work hard just to keep up with her. When we were engaged we trained for a marathon together, and spending so much time out on the road running together made me appreciate her more and more. We both love running and exercising, it's fun to share that with her. She's also an avid soccer player and our boys love to go watch mom play in her games.
I really appreciate how thoughtful Stacie is in keeping me involved in what our boys are doing even when I'm at work. She texts me funny stories about them or pictures of what they're doing. I love getting those and checking them in between patients. It helps me feel connected still to my family. I posted some of the pictures she has sent me. I'm sure my coworkers get tired of me bugging them to look at this picture of my boys or listening to the latest funny story about my boys, but I get pretty excited to get those texts and pictures. Here's a text she sent me this week: "Nap fail!!!! Kyler wouldn't go to sleep but he was pretending to be. I could tell he wasn't asleep but thought if he faked it long enough he'd eventually fall asleep. I brought them both in the house and laid them both down in their beds. After a few minutes I could hear them laughing together. I listened in the monitor and it was so cute. I heard Braden say, lets just count to 12 and wake up. Then they both counted and came out with armfuls of stuffed animals. It's a good thing they're so cute!"
She is also careful to make sure I know how much she appreciates me working for our family--and she uses it as a teaching moment for our boys. She makes sure to tell me before I go to work in the morning: "Thanks for working so hard for our family!" The boys have picked up on it too, so they'll chime and say it with her. It makes me feel better about leaving every morning, I appreciated her doing that for me. Of course, she is also working super hard for our family, taking care of and teaching our boys so well each day. I know it's exhausting work but she does an incredible job at it!
I'm so grateful to be married to this wonderful woman. Thank you Stacie for marrying me five years ago, and making my life so great. I love you, and happy anniversary!
