Why My Dad is Great

Tuesday: Mom is gone at Girl's Camp. Dad is home with just Ty and Bethany for dinner. He makes spaghetti which means that he cooks some noodles then puts cold sauce on top of them. Proceeds to tell me that he will give Bryan his spaghetti recipe for when I'm gone.

Wednesday: Dad picks me up at the airport after my late flight arrives at 11:45 pm. We chat on the way home and he lets me eat the sandwich he had been saving in the fridge because I'm starving. He goes to work at 7am the next day.

Thursday: I pick Katie up at the airport at midnight, Dad waits for us at home and stays up to talk until 2 am. He's back at work at 7am the next day.

Friday: Dad drives up to Girl's Camp, spends all night with dirty smelly grouchy girls playing Big Booty. We figure it is his 15th year of going up to Girl's Camp on the last night- he's a champ.

Saturday: Dad brings dirty smelly grouchy girls home from camp and spends hours unloading all the cars- our 2 cars and a few others- and cleaning everything. Takes the family out to dinner then participates in the Anderson family High School Musical dance party.

Sunday: Dad sits with us at church- a rare and fun treat! He grills shish kabobs for dinner and even frosts his own cake because he's the best froster in the family.

This is why I love him- he's patient, he's fun, he's crazy, he's helpful, he's thoughtful, he's talented, he's the greatest dad in the world. Happy Father's Day!

Miguel

Occasionally Bryan and I, like all newly married couples, discuss names for our future children. It usually goes like this- I give a few names that I like and ask Bryan what he thinks. Bryan tells me, "not Abby because the dog next door was named Abby, not Madeline because I once knew a really annoying girl named Madeline, not Spencer because that is old-fashioned." I smile sweetly and remind myself I'm the one going through the 9 months of misery (am I allowed to say that?!?) and thus I will use the pity that I'm sure will develop in Bryan's heart to convince him of whatever name I choose. Then Bryan says, "what about Hezekiah??" And the conversation ends.

But, there is one name we can agree on, have agreed on since before we were engaged. Among our other children (none of which whose name will be Hezekiah) we will have one special child named Miguel. His full name actually is Miguel Pecos Fernando de Soto Martinez. Miguel will be our Mexican child- his diet will consist of beans and rice, he will only speak Spanish and wear sombreros, and he will only listen to mariachi band music. The rest of our kids will be mainstream American kids wearing the latest fashion from Justice and eating corn dogs and french fries, but special Mexican Miguel will be our very favorite.

You have to have some fun if your last name is Martinez, right?


Addendum-
Some faithful readers thought this was an announcement. Alas, I am not pregnant. This is all hypothetically speaking. Sorry for the confusion. When I am pregnant, I'll be really obvious about it. :)

In-Laws

I feel like when many people hear the word in-law it sends a shiver down their spine. When I got married I thought, “I already have a lot of family to love, I have no clue what I’m going to do with all these new people.” I also knew that no one could ever replace my family.

I quickly realized that I married into a top-notch family. Bryan’s parents are thoughtful, kind and generous. His brothers are wild and crazy, funny and talented. And, Amy is the most creative, gorgeous, and sweet sister-in-law I could have asked for.

It is a terribly difficult thing to join a new family- the concerns of finding your place and the fears of giving up your own family are very overwhelming. But, as we enjoyed our California adventures this week I realized that I now feel completely comfortable with my new family, and I haven’t lost anything with my ‘old family.’ I discovered that it all boils down to spreading the love. Sometimes I feel like I only have so much love to give- that if I start to love someone new it means I have to give up or decrease my love for someone else. But the great thing about love is that it is infinite. And, the more love you give, the more you have to give- it’s the one resource that increases as we use it!

So, I'm happy to say that I have the two best families in the world.

Ready. Set. Go!

If all goes as planned, Summer Adventure 2009 will begin in just a few hours. We're hoping to get an early start on dear old I-80 so we can get to California by early afternoon-ish. After a busy week of moving into a new classroom, taking both cars to get oil changed and safety/emissions inspections, cleaning the apartment, doing a ridiculous amount of laundry, having an enrichment activity at my apartment, a little scrapbooking, a lot more reading, and many other exciting activities, I am ready for vacation!

We're heading out to California to enjoy our last week with Elder Chad Martinez. We're going camping for a few days, going to the temple and Fenton's (my mouth is already watering) and of course his Farewell and Open House. I'm looking forward to the time together, but not the saying goodbye part. The good news is that Chad is the last Martinez boy so from now on we only have reunions, and those I really like!

After our California trip, I'll be home for about a day and a half to unpack, do laundry, and repack. We'll also drop Chad off at the MTC- but just at the curb since we're not allowed in anymore :(

Then I leave for the Virginia part of my summer. I'm going home for 3 whole weeks! First a couple of days babysitting while my mom and the older girls are at Girls Camp, then a few days of just hanging out, then Bryan will fly out (yea!) and we'll go on the Rice Family Beach Trip. We haven't had everyone come for a few years now, so it will be interesting to have ALL of us. That's 39 people including some very loud teenage boys, triplet three year olds, and my crazy uncles.

I love summer! And, I'm so grateful we get to spend so much time with family.