6 Years of Bliss

Scott and I have been together for 7 years now, and happily married for 6 years. I can't say enough how much I love him and how incredibly happy I am to be married to him. No, he's not perfect, but he's absolutely perfect for me.

Here are some of the things I love most about him:

1) He is a thoughtful and loving husband. He frequently brings me breakfast in bed, brings me home little treats for no reason on his way home from work, lets me stay in bed a little longer and has his own one-on-one time with the boys in the mornings, and will happily volunteer to wash the dinner dishes. He is always looking for things to do to make my day easier or happier.

2) He is an amazing father to our two sons. Mister and Pumpkin have totally lucked out getting Scott as their dad. He is silly with them, getting down and wrestling with them on the floor, plays all sorts of made up games that Mister comes up with, and generally makes them laugh. He also reads to them, sings bedtime songs and says sweet prayers with them every day. He teaches them how to work - Mister already loves to work in the yard and is especially fond of helping with the dishwasher and windexing (yes, I made that word up) the dining room table after dinner. He takes them on Father-Son outings to bond with them. Last week it was a trip to Carl's Junior for dinner and playtime on their enormous indoor play area, then off for ice cream cones, and wrapped it all up with letting them stay up late to snuggle in bed and read as many stories as the boys wanted. It warms my heart to see him with our sons and to know how lucky they are to have Scott as their father.

3) He is a hard worker. I don't know many people who are as genuinely hardworking as Scott. He works full time, he's going to school a few evenings a week to get his MBA, he's in the bishopric (congregation leadership position for those who aren't familiar with this term) and that takes up a lot of time, he's being a general contractor for his friend who is completely remodeling his house, he's a fantastic husband and a wonderful father. And somehow he manages to balance it all so everyone feels like they are his number one priority.

4) He is a man of faith. I should've put this one first, as it's really first on the list. Scott has a very strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he tries his hardest to follow His teachings and His divine example. I love it whenever he has the chance to speak in church (or in Primary, the children's program where I serve) because he always speaks in a way that touches your heart and when he comes in to talk to the children he has an amazing ability to captivate them and instruct them at the same time. Which is no easy feat with 100 + children in our Primary program. He is very spiritual and is naturally a good man. It's humbling to be married to him sometimes because I feel like I don't have those same natural instincts as often as I should. Situations I would get riled up over, be judgemental over or something else equally unbecoming for a daughter of God, Scott is calm and helps me remember what is important in life. I'm so thankful to have married a man with such a strong foundation and faith.

5) He is supportive. I know this could go under the great husband category, but it's so amazing that I wanted to give it its own space. Scott supports me in all I do. He works his tail off to make it possible for me to stay home and raise our two sons. He heads off to work every day, even when he's not feeling well, to make sure that we will always have a roof over our heads, food on the table and clothes on our backs. He values the importance of having me stay home with our sons instead of thinking it's lazy and that I should get a job to help earn more money. I will be forever grateful for that! I can't imagine anyone else being responsible for teaching my sons and being their primary caregivers. No way. They are my treasures and I don't want to give up that time with them to some stranger so we could have enough money to buy extra things that we don't need anyway.

He is also supportive of my workout efforts. 4-5 times a week I go work out in the evening after he gets home. Yes it cuts into our time together (which is already diminished because of all the other things he has going on in life) but he knows it's important to me and helps me feel better about myself. I have never once heard him complain about it and he has never ever asked me to skip a day so we could do something else instead. He loves me exactly how I am. He thought I was beautiful when I was 9 months pregnant and weighed 200 lbs (I know, yikes!) each time and he loves me now much lighter. It's amazing to know that I have his unconditional love and that it's not tied to my waistline, that if I over-indulge in pizza and donuts he'll still love me just the same as before.

Anyway, I could go on and on. I love that he's active and sporty. I love that he's competitive. I love that he loves his family (who I couldn't be more thrilled to be a part of now) and that he respects his parents and siblings. I love so many things about him it's crazy. So Honey, thank you, thank you, thank you for marrying me 6 years ago. Thank you for making marriage such a wonderful experience. You are such a blessing to me in my life and in the lives of our boys. And if you've even read this far, congratulations. It's a long post. Enjoy the pictures below from a little photo shoot I had with the boys and some of my friends this past week. And sorry for the huge blogging hiatus. I'll be better about it now, I swear. :)