This guy I love!

Well, since I sort of missed posting on Father's Day, and since it's Chris' birthday today, I will make this an extra special post all about him!! And do I have a lot I can say about this guy, let me tell ya!

I am including pictures from his most recent amazingness in this post. Last weekend, Chris participated in the Huntsman 140. This is a 140 mile bike ride to raise money for the Huntsman Cancer Center. I can't imagine riding 10 miles, let alone 140, so I think it's pretty incredible! And the awesome thing about Chris (I'm pretty sure I'm going to find out one of these days that he's a super hero and not fully human), is that he finishes races like these and gets off his bike like he's just taken a ride around the block! I kept asking him if he was tired or if his legs were killing him and he kept saying he felt great and was running around talking to people and laughing like he could get back on and ride another 140 miles! I was so confused. I know I would be dead on the pavement if I ever finished something like that! He did the same thing after Lotoja (which was 206 miles). He just makes me fill the the brim with pride for such an amazing accomplishment. I've got total bragging rights because it is seriously so cool to see him accomplish something like this! Way to go, babe!

(waiting with our signs for Daddy to ride by)

(Chris and his friend Rick)

 (silly string!)

 (so excited to see his girls at one of his feed stops!)

(Chris, Rick, Trevor -- all rode together)

 (Mindy, Trevor's wife, and I had soooo much fun together, driving around, following our boys! She has 3 boys so it was fun to get our kids together and make a very fun day out of it! She is hilarious and so fun to be with!!)

(And they FINISH!!)

 (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this guy!)

 (Some of our group, celebrating!)

This is just one in an endless list of things I love about Chris. He is everything to me. He is my absolute rock, my joy in life, my support, my strength, my most loyal and best friend. I feel like he came here with a whole lot of extra special sprinkles from Heavenly Father. He's just a truly amazing guy and I feel honored and privileged beyond what I deserve to call him my husband! 

As I told him last Sunday on Father's Day, I thought I loved him as much as it was possible to love another soul and then we had our children and my love for him multiplied exponentially! Not only is he the most amazing companion that I get to share my life with, he's the most incredible dad to our little girls! I can't help but watch him with them, to see how he adores and protects and would give his life for them, and not love feel overwhelmed with an added measure of love for him. I am so grateful to share in the gift of parenthood with him. He's the only other person in the world who loves these girls as much as I do and I love sharing that with him! I tell the girls ALL the time that they can settle for nothing less than a man like their father to marry and if they can find a man like him when they grow up, I will rest at ease, knowing their lives will be blessed and protected and HAPPY.

In addition to all of that, when we scale things back down to where we started, just he and I, I am grateful beyond expression for my relationship with him. I always said, back in the days of heartbreak when we were waiting for our babies, I felt like I had already won the lottery with Chris, so even if we were never blessed with children, I knew I could still be the happiest girl on the earth. And it's true. It gives me great comfort and happiness to think that when our children are grown and move on to start their own paths of college or marriage or whatever it might be, I'll be sitting on porch somewhere with my Chris by my side and I will be content and happy! He is the start and substance to it all! He is everything.

I love you, Chris. I love that you are so witty and charming and have a sense of humor that always gets people laughing. I love that you are so charitable and compassionate. You are constantly looking for needs that you can fill, service you can provide, a person you can help, most of the time at the sacrifice of yourself and the things you need or want to do. You have an amazing kindness that is so natural for you. It's who you are to treat others well and to care about their feelings. It would be an understatement to say that I benefit from your thoughtfulness and kindness every single day. That is one of the dominant reasons people are so drawn to you and you always have so many friends -- you are just such a nice guy! You are talented and strong and I'm always amazed at how you can set your mind on a goal and accomplish it no matter what. You are determined. You are so smart. You are one of the most honest people I have ever known. You are a man who knows his purpose. You have a loyalty to your family that motivates you to protect and provide for us, no matter the cost. I LOVE that about you. You sacrifice so much for us and I still haven't come up with any way that could ever express the gratitude I feel for all that you do for us. You have a smile that lights up my world. You have such an incredible comforting influence in my life that always makes me feel like things are going to be ok. You still make me lose my breath when I look at you. You still make my heart skip a beat when you kiss me. You hottie!! 

I just love you, plain and simple. I love you more than I ever knew was possible. I cherish and hold that love as the greatest treasure I possess because for me, you are my greatest treasure! I hope you have an incredible birthday and year ahead. May you always, always, always know that you hold the hearts of this girl and 3 others who adore you more than you know. 

Happy Birthday to you!! Love you the most!