Happy Birthday to Steve!::February 12

Today is my Sweetheart's Birthday! This is the 18th of his birthdays that I've celebrated with him. He's had 42 celebrations so far, and one actual birth day, so I haven't even been around for half of them yet. I'll stick around and remedy that though.


I am very thankful for him. He is very much my best friend. He has been by my side through the good, the bad, and the ugly for all of these many years. He and I have a very unique relationship. We are both very comfortable with our individual thoughts, and very often we like to be alone with those thoughts. But we can be together, doing, our own thing, being very alone, and very together, at the very same time.


We also enjoy spending time together just hanging out and being friends. We enjoy many of the same things and love each other enough to enjoy what the other loves but that we simply tolerate for a while. There aren't many of those though.

When I was first together with him, I realized what an amazing concoction he is! He likes action/adventure shoot'em up movies, westerns, comedies, dramas, sci-fi/fantasy, romances, and musicals. And his music is also just as varied. The kids thought he was awesome because they were never able to introduce them to their music w/o him already having listened to it. And I have always loved being able to go to a wide variety of movies with him and being able to enjoy myself knowing that he was enjoying himself too.

He likes spicy food. And curry. He doesn't like sweets much. He is the only man I've ever known to utter this sentence, "We have eaten meat with every meal for a week. When can we just have vegetables?" That was said after we were first married and I was shocked! Now, he has to cook his own meat because we eat vegetables a lot.


When we were first married he commented that he would love it if I would bake some bread. I told him to never count on me making bread. He also said that he might like to move by his family in TN. I told him I would never move out of Utah. Less than 2 years went by, finding me in our kitchen in TN baking bread. He probably has some kind of mind control or something.....

We have had 4 children together, we've raised 3 already with 3 more to go. We have suffered through and comforted each other through the death of our way-too-premature baby Ammon's death. The math doesn't add up unless you realize that at 24 years old he took on not only a new bride, but also her 3 children. He has been a dad to all of our kids, and has earned the respect of all of them too.


And now we're working on grandkids. Aiden loves his Pops.


He was raised as the oldest of 6. Then after he enlisted in the marines at 18, his mom remarried and he accumulated 4 more siblings. Then, a few years later, two more came into the picture. So after all is said and done, he is the oldest of 12.

He was a marine back in the days of the Cold War. Fortunately, he never had to go to combat, something he regretted back then, but is thankful for now.

I married him way back when because I could see myself grow old with him. It was the first time I'd ever been able to picture growing old with someone, even though I was married before. I still look forward to every new year with him.

He is quiet sometimes. He is loud others. He is soft-spoken and long suffering... until he's not. Then he can raise the roof with one breath and send the kids doing exactly what they should have been the entire time.


He is eclectic. He is original. He is personable. He is shy sometimes and outgoing others.

I really like him. I like what he has become and I like where he's headed.

I'm glad that he likes me, and wants me to be where he goes.


Happy Birthday Steve! I hope that I can celebrate many, many more of your birthdays with you and that you have many, many happy years ahead! I love you with all of my heart!