Perception of Ingratitude

It has been brought to my attention, and rightly so, that my last post could be perceived by many to be quite ungrateful of the many cards and gifts ($) we have been given over the years. In my attempt at sarcasm (which never did anybody any good, unless you're Ricky Gervais), I failed to convey the message I was intending to send: that I, Justin Malden, am terribly uncreative when it comes to showing my appreciation and love for Jill.

Of course I am truly grateful for the many loved ones who have been so thoughtful to us and who have helped us along our way. I only wish that we could adequately repay all of the kindness and love that we have received from both family and friends.

To My Lovely Lady, Happy Birthday

Let's be honest. After 21, birthdays are kinda lame. The childish excitement is all gone and the only milestones left are 30 (blah), 50 (old), and 78 (average life expectancy). The social custom demands that we celebrate one's birth by perusing the endless assortment of "another year older" cards, cat cards, and "this sexy [person] wants to give you a present you'll never forget" cards.-------------------Edited for an offensive statement--------------------------

Despite my pessimism, however, there is one birthday that I love to celebrate: Jill's. Recognizing that there are an infinite number of events that had to take place to ensure our present circumstance, I can honestly say that the day Jill was born is one of the most important days of my life. I regret that I didn't know Jill existed for the first half of my life, but I have found reason to celebrate her life and the blessing it has been to be a part of it since the day we met 14 years ago.

I celebrate her humor, her intelligence, her virtue, her honesty, her diligence in the gospel, her dedication to personal growth, her talents, her grasp of motherhood, her beauty and her loyalty and affection as a wonderful wife and friend. I aspire to be like her in every possible way.

Happy birthday babe, glad you're alive. - Justin

Learning Time

For the past month Bryn and I have been having "Learning Time" for a little bit each day. We both love it. She is learning the letters of the alphabet and the sound each letter makes. We also review numbers and colors, and sing songs. Our special focus this month was the body, learning different body parts, etc. During March our focus will be transportation, all the different ways to get from here to there. Lucky for us, New York is a great place to study transportation. During a quick trip to drop Justin off at the train station and a short walk to the library this morning we saw: a subway train, lots of buses, taxis, fire trucks, boats, yachts, lots of airplanes, a helicopter, and lots of cars of course too. Thank you, NYC! I am so impressed with how quickly Bryn learns. She amazes me!

When I was growing up, we had a bulletin board in my house that basically looked like the one pictured below (a little less elaborate, but you get the idea). I thought it was silly that my "teacher" mom brought such a classroom feel into our home.

Now, this is what Bryn's room looks like. Hmm...runs in the family??

We traced Bryn's body and then added body parts to the cut-out throughout the month.