Friday, July 31, 2009

I love my boys

I just have to say how great Andrew is. He is growing up so fast! (He will be 16 in Nov). My baby will be gone before you know it.

He has loved skateboarding since he was about 5 and has been an artist since he was 3. He's been playing the trumpet since 5th grade and is so musical. Now he's teaching himself to play the piano. I'm really proud of him. He is awesome at rockband: I don't know how he makes his fingers move so quickly. And he has such good rhythm on the drums: it's amazing how he can play the bass with his foot when it has a totally different beat than the rest of the drums.

He's been making movies lately with his friends and uploading them on youtube under the name Unanimous Films. Now he'll be going to Olathe NW High School this year and doing a 21st Century eComm program that will teach him about film making and editing. The other day when I picked him up at the skatepark he said "why am I always the filmer? I want to skate, but noone films as good as me." I think this program is going to be right up his alley.

Of course Andrew wants to be a pro-skater first and we do what we can to support him. That means new skateboards when the current ones crack or break, new shoes when the old ones wear out from skating and rubbing against the grip tape, and taking him all around town to different skate parks. I hope his dream will payoff one day and he will get to do what he loves for the rest of his life.



What can I say about Bryan? I always told him he was "the greatest son a mom could ever have" and I still mean it. He's 23, and I'm learning how to have an adult child. It's kinda cool actually. He's lived in France for two years, Hawaii for 8 months, and now he's going to BYU in Provo, Utah. He's quite the world traveler.

I'm really proud of how hard Bryan works in school and how he tries hard to stay temple worthy and morally clean. It can be hard for a guy after he comes home from serving a mission in that a lot of guys fall off the moral bandwagon. I admire Bryan and his dilligence to do what is right. I know he will be blessed for it one day.

As you can see Bryan loves surfing. Actually, he loves any sport or physical activity (he got that from Per, certainly not from me!) He was a really great football player until he tore the ACL in his knee and ended his football playing career. He is also good at playing guitar and writing songs. His poetry is very well written, and he is very tender hearted. He cares a lot about people and is a loyal friend. He loves his family very much. Our family wouldn't be the same without him.



Per is my true love, my soulmate and my friend. I feel good when he's around and I like it when he's home. He's been working for CEM for 17 years and they finally appreciate him and the knowledge he has. I think they are just plain lucky to have him.

Per loves to be outside. He likes to work on the yard, or the cars and especially likes to work with his hands. His dream would be to have a workshop where he could do all the projects he has in his head. He loves electronics and you know it when you come over to our house. He built a home theatre system in our basement, wired our house for networking (but, now we have WiFi  - go figure!) He'll say "who's been touching the sound?" when we watch a movie downstairs and fix the 5 point surround sound (that sounds fine to me.)

You may not know that Per is a really good cook. He has baked since we've been married starting with homemade scones with butter and cheese (jam for me.) Just about a month ago he taught himself how to make french bread. We have a Swedish dinner tradition at our home every Christmas where Per makes Swedish food including salt curing a ham for 3 weeks. It's the same dinner every year on Christmas eve, and I love it!

Per has many idiosyncracies and says some funny things. He's also the smartest person I know. He has a morality that is unflinching and is the rock of our family. One of the things that makes him great is that he loves his family very much. I always thought of him as a golden retriever: a trusty friend who stays by our side, our protector, and our best friend.

I thought about my family today and wanted to share how much I love them.