Turns out, February is big at our house.  Birthdays and Valentines all bumping up against each other.  Trying to slip us into a sugar induced coma.
This time we celebrate my sweetheart, KC.  His last birthday, a milestone (40-shhh), he spent the day taking his very post-partum, weepy, wife and tiny baby to Portland to see a specialist about a cleft.




So this year, we celebrate in style.  It has certainly been an exciting and eventful year.  One full of some big life events.  This year you became daddy to four.   Just saying that number sounds big...you are the best daddy for these kids of ours.    You took care of us for a month after Preston was born, trying out my life for a while.  You do your "other job" well, working, and working, and a little more.  Never really complaining but doing your best.  I know there are times when you would much rather be home but you make sacrifices for us.   This year you were an accomplished salsa gardener.   The prolific peppers, onions and 'matoes were proof.  In August, you said goodbye to your mama, for now.  You find joy in the Gospel plan, knowing we will see her again.  You cared for your ailing father, with compassion and tenderness.  I was more in love with you than ever.  In September, you were able to reconnect with lifelong friends.  I loved seeing the laughter and watching years melt away as you boys laughed and remembered.  Good friends, that helped you to get where you were going.  The very next week brought a surgery for our baby.  You were our quiet strength.  Going forward with faith, and energy and fatherly love, just one week after your mama's funeral.  I know that those weeks weren't easy for you but you never showed the strain.  You took the night shifts so I could sleep a little.  You tenderly held our boy while he was hurting.  This fall we've seen your father's miraculous recovery, Baby Preston heal, and life continue to move forward.  All in all, forty was a pretty big year.