Rob

Typical Rob.

Typical Rob.

Our first date- cutting down a Christmas tree.  We spent several hours climbing a hill to find the perfect one.  I've always told Rob that we fell in love on that hill.  It was an awesome first date.

The evening of our first date- it was Rob's birthday that day. 

Hanging out in my Provo apartment.  We saw eachother only on the weekends because he was in Rexburg and I was in Provo.  This made for LONG weeks, and really FUN weekends. 

Our first Christmas in our first apartment. 

What a smarty pants.  All graduated from college. 

So I figured since I did posts about my children, I should probably do a post about my original child, Rob.  I tell him daily that he is a 10 year old trapped in a 30 year old's body.  And he just laughs and has no argument.  But let me tell you, being married to a man like this sure is fun.  My life with Rob is NEVER boring.  I am always entertained, always lauging and ALWAYS being teased.  Oh well, I guess I knew what I signed up for when I married him.
I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Rob and I were supposed to be together.  I know lots of couples can say this, but I'm glad I'm one of them.  I know Heavenly Father led us together.  The way we met was pretty crazy.  I was in Provo, single and ready to mingle, and Rob was in Rexburg, dating a girl from Washington, not far from where I grew up.  Well Thanksgiving break 2004 was rolling around and I had decided not to go home to Washington.  I would be going there for Christmas, and I didn't want to travel both times.  BUT, my friend Bekah didn't have a place to go for Thanksgiving, and we talked about it and decided it might be fun to go to Washington together.  Rob was in Washington over Thanksgiving break for several reasons.  He had come with his parents to visit his sister, but also planned to spend a couple nights at his girly friend's house and meet her parents.  As luck would have it, Rob did not have fun at his girlfriends house.  He didn't get along with her parents and they weren't feeding him enough food.  Typical Rob.  Well, like I said, I ended up in Washington for Thanksgiving and my sister Laura, and brother-in-law Casey were also there.  The string that ties all this together is the fact that Rob and Casey were friends- they had classes together at BYU-I.  So when Rob had a question about a truck that weekend, he called Casey.  Rob asked Casey, "Where are you for Thanksgiving?"  Casey, "I'm at my in-laws house in the Tri-Cities."  Rob, "I'm in Washington too!  Hey, you have to come get me and take me away from my girlfriend for a night."  Casey, "Ok, but we're just playing games at my in-laws."  Rob, "That's fine, just come take me away!"  Of course this isn't their word for word conversation, but very close I'm sure.  So Laura informed me that Casey's friend Rob would be coming over that night to play games.  Laura, "Now Kristi, this guy is Casey's friend, and he's pretty cute, so I think you should get dressed up and make yourself look nice so that you can marry this guy and our husbands can be friends."  WHAT?  I really had no interest in making myself look any nicer than I already looked thank you very much, but, truthfully I think I did end up spending a little more time on my hair that night before he came over.  He got there and we started playing games.  I could tell right away that this guy had a strong personality.  He was LOUD.  But also fun.  We had a lot of fun together that night.   Yes, we definitely flirted.  Now this part of the story Rob will argue.  But of course my version is true.  Rob started playing footsie with me under the table while we were playing games.  Bold!  But of course I didn't pull my foot away and I just went along with it.  I was a pretty good flirt back then.  So at one point in the night Rob left to go to the bathroom and I hurried and told my Mom, Bekah and Laura what was going on under the table.  They were shocked.  And totally amused.  They wanted to know if he was going to do it again, so we came up with a plan that if he started playing footsie with me again, I would subtly say, "Laura's a monkey."  so they would know what was going on.  Yes, totally subtle, I know.  Well, sure enough he started playing footsie with me again and I said "Laura's a monkey."  And they all burst out laughing.  I don't remember if Rob was getting what was going on, but it was pretty darn funny. 

The next day was time to go home.  Laura and Casey decided they would follow me and Bekah back as far as our road was the same, which is about half the way, and Rob had arranged with Casey that he would ride back with him and Laura since Rob's parents had already left Washington.  We had decided on a gas station where Rob's girlfriend would drop him off to meet us.  Bekah and I had conspired that we would tell Rob we were scared to drive in the snow and he should ride with us and drive the car.  It was ingenious!  So Rob's girlfriend dropped him off and he kissed her goodbye!  I've seen my husband kiss another woman!  It just fueled my fire.  I was going to steal this guy!  Rob claims he saw right through our plan to get him to ride with us, but I'm not so sure.  He definitely didn't argue when we asked him to drive our car.  Bekah sat in the back and didn't say a word the whole trip.  Rob and I talked the whole time.  We parted ways when the road split to go to Idaho and Utah, and I honestly didn't know if I was going to see him again.  I didn't necessarily want a long-distance relationship, and I found out later that Rob was thinking the same thing.  So it probably would have died right there, but I happen to have a conniving sister who had a plan to get us together.  Just a day or two later she called me and told me that Rob was really interested in going on a date with me that coming weekend (which he never said).  And she called Rob and told him that I was really interested in going on a date with him that coming weekend (which I never said).  So I agreed to drive to Rexburg, and Rob agreed to let me come out to his parents house and celebrate his birthday and cut down a Christmas tree- all the while, both of us thinking the other one had set up the date.  Laura, Laura, Laura!  Well, it was an awesome weekend.  The day of cutting down Christmas trees was magical- we had a blast together, flirting, talking, meeting his family was great.  I knew by that night that something special was happening.  We had our first kiss that night in Rob's cool truck!  I could give so many more details, and stories of that Christmas, the first time he told me he loved me, New Year's Eve, the moment I knew we were getting married, the proposal, all the driving back and forth, our wedding day, the honeymoon, our crazy first year of marriage, etc. etc.  I'll have to find time to write all those experiences down another time. 
Rob is an amazing husband.  He tells me he loves me everyday, multiple times a day.  That makes me feel so...loved.  He plans surprises for me, takes me on dates, knows me so well and loves me anyway, makes me laugh, loves spending time with me, supports the things I want to do, values my opinion, etc. etc.  He is an amazing father.  He loves our kids and loves spending time with them.  He plays with them and has a genuine interest in helping to raise them and teach them things.  He helps me with the kids all the time and goes out of his way to take some of those burdens off of me.  He is a really hard worker.  He is disciplined.  He is smart.  He is always trying to learn new things and be self-sufficent.  Pretty much he is the opposite of me!  :)  I have found after 7 years of marriage, (our 7 year anniversary is in June) that we are opposite in many ways, which is probably why our relationship works so well.  He encourages me to get up and do more and I encourage him to slow down and relax.  I'm so glad I married him and so far we are doing awesome together!  Rob- I love you very much.