Happy Birthday David!

Yesterday was Dave's Birthday...he's a whopping 37! Here's some things you may not know about him....

His full name is David Lyle Matheny. He was born in Corvallis, Oregon on January 6, 1972 weighing in at 8 lbs. 5 oz. He was the cutest baby! Take a peek...

He is the oldest of four kids (and they are all 19 months apart)...

David with baby brother, Sam.

Andy, Katrina, Sam, & David

His dad was in the military so they moved a lot. He's lived in 8 states and 3 countries throughout his life. He tells people he's from Green Ridge Missouri as they lived there the longest (6 years) and it is where he graduated high school.

He got his Eagle Scout when he was 16 years old.

He was voted Most Likely To Succeed in High School and he has always been tall. He's 6'6"!

He graduated from high school in 1990. There were 32 kids in his graduating class. Their class was one of the largest in the school. Kindergarten through 12th grade all attended the same school and there were 350 kids total.

He served a 2 year mission for our church at the age of 19 in Honduras and Guatemala. David in the MTC (Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT)

David & his first companion (it's not a great picture but notice the size difference).

He's always had a big appetite.

Honduras is considered a third world country. You can see why...

This was their "toilet".

This was a bug in their "apartment" on a full size (8.5 x 11) sheet of paper.

Dave worked at a meat packing plant before his mission and a lumber mill after to save money for college. He attended Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho where he met the love of his life...
He got married at the age of 22...it was the best decision he's ever made! :)

He became a Dad at 24...

I was in labor for a long time with Taylor and she looked pretty rough. Dave was holding her and my friend, Tonia, who had been at her birth said, "I think she's cute." Then the conversation went like this: Dave: "I don't know." Tonia: "Well if she were 16..."
Dave: "If she were 16, she'd be in special-ed whether she needed it or not."
He has gotten much more tactful through the years though still just as honest!

He graduated from college in August of 1998 with a computer science degree.

He is a very fun dad. He's just fun in general and keeps us all laughing!

He's VERY handy around the house.

He's likes to fish, camp, shoot, play computer games, read, exercise, watch movies, and buy his wife nice things :). Brandon Smith & Dave

He's recently started to shoot competitively and is in a Filipino Knife Fighting Martial Arts Class that he goes to 3 times/week .

He's a great husband and father...but you already knew that!

Happy Birthday Dave! We love you!

Print Your Blog

For me, my blog is my journal. I found a site that you can upload your blog to and have it printed into a book format. I just ordered mine. The site is http://serv.sharedbook.com/blogworld/printmyblog/index.html in case anyone is interested. I'll let you know how it turns out. :)

*WARNING*...Picture Overload!!!

Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were wonderful! Here are some highlights of our Christmas and a a few of our favorite things...

Family: My parents arrived the day after Christmas and are still blessing us with their presence! :)

Good Food: we enjoyed dining out with the whole gang...

with just the adults...

and some fine home cooking (if I do say so myself) ...

On New Year's Eve we enjoyed our families favorite dessert...Root Beer Floats!

Good Times: Santa brought our family Rock Band 2... even Grandpa rocked out with us!

...not to mention, Dave got to go to the range several times and embark on one of his very favorite pass times!

Carter was thrilled when Grandpa took him and his buddy, Brock, to the high school to play football on the "real" field (equipped with astro-turf and everything).

Surprises: Dave got me a digital photo frame...how cool is that?

...and he got me a camel back backpack...did I mention I am going to do a triathlon this spring? That will surely help (and I think I'll need all the help I can get)!

The kiddos were thrilled to get a new trampoline net (as on Thanksgiving day they ripped a huge hole in the net sending 4 children onto the ground below, dog pile style...it was not a pretty sight!)

Lauren was happy to finally have a reading chair for her room. The webkinz clothes were a bonus!

Carter loved his new football...

and Taylor looked cute in her new mittens and such (believe it or not, we do need these in Texas occasionally!)

Homemade Gifts always rank at the top of our list. Dave's mom made us this beautiful quilt. Isn't it divine? I LOVE IT!!!

Carter made me this trivet at scouts!

And I made Dave a cover for his re-loader (a funny looking contraption he uses to reload bullets making his favorite pass time more affordable) so it wouldn't get dusty and dirty in the garage.

But MOST of all, we enjoyed EACH OTHER!

Here's to another great year!