31

Most of you who know Jesse will be surprised to see him with a phone to his ear. But if you do know him, you won't be surprised to hear that he was talking to someone in his family (Adam this time, but it could have been any of his other siblings or his mom. The guy loves his family). I'm sure I could think of 31 reasons to be happy he was born 31 years ago (on New Year's, not today). But I'll give you a chance to write some of your own at the end.

So here goes:
1. He puts the kids to bed every night. Not just some nights when he's feeling up to it, but every-single-night.
2. He buys me flowers. Not all the time. Just when he knows I really need them. It makes them incredibly meaningful.
3. He really appreciates it when I drive (especially long distances).
4. He loves his family. He is very close to his mom and brothers and sisters. It's very sweet.
5. He loves having company over. Jesse would have a dinner party every Sunday if it were up to him.
6. Jesse would love to have enough surfboards, kayaks, scuba gear, skate gear, and snowboarding gear to share with anyone who wanted it. He wants to have all the equipment so that no one has to rent and everyone can come. I'm looking forward to someday having a garage so he can.
7. Jesse loves to budget. And he hardly ever spends any money.
8. He makes it a goal to spend meaningful time with the girls.
9. He and Chris blessed the sacrament every week in our ward pre-mission. It made a huge impression on me because there were tons of guys in our ward, but just he and Chris made it a point to come to church early.
10. Jesse's work has let us travel a lot. We've had amazing experiences and seen some unforgettable things thanks to him.
11. Jesse knows how to use power tools. He fixes stuff.
12. Jesse loves service. He loves moving people. He loves making bread for people. He loves sharing anything he has with others.
13. He hates to make phone calls. But when he takes the cell phone, he'll just call to chat with me.
14. Jesse is incredibly indecisive. There's still a part of me that can't believe he decided to marry me.
15. Jesse loves to buy scrolls. We have 5 or 6 from Japan and Taiwan and each is beautiful for different reasons. I love that he saves his money to buy art.
16. He just barely threw away his baby teeth. He'd been saving them under his mom's bed for the last 25+ years. At the same time it grosses me out, it's kind of cool.
17. Jesse will be on the phone for 30 minutes before I realize he's talking to my little brother. Then he'll hang up and say "Ben said Hi. He had to go." Annoying, but still cool.
18. He bought me 450 thread count sheets and then didn't wrap them up for Christmas. But just tossed them on the bed. I would've hated them for Christmas, but LOVE them as a just because I was at Ross and I think we need new sheets purchase.
19. Jesse is home every night for dinner. We eat at 5:30.
20. And then he does the dishes almost every night.
21. Jesse has helped me with school and wouldn't mind one bit if I became the primary breadwinner. As long as he was the primary breadmaker, he'd be happy.

And now it's your turn to add the last ten reasons we love Jesse and are glad he was born.

We're glad you were born Jesse.