Happy Birthday Patty, my wife and best friend!

Today is Patty's Birthday! First let me be very clear, I know her password and she does not know of this escapade to post about her birthday.

Happy Birthday Paba and here goes!

Last night as we were visiting with her dad, (he stopped by on his way back to China) he reminisced that the day Patty was born was one of the best days of his life. He did say that attaching a pink bow to his daughters head on her soft spot was not very comfortable and promptly removed upon exiting the Portland, OR. hosp many years ago.

25 things about Patty you may not know...

1 - She is an extremly hard worker, we have painted houses, built decks, rebuilt carburetors (2 months after Josiah was born), rebuilt an engine

2 - Excellent at rapelling and belaying climbers

3 - Althetic: Fierce at soccer (maybe to impress me, any thoughts from her teammates?), good swimmer, can snow ski well though she has only done it once, goes off rope swings...

4 - Creative: she has made baby blankets, scrapbooks, woodburning verses as gifts

5 - Talented wood worker: furniture

6 - She can put up crown moulding

7 - Patient: worked for years as a nurse while I finished school, married to me, has a 2-year old and a deafblind child.

8 - She loves Chick-Fil-A cookies and cream milkshakes

9 - Excellent cook: we had chinese food 4-5 nights a week during the early years of our marriage. I could not cook and she mainly knew chinese dishes.

10 - She is fluent in chinese

11 - She is a loving, protective and committed mom: When Abby was born she quit her job and spent 6 months in the NICU. She has a special way with Abby.

12 - Smart: she has a bachelors degree in nursing and remembers every date for Abby's surgeries (13 total) and procedures as well as all the medicine she has ever taken.

13 - She chose me and our kids over her career as a nurse

14 - She gets embarassed when I call her my trophy wife, which she is.

15 - She is very,very beautiful - obviously.

16 - She gave me a journal - Seriously, the entire year we were engaged she wrote me a letter every day in 4 volumes.

17 - She recently competed in the swimming leg of a triathlon

18 - She encourages me to buy motorcycles and other guy toys.

19 - She is my biggest cheerleader and best friend

20 - She can and has completly exchanged the furniture in two bedrooms all alone.

21 - She loves Thai and Vietnamese food

22 - She is passionate about saving the life of babies

23 - I am still her best friend after nearly 8 years of marriage and 3 dating - we have never broken up

24 - Loves to watch movies with me

25 - She misses Hummer every day

This is only the beginning of a list of who Patty is and why I love her so much. She has made me a very rich man indeed!

"A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies." - Proverbs 31:10