A Very Full February

February was a big month for us. We started it out cheering the Green Bay Packers in for their 4th Super Bowl win on Feb 6th. For those of you knew me pre-Shine days, let me explain. Every Shine I know is a Packers fan. No, no, not just a Packers fan, a SHARE HOLDING PACKERS FAN. Yep, even my sweet little girls became share holders in the GBP on the day of their births. In fact, I am pretty sure I am the only person bearing the name of Shine without stock in the team. I better remedy that before I am kicked out of the family.

Then we had Uncle Jimbo from Anchorage come to visit. He was here only 5 days, but they were days full of snowball fights, puddle jumping, Sushi and wine tasting. Jimbo made quite the impression on Jael, for she now refers to him as her “Big Huge Best Friend”.

Every puddle jump needs a running start. (notice: no matter the outfit, the crown never leaves her head)
Because every party needs a little lego rock band.

February 14th- Jael and Coco’s 1st Princess Tea Party. The girls had so much fun (okay, so did the moms) that we decided that this will be an annual Valentines event.
Princess Coco Princess Jael All the princesses using their royal manners Scarf dancing

On February 17th, Jon was named 2010’s Impact Player of the Year at Intermountain Community BanCorp (parent organization for all of PSBs 19 branches and executive offices). This is a pretty big deal and we are extremely proud of him (although not surprised at all!) Here is what was published about him by the CFO when he was presented the award:

Jonathon’s last name truly exemplifies his performance for Intermountain. For several years now, Jonathon has been the key manager, organizer and integrator of the Jack Henry core system. Under his control, we’ve continued to see strong improvements in up-time, consistency, and service and product enhancements. It is a very rare occurrence that we experience connection problems or down-time with Jack Henry, and Jonathon has built and led a strong project team to manage this system and its upgrades.
Over the past year, Jonathon has led an exciting new program which is just beginning to yield tremendous results for the organization. Jonathon is leading the charge in pulling all the information we gather from various systems into one central area and creating a new report system to sort and present this information in much more useful, efficient, and meaningful ways.
Our credit teams were the first beneficiaries of this new program, and it’s made a tremendous difference in the quality, efficiency and delivery of information needed to effectively manage our loan portfolio. We’ve received numerous accolades from regulators, independent loan reviewers and others about the quality of the loan information we can pull and how rapidly we can create it.

President’s Day Weekend- We have a bunch of friends out in Seattle who get together every year for a weekend of skiing, shooting , boozing (not really. Okay, kind of), food and fun and we convinced them to come out here this year. It was a wild 3 days with 10 adults, 3 kids, and 2 dogs all under 1 roof, but so much fun. It was sad to see them go, but we are excited for when we can all get together again (hopefully in June when Jon runs the Seattle Rock n Roll marathon).

See note above

Jael has been busy this month polishing her artistic skills. It is so fun to watch her paintings take recognizable shape.

my favorite of her work so far. "Chinese Dragon" "Jellyfish" and "Simon's Cat"

And Coco has accomplished the roll over and survived her first cold (although a very mild one, praise the Lord!)
That is that for the month of February. And so, I will leave you with this last little story:
Jon was making coffee one morning, Jael was painting at her table and a friend of ours was holding Coco. Then Coco, with a loud grunt, proceeded to audibly fill her diaper with her morning BM. Jael, without looking up from her work, simply stated “present for Daddy.” I love my girls.

My Funny Valentine

I have been listening to a lot of Jazz lately, and this song always makes me think of Jon. Particularly because we both love Chet Baker, but mostly because of the line “you make me smile with my heart”. I couldn’t describe how Jon affects me better than that. He is everything I have ever hoped for in a mate and then some. Just thinking about him makes me happy. I know that sounds terribly cliché, but I simply cannot put it in any other way. Let me tell you some of the reasons why I like him so much.

He loves the outdoors. I always feel closer to the Lord when I am in His beauty. It is so lovely to have someone beside me who feels just the same as I do.

He is active. He loves to ski, hike (combat hiking is what I call it), fish, hunt, run, bike (mountain and rode, and regretfully in the full attire!), rock and ice climb, swim, and golf. The only thing he doesn’t do is ride a horse. But, if we had horses, I am sure he would ride them.

He fits in well with my family. Even with the crazy ones. (although I have noticed he and Heath sneaking outside when it gets too crazy.)

He gives the best hugs in the world.

Everything is much more fun when he is with me. Even a trip to the grocery store is more fun with him there. I do tend to spend more money, though.

He is adventurous. Whether it is in conquering mountains or exploring new territory in his job, he is always up for a challenge.

He is honorable.

He is a romantic. I LOVE this about him. I don’t mean he buys me stuffed animals or writes poetry. Not that kind of romantic. I mean he has a romantic soul. He is moved by the beautiful, by the poetry of a moment, a sunset, a lovely turn of phrase. He allows himself to be swept away. Since, I am usually being swept away myself, it is so nice to have someone else with whom to enjoy the ride.

He has a wonderful sense of humor. We laugh all the time, at everything and everyone, but mainly at each other.

He loves Jane Austin, probably just as much as I do. When a man sitting next to him on a plane once asked him why he was reading Sense and Sensibility, his answer was “because I finished Pride and Prejudice.”

He is a good sport.

He is very affectionate.

He is very musical. He sings. And plays the guitar. And the cello.

He is loyal. Even to people who don’t deserve it.

He is passionate...about everything.

He is a wonderful father. I think he would do pretty much anything for his girls.

He is a musical schizophrenic. I thought I had an abnormally varied taste in music, but Jon takes the cake. In one afternoon, I can hear anything from GnR to Lady Gaga to Dvorak coming from his den. I think he loves every kind of music. Except maybe Country. But, I did get him to like some Dwight Yoakam songs.

He speaks French. *Le sigh*

He is crazy wicked smart. Not only is he a learned man, but his memory is nearly photographic. It makes arguing with him very frustrating.

He is what I call “portable”. I can take him anywhere and he fits right in. Whether it is in a room full of strangers or best friends, at a football game or a Broadway play, he has a good time.

He is a people person. He loves everyone he meets and I have never known anyone who does not instantly warm to him. He has a genuine love of all people and kindness of spirit that makes him so likeable. I call him my Mr. Bingly.

He is generous. He is always giving his stuff away.

He stands up to me. He is never mean or unkind (I don’t believe he is even capable of that), but very gently and lovingly he puts me in my place. And I kinda like that. ;)

His DNA, when mixed with mine, makes amazingly beautiful children. But above all of these things, he is a true lover, worshipper and follower of Jesus. This is what truly won me over above all the other things. It is obvious in everything he says and does. I remember one of the first times I fell in love with him (for I do it over and over) was watching him lead worship at Bible Study. He is passionately in love with the Lord and seeks to live his life for His glory.

(And the fact that he will pretend to be horribly embarrassed by this entry, yet secretly love me for it is pretty cute too.)