Thanks Tyler

Tyler,

   I know for a fact that I don't say thank you to you nearly enough. It's inevitable that I am going to take you for granted and probably cause you to feel that you are taken for granted, because I'm human and not nearly as thoughtful as you. I hope this letter will make up for some of those times that I have done that to you.
    Thank you for thinking my picture in the ward menu was a good one. Thinking back to the girls in our ward, it's a full on miracle that you picked mine out of all of them. Thank you for not changing your mind once you saw me in person. Thank you for always being so honest with me, even when it was not what I wanted to hear. Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for calling me from Mexico. Thank you for calling me from Texas even though you were exhausted. Thank you for driving all the way to Austen to pick me up, and for taking me back to the airport. Thank you for wanting to surprise me by coming home early, even though it didn't work out. Thank you for coming home a few hours earlier than I thought you would, so you still got to surprise me. Thank you for driving Kyle and me to California for Jake's wedding. Thank you for paying for the gas. Thank you for spending all that time with my family by yourself while I was bridesmaiding. Thank you for your perfect proposal.
    Thank you for how much you love your family. Thank you for always dropping everything to help them. Especially your mom. When we were "hanging out" and I still wasn't sure what I thought of you, one day we stopped everything to go help Pam. And that won me over. I knew you could be a keeper.
    Thank you for all the date nights. Thank you for being so much better at gift-giving than I am. Thank you for liking things to be clean and in order. I am not the best at it, but you inspire me to be better. Thank you for the hard work you put into everything. Thank you for taking me camping and hiking. Thank you for caring about the things I care about, or maybe sometimes just trying to care about the things I care about. Thank you for all the times we have laughed together, babe. Thank your for quoting movies and TV shows with me.

   Thank you for that time when we moved to Washington and we'd only been there a few weeks and you told me that you were leaning on me and counting on me so much more and that you loved it. Thank you for being willing to live far away from family even though it's hard. Thank you for all your support through my pregnancies. Thank you for being excited to be a dad. Thank you for being Snoopy. Thank you for being the best dad. Thank you for wrestling with them, and tickling them, and being all around silly with them. Thank you for giving them kisses and hugs. Thank you for changing their diapers, and helping when they had blowouts. Thank you for cleaning up puke even though it was making you puke.
   Thank you for being supportive of my desire to be a stay-at-home mom. Thank you for never ever ever ever making me feel like our money is your money. Thank you for being willing to work and make all our money and share it with all of us. Thank you for being so good at your job. Thank you for caring so much about your job. Thank you for going above and beyond at your job. I pray all the time that Kale and Ellory will be like you and love working hard, and not be like their lazy mom. Thank you for telling me about the frustrations you have at work. Thank you for letting me be a part of that world.
    Thank you for every time you have told me you love me. Thank you for every time you have complimented how I look. Thank you for making me feel safe after I wake up in the night from a nightmare. Thank you for not making fun of me when I start freaking out that you are dead in a ditch somewhere because you aren't home within 10 minutes of when you'd said you would be.
   Thank you for being willing to do the dishes. Without being asked. All the time. Thank you for helping with laundry and cleaning counters and picking up toys. Thank you for all the times you cook and clean up. Thank you for putting up with me changing the food we eat.
   Thank you for loving sports so much. Thank you for being willing to stop watching a football game or basketball game to play with the kids or go out and do something all together or to go do some service. Even though watching games all day long is what you would love to do, you put more important things first. Thank you for your example to me and the kids. Thank you for all you have taught me.
   I could go on forever and ever, but I feel like this is starting to get like that letter Rachel wrote to Ross....So, I'll end with one last thing: Thank you for building a life with me. Thank you for growing with me. We may have been young when we got married, and we may have gone through some times of unbliss, but thank you for continually to choose to stay with me and to love me. Thank you for keeping our lives together. I can see how easy it would be for your work life to be separate from our home life; or my daytime mom life to be separated as well. So thank you for telling me about your life and for asking me about mine. Thank you for helping me with mine and allowing me to be a sounding board for yours. Life is so much better together.
I love you.