1.25.2012

23

This handsome guy turns the big
two three
today.
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I was thinking about doing a post like last year where I named a bunch of random facts about him but then I remember how much time that took me away from the birthday boy so I decided to just smother you all with pictures.

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Isn't he just the cutest?
Anyways, I love this boy more than I know how to put into words.
So much that I let him open all of his birthday presents last night.
(After he begged me for 3 hours)
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Oh but these aren't the ones from last night.
These were his birthday presents he opened last week.
He knows that early present opening only happens for his birthday.
I put my foot down on Christmas.

I asked some of Broc's closest to write down their favorite memories of Broc. If you didn't know Broc before, I think you'll get a pretty good idea of who he truly is after you read these entries...

Ryan Steck: On our road trip to Idaho Broc decides he is thirsty, but the cooler of mountain dew is in the back of the truck, so he decides to climb out threw the window into the bed of the truck (no, not the beer window, the actual side window!)...while we're going 80 mph. He successfully passes in cans of mountain dew for everyone and then climbs back into the cab. nbd. Second story: One summer I dared Broc to swallow a whole fudgesicle. So he did. Outrageous.

Tyler Carlson: So one night we are all chilling at my house contemplating what crazy, outrageous activities would occupy our evening when someone decides that there is too much cream cheese in my refrigerator. To summarize, Final Score: Broc-1, Entire Block of Cream Cheese-0. Few men have attempted such a feat and lived to tell the tale. Broc is my hero.

Devin Willie: When we were car-surfing one night Broc just took off into the desert and was gone for like ten minutes. He suddenly reappeared with a fire extinguisher that he started firing off. Crystal (who was driving) hit the gas and we drove off into the distance and into legend.

Chad Casey: First and foremost the day I say an orange classic chevy truck with a bed full of ice and laying on that ice... was mountains and mountains of the green liquid referred to as "The fountain of youth", "The sweat of Buda" or "Christian Bales urine" yes it was the 4th of July and Broc's truck was filled with Mt. Dew. I only knew one man that could down a Dew like Broc, Grandfather Ernest Francis Casey.

Kai Anderson: It's got to be all the Goldfish he ate in one sitting on the drive up north.. My memory is a little fuzzy but it was somewhere between a gallon and a million suns worth :S

Mitch Hancock: Shivwitz=1,000 rounds of ammunition shot into and through a tree. Golfing on an indian reservation. Spooning. Lighting a gas can with gas in it on fire. Almost driving the truck into a ditch. Camping on the side of the road. Broc wearing canvas slip on shoes when there is snow on the ground. Food for 6-7 eaten by me and broc in 2 days. Flaming Ice block. Broc smoking a tortilla filled with berries.

Addison Jenkins: In the MTC you're constantly sitting in often cramped chairs (devotionals, classrooms, meetings, cafeteria) and I guess my feet are kind of clumsy because I was ALWAYS scuffing his beautifully shined shoes. So shiny you could see your reflection. I felt bad and tried to be careful, but no matter what, I always ended up scuffing his shoes. True to form, Broc would always say something to the effect of "Elder Jenkins, if you scuff my shoes one more time, I will personally punch you in the face." The threat changed each time, but it was always "personal"

Tyler Prax: when he came on a family trip to disneyland where we had too much fun. first by trying to steal the keys from the dogs my mouth on the pirates and Caribbean with a lightsaber . second thing buying mickey pilot hats and waking on rides in slow motion.

Russ Christensen: a good memory would be when broc was angry at devin and I because we put exlax in this girls hot chocolate, which was intended to broc, not this girl. Yeah... Broc wasn't too happy...

Clayton Allen: The many times we were bargaining with people on the mission and they wouldn't give us the price we wanted, Broc would turn to me and say, "Allen, If she doesn't give us the price we want, you're taking your shirt off."

Jessica Esplin McArthur: one of my favorite memories is when brady and broc showed up to the forth of july party (or some holiday like that) wearing pretty much the exact same thing. i still laugh every time i think about it.

Katie Wade: I have a lot of good memories of Broc and about 90% of them are us making fun of each other and giving each other a hard time (mostly his fault.) But Broc has a way of making sure people knows he cares about them even when he keeps it a secret most of the time. ;)

Ashley Wade: about a month ago some of my friends were at the house and Broc and Erin came over- Broc with his gun tucked into the back of his pants. I was wondering why my friends got so quiet when they showed up.

Taylor Wade: One of my favorite memories of Broc was when he devised the plan to re-move Ashley's desk into the craft room. You see Ashley had taken this desk without permission and spent over an hour sneakily moving it by herself into her room. We came home from church to find Ashley's scheme and some of us were not too happy. So Broc came up with the idea to move it back to where it came from, then when Ashley came home she would be expecting the nice desk to be waiting for her, only for her to discover that it was gone! And the best part, when she came down the stairs screaming, we were to say nothing about our plan. It would just seem like some strange dream that she wouldn't be able to figure out.
The whole plan worked out great. Moving the desk, Ashley screaming from her room in a panic, but one of the little kids blabbered on us and we soon got Ashley's wrath. Still it was super fun and quite hilarious. Except the part about dad making us move the desk for the 3rd time, back into Ashley's room...

Happy Birthday Broc.
You are loved more than you know.
Muah!

1.10.2012

Juice Fast

Tonight is the start of a crazy attempt to better health in the Hafen home.
Broc saw a documentary on Netflix about a guy that went on a juice diet and made amazing improvements on his health. He has been wanting to do a juice fast ever since.
When he mentioned it, I could only think of the segment
on Modern Family and how miserable it was going to be.
But tonight we spent our grocery money solely in the produce department.
Here goes nothing.
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I'm not going to lie, I'll probably cheat.
But Broc is determined to DRINK nothing but fruits and veggies until his birthday!
That's two weeks away!
Please pray for him.

Sending wishes to Georgia

It's this guy's birthday today.
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Sadly he is in Atlanta doing what he does, being a professional traveler.
Or at least as a kid that's always what I thought he did for a living.
Can't wait for you to come home so we can really party and give you the birthday you deserve.
I love you dad.
You are the best man I know.
happy birthday.

love, your little girl

1.05.2012

Parents of 5

The Arnolds are like a our second family. My sisters and I have been their babysitters ever since I can remember. Blake and Becky go on quite a few vacations and when that happens, Broc and I become sudden parents of 5. We have made it to day 4 and are still somewhat sane so we're doing good! Let me introduce you to our kids...

This is Abby.
She loves volleyball, cooking, and fantasy football. She is officially a "pre-teen" and comes with all that that entails... friend drama, makeup, lots of tears, and a different mood every 15 minutes. She also has the best eyelashes ever!

This is Whitney.
She loves pink, sparkles, skirts, the Biebs, and Disney Channel. Whitney loves to play pretend and has the wildest of imaginations, she definitely keeps us entertained. Whitney is turning 8 next week and reminds everyone every couple hours just in case we have forgotten. She is the best fake crier I have seen and would make a fantastic actress!

Meet Spencer.
He is a kindergartener and loves it. He loves football and sometimes would rather watch espn than Phineas and Ferb. Spencer is sick this week and actually "puked ALL over the bus" (words the secretary used when she called the other morning). He loves to wrestle with Broc until he is so tired he can't get off the ground. Spencer is the best at going to bed, I don't even have to ask him twice.

This is Tatum, oops... Jeanette.
Jeanette is the name she is going by this week and won't respond to anything else. Tatum has many nicknames; TT, Tait, Taity Bug (my personal fav). Tatum is obsessed with Nutella, and obsessed would actually be an understatement. Her love for nutella balances out her hate for every other food. She is literally "scared" of vegetables. Tatum is the funniest little talker and has her key phrases like "oh it's okay" or "you got it?". She loves Jessie from "stoy stoyee" (toy story), Repunzel from Tangled and Jeanette from Alvin and the chipmunks.


This is Keegan.
He is my little buddy, I get to spend every tuesday and thursday morning with him. Keegan has the cutest personality. He loves to learn words and copy his siblings. Keegan loves cars and could play with them all day. He can't live without his blanky or his baba. He has to wear a bib everywhere because he drools enough to give himself a bath. He is a little light in my life and I find myself missing him when I'm not around.

So this is our life this week. When one is hungry, the other one is tired. When two are fighting, the other one is throwing up. I have empathy for moms this week and I keep having to remind myself that they only come 1 at a time and not 5, otherwise I don't think I'd ever be baby hungry. Even though it is tiring, Broc and I find so much joy in these children. When I see Broc with them, I can't help but think of how lucky our kids are going to be to have such a RAD DAD!