Life is too short to "sweat the petty stuff". Or, as I used to say, "pet the sweaty stuff". My family and I have been focusing on togetherness and love. There is a lot of stressful stuff happening right now with both of my siblings. My brother and my sister mean the world to me. Right now each of them are going through some very rough waters. My brother has made some very bad choices in life and I try to be there for him in whatever way I can. He has a good heart and soul. Luckily he never has, or will,  hurt someone. I hope as he matures, he begins to make better decisions about his way of life. My sister on the other hand is in a perdicament (sp) that she has no control over. I try to get up and visit my sister as often as I can. She is my wife's best friend. Her husband and I are also very close buddies. She has been best friends with my wife since Jamie and I met, nearly 11 years ago. When I brought Jamie home to meet the family, she and Jamie hit it right off. Dustin and Heidi met each other shortly thereafter. He and I have a lot of the same interests; family, movies and vacations. Her children and my children are pretty much like brothers and sisters. They fight like siblings and love like siblings.  

Being that we have been shown that life is short, Jamie and I have realized that we don't have time to waste arguing with each other, let alone other people. I love my wife more than I can express in words. This April we will have been together 11 years. This past September, we celebrated our 5 year anniversary. I can truly say that we have an excellent marriage. When we do argue, it is just for a couple of minutes then one of us comes up and snuggles the other and apologizes. I know that I can say for the both of us, we are and always have been very happily married. We are very blessed that way. I think my biggest complaint ever, is house cleaning. While her biggest complaint would be my complaining about the house. So if that is as bad as it gets. We are blessed. Jamie and I get one or two Fridays a month where the girls have school and we both have the day off. We go out to breakfast, straighten up the house and then just kick back, talk and relax.

My daughters are my wife's and my life. They both play a detrimental piece to our family. My oldest was born 1 year and 1 month after we got married. She has always been there to show us who is boss. Which is just fine with me. I want my daughters to grow up to be just like their mom. They will be strong and independant, yet very loving. My youngest was born 2 years ago, July. She has Down syndrome and has shown us even more patience towards our family and each other.  I am very proud of her and the advances she has made with to her mothers help. She will continue to advance and humble everyone she comes in contact with.

Life is short. We must cherrish every moment we have. As an adult, I know what is important to me and my family. I know what I want to spend my energy on and what I do not want to spend it on. People have different opinions and values.  That is something I accept every day. When people look at you weird in the store because they know your child isn't typical, you learn to accept that everyone has their own opinion, very quickly.  I see myself as a very non-judgemental person. I have to be. Jamie and I choose to focus our energy on things we enjoy. Life is to short to be judged and have to worry about what other people think of us. We are extremely happy, and we try to live a life that allows us to maintain that happiness. When something occurs in our life that causes any stress, we realize we don't have the time nor the energy to deal with it. We will just push on, living our life and try to focus on those who help keep it peaceful. This may sound selfish, but hey, life is short. So why not be happy?