Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Big FORTY!

It's hard to believe but our oldest son Josh is turning forty today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!

This is one extraordinary person who joined our family in a rush at the Fairfax Hospital on January 15, 1974. I was only there for about 45 minutes before he burst forth to claim his spot as the first son in the family and into the arms of his older sisters, Saren 3 1/2 and Shawni 2.

As it turned out, Saren helped raise him and Shawni was lucky enough to live by him longer than any other member of the family. After he served a mission from many years ago, the London South Mission, he returned to BYU where he graduated with honors in Construction Management and went to work in Washington D.C. where Shawni and Dave lived with two little babies. After dedication to one of the biggest home builders in the country for a while, he realized that he was on the wrong career track. His first love and true passion was in teaching young children so he became a substitute teacher in the DC area (which we thought he would hate) and loved going to work every day!

By then Shawni and Dave had moved to Gilbert, AZ by then and shortly after, Josh found a good job at a charter school in Gilbert and moved to AZ himself where he has loved being close to the Pothiers and has been changing the lives of 2nd and 3rd graders and his neices and nephews ever since!

Happy Birthday to Me

After Lora's Play

Another of Josh's great loves is The Jazz, Salt Lake's NBA team. One day we were in Spokane, Washington for another son's game who had played for Weber State and was playing in the Big Dance
at the NCAA games when we happened to meet John Stockton's parents. Being lifelong fans of this great basketball icon, Josh and his brother Noah thought they had died and gone to heaven. Mr. and Mrs. Stockton were kind enough to invite them to their table and have a little photo shoot!

Hangin' With John Stockton's Parents

It would take a book to tell all the great things Josh has done in his forty years. One thing that has emerged that we didn't expect is that he is an astonishing photographer!  For the enjoyment of the family, I'm going to add some pictures from his blog at feelinginspiration.com where he posts his photography, not in a post but in a collection of photos. If you interested in taking a look at his adventures through the years, I promise you will be inspired!

JOSH IS AN ADVENTURER!
He has made four trips to Ethiopia to help with a water project there:

So Many New Friends

Bontu and Her Friend

They Almost Pulled Me Down!

He also went with us back to his mission field in England and took some great shots:

At Stonehenge

Stonehenge

In the London Eye

The London Eye

Where he used to live when he was a missionary there:

Number 4 Privit Drive

He has taken amazing shots at Monument Valley:

Monument Valley

Followed U2 all over the country and somehow managed front row views!

U2 in Phoenix

This year he and Tal even went to Iceland in August. Those who have seen "Walter Mitty" will recognize the light and the beautiful landscapes. They are simply breathtaking!

Iceland

As I'm going through these pictures I realize that there are literally thousands of stellar phots, National Geographic material! There are just too many gorgeous shots there of Canada, Cruises, Arizona, Expeditions, Sunrises and Sunsets..., Nature. The list goes on and on!  Josh has his splendid camera out wherever we go and though he is very quiet about his great work and doesn't post blogs, I suggest that all you siblings take a look at his fabulous photography at feelinginspiration.com. It's simply incredible!

Of course some of his best shots are of family and I'll end with the one below for your birthday Josh, because this is just how we all feel about you!  We love you and love that you have captured so much inspiration for us! Thank you for your undying help to all us and for your grand contributions to the lives of so many children including 24 (soon to be 26) of our own.

Jump!




2 comments:

AmyA. said...

This is Amy Arnesen. We've met a few times ( I have 2 kids with BBS). I read your blog sometimes through Shawni's blog. After reading this post today I realized that Josh and my brother David Allred served in the London South Mission together! Small world! Happy birthday to Josh.

Jonah and Aja said...

I didn't know josh lived at 4 privet drive with harry potter! love this blob post mom, and love josh