Happy Birthday Joel
Today is my amazing husband's birthday! He's thirty! OK he's not. He's 29, but it's more fun to say he's 30. He starts to panic and reminds me how old he really is. It's like he wants to make sure he's indeed only 29. This is what wives are supposed to do right? Joel and I have been married for five years. Each year has been crazy. There's never a dull moment in our lives. Something is always going on. I'm going to let you into our lives a bit and tell you all why I love my husband.
He finds the humor in everything!
I'll never forget our first of many "laugh fights." How can a fight be one of my favorite memories you ask? Well, Joel likes to put a nice spin on our fights. We were in our first little, tiny apartment together. I don't remember why we were fighting, but we were and boy was I mad. All of the sudden, Joel loses it. He starts laughing hysterically. When Joel really gets going, his hyena laugh comes out. Then he can't stop it. I hear this and I swear steam is coming out of my ears. What does that do to him? Makes him laugh harder. You see Joel has a problem. When things get tense or uncomfortable he laughs. He can't control it. It just comes out. As annoying as it is to say this, it's been a huge blessing in our marriage. We both have strong personalities so we have our fair share of fights. Instead of spending days fighting over ridiculous things, he starts to laugh, I get mad, then I get so mad I start laughing. I hope we always end our fights this way. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tabYkmT1rrk[/embed]
He's an amazing dad!
Joel fell in love with me full well knowing I LOVE KIDS. He bought me a dog the first month we were married. I'm sure to try and get us to wait at least a few months before I started dropping hints of the many kids I wanted to have. The funny thing... He was just as eager! Maybe the dog was never for me. We had our first son Liam a few days before our second anniversary. He was such a natural. Liam was born, I held him, the nurse took him to clean him up, and gave him to Joel. The way Joel looked at Liam reminded me that I chose the best man out there. He's never afraid to be silly for our kids. He takes our kids on overpriced, way to small for an adult, train rides. He dresses up in Ninja Turtle pajamas Liam got him for his birthday without fear. He sword fights with our kids after a full day of travel for work, even though he's exhausted. He takes our kids on dates all the time. He's also the most patient man in the world when it comes to our crazy boys. 
He is always on my team.
It doesn't matter what I'm going through or facing, Joel is always on my team. When other people think I'm crazy for doing something, he is right by my side holding my hand. I'll never forget how Joel supported me in finding my biological father. One day, I'll tell you all the story. It was a hard choice for me. I knew opening this part of my past would hurt some of those I loved. I'd never met my biological father and I could have just closed up that chapter in my life. Instead, Joel saw how much it meant to me and told me to do what I wanted. Not what other people would want. What I wanted. What happened? I met him! I found out I have three more brothers (a total of six if anyones counting!) Now Rick (my biological father) and I are great friends. Joel didn't have to do that. He loved me so much that he held my hand through a really intense time. Now, because of Joel I can say I have a great relationship with my amazing mom and dad, six brothers, and friend Rick. Who does that. Who is so selfless that they put their wife's needs before their own. It made our life more complicated, but he was cheering me on the whole time. 
Joel is the best husband a girl could ever ask for. He works so hard for our family. He puts us first and always makes sure we're taken care of. He supports our crazy choices. He loves us more than we could ever know. He is a fantastic dad who is constantly teaching our boys what it means to be a man of God. He loves his family. He's addicted to pizza. He has a delusional thought that he can still sleep even when we have three kids. He's not afraid to make a fool of himself for our boys. He's almost 30 :)I love you so much Joel. Thank you for being an amazing dad, great husband, and my best friend.