Hunkdate

Like an update or "bumpdate".....get it? Stretching it too far....? Ok, fine.
Whatever.
Now that you're all updated on the goings-on of our resident fetus, here's a little update on our resident manly-man.

Annie wanted Mommy to put lots of pony-tails in Daddy's hair. And he let us!

Tucker has been our superhero this year. He works so hard for our family and somehow manages to still have time for us.
At the beginning of the semester, Tucker started teaching 1st and 2nd hour seminary classes at Highland High School, in addition to his full-time job at the rebate call center. He was gone from 6:30AM to 8:30PM, only to have to hole himself up for more hours to prepare the next day's lesson. Including lesson prep, he was working 70-80 hours a week, and it was exhausting and hard on all of us. He was always tired and drained, I was home alone all the time and never saw my husband, and Annie missed her daddy a lot. So after crunching numbers and pro/con lists, we made the decision to cut the call center down to part-time. And it has had such a positive effect on our whole family!

These days, he still gets up early for seminary, but then he's home after his 2nd job by 5 every evening. We get to have dinner together, and Annie can usually coax a dance party or a few minutes of jumping on the trampoline out of him. Her favorite thing these days is to ask Daddy for a made-up "monster song" before bedtime. And he's always happy to oblige.

having a very important 2-yr-old conversation

And as fun as it is to see their little relationship growing and changing, I can't wait to see the relationship Tucker and this baby boy will have. I hope Blueb grows up to be just like his daddy or even better!

In way of a seminary update...
Ok, so we've established that he's teaching at Highland High School's seminary during first and second hour. And he absolutely LOVES it. Every part of it. Even the not so fun parts like taking role and administrative stuff. He just revels in every aspect of it because it's just all part of being a seminary teacher, and this is what he wants more than anything. Every couple of weeks, one of his directors will come in with no warning to observe his classes and leave feedback. Actually, there was even a week where he was observed 4 out of 5 days. Every other Tuesday, Tucker and the other student-teachers met to discuss different struggles and successes they face in their classrooms. At the end of each month, spouses were invited to the discussion, and we just had the last of those for the semester last week.
The difference between here and the program in Utah is the amount of personal attention Tucker has received from the directors. Here, it is so clear that Bro. Jeppesen wants Tucker to succeed and loves him enough to occasionally give him harsher criticisms so that he can become the best seminary teacher he can be. That was missing in Utah. The personal connection and the transparency. Yes, it is stressful, and yes, I wish I knew what the future holds, but whatever it is, I'm looking forward to it. What we know right now is that Tucker will mostly likely be asked to continue student-teaching this next semester, probably at a different high school. However, we also know that there are 2 full-time positions opening for this next semester, and Tucker's experience and reviews seem to put him in a pretty good position. But we're trying to not think about that and just keep thinking positive thoughts and trust that whatever happens will be best for our family.

Can I brag just a little bit more?
I've always known Tucker would make an amazing husband. But dang, there's just something about marrying your best friend that makes life blissful. Sometimes, it's not blissful. Sometimes we're stressed and irritated and say stupid things and have to swallow our pride to ask for forgiveness and forgive each other. But I cannot adequately express how grateful I am to have a partner who does ask for forgiveness and who does forgive me.
Our anniversary was at the end of September, and to be totally honest, it was a really crappy day. Lots of things went wrong, and it was just one of those days that can't end soon enough. I was in bed by 8:00PM with a chick-flick playing and a carton of ice cream in hand. 9:00PM comes around, and I hear the car door slam, and a few seconds later, Tucker walks in. With a bouquet of red flowers and a plate of chocolate cake. And I immediately broke into tears from hormones and stress while he scooped me up and held me.

I love being married to Tucker Denton. I'm so thankful for how hard he works for our family. I'm thankful he plans little things that he may not enjoy but that mean a lot to me. I'm thankful that he makes me laugh and holds me when I cry. I'm thankful he likes to discuss nerdy things and will stay up late joking and laughing through pillow-talk even when he has to be up early.
Because he's my Perfect Fit.