The Roper Family

Okay, so Jacki hasn’t written anything on here since February 2009.  (Maybe she hasn’t looked at it since February 2009?)  So, I’m taking over.  We’ll see if she even notices.

I might even get rid of the cute wordpress theme she’s got installed.  In the meanwhile, it looks like over the past two years I have 209 comments to moderate.

I’ve been working real hard on my newest website, itscheese.com.  Unlike 90% of the websites I build, this one is for me and not for a client.  Pretty much the website is an experiment to see if I can make money from online advertising with google ads.

I started by making a list of 100 things I’m interested in.  I only got about 62 things on the list before I ran out of things.  It’s a lot harder making a list of 100 things that your interested in than I thought it would be.  Of those 62 things, I narrowed it down to 3: vermiculture, cheese, and learning languages.   I started building a vermiculture website, but didn’t get too far.  (I haven’t given up, though.  I’ll probably buy some worms for my worm bin this fall.)  Not sure why I picked cheese over languages.  I think it was because I thought there were too many language learning websites out there already.

I started work on the site June 30th.  I had the site up on the internet on July 11th.

Then it happened.  On the evening of July 29th, my site made its first 18 cents.  I was so excited, I called up Jacki, who was scrapbooking at a friends house.  She was very kind and pretended to be excited with me.

So, I’m not rich yet.  The site was live for 19 days before it made its first 18 cents.  That’s about 3 and a half bucks a year I’m going to make at this rate, but maybe if I’m lucky the site will earn money more quickly.  We’ll see.  My initial goal is to work real hard at it until the end of October.  At that point I will re-evaluate the site to see if it’s worth continuing to work real hard at.

It has been fun reading about cheese.  I now know about 10 times more about cheese from what I’ve learned in the last month or so.  Right now I have 32 different cheeses in my cheese guide, and I’m adding a few more cheeses every week.   And I have one cheese review.  Jacki and I had some friends over and we tried the imported Afuega’l Pitu that I ordered online.  It was good stuff.  It was also the most expensive cheese I have ever bought, but I bought it with my business checking account so I can write it off at the end of the year.  It was good stuff.  I wrote a review about it on my website.

The Roper house has been a little stressful the past three weeks because of a “secret”. Yesterday it was announced so it’s okay for me to tell. Kent was called as the Bishop of the Florin Ward. Crazy, I know. It doesn’t seem possible, he’s only 31! I have thought and thought about this for the past three weeks and found out yesterday that it wasn’t a dream. It still hasn’t sunk in yet, but I’m sure it will with Kent being gone a lot. Yesterday was the beginning. I only saw him for a couple of hours. I am thankful for family and friends who support us in all we do. For those who are willing to help out whenever needed. You guys are awesome. Thank you for those of you who came from near and far, to support us. I don’t know how life will be from now on, but I know that Kent was called by the Lord. We are so blessed! Hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather. I’m loving it.

On July 5th, Kent and Joseph were able to go on the Cub Scout hike.  Joseph had been wait for this hike for a while and was bummed that they had scheduled it while we were in Utah.  Thankfully,  Sister Otter postponed it.  They had fun looking at nature and just having fun.  Joseph brought his best friend, Ruben, with him which made it even more fun.

What a nice anniversary I had.  Since Kent was working on Tuesday, we ended up going on our date Monday, while the kids were at school.  We went to BJ’s for lunch and were happy there wasn’t a big line, like we typically see.  We hadn’t been there before, so it was fun to try a new place.  After we went to Borders and just looked at books.  I know, boring.  It’s funny though because I looked at more books for the kids than for me.  Typical mom, huh?!  Yesterday was our official anniversary.  Kent surprised me with some jewelery in the morning.  He said I wouldn’t expect my second present.  Yep, he was right.  At about 9:45 these showed up on my door.

I was so shocked.  Kent has brought me flowers home, but never SENT them.  I loved them!  They are my favorite color, so that made me happy.  I didn’t find out till later that there was suppose to be only 9 flowers to stand for the nine years of marriage.  I just love my husband.  He made my day!  Thanks Kent.

Happy 9th Anniversary Kent.  Thanks for the “best 9 years of my life!”  You are such a great best friend and husband.  I couldn’t ask for better.  Thanks for all the times that I am cranky and you put up with me.  For making me laugh when I really don’t want to.  You really have made these past 9 years fun.  Thanks for being so perfect for me.  I am excited to spend forever with you.  Bring it on!  I love you, honey!

Here are some of the other picture from our wedding.

This is up at the temple.  Taken by two different people.

At our wedding reception in Sacramento.

At our reception in Utah with my two bridesmaids, Dawn and Heidi,

and flower girl Amanda.

My friend, Kendall, just had an anniversary with her husband. She blogged about how they met. I thought it was a great idea. So here goes.

While living in Provo, I decided I wanted to go on a mission. My dad had said that if I came to live with him in Sacramento, I could live rent free. I had some student loans that I needed to pay off, so I went to live with my dad. I worked at the local Wal-mart and was content going to the family ward. I was even going out with the sister missionaries ON BIKES.

After about a month, my step mom, Riet, told me I needed to “be with my own kind!” I really didn’t want to go to the singles branch, but went anyway. I went the first weekend in July. When I sat down, Peggy Passanando was sitting next to me. She said she would introduce me to everyone she knew. Those two people were Kent and Dawn Roper. Kent had come to the singles branch to play a organ/piano duet with his sister, Dawn. He usually didn’t come to the branch, so it was funny that he was there the day I was.

Kent and I didn’t think much of each other that day. I started hanging out with Dawn and sometimes Kent would just tag along. Somewhere between July 5 and Halloween we started liking each other. We didn’t start dating until just before Christmas.

In January I went to Utah to visit and to really decide if a mission was right for me. You can guess my answer. Kent proposed the middle of March and we were married in the Oakland Temple on June 24th, 1999.

Here are some LOVELY pictures of us. Brace for the Shock! 🙂

This is our announcement picture.

Originally we were going for black and white. My dad took our pictures down in Old Sacramento and wanted to use up the color first. We weren’t planning on using any of these pictures, but liked the top one a lot. It was so cold though.

These were taken about a month before we got married. The first was after I went through the Manti Temple. My best friend, Heidi, loved the “No Parking” sign in back of us. The second picture was taken the next day at the Mount Timpanagos Temple with my best friend, Heidi.

Check in tomorrow for other pictures. Yeah!

What is his full name? Kent Kirk

How long have you been married?9 years, next Tuesday

How long did you date? We met 4th of July weekend, started dating around Christmas time and was married the next June.

How did you meet? My “mean” (just joking) step mom sent me to the singles branch and I met him the first Sunday.

Who eats more sweets? It depends.  I like my sweets, but if you have Reese Cup, Kent is all there.

Who said “I love you” first? Kent

How old is he? 31

Who is taller? Kent is and I’m glad.

Who is smarter? Kent is. That’s why I call him Mr. Dictionary.

Who does the laundry? I do, but he helps sometimes.

Who pays the bills? Most of our bills come directly out of the account, but I pay the ones that don’t.  Kent is in charge of the budget though.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Kent does

Who mows the lawn? Kent does.  What a great hubby I have.

Who drives? Most often Kent does, but sometimes I beat him to it.

Who is more stubborn? We both know I am more stubborn.

Who kissed who first? Kent kissed me first.

Who has more siblings? Yeah, me.  6 to 5.

Who wears the pants? I think Kent wears them most often, but sometimes I need  skinny jeans.

So now I’ll tag…Juli, Heatherand Nicole 

(I need a new picture!)

Just wanted to wish my dad a Happy Father’s Day! He is so awesome and is always willing to do anything to make my life easier. He calls many times just to see how we are doing, even at 7:00 in the morning. I appreciate how much love and concern he has for me and my family as well as my siblings. He is such a great example in many ways.

My dad is always doing something. This last month, he had surgery done on his knees. I know he was wanting to be up working in the garden or tinkering in his garage. My parents taught me how to work hard, a skill that everyone needs.

My dad loves sports. Growing up we were always playing some sport or watching them on TV. As much as I don’t watch them on TV anymore, I still love to play sports. I am excited to have my kids love sports as well.

My dad loves music. In our house growing up, there was always music. Whether it was a loud saxophone or other instrument, choirs coming for choir practice or just a wide range of music, it was always there. I love that.

My dad is just fabulous. There are too many ways that my dad has been an example to me. I am so glad that I live so close to him. I am glad my children know him so well and love going to his house. I just want to let him know how much I love him. Thanks for being such a great example to me and my children. Love ya Pa! Happy Father’s Day!

(No he doesn’t usually sew. Just his funny sense of humor!)

What would Father’s Day be without my husband.

Kent is like a Super Dad. I know your jealous, but he’s taken.

    Kent is so good to me and is a great father to our children.  Many times he’ll come home to me as cranky as ever and will not only make me happier, but will change the whole mood of the household.

Kent has a great sense of humor, if you know him you can agree.He is always making up silly songs to make others laugh or is just sarcastic about almost anything. He constantly keep me on my toes with his wittiness.

Kent’s love of the gospel is amazing. Whenever I don’t understand something I can ask him and he most often knows the answer. I love that he is willing to go to church with me and to the temple. I love his testimony of the gospel and how he is willing to share it with anyone.  I am glad he is teaching our children about the gospel as well.

I am so glad that I have Kent in my life. I am glad that my kids are excited when he comes home and that he wants to spend time with them as well.  I couldn’t ask for a better husband or father for my children. I appreciate all he does for us.

I love you Kent. Hope your Father’s Day was good.