sila bethany, 7

sila celebrated her 7th year of life...actually it's more like 1 and 3/4-she's a leap year baby. and boy, has she been doing lots of leaping! sila came to us 3 weeks early. her projected due date was march 20, 2004. mason & i walked, shopped ontario mills mall on sat. feb. 28th. i remember going to bed that night thinking,"wouldn't it be weird if i went into labor tomorrow because of all this walking!" 6 o'clock the next morning(which was sunday) my water broke:) i got in the shower,mason went to his early church meeting and came back in time to take mese & i to church...yes, church-not the hospital. i figured i wasn't feeling any pain so why not go to church! we got there and i told dixie(mason's mom) that my water broke 3 hrs. ago-i guess that's why she had that shocked/surprised/what are you doing here look on her face. needless to say, after some urging from dixie to call my dr., i did, then mason & i took off to the the hospital where later(around 5:35pm, oscars were on) sila bethany patterson would grace us with her presence. she did have the umbilical chord around her neck but that didn't stop her from getting to us! she's here. she's smart.she's feisty. she's independent. she's kind. she's headstrong. she's a leader. she's tenderhearted. and i love her with all of me. mason & i are so blessed to have her in our family. we love you sila girl. happy number 7:)

1 week to 10 years

and so, this journey is slowing coming to an end(it has been almost 10 weeks of posting this stuff). i've got another letter to share with you, so here it is.

entry#9 January 19, 1996

Dear Melina,
How's it? Me, I'm just chillin.(one of his fave words) Sounds like you're pretty excited about goin on a mission. That's cool! Me, I am startin to get excited to get off. Dec 7 marks one year-half way point.(no, he's not anxious!)
I love it here in Brive.I see lots of castles, chateaus and cool stuff. The work is tuff(did i mention mason's a master speller?:) but p-day is the bomb!(said only in true mason fashion)
Some crazy sisters don't take their p-day-what knuckleheads!(i concur)France is way too cool not to see everything. I love working in such a cool place. Anyway, much love and tell your punk brother to write.
Love,
Mason

what can i say? not much has changed...with his spelling:)

2 weeks to 10 years

here's another letter mason wrote. this time however, he wrote it in french...now, i'm not going to attempt to write it out in french and he wrote himself, that it was bad because he was still "green" on his mission and had to use a dictionary for most of it anyway. so, for your convenience, it'll be in english. enjoy!

entry #9 February 8, 1996

Bonjour Melina,

I'm well and I hope that you are well too. (always so concerned about me:)
I received your letter-it was very nice. Please excuse my mistakes. I'm having to use a dictionary for this letter.(see, proof he doesn't know everything!:)
I got your letter telling me about MTC & you're right, the food there is bad!(i guess we CAN agree on something)
I'm in Brive. It's very pretty here.
I love you(he just can't seem to stop saying that!) I hope you do good work and walk in the Lord's path. Bon Chance!I love you.(again, he keeps telling me that)
Love,
Mason

i have to admit, i thought it was quite-dare i say-romantic, that he wrote me in french...the language of love:)

3 weeks to 10 years

this week's entry is a letter, post mission, and you'll see(as i did)just how much growing mason has done since returning home from his mission...happy reading!

entry #8 January 11, 1999

Dear Nina(hold up-he NEVER calls me Nina...only family-what's he getting at here?)
I said I'd write you a letter and you said you'd write back so here's your chance. If you don't write back, I'll have to start praying for your destruction again.(ok, again? really? what's up with that already?!)
It's funny how you never really understand how blessed you really are til you have to be away from family and friends.(i agree)
For me, this Christmas was special because I finally realized some important things in my life. (uh huh, keep going)
I got to show the people I really care about that I love them. Christmas sure is the miracle we make it. (yes! it certainly is:)
I wanted to thank you again for asking me to teach primary.(i was prim.president then)I'm sure you didn't realize it but it was a great blessing. It helped remind me of some basic beauties of the gospel I had forgotten and how cool it is to be around little children and teaching them about Christ.(i heart primary:)
You may be wondering why I'm writing all this stuff.(yes, you are correct)It's because I really don't have anyone here to tell it and me & Mese don't write so you're the lucky winner.(yay for me:)
Also because I hope me and you can become closer friends...of course if you don't want that, just draw me a picture of a gun and send it to me and I'll get the picture.(always the jokester, that mason:)
Oh, by the way...HAPPY BIRTHDAY! and when I'm home in April, I'll bake you a cake if you want.(mason's baked me several birthday cakes-even before we ever started dating...he's relentless i tell you:)
Love,
Mason

mason, mason, mason...i'm starting to think (and maybe believe) that i did love you before i knew i loved you...

4 weeks to 10 years

this week's entry is a poem mason wrote me on valentine's day 5 years ago...enjoy.

entry #7 February 14, 2006

Sometimes when I doubt, I feel the strength you give
Suddenly I feel the power that I need to live
A thousand days of happiness, one word from you me gives
I care nothing for a life outside of the one we share and live
For you are worth more to me than centuries of wealth
Without your daily guidance I could not find myself
I love to hear you whisper and I love to hear you sing
I love to feel your kisses and the warmth they always bring
You are the passion of my life that makes me want to see
If I can really work hard enough to spend eternity with thee
I love you, just seems not enough to describe how I feel
But, I will try every day to show my love is real
A moment without you, for me is wasted time
And I would pay any price to join all yours with mine
So think of me in kindness and think of me in love
As I think of thee in gratitude for our lasting love

this one really did warm my heart:)

5 weeks to 10 years

this week's entry comes post mission. maybe he's wisened up a bit...nah!

entry #6 October 28, 1998

Dear Melina,
What's up girl! You must be tired cause you been runnin around my mind since I left your fine self-heh heh-that's one of my best lines & probably explains my lack of dates.(finally! some truth-the part about lack of dates:)
Ricks(now BYU-Idaho) is not as fun as I remember. But I am still getting down and you know this.(he's so modest)
I miss my family a lot. I realize I was a real jerk to them before I left.(the truth comes out!:)
I miss your family too. (uh yeah, there was no missing him on this end, my part anyway:)
Well, write me back or I will cry myself to sleep and I know you don't want that.
Love,
Mason

oh mason...how ever did i let you go for so long and not realize your greatness? i was such a fool:)