Mi Familia

I am blessed with a great family.  We aren't the biggest family, nor are we the smallest.  We aren't the most educated, but we're certainly not dumb either.  None of us have accomplished things that the world might consider grandioso, but we've managed to accomplish the most grand thing of them all...we have a loving family that would do anything for one another.  We get together often, but it isn't often we get together for Christmas at our house.  In fact, this was the very first time in the 21 years I've lived in Utah.  What a blessing it was to have everybody here.  Of course, much to my dismay, Sarah, my Mom and my Sisters-in-law all conspired against happiness and insisted that we take family pictures while we were all together.  Sigh.  I must admit, I hate family pictures.  Mostly because I'm in them, but also because it's a royal pain getting the kids to cooperate and it seems I and everybody else loses patience in the process.  Nonetheless, we asked a friend, Jim Jackson, to take our family portraits. 

If you don't know Jim, he has a seeming endless supply of patience, so he was clearly the right person for the job.  Jim's expertise is outdoor and nature photography, but he agreed to help us out.  He did a wonderful job and I'd encourage anybody needing photography work of any kind done, that you first consider hiring Jim Jackson.  You can contact him via his site at www.jimjacksonphotography.com. 

The Jim Trosper Family

Jim is the oldest of my two younger brothers.  He is a year and a half younger than me.  He has been married longer than his slow poke older and young brothers and is already approaching the empty nester phase of life as his two beautiful daughters, Hailey (19) and Madyson (16) are getting older and preparing to leave the nest.  Jim's better half is Samantha.  She is an amazing wife, sister-in-law and daughter-in-law to my Mom.  She fit into our family perfectly.  Jim's family still resides in sunny Southern California.

The Scott Trosper Family

Scott is the youngest of the family, making him the baby and our Mom's favorite.  He and his wife, Cynthia, have been married 8 years.  Scott and Cynthia waited until their 30's to meet and get married, so they wasted no time on making their family.  They have become our travel buddies.  Cynthia is a detailed planner which matches well with Sarah and the kids are roughly the same age as ours so it works well.  Their oldest daughter, Grace is 6, their middle daughter is 5 and their son, Lucas is almost 4.  Scott's family still resides in sunny Southern California within a stone's throw from where we grew up.

My Family

If you are reading this, you probably already know me better than you'd like to.  Of course, the three that earned me the title, "Most Blessed Man" ever, are Sarah, Leah and Dax.  These three are my everything!

I think Dax is distracting Lucas with a hug while he lifts his wallet from his front
pocket.  Sneaky little punk!

Grandma!

What is more important to a kid than their Grandma?!  Leah and Dax love their Grandma so much and it's clear to everybody that Grandma loves them even more.  She is always there for them and for us.  I am so happy and grateful she lives near to us and often feel guilty that her other Grandchildren don't get to feel of her love regularly as we do.  That being said, I hope they never doubt just how much she loves them.

Grandma Grandma

Growing up, I called my Great Grandma, "Grandma Grandma" or "Grandmama". This differentiated between Grandma and Great Grandma.  Afterall, they were both great!  Well, now that I have kids, I am in the habit of calling my Grandma, "Grandmama" and I call my Mom, "Grandma".  I even call Sarah by "Mom" or "Mother" from time to time.  I've always loved my Grandma and some of my fondest memories as a child are of living with her during the Summer or as a child after my family moved in the middle of the school year.  I'm lucky to have her still with us.  She is 92 and I realize many don't have Grandmothers that live that long.  To add to my luckiness, she also lives  near us so we get to see her often. 



Brothers don't shake hands.  Brothers gotta hold elbows!  Wait, that's not right.
When Jim had first become a Father, Scott and I flew up to Washington for
Hailey's baby blessing and while there we had family pics taken.  The
photographer put the three of us in this lame pose and it's been the stuff of
legends ever since.  I don't know where that original photo is, but if I find it,
I'll post it. 

My poor Mother was forced to live with 4 immature boys (us 3 plus my Dad)
for a couple decades.  It just wasn't fair.  To this day, she hates burping and the
word "fart".  This doesn't stop us from burping (and farting) and using the word
"fart" every chance we get.  That being said, she knows we love her dearly and
she is the reason all three of us are who we are today.  I'm grateful for all she
passed on to me...except for the height. 

Of course, everybody knows how freaking awesome Sarah is.  But for those
who may not know, my Sisters-in-law, Samantha and Cynthia, are simply
amazing as well.  We love hanging with them and they are so patient with
our family and especially my Brothers.  I've often referred to my Brothers as
my Sisters, but it's nice to actually have Sisters now...in law.

My nieces and nephews are the greatest!  There isn't anything legal that I
wouldn't do for them, and probably a few illegal things too if they needed it. 
I know they have grand potential and an amazing set of parents that love them,
as well as Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts and Cousins.  They are part of a very
strong family unit and I hope they recognize the strength in that. 

All in all, I love my family.  They're goofy and fun, hard working and short.  They are filled with love for their family and mankind and I couldn't ask for a better team. I've heard it said that you can't pick your family, but if I could, I don't think I would change up a single one of them.  I would make my parents a little taller though.  That is all.  Other than that, they're perfect and I love them!