Romantic: Although he probably prefers action movies, he is always willing to snuggle up and watch a good chic-flick with me. He loves plays and operas, and was on the ballroom dance team at UVSC for a year. He always writes me nice notes and makes my day by doing the little things.
Father: He loves nothing more than making our children laugh. He is a professional bed-time story teller and silly-song-singer. He loves our kids so much and always finds ways to have quality time with each of them to give me a good break. Adelyn is a total daddy’s girl. He teaches her how to cook, play soccer, draw cartoon characters, and wrestle. He's a much funner parent than I am; I often find myself telling both Adelyn and Ryan to be reverent in church.
Teacher: I never imagined being as proud of my husband’s profession as I am. Everywhere I go, I meet people who know Mr. Rocque, the French teacher at Lakeridge Junior High. He is well-loved by all of his students and their parents. He just absolutely loves his job! He teaches his students that learning can be fun, cultural awareness is important, and your teacher can also be your friend.
Student: He loves learning and is always teaching me new things. He speaks three languages fluently and can speak bits of five or six others. We always joke that he writes better in French than in English. He reads a lot and keeps up with world events and politics, and somehow gets almost perfect grades in all of his university classes. He has finished 19 years of school and plans to complete at least five more with his PhD. He is also one of the most efficient and focused people I’ve ever known.
Mr. Fix-it: He LOVES to assemble things. The second we get home with something that needs to be assembled, he is reading the instructions and putting it together. He has learned how to install flooring, change out light fixtures, and install all kinds of appliances. A few years ago, he drew up blue prints and constructed a full-size computer desk just from looking at a picture he found in a magazine. He also changes the oil on our cars and can even replace the brakes.
Chef and Food Connoisseur: I prefer his cooking to anyone else’s, including most restaurants. He makes cooking into an art and rarely follows a recipe. He loves cooking every kind of food and is always up for a new challenge. He once made a lasagne that had about 30 ingredients (seven different kinds of meat alone) and two pages of instructions! Food Network is by far his favorite TV station.
Tourist: He is a world traveler and is always itching to go somewhere new. He loves learning about different cultures, trying new food, seeing old buildings and historical sites, and learning about the people.
Missionary: He was an extremely devoted and obedient missionary. He popped out of bed every morning and went straight to work. Using his love for languages and study of culture, he became immersed in the people of
Priesthood Holder: He has always been a worthy and valiant priesthood holder. He loves the gospel and is a great scriptorian and teacher. He has always made temple attendance a priority and is always available to give a blessing to our family. He makes sure that we say our prayers, read our scriptures, and do FHE every week, and he presides over our home in a loving and patient way.
Musician: He was the French horn first chair in the American Fork band in high school. He also taught himself how to play the piano and can play most of the hymns and other great classics. He also has a really good voice. One of my first memories of him (before we even met) was of him singing a French aria for our single’s ward talent show. He has perfect pitch, though he often forgets the words.
I love you so much, Ryan. Happy Birthday!!
Like I said, the house is in American Fork. It is actually a twin home, but it has its own land with it and no HOA fees. It has four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a two-car garage, and (my favorite feature) the laudry is upstairs where all the bedrooms are! It also has an unfinished basement, so we will have room to grow. It is everything we were looking for (and more, really)and we think we'll absolutely love living in American Fork where we are closer to family. Ryan graduated from AF High, so he will feel right at home. We feel like everything has worked out exactly as it was supposed to and we are excited to start a new chapter in our lives, although we were sad to leave Provo and our friends there. But stay tuned...we will probably throw a house warming party in a couple of weeks!