I have been blessed by our creator with a wonderful loving and understanding Prudent Wife. (Proverbs 16:21 and Proverbs 19:14).
Why do I choose now to say this. It is not Mothers day, and Hallmark has not come up with a wives day. I say it, because through over a third of my life she has stood by me and supported me and even today, when I was overcome with stress, she had the firmness and love to get to the real point, the true importance of our relationship together.
Many people misinterpret my wives wisdom and firmness as being mean or cold. I testify that that is not the case. She has far more love and compassion in her than she has ever been given credit for. She has many qualities that I wish to have.
I digress.
I love my wife. She makes me a better man. I am grateful for her patience with me. What makes a wife wonderful? I will have to say it is not the things that Redbook alludes to, or cooking and keeping kids in check, or having a clean house, it is truly caring about her husbands feeling, and knowing them before he shares them. If a man has that he should overlook the imperfections that we all have, and love her with all his heart and give her the world.
Men. Love your wives. Teach you sons and daughters what is truly important, so they can have great wonderful relationships. (We all know friends and the media will tell them that feeling good and getting what you want is the most important.) Let selfishness go and love your wives.
As a closing statement I will add that I lapse in this above monologe as well. When I realize it I re-focus and try harder. Never give up, and if you fall down correct course and continue building your wife up.
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I looked at the blog and realized it has been a great while since I or even we have posted. We are still alive, and now we are all well again. Spring Break Plans were really dashed, by the RSV that Elena braught home from the Y. Taking off work and feeling miserable were about all we did, other than eat our own weight in food trying to feel like we did something. The following list will scare and shock most of you, but we ate Papa Johns, Bonanza, Ryans, Machine Shed, King Buffet, McDonalds, Hy-Vee, and BBQ (homeade at least) All ina 34 day period of time. We also skipped Breakfast since half the family slept in past 11:00.
In the end we felt no better, and the Triple chocolate Cake and Key Lime Pie did not help either. Believe it or not I did Double excersize routines to catch up on 24
In April we are going to attempt and succeed in traveling to Muscatine/Coralville/Cedar Rapids. At least 2 for Easter, General Conference and Stevens Play.
I have recently taken over someone elses job, as they were downsized. It has really added work and travel, expanding my area to Nebraska and South Dakota. Currently I am running about 21 Million in Projects for this year, so I am fairly busy.
My wife has been a trooper, helping me get through the emails and paperwork and working the long hours. (Tuesday I spent 11 hours in a car and 17 hours straight working) In the end I am thankful I have a job, and healthy kids.
I love you all and miss seeing you.
I finally got my final grades for my MBA program. I made it through with a lot of help from my wife. She made it possible for me to write more papers than I care to ever write again, and the children and her both coped well with me being so focused. Graduation is on July 19th. There will be pictures posted as well, I am sure. I know that grade point is not that important, and that what was learned is more important, but I would not have been able to get a 3.79 without Becca’s help. I love my wife and am glad to be able to enjoy her more now. So in conlusion I always wanted to get a Master degree, and I have accomplished that. On to the next goal. Traveling Internationally for the first time in 2008.
What is the opinon of Unions ? I think that they have run their course. On the Belton Hy-Vee we were picketed by the Painters Union, because the Painter doing the inside painting Hy-Vee Weitz and R.B. painting are non union contractors. Color Inc a Union Contractor is painting the exterior of the store. So the picket made it so that the union workers could not work and the non union workers who were being disputed could? So people pay money to an organization to protect their jobs and wages, but the organization makes it so they don’t get paid to make a point. Do they ever win? The part that really gets me is that a union painter is going to be working on the exterior of the building. Did anyone ever tell them that you can’t always win? Someone has to lose.
I did some figuring and this weekend I think Chris and I literally smoked an animal. We smoked 40 lbs of Loin for the catering. 14 lbs of Brisket, 16 lbs of pork Butt (Shoulder) and another 8 lbs of Chicken. Throw in the 6 hot dogs and you have right around 80 lbs of meat. This is crazy, no wonder Chris and I were worn out.
I am a Harrison Ford fan, as well as a Indiana Jones Fan. So I braved the Midnight show. The kids, 18 year olds (I know that sounds old), were loud and obnoxious.  They stayed that way until the movie started, but at the end our opinion was the same. So I know many of you will not rush out and see it, but when you do I would like your opinion.Â
Last evening I was given my first Christmas gift of the season from my sister Jennifer who drew my name in the Thrap Family Christmas Exchange. Chad also drew Jason’s name so she got both of us tickets to see Glenn Beck’s Christmas Show in Des Moines.
It was better than I expected, and I knew I would love it. It was barely if at all political. It was all about his family which is borderline crazy, and his Christmas memories. If you have had or have the opportunity to see his Christmas Show I reccommend it.  Â
The premise of the stage show is to determine the true meaning of Christmas. He starts with how Christmas is really a trilogy of holidays that are meant to be together and that Thanksgiving should truly be about prayer and giving thanks. He goes through Music and Magic and Snow and Shopping and ends on the true meaning Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for all of us. And most importantly the oppportunity He gives each of us to seek redemption for what we have done wrong or poor choices we have made. The worst choice I ever made was to leave my wife, before she was my wife, with Jacob, before we knew he would be Jacob. I have sought redemption for this decision and recieved it.Â
We all have problems and have made mistakes. Seeking redemption and receiving it is an overwhelmingly good feeling. I encourage all of you to dig into who you really are and seek that redemption.
I love you all and appreciate all that you do for me. I love my wife and our four beautiful children and I love Jesus Christ. I wish you all peace and joy, and thank you for taking the time to read of our family’s life here in our blog!!!
Sincerely, JOSHÂ
Carter Craig Thrap was born on Thursday October 25 afternoon/evening. Charley stayed at our house and we went to visit Mommy and Daddy in the hospital. Jason was scared that his nose would be disfigured for along time, but it was bouncing back by the time we got to see him. COngratulations to Jason, Elise and Charley.
I am a Nerd. From my previous post and now this one I am certified and teaching classes!
I saw Transformers in DLP on Monday night 8:00 show with Matt Strum, Tom Wolbers, and my brother Jason. It was intense. The down side was the 23 minutes of previews (half of which were for TV shows or product commercials. They had to find a way for us to not DVR all the commercials out.)
The movie was more than I expected. I was originally bummed since they changed Bumblebee from a VW Bug to a Camaro, but He looks awesome. The movie is comedy, action and childhood memories all wrapped up in one.
I could not get it out of my mind, and constantly talked about it to the point that Kate and Becca let Chris and I take the kids to go see it on Friday afternoon. It yet again exceeded my expectations. Jacob, Michael and Elise loved it. Audrey were entertained. Cameron was cold, but It will be a future DVD in our home. I can’t hardly wait to see the behind the scenes extras!!!!
www.Lego.com just added 2 Amazing Sets. One Jedi Starfighter with Hyper Drive Booster Ring 
Episode II and III and the upgraded new and improved MTT 
from Episode I. I am excited. I know it sounds slightly or completely insane, but they are both sets I have been waiting for.