Ward Christmas Party

Last night was our ward Christmas party. It's always fun to gather with friends and have a yummy dinner and program staring our children. Ammon and Bella were our only stars last night. Sam I guess is feeling too old for this sort of thing. However, He was all excited to sit on Santa's lap to say what he want's for christmas. Joshua on the other hand would have nothing to do with the big fat man in the red suit that came in saying, "HO, HO, HO!

The Holidays are here at last!

For those of you who didn't know, I love this time of the year! I always consider Thanksgiving and Christmas and the time that intervenes in between as one long holiday, and I love it. I love the feel of the season, and I don't mean the weather. Having just celebrated Thanksgiving my mind is centered on the family aspect of the holidays. My whole family was able to get together this year for Thanksgiving and it was great. David came up from Texas with his family and when we went by to see them the day that they arrived our kids just couldn't get enough of each other. Bella and her cousin Angelina were inseparable the entire weekend while they were together except for one brief moment when Bella wanted to play chase and Angelina didn't, and Angelina started crying because Bella wouldn't play with her, but other than that they were together at all times. I got to see my niece Taya for the first time and I hadn't seen Haley since she was essentially a newborn. It was sad to see them leave. I know Monica feels the same way about being able to see Merilee and Michael and their families too.

Family is great.

As we get prepared for Christmas I can't help but continue to give thanks to a loving Heavenly Father who has in a very real sense opened up the windows of Heaven and poured out His blessings upon us not only during this time but throughout the entire year. Monica and I had set the goal at the end of last year like we do every year to be in a new home before the end of the year, and about mid-way through I think we had pretty much given up on that idea and were planning on being here for the next 2-3 years, and then the unthinkable happened, we decided to buy a home. What a blessing to be in this situation in life. We will be in our own home early next year and who knows what else lies before us.

I have so much to be grateful for. Words cannot describe my joy and happiness as I watch my children grow not only in stature, but in the knowledge of the Lord. As they experience His matchless power and His love for them, it causes my heart to swell with great joy.

I would be an ungrateful servant if I didn't give thanks for my job, which God provided for me. I might not like what I do, but that doesn't diminish the fact that I view the job as a blessing from on high. And being the eternal optimist and dreamer that I am I look forward to the opportunities which will be presenting themselves in my near future. These opportunities have the potential to bless my family even more.

I recognize God's hand in all things and I don't fear that which I can't see. I am grateful for His love, and the testimony which I have of that matchless love which He so freely extends to me His unworthy servant. I know my weaknesses and my shortcomings before God, and I don't pretend to be anything more than unworthy before God. I fully understand that the blessings of God have permeated my life for the blessing of my wife and children despite me being the great impediment to them. Yet despite this, God still loves me and continues to extend His hand towards me with the petition to take hold and come unto Him. Someday, I hope soon, I will have the strength to take hold of His hand and come unto Him with full purpose of heart, until then I pray that His patience will not run thin with me.

I come back to my original theme. I love the holidays. I am grateful for this time of the year, and I am grateful for friends and family with whom to celebrate. May the blessings of God forever penetrate the hearts of those who truly seek after Him and may His love shine forth in the countenances of all those who confess His holy name this holiday season.

Strike One!

Well we finally heard back from the realtor and the bank accepted the other offer over ours. We were told that it wasn't a significant amount more, but more nonetheless.

I had the day off today so we decided to spend the day in Eagle Mountain with our agent looking at homes. We found two that we are putting offers on. They are short sales so it can take awhile to hear back from them as to whether or not they accept. We are also looking at building a home that I designed back in February and recently did some modifications on. I have a builder/designer looking at my design now to give us an estimate. So we push forward trying to decide what direction we are going in, but one thing we do know is that eventually once we make a decision we will be moving soon.

It's Official

Since Monica and I made it official on Tuesday we can actually say we are in the process now of possibly buying a new house for our family. We won't know for sure until we hear back from the owners of the house as to whether or not they accept the offer, but we have our fingers crossed. We were a little nervous about being able to close on time for the tax credit, but that was taken care of today with the extension of the deadline. If this falls through we are thinking of just building unless something else comes on the market that we like.

We are very excited and I think the kids are getting there too. Sammy seems to be doing a little better with the prospect of moving. Bella and Ammon just want to move, and Josh just doesn't know what is going on, although I think he actually liked looking at houses.

Party Time!

Saturday we had the party for Sam at my parents house, and like always my mom went all out.

All the kids seem to enjoy themselves,

Monica organized the games like always and kept the kids busy.








All in all we had an enjoyable time like always. It is always nice to get together with family and have a party.

This week Samuel turned 10 years old. I can't believe that he has been with us for 10 whole years. He's grown up to be quite an impressive young man.

He is a good big brother. He's usually willing to help when asked, and will even take the iniative to do things when he sees a need.

He's always had an infectious smile that lightens up his entire countenance. As a father I am very proud of him.

Monica and I love Samuel very much, we are so grateful that our Heavenly Father has blessed us with the great opportunity to raise him and teach him of His word and laws. Happy Birthday Sam!

School Break

The kids had this past Thurs. and Fri. off of school. We tryed to go to the zoo, but it was packed, I couldn't find a parking spot any where. So we went up Cottonwood Canyon instead. There was no crowds there. It was nice and peacful. The kids loved climbing the rocks at a picnic place we stopped at.

Ammon loved jumping off the rocks

Sam is quite the climber and got pretty high

Bella got into the climbing too.

Joshua loved throwing rocks in the water

We spotted a moose and the most exciting was a rabbit. It let us get pretty close before it hopped away.

It was a fun outing and beautiful with all the fall colors coming out.

A "Fair" Day

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go as a family and spend the entire day at the Utah State Fair. The kids were so excited for it all week. They wanted to be there right when it opened.
We bought our tickets last month so that we could get them at a discount especially the all day ride passes for the kids. They started riding on the rides as soon as they opened and rode all day until we left at 9:00 pm. It was fun watching them run from ride to ride and just enjoy themselves. Since we were there all day we had plenty of time to see everything.
The only problem is the food. It has been awhile since we've gone to the fair and purchased food there. It was expensive, luckily we had put aside enough money. If we go again next year we won't be eating at the fair, we will take our food.
I am grateful that we were blessed to be able to go this year. Monica has been wanting to do something fun as a family and we were blessed to be able to receive some bonus checks through my work that we were able to divert some of them to being able to have fun. I do believe everybody had a good time. Joshua was asleep before we even left the parking lot and as soon as we got home and had scripture and prayer the others were asleep before Monica and I went to bed. They were exhausted.

Happy Birthday Beautiful

I just want to wish Monica a happy birthday and let everyone know how much I love my wife. I am grateful for her. She is an amazing mom and wife, and she is my best friend. She puts up with a lot being married to me, but never really complains.
For her birthday we are going out to dinner as a family and then tomorrow we will go see the Scarlet Pimpernel at The Hale Centre Theatre. I think she's excited, if not she sure hides her disappointment well. Monica, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Scouts

Sam and Ammon have been working this summer on their cub scouts. I am proud of both of them. Sam earned his religous knot, 1 gold arrow, and 3 silver arrows. Ammon earned his Bobcat, and 5 belt loops. Way to go boys!

Back to School

Sam and Ammon started back to school on the 19th, and Bella's first day of kindergarten was yesterday. This is a picture of them just before school (Bella has afternoon kindergarten so her hair wasn't done yet). She was so excited to go all day she kept asking, "Is it time yet?" I would say no, and she would say, "I just want to go to school". She did so well too. She just walked right in and didn't even look back at me. She could care less if I stayed or left. Joshua on the other hand cryed when we left without Bella. We had some nice one on one time at home though. When I went to pick the kids up from school, the first thing Bella told me was, "Mom, guess what?! I got homework!" all excited like. I heard Ammon telling her in the back seat of the car that he used to like homework, but now he doesn't anymore. Bella loved her first day. Today was good too because she got a Popsicle as a snack. Sam and Ammon are enjoying being back in school as well.

Coming full Circle

Things have come full circle for me today. I have been wearing this bracelet since March. It was given to everyone involved with the youth temple celebration. We got it at a youth fireside introducing the plans for the youth celebration. We were told to wear it everyday as a reminder to ourselves to go to the temple, or keep ourselves worthy to go. It is also a tool to let others know about the temple. It says, "Come Up To The Mountain".

So I have been faithfully wearing it, never taking it off, not even for showers for 5 months now. I was going to take it off after the youth celebration in May, but decided to keep it on till the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. I have been wearing it with pride, as I went to the temple, volunteered at the temple open house, and now today as I went to the temple dedication. It is actually hard to take it off. Kind of like taking off the missionary tag. It has been a constant reminder of the peace, love, and joy I have felt has I have had the opportunity to serve, and be a part of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. Now I can't wait to go and serve in this beautiful temple.

Here I am at work

Well here I am at work and I was looking at our family's blog and saw that there were some comments left on post I did about my job. So I decided to give an update.
I probably have the easiest job on the face of the planet. I sit here do a little work throughout the day, but mostly I sit and stare out the window from my desk. I have done what I can to make my office a reflection of me. When I got here it looked too feminine since the old manager was female. So I took all the frilly stuff down and put up my baseball stuff.
I guess I should go back a little and say starting this week I have the easiest job in the world. For the last few weeks I've been dealing with a situation which tried my patience and my willingness to stay at it. The old manager decided that taking the coffee maker when she left wasn't enough so she accessed the account with some checks that she took with her and drained the bank account of $20,000 by the time she was caught. Well every loan that I wrote and every check that I made out bounced because the bank closed the account as soon as the fraud was discovered. I had to deal with all the angry and confused people. It was good in that I showed the company what I am capable of, and I continued to write loans and get them funded during the whole ordeal even though it consisted of a lot more hoops to jump through for the client. I had several of the VP's of the company here working with me and the Chief Marketing officer here a couple of days and they were all very impressed with my abilities. I did tell them that if they were trying to get rid of me they were doing all the right things to do it. It is all taken care of now, I had to yell at the Senior Executive VP and the CFO of the company to resolve it, but now I am able to work smoothly without problems. At least for now. All in all there are not too many jobs where you can sit and do nothing for about 75% of the day (most days not all) and get paid for it.

"This Is America" song video

I was touched by this song and what it says about our Nation.

Well on Friday I finished my last day working for American Title Loans, and Monday the 20th of July I will be starting my tenure as the Branch Manager for Lighthouse Financial. I am pretty excited about the prospect of helping the business grow and being paid to do so.

The owner of American Title Loans came by the other day to talk to me before I left and wanted me to know that he appreciated all that I did for him during the 1 1/2 months that I was there for him. He mentioned that everybody attributed the growth of his business to my efforts. He asked that I keep him in mind for the future. He is wanting to open another store next year and wants to offer me the position of Regional Manager. I told him that it would all depend on the offer, but that I would be willing to keep him in mind for the future. When I left on Friday he told me that I am always welcome to come back at any time. It is always nice to know that if something goes wrong I will at least have a job to fall back to.

I am grateful to a loving and kind Heavenly Father for giving me the opportunity to provide for my family. We still need to make up for some additional income that we need, but at least now we are in a better position to be able to fully take care of our financial needs. I've seen the hand of God in this and I am humbled by His goodness.

Being Mr. Mom!

This past week Monica had her Young Women's Camp and so I had the responsibility placed upon me to manage the household and do my work. I am grateful for all the help that I've received during the week from everyone. It is not easy trying to juggle everything, but with help I was able to get through the week unscathed.

It helps to have great children too who are willing to help and who are very well behaved. All in all I am grateful to have Monica back home, we all missed her.

So I thank all of you who helped me out this week.

Ammon's Baptism

On June 27, 2009, Ammon followed the example set by Jesus Christ as was baptized by immersion expressing his desire to follow Jesus Christ and be a member of His true Church. I am grateful to my Father in Heaven for giving me the opportunity and authority to officiate in this sacred ordinance for my son. I am very proud of Ammon for having chosen to be baptized. I am very impressed by his spirit and his understanding of things. He is an amazing young man.

The presence of the Spirit was felt very strongly by Monica and myself. I was moved to tears as the opening song was being sung as I began to think of the pride I had in my little son sitting there next to Monica dressed in white. He is growing up so fast. As I placed my hands upon his head to confirm him a member of the church and to convey the gift of the Holy Ghost I felt overwhelmed by the Spirit. I could feel the tremendous love of the Saviour for him.

It was nice to see the support from family there, and to spend time with family afterwards as we met at my parents home for our celebration party.

Happy Birthday Ammon!

Eight years ago today Monica and I were blessed to bring into this world a new little baby boy and today that boy is turning 8 years old. I can't believe how fast time flies. From that little baby that I held in my arms to today he has turned out to be an exceptional young man.

As he has grown his personality grows with him. He has been a pleasure to have in our family. As a father I am very proud of him

I am proud of his decision to be baptized on Saturday. I don't force my children into baptism. I believe it has to be their choice. As Joseph Smith said, you teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves. I've taught him that baptism is essential for salvation and he is taking the path which leads to happiness, and once again I couldn't be more proud of his decision.

We look forward to many more years with Ammon. He is a joy in our family and is a light in this world! I love you Ammon, Happy BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

Mormon Message for Fathers

Here is the latest Mormon Message released by the Church. I really enjoyed it so I decided to share it.

The Final Days of School for the Boys

Well as the school year has come to an end for the boys they both got to participate in some special programs.

Last Wednesday Ammon's class performed an Opera that they wrote, choreographed, and created the melody for and everything! I was not able to go and see it performed at the Midvale Main Street Theater, but I was privileged to see it this morning as they performed it for the rest of the student body at their school. I was very proud of Ammon and his role in the creation of the Opera with his class. His role was that of a horse and the night of the performance Monica had him done up pretty good as seen in the following picture.

Last Friday Samuel graduated from the 3rd grade so his school held a special ceremony to commemorate the event of them leaving the primary grades to the upper grades. The program consisted of several songs and the presentation of certificates of graduation and a breakfast afterwards. I am very proud of Samuel and his progress this year. He has done exceptionally well.

All in all I am very proud of my two boys. They both got amazing grades and have grown a lot this past school year. It is crazy that the school year is already over, and that come next school year my Bella will be joining them in school. I love being a father, it is easy to enjoy fatherhood when you have children like those that I have.

The Zoo

Yesterday we went to the zoo as a family. My parents purchased a year pass for our family so that we can go whenever we want. The kids have been wanting to go really bad, at least Sam and Ammon. We took the opportunity to go with Joshua and Bella a couple of weeks ago for their very first time ever. It was cool seeing Joshua and Bella light up with every animal.

Yesterday we went and let the kids play in the playground for awhile and then went and looked at the animals. Joshua was just as amazed this time as last and the others were just excited to be doing something fun.

We took a picnic lunch and had a picnic there at the zoo. As a part of the membership they gave us a bunch of tickets to ride the carrousel and the train so we took advantage of that as well. I am sure that we will get a lot of use out of the pass during the summer with the kids out of school.