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!