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.