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.

Temple Celebration

So last night was the Oquhhir Mountain Temple Celebration. About 6000 youth from the Oquhhir Mountain Temple district got together and performed at the Conference Center in celebration of our temple. The Youth have been practicing for about 3 mo. now, and it was AMAZING! The Choir and the dancers did such a good job. I was so proud of my little group of 6 girls that I was put as a captain over. They were at every practice and rehearsal, and worked so hard. They were so excited for the opportunity to perform at the conference center, and for the prophet. After words they said it was a great experience and it made them want to go to the temple. They were blanket girls in the Dug Out dance. I didn't get to see them because I was helping back stage, but it was fun to be with them when they came off stage, and run with them through out the conference center to get back in our seats. It was also fun knowing that Marnie was also a part of this experience. She choreographed the roller skating dance in the 50's number. Her girls were so cute and did such a good job. They even got an extra applause from the audience because they looked so cool.

I am glad that I got to be a part of this experience with the youth. This is the first time since 1892 that they have done anything like this in the Salt Lake Valley. And the first time that they have done anything this huge at the conference center. It was a lot of time and sacrifice, and I think Al is glad it's over, but it was worth it. I'm sure the youth will be talking about it for years to come. They can tell their children and grandchildren about the time they got to perform at the conference center for thousands upon thousands of people including the prophet and some of the apostles. The Center was full! The spirit was there and it was cool to see it all come together. I will always remember it. I just can't wait for the DVD to come so I can finally see how my girls did. I love the Temple! I'm grateful we could celebrate our temple in such an awesome way.