Christmas Rewind

It was a great Christmas (glad it's over). We had parties and late nights and now we are paying for it. But here are some great photos of the fun we had.

The Big Kids Table

The Little Kids Table

The Before

The After

All the kids got Zuzu Pets from Santa's elf Luigi on Christmas Eve.

Will and Bud

Christmas day, the two brothers wondering if Santa really brought them a Wii.

Jennifer and her sassy new gloves.

And finally the domestic diva

Isn't this how all ladies dress when they go to the grocery store?

Being Consistent

In my quest for increased spirituality I've decided that I need to be more diligent about reading the conferences talks. This past week I read through Elder Bednar's talk from this last conference titled "More Diligent and Concerned at Home".   The part of the talk that really impacted me was the message of being consistent. It seems like whether it be meaningful prayer, scripture study, or family home evening I  start out good and then it fizzles off. Too often even setting specific times for these events fails because of homework, basketball or soccer games, life in general, and the most common excuse exhaustion. But those really aren't good excuses and will get me nowhere in a debate with Heavenly Father. My goal then is to be more consistent in meaningful daily prayer, scripture study, and weekly family home evening in order to increase my spirituality.

Christmas Nativity 09

Merry Christmas Grammy and Grandpa, we miss you and love you!

Our Little CEO

Will received a special award at school today. He was awarded the "Chief Example of Others (CEO)" for the first grade. He was selected by his teacher and she said that Will is always willing to help anyone and makes sure everyone is included. We are so proud of our little guy.

A Puzzle From Grammy & Grandpa

Thanks for the puzzle, the boys loved it!

7 Year Old Steals Car

This will be Will next year trying to get out of church!

A Song for the Mormons! (12/14/09)

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Just A Guy On The Sideline

Today I came home from work, had something to eat and then packed the kids in the car to go to Will's basketball game. It is difficult to find the words to describe the joy I felt as I watched my son play.  But I think I might have actually felt even more joy watching some other dad coach. It is a whole different world being just a guy on the sideline. I must say that I am really enjoying retirement from coaching and I think I am going to stick with it.

O Remember, Remember

Watching this video makes me realize that if I want to increase my spirituality I need to remember and recognize the hand of the Lord in my life. I need to search for those messages sent just for me directly from him. Whenever I pay more attention to how involved the Lord is in my life I come to appreciate him more, appreciate his sacrifice more, and I begin to draw closer to him because of my gratitude for all he has done for me and for all of us. This week I will focus more on the hand of the Lord in my life.

Who Should Be Utahn of the Year?

Here I am on a Sunday afternoon, relaxing a bit reading the Trib online and I come across this poll.  Who should be the Utahn of the Year?  Here are your candidates, let me know what you think.

1.  Matt Aune and Derek Jones, these are the two gentleman that were escorted off of the Church's Plaza for lewd behavior. (kissing and such)
2.  Carlos Boozer, Utah Jazz power forward.
3.  Dave Checketts, owner of Real Salt Lake
4.  Tim De Christopher, guy who place bogus bids which halted a BLM lease sale.
5.  Max Hall, BYU quarterback who should learn when to bite his tongue.
6.  Gary Herbert, Utah's new ultra conservative Governor.
7.  Jon Huntsman Jr., Utah's previous Governor and current U.S. ambassador to China.
8.  Rick Koerber, accused of a fraud scheme that cost investors $100 million.
9.  Mia Love, Saratoga Springs mayor-elect and the first black woman to be elected to the position in Utah.
10.  Nick Rimando, RSL goalie who stopped three shots in the shootout that made REAL the MLS champions.
11.  Elizabeth Smart, I think we all know who she is.
12.  Brett Tolman, outgoing U.S. attorney for Utah.
13.  George Wahlen, Medal of Honor recipient who died in June.

I don't know about you but I can think of a lot better names to put on this list.  Who would be at the top of your list?