Christmas Card 2012

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!  We hope this Christmas wish finds you and your family well.  We have had a crazy year this past year, but we are so grateful for all our many blessings.  It seems like with each passing year, the Christmas card becomes more outdated, as we stay in touch through social media and email and the like.  But I still like the old-fashioned feel of watching for the mail truck every day to see if we got another card from another friend.  So hopefully I will get my cards in the mail soon so I can watch with anticipation.

Our year started out pretty crazy as Kris intensified his search for a job closer to family.  After 17 years away from home and several attempts to make it happen, we finally got something to work out.  Kris started a new job with Wayfair.com in Ogden in April and it set our family on a crazy course for the rest of the year.

I stayed back in Iowa to finish out school and then we all headed to Idaho for the summer (still waiting for our house to sell).  Once we got an offer in July, we were off and running.  After scouring all of Davis County, we decided to build to get the schools and the house we wanted.  So then the fun (I say with my tongue firmly in my cheek) began.

Since that time we have been learning the joys of sharing lots of small things--space, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. And with the majority of our belongings living in boxes in our garage, we are also learning the joys of the simple life.  (Christmas decor is rather sparse this year, among other things.)  But it is all for a good cause.  We feel really lucky to be here, close to family and making good friends. We were able to spend Thanksgiving with both our families this year--something that hasn't happened for about 8 years and something that has only happened about 4 or 5 times since we've been married.  What a blessing that was.

Josh is enjoying his junior year at Layton High.  Emmie is in eighth grade and Legacy Jr. and Olivia and Jack are adjusting to sixth and third at Ellison Park Elementary.  I'm sure you can relate the busy schedules we enjoy, even with trying to keep things simple.  But it really is good.

We hope to be in our home by the first of February.  Until then, it's a lot of driving, back and forth to schools, church, and various other activities that occur closer to our new home and a little further away from our rental.  But we are very grateful that things have gone relatively smoothly with this move.

As I think about this past year, I am reminded of the story in the New Testament when Christ was walking on the water toward the boat holding his disciples.  As soon as Peter recognized him (something we each have to do in our lives), he wanted to go to him--immediately.  Even across the water.  So he went.  And as he kept his focus on the Savior, he walked on water too--never mind the billowing waves all around him.  It wasn't until he took his focus off the Savior to assess the waves that he began to fall.  And yet the Savior was there, nonetheless, to reach out and rescue him.  So it has been with us.  We have had our share of billowing waves this year.  But when our focus has been fixed on the Savior, we have walked on water.  And there have been times when we have shifted our focus and felt the sudden drop.  But he has been there always to pick us up again and encourage us forward.  And so we continue on--our focus firmly on him--and know that through him 2013 and beyond will be great.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and hope your year has been full of love.

Please make note of our new address:
898 N 2700 W
Layton UT 84041

Brief House Update

So, I am trying to exercise patience in this whole house building thing.  And let me tell you, it is requiring a fair amount.

Here is where our house stands as of today. (Notice the lack of workers?  They're apparently at lunch.)

Some progress, I admit.  But it sat for an entire month as a foundation during gorgeous weather.  And now we have snow.

And to make matters even worse for me.  See this house?  With the guy busily preparing the roof for shingles? And the windows installed?

It's our same house, in our same neighborhood, being built by the same builder--for another new family in our ward.  AND it was dug 3 weeks after ours.  So why the delays for us?  Your guess is as good as mine. I get no clear answers when I ask over and over and over again.

Here's to hoping we will still make our deadline because the weather only goes down hill from here.

Playing Catch Up

What's been going in our house over the last couple months?  Here's the recap in pics.

**Kris took a little jaunt to Ireland--some time I hope to join him.

**We Successfully completed another Pine Wood Derby and came in respectably in the middle of the pack (YAY! only two more--EVER!).

**We spent a day on BYU campus hanging out and catching a women's soccer game.  They were AWESOME!

**We had family pictures taken by our wonderful brother Adam.  We figured it was time since both Emmie and Josh are taller than me now.  Here's just a sneak peak until we send out Christmas cards.

**Emmie performed in her first Utah choir concert.  She was beautiful.

**We got a freak snow storm in October that didn't make me jump for joy.

**Good thing the weather warmed up to a record-breaking 75 for Halloween.  We were able to get our annual FHE pumpkin carving in on Monday before trick-or-treating on Wed.  Big on the list of costumes this year was Josh's Dead Mou5 (pronounced dead mouse--a musician Josh likes) head.  He built it entirely by himself over about a month.  And the biggest kick of the night was counting how many little kids thought he was Mickey Mouse.  He also had comments about it being Stitch from Lilo and Stitch and a bobble head.  But he still thought it was pretty cool.

What hasn't been happening?  Our house!  It has been sitting for almost a month with no work done.  After a lot of follow up, we finally started seeing action this week.  We have a first level floor and framing for a garage wall.  We'll take it.  Any progress is good.  Still shooting for a Feb. move in.