I got invited to watch go to a Jazz game tonight. At first I said no because it was family night. Then a few circumstances changed and I talked with Rachel and we decided we would have family night on Wednesday and go downtown to see the lights on temple square.
We went out to eat and then had great seats – 15th row, center court. It was fun. It was a blow-out game in Jazz’s favor so not too exciting, but fun nonetheless.
Today after church John & Lisa and their four kids stopped in to visit us on their way home to St. George. They were our neighbors back when we lived in Kearns. Lisa & Rachel were visiting teaching companions and got to be really good friends. They have stayed in touch over the years. They also have a daughter named Grace that is the same age as Gracie. Also another daughter Gehrig’s age and a daughter Nolan’s age.
I haven’t written the past two nights. That is out of character for me. For Thanksgiving we drove out to Roosevelt to celebrate with my family. I had a great time and enjoyed seeing my family.
We spend the day setting up Christmas trees and decorations. Well, obviously Rachel did most of the work. She went to a movie with Leslie and Sam this morning. She felt bad because it was one I really wanted to see, so she said would be a supportive football wife when it was time to watch the BYU vs Utah game. She was. I got to watch it pretty much uninterrupted. It was a good game. BYU ended up winning in overtime.
Today we were told to go home early from work. That was a nice surprise. Just as I neared home I got a text from Rachel with a picture of a pumpkin pie, so I went to her parents house where she was making them.
While I was there, Ken called his neighbor, Dave and invited him over so I could explain my budgeting software to him. Dave sells software to credit unions. We talked for a while and he liked the application and could see the benefit for credit unions offering it to users – at least for good PR if nothing else.
I’m going to write up a high level overview that he can take to his credit union got get some thoughts of other board members.
We got quite a bit done today. Rachel painted Gehrig’s room yesterday. Today we replaced light switches and plugs in his room and in Gracie’s room. I played Mr. Fix it with doors and closets.
Gracie got her first report card today. It was a little different than we expected. There were no letter grades, just numbers 1-4, 4 being mastery of a particular subject. Gracie got all 4’s and one 3. We are certainly proud of her and I’m glad she likes school and loves learning.
I got an email from the company I did work for a few months ago. They apologized for not getting my full payment to me and said it was in the mail. I wasn’t sure if I would ever get it or not, but I wasn’t going to stress about it. A couple days ago I got an email from my friend Mike who approached me about doing work. He said he had since left that company but was doing a some consulting work for them. He just wanted to make sure they had paid me before he agreed to do work for them. So I figured the email I got today was a result of him going to bad for me, which I am really grateful for. I am thankful for good friends.
Tonight I helped with a combined activity in the ward. The youth split up into four groups and switched between rooms learning about different areas of the world. Obviously my corner of the world was South Africa. It was pretty fun teaching about the country and sharing experiences I had.
We haven’t told the kids we are going to Disneyland. We want to keep it a secret until the morning that we actually leave. It was a frustrating night with the kids. They weren’t listening to us. We tried all night to get Gehrig to clean him room. I just kept thinking, “If you knew what we are planning for you; if you knew how much we loved you and wanted you to be happy, you wouldn’t be acting this way.”
As I was thinking this I got a sense that Heavenly Father must feel the same way about me sometimes. He has basically promised eternal life and all that He has if we just do what He asks us to do. He must feel the same way sometimes. “If you only knew what I had in store for you, you wouldn’t be acting this way.”
For whatever reason I have caught the Disneyland bug. I want to go so badly. We have talked about it a few times and figured now we be a good time to go since Nolan is old enough to manage, yet young enough to get in free. Last time we went he was just a couple months old and he came home with RSV. We spent the evening at Laura’s house celebrating her birthday. When we got home I started researching online to get an idea of what it would cost to go to Disneyland. While I was researching, my dad called and I told him what I was doing. He said, “Oh, we are going to Disneyland next month.” He told me where they went to find deals to get cheaper flights and hotels. They are talking Grandma Brighton and leaving on the 18th of December and coming home on the 22nd. I thought that would be great if we could go at the same time. They would be willing to help us with our kids. I spent the rest of the evening figuring out what it will cost. It looks like we can do this vacation for around $2500. I think I would like to try to make it happen. I’m going to see if I can get the days off at work and also call a travel agent to make sure we are getting the best deal that we can. It everything works out I would like to schedule this tomorrow. I am very excited about this! I hope it works out.
