Us Enjoying Fall in Big Cottonwood Canyon

Fall, our families’ favorite time of year is quickly approaching – well it’s actually here. So we had to take advantage of the opportunity to see some leaves changing! We had a wonderful and relaxing afternoon as a family enjoying Big Cottonwood Canyon. We are going to miss having the mountains sooo close. It amazing how you can “escape from it all” so quickly in our Utah mountains.

The kids loved the new adventure, and Mitzi and I enjoyed watching every moment! Hope you do too!

That GIRL...

Update on Abby! For the past couple of months Abigail has really grown – especially her personality. She has only become more persistent, more inquisitive, more demanding, and extremely vocal!

She routinely is sent to time out for dancing on the table, taking Benjamin’s toys, hitting Benjamin over the head with the toys she steals from him, throwing the books off the bookshelf, jumping on the bed, and the latest today – somehow managing to get on top of our piano and begin dancing on that too..

She LOVES to pretend she is working on our laptops, make calls on the phone and write with anything she can get her hands on that makes a mark on anything that will show her scribbling. Today Mitzi said “That girl is going to kill me…” I am sure this is only payback for Mitzi as I was a WONDERFUL child!


At the same time, Abby continues to be the center of attention when she is around. She reminds our family at every meal to say the prayer. Abby loves to go to church and sing songs, play in nursery, and point at pictures of Jesus. She always looks for Benjamin, and wants to play with him every moment she can. It melts our hearts when she says Hi or Bye and blow kisses. She loves to pose for pictures as she knows she is adorable! She loves to cuddle before she goes to bed and when she first wakes up.

I guess we wouldn’t change a thing! We love you Abigail Paige!

GOAL!

We loved baseball so much we decided to try out soccer! Wow, has this been an eye opener! Talk about contact! I’ve heard it called MOB SOCCER and I concur! I think we are enjoying it more than Benjamin is!

Benjamin has practices on Tuesday’s and his games are on Saturday’s and he loves both! We are going to have his third game this weekend. Last Saturday, Benjamin scored his first Goal during a game! He was sooo excited.

The morning of his first soccer game I took a quick moment to talk to Benjamin about the word Aggressive. Our conversation:

Me: “Benjamin, are you sooo excited for your game today?”
Benjamin: “Yes dad… Do I get to wear my uniform?”
Me: “Yes you do! Now I want to talk to you about something important.”
Benjamin: “What is it NOW dad…” The kid is killin’ me….
Me: “Do you know what the word AGGRESSIVE means?”
Benjamin: “No”
Me: “It means to be bold, strong, and having no fear to get that ball!”
Now the kid is confused… I pause…
Me: “You know how mom and dad have rules about playing with other kids?”
Benjamin: “Yes; take turns, be nice, don’t fight…”
Me: “That’s right! Now when you are playing soccer, you need to throw all that out the window. You go in there and get that ball from the other team and try to get your goal. You need to kick the ball to the kids on your team.”
Benjamin: “I know dad… Nicholas already taught me that.” Nicholas is his coach.
Me: “Good, so when you hear me yell, BE AGGRESSIVE BENJAMIN! You know what I mean!”
Benjamin: “Is it time to go yet?”

So needless to say, we went to our first soccer game. Me yelling “BE AGGRESSIVE BENJAMIN” and parents look at me like I’m some kid of idiot. I maybe, but we are having FUN!

The Blue Rockets!

The Best Coach Ever!

Abby Chillin' With Stacy! Aren't they Beautiful?

Our Number one!

The rumor is true... We are moving.

Yes, believe it or not; we are moving. Mitzi and I accepted new employment out of state. We will be moving to Wisconsin. We are very excited, nervous, happy, sad, overwhelmed and tired. We will miss our home, our neighbors, our ward, our family and friends – we will miss Utah.

We have been given until February 28th to have the baby (Mitzi would die if she had to wait that long…), sell our house, pack our bags, and move across the US over 1,500 miles. So for those of you in our neighborhood… Yes, you did see correctly – we have a realtor sign in our yard and no, it is not a joke.

So to answer the question that has popped in your head – we are not crazy; just moving where the Lord has directed us! Yes, it is far. Yes, it will be cold. Yes, we will miss everyone. But we know this is the next page of our lives. Now, we just have to wait patiently as that page is slowly being turned!

To answer your next question – where is Wisconsin??? Wisconsin is located in the north-central United States; Wisconsin is considered part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee. (thanks to Wikipedia) So here is a map of Wisconsin I found interesting that gives you a few fun facts about the state in a quick glance.

My office will be in down town Milwaukee and we are looking to live 20 to 30 minutes west. About 2 weeks ago, Mitzi and I were there for 5 days looking at cities, homes, neighborhoods and did some shopping. We had a blast. On a drive out to Madison on highway 94 we saw a farm that was just breath taking. While seeking for the above picture I found this one, and I swear it’s the same farm… It is was sooo beautiful!

So while we will brave the cold winters and enjoy the beautiful summers and falls – know we will be missing Utah, but we will be where the Lord wants us to be.