Finally a Family Forever.

Well it only took 9 years and a few obstacles but Jennie and I and the kids finally were sealed as a family for time and all eternity. That means we are stuck with each other forever. If you ask the kids about that they may feel differently about that right now but will come to understand the meaning and importance as they get older. Jennie and I are very excited and glad that we could have so many people there to support us despite the weather. Since we had waited so long we wanted to make it extra special and go all out so we decided to head to Washington DC and go through that Temple as it is one of the nicer ones around and not too far away. As you can see from the picture they had quite the snow storm that day. I believe they were calling for 20+ inches, which for a town that averages 15 inches a year, was quite a big deal. We went up Friday night to beat the snow, and did, but over the next 24 hours the area probably got 18 or so inches of snow. That meant that nearly everything in the Washington DC and surrounding area was shut down. We got extremely lucky as Greg, Aaron and Rachel all flew in Friday night and were able to be with us as we went through the Temple. Aaron had a little trouble with his flight and as a result was actually able to get into DC. The airline sold his ticket as he found out upon showing up 25 minutes before the flight but was able to get on another flight and made it ok. The ironic t hing is that if he would have been on his original flight he would have been stuck in Chicago and would not have made it. It is kind of funny how those things work out. We definitely had someone watching out for us. We had all of Jennie's immediate family there and a lot of good friends who made the trip up to celebrate this special day with us and glad that everyone made it there and back safely. We even had our good friend "Big Dawg" fly in from Salt Lake City to share in our day. We are so grateful for those who not only made the trip but also pushed us and helped us along the way so that we can benefit from one of Heavenly Father;s greatest gifts to us. It is such a comfort to know that life does not end after we die and that one day we will all return to live with our families again. Here are some pictures from our trip. You will see all the snow that we dealt with on that day and we hope to go back some day, soon, and get some decent family pictures in front of the Temple without all the snow.


Here we are with the kids standing outside the Temple. There really weren't any great places to take a good family picture due to all the snow so this will have to do for now.


Nolan, Maddux and Brooklyn standing in the snow in front of the fountain at the Temple.


Spencer and Greg clearing the foot or so of snow off the cars. That was just from sitting in the parking lot for a couple of hours.


Most of the family standing in front of the Temple in the middle of the snow storm. This was about as good as it was going to get that day.


Maddux trudging through the snow. He was wondering why his legs were so cold.


The top of the Temple amidst a flurry of snow.


Uncle "Big Dawg" with Brooklyn and Maddux. I don't think that Nolan was 100% comfortable with him so that may be why he is not in this picture. He likes to talk about "Big Dawg" but not to crazy about hanging around him.


Brooklyn hanging out in the hot tub back at the hotel. This was kind of a cool pool and hot tub as it was actually on the top floor above all the rooms.


Kenzie and Nolan relaxing in the hot tub playing with the water. I actually had to pull Nolan out of the hot tub for a little bit because he was starting to turn red from being in there so long.


Nolan just hanging out enjoying life.


Bill and Spencer after a long day and a longer night. They decided to go see Avatar that night with Aaron and Greg. The movie was 2 1/2 hours and didn't start until 10:30. Mix that in with an early morning and you get some tired guys.


Even though it was the middle of winter and over a foot of snow on the ground the Temple still managed to have some flowers out and Brooklyn never passes up a chance to play with flowers.


All the kids with "Big Dawg" hanging out in the hotel room.

Once again Jennie and I are thankful to all those who had a hand in our special day and especially grateful for those who made the difficult trip down to show their support and love for our family. Yeah the weather was bad and we had a couple of hiccups along the way but we had the perfect day and were glad that we could spend it with family and friends. It is such a blessing to know that we will be a family for the rest of time and eternity and we are glad that our children could partake in this special day and hope that one day they realize the importance of this decision and choose to be sealed to their families forever. Thank you again and we love you all.

The Toy Solider.

Jennie and I took the kids, along with Tacie and her kids, down to Tower City mall to see the Toy Solider. We have been just about every year that we have been here and the kids love going down. I think they really like it because we usually eat in the food court afterwards and the kids love that. Anyway, the show is about 40 minutes long (perfect for the kids) and they like seeing all the characters and getting their picture taken with them. We were a little disappointed that most of the decorations they usually put up weren't there but still was a fun time.


Brooklyn with Frosty the Snowman.


Nolan's favorite part of the whole show was Frosty so we had to get a picture with him afterwards.


Most of the kids with Rudolph and Cinderella. They usually pick one main story each year that they read and act out and this year it was Cinderella (one of Brooklyn's favorites).


Brooklyn and Addysen with Raggedy Anne after the show.


The Fairy Godmother doing her thing.


Here is the Toy Solider. This was the very beginning of the show and as soon as he started marching towards us Kenzie and Nolan took off running. They were scared and didn't know just how close he was going to come. It was kind of funny.


Payton and Brooklyn waiting for the show to start.

If any of you are ever in town around the holidays we will have to make sure that you get downtown to see this. It is usually packed with people but a very fun time for the kids. It is kind of turning into a tradition for us to go down and see it every year.

Brooklyn's Hoops Highlights.

daa naa naa.....daa naa naa....



This week marked the third game for Brooklyn's team and they are getting much better. This was probably their closest game of the year as they played really well. They don't keep score but the game had to have been within a basket either way. Brooklyn did not score at all but as you will see in the video she had a couple of steals and was playing some shadowing defense. The main thing is that she is having fun and hopefully developing some skills and killer instincts for basketball. I keep telling myself that Jennie was the same way so there is hope. We really enjoy watching the kids participate and just hope that they are having as much fun, if not more, than we are. It is such a blessing to watch your kids grow up and do things well.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

I am sure that most of you have heard this song but I really like it so I am posting it.

This past week we have been getting ready for Christmas and have taken the kids to do some Christmas things. On Monday they went to the library for a Polar Express party. The event had about 100 people there and filled up in 8 minutes; there was also a waiting list of over 150 so a very popular event. I took Brooklyn, Maddux and Nolan and they had a blast. One of the librarians read the story to everyone, then Santa made a guest appearance, and we finished the night off with some cookies and milk. Nolan was a little hesitant to visit Santa but once he saw the candy canes he was handing out it had to have one. The kids love the Polar Express so it was a fun night.


The Polar Express


It was kind of cool because the kids got to wear their pajamas and slippers to the party. Here they are waiting in line to see Santa.


Standing in front of the library Christmas tree sporting the PJ's.


We put our Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving and outside of the lights, the kids put all the decorations on. They did a pretty good job. Now if we can just keep Payton from ripping them all down.



The kids with the "big guy".

We also went to the common greens in the middle of town and looked at all the Christmas light displays they had up. The city puts these up every year and the kids love to run around and see them all. It was pretty cold but the kids didn't mind at all despite being in their pajamas.


The lighted tunnel which is the entrance to the displays.


Here they are sitting in the decorated gazebo which sits right in the middle of everything.


The kids had to have a picture with the Toy Solider.


Here they are at the entrance of the North Pole.


We finished the night with a trip to Toy Land.

Christmas is a very fun time of year for the kids, and myself, and they are looking forward to no school, lots of presents, and Santa paying them a visit. Jennie and I are looking forward to spending time with the family and watching the kids during this joyous time of year. We are so blessed to live in a country where we can celebrate these holidays and are glad for the family that we have to share them with.