A long needed project completed!

Dad helped me build a box of sorts to cover the pipes and valves at the base of our water holding tank.  Makes a nice little step for the kids to get at their games and whatnot while protecting things from those same little feet and errant toys.  Doesn't it look great?!  Thanks Dad!

Just hours now.....

The days are now down to hours.  Grandma and Grandpa Olson will be leaving for the airport soon and boarding their flight out to visit us.  I guess I'm just especially excited for my Dad to come, for a number of reasons.  To start, I've been missing my Dad and thinking a lot about him and what a great father he is.  I wonder sometimes how he did it, where I struggle with two, he was responsible for 10.  My father is most definitely one of my greatest heroes.  I'm also excited to have him come because he's never been before and I am excited to show him where I work and the life I've made here on the east coast.  I'm excited to show him the sites nearby and just talk.  I'm excited to see mom too but she's been here twice so she's seen a lot of what's here and so a lot of it just won't be as new and exciting.

I really enjoyed the visit we got from Liz's parents over the past week.  Everyone had a really good time and I was especially happy for Elizabeth because I know she's been missing her Dad too.  Only 50 days until we go to Utah/Wyoming though so that trip and the fun associated with it is quickly approaching.  I really appreciate my in laws and how good they are to our children and their endless generosity.  They are very giving and it's clear where Elizabeth learned it from.

We met with a developmentalist for Carter and heard a lot of the same things we've heard before but we've now jumped through one more hoop they asked us to so perhaps we can get the insurance to pay for the testing that so many have recommended.  Psycho educational analysis is the big one I believe.  That and one other will come to about $5000 out of pocket if insurance won't pay but I believe they will, I have to believe it.  Hopefully the power of positive thinking will be sufficient, that and persistence on our part.

After the appointment the kids and I had a great time at the playland at McDonald's and made some new friends that I hope to one day share the gospel with.  Liz and her parents had lunch at Cafe Gelato's which is one of our favorites.  Well the prices may not be a favorite but they aren't too bad, especially at lunch, and the food is excellent.  I was really glad that Liz got to have a nice lunch with her parents and as I mentioned the kids made some really neat new friends.

I'm scheduled to see someone about my Anxiety next week in the early morning hours so I hope that proves beneficial.  I want to be a good husband and father and if addressing this will help me be better then it's about time I do it.   We had a  great lesson on the church's program for recovery and I do know that I am powerless to overcome the challenges of life on my own.  I hope I can attend the program, I would like to go as a couple but we may have to take turns.

We have a lot of fun activities planned for while my parents are here starting off with the annual Gore Picnic.  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmm I can almost taste all the good food!!

14 Days and Counting

So Grandma and Grandpa Olson will be here in two weeks BUT much to our surprise Grandma and Grandpa Kjar are going to visit next week. I swear we've had almost as many family visits as we did when we lived in Orem. For the Record I am not complaining! I love that we have family come visit so often. It is great for our kids who would otherwise miss out on the relationships that their cousins might take for granted.

It will be nice to have all of them visit since I enjoy their company very much. I know my wife is especially grateful to have her parents some visit. For me it's extra special because where the others have been more than once my Dad will be visiting for the first time. I want to show him ALL the historical sites including the ones I haven't seen yet but I realize we'll just have to do what we can and enjoy the time together more than anything else.

I have a few projects that only my Dad can help me with. Not because no one else is qualified but because well no has the "Dad" factor (Of course I love and appreciate Liz's Dad as well but I've known mine longer)

I realize I need to get on here to leave updates more frequently but life is busy as a Father, Bread Winner (fortunately I don't have to do that all on my own. Thanks Liz I don't know what we'd do without you) an Elder's Quorum President, Butcher, Baker, and Candlestick Maker, I know I forgot stuff like missionary and on and on. And here it is time to go again.

The Countdown

Well we're down to 28 days and counting until Grandma and Grandpa Olson come to visit.  I'm not sure who's the most excited.  I know the kids are, and my parents are, but perhaps I'm the most excited.  I really look forward to see my parents and especially showing dad the sites and the beautiful area we live in.

The Bayview Ward

In a special meeting, of the northern units within our stake today, it was announced that we are now a Ward!  We've had a few baptisms and we've reactivated some of our less active members and our home teaching and attendance have been up but they also realigned the boundaries to give us the healthy numbers we need to become a ward.   Our Branch President (now Bishop) will be putting in the paperwork immediately to get approval for a full phased building.  With the added members we will be bursting at the seems.

One of the noteworthy additions to our Ward is Bishop Mullins.  Bishop Mullins was the Bishop of the Newark 1st ward and when I got to the area I was living within his boundaries and he really took care of me.  He made reference to me and my family on Sunday when he related to the stake that he had told me they were going to organize and divert the course of the river that marked the boundaries between the Rising Sun Branch and the Newark 1st Ward because our house is/was not within the boundaries of his Ward.  As it turns out the new boundary is another river farther east which means he is now a part of my Ward and not his.

He mentioned to me on Sunday that he considered me one of his own and he certainly showed it by taking me under his wing the way that he did.  I can remember I was in Utah one weekend and because he had not seen me at church he called to make sure I was ok and that I didn't need anything.

The bigger building is still several months away because they have to build it once it is approved and I'm not sure if we'll continue to meet in our existing building or if we'll have to find a new temporary home.  In any event it is exciting to think we will have a cultural hall/gym within a year or so and we can play basketball as an Elder's Quorum.  Just one of many fun things that we'll be able to do.  I think that one of the coolest parts of our smaller building has been that from the very first phase there was, and still is of course, a baptismal font.

We have had several baptisms in the branch/ward since moving in, the very first being none other than my son Carter.  More than half of the baptisms have been men.  This means that they are potential priesthood holders which is always important.  As it turns out one of those men, Juan Gonzalez, has prepared for and will receive the Melchizedek Priesthood next Sunday.  He has asked me to confer this priesthood on him and I am honored and humbled by this opportunity.  I have only done this once before so it is a special and significant thing to me.