IT'S BEEN A WHILE.....

so i haven't been on here in a while to post anything new. kinda sad since so much has happened. i need to figure out how to make some of this stuff work. so.... updates!

jeffery- he is doing great. they have another appointment to check the latest progress the end of july. we went to see them over the 4th of july time frame. it was amazing to see the new arrival at their house and catch up with the always on the move jeffery. jon and ruth are great parents. learned how to cook brisket from jon which is awesome. ruth is such a wonderful mother and a joy to watch. and i can't say how much i love those kids as there is no end to that kind of love. all i can say is precious.

cathy- we are engaged!!! happened in april over conference weekend at grandma and grandpas in st. george. she is also gorgeous and most precious to me. love having her in my life. she brings a balance that was needed greatly in my life. i know she is my other half. we are trying to set a date with the constant variations to work, that can sometimes be very difficult. she is always so supportive of me and very encouraging. i love you catherine.

josh is over halfway done with his mission. the transformation he has undergone is absolutely mind blowing. its funny cause he wasn't a bad kid at all but the growth he has made in the gospel... a spiritual giant. its so fun to see how he is so busy that it almost gets in the way of writing home. plenty of time to celebrate and rejoice when he gets back. time to work for them in the carribean. what an example.

dad and i are both in the process of starting new contracts. its quite the process. i am going back and forth with two right now to see which one i will take. one i had planned on to go back to iraq fell through thank goodness. it would have been only about a six month contract and would have been a bad deal. the job in kwajalein in the pacific has been slow to prove any kind of real job with a promise of an offer letter tomorrow or tuesday. that is the one catherine and i would most like for the sake of being together and of course the tropical nature of it. itt has said they are trying to get me an offer letter out to go back to baghdad for another year. it seems to be the most credible at this point. bummer though.... iraq and right at the hottest point!!! crossing fingers but more importantly praying for the right one to come through for us. dad sounds like he may be heading out to the u.a.e. much better conditions than what we faced in iraq and afghanistan. mom can even visit there. maybe we should try and plan a family vacation there. they have a great water park there. the biggest in the world. guess i will have to do some convincing on that one.

well, that should about have things caught up. i will try to update this more often as i have more news. enjoy the pics!

p.s. i almost forgot to tell you... joe and sarah are expecting my sixth niece or nephew! we are blessed as a family.

WE ARE PRAYING FOR YOU JEFFERY...

THIS HAS BEEN A TRYING WEEK FOR OUR FAMILY.  WE ARE FACING SOME PRETTY AMAZING TRIALS WITH ONE OF OUR SWEET LITTLE GUYS.  JEFFERY HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH RETINOBLASTOMA(SP).  HE IS JON AND RUTH'S LITTLE MAN AND IS SUCH A JOY.  HE HAS NOT HAD AN EASY GO OF IT COMING INTO THIS WORLD.  HE WAS BORN 3 MONTHS PREMATURE AND IT TOOK SOME TIME TO CATCH UP.  BUT WATCHING HIS PROGRESS HAS BEEN A JOY.  HE IS SUCH A HAPPY LITTLE GUY, ALWAYS WANTING TO WRESTLE WITH HIS DAD.  HE EVEN LIKES TO PLAY LIKE HE IS TALKING TO GRANDPA AND JAKE IN IRAQ ON THE COMPUTER.  "JUST WORKING ON THE COMPUTER AND TALKING TO GRANDPA AND JAKE".  HE IS SUCH A TALENTED LITTLE RASCAL.  RUTH HAS BEEN TEACHING HIM HOW TO COUNT IN 3 LANGUAGES.  HE HAS A WHOLE POCKETFUL OF SONGS HE SINGS AND CAN EVEN CARRY A TUNE.  HE MUST GET THAT FROM HIS MOM.  HE ALSO HAS HIS ABC'S MEMORIZED.  WE KNOW HE IS A FIGHTER AND WILL BE FINE.  SOME OF THE THINGS THE DOCTORS TOLD RUTH AND JON... HIS CANCER IS A STAGE 5 ON A 1-5 SCALE.  5 IS NOT GOOD.  THE CANCER IS SEEDING.  NOT QUITE SURE WHAT THAT IS, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE THE CANCER COULD BE ABLE TO SPREAD.  THEY ARE WORKING ON AN MRI AND CAT SCAN TO MAKE SURE ITS NOT SPREAD OUTSIDE THE EYE.  THEY ARE EXPECTING HIM TO LOSE HIS EYE.  ITS DIFFICULT TO TALK ABOUT, BUT I KNOW THAT MY FAMILY COULD USE THE PRAYERS AND COMFORT.  JON AND RUTH ARE GREAT EXAMPLES OF FAITH AND OBEDIENCE.  THE LORD WILL BLESS THEM AND TAKE CARE OF THINGS AS HE NEEDS THEM TO BE.  OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU GUYS.  HOPE YOU ARE FEELING THE LOVE AND SUPPORT WE ARE ALL SENDING YOUR WAY.  LOVE YOU GUYS.

HOPEFULLY A PLEASANT CHANGE...

so its been a while since i have been on here to post any new blogs.  there has been a lot happening all around me.  we found out recently that we are finishing up our contract here and that toward the end of march, we will be home.  we are anxious and kinda sad at the same time.  partly because there is the chance of the unknown... but i have a wonderful opportunity coming my way.  i have the most amazing girl who loves me and who i can't live without.  we are hoping that we will soon be celebrating on and island called kwajalein.  its in the middle of the pacific ocean and is a tropical paradise.  i hope i can trade this sandy dusty place for some sand of the beach variety.  it should be a great adventure and cathy is the only person that i can imagine being with in paradise.  hope you are ready for that baby.  so hope we get it going sooner than later.

HAVING FUN WITH CATHY

cathy came back to rexburg with me to meet some of the fam and to hang out with me a bit.  she had never been shooting so we decided that we would take her out and show her how.  holly let us take her truck and we went to badger point.  i took the ar's and the .40 s&w and we shot some rounds off.  we had to take some time between mags because it was so stinking cold.  it was still fun and i got some great pictures of her and a very funny couple of videos.  she is such a sweet heart and makes me laugh.  no wonder i am so crazy about her.  her trip to rexburg was short but very sweet.  mom made a great sunday dinner with lots of neighbors and friends that came over.  it was tom's birthday and so we had cake that kim made.  the are such good friends, or should i say family.  cathy had a blast with the kids as jaxon and i wrestled and mikael made her laugh.  we had a chance saturday to goto dinner with some of the mumm clan and saw tom and kim there celebrating their 23rd anniversary i think it was.  the mumms were fun and very fun to talk with again.  cathy also cut my hair.  i don't look so shaggy now.  she takes such good care of me.  i still try to figure out how i got so lucky.  she is my angel and i am very lucky to have such a sweetheart.  enjoy the pics and sorry i can't load the videos.  don't know why.

MERY CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU.  I ALWAYS LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR.  THERE IS SO MUCH PEACE AND CARING AND ATTENTION TO THOSE LESS FORTUNATE THAN OURSELVES.  I LOVE THE IDEA OF GIVING AND SHARING, AND PROBABLY MOST OF ALL, THE CHANCE TO SPEND TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS.  I FEEL SO BLESSED TO HAVE SO MANY LOVED ONES.  I HOPE THAT IN THIS SPIRIT OF GIVING AND REMEMBERING, THAT WE WILL REMEMBER THE REASON WE ARE CELEBRATING THIS SEASON.  ITS BEEN SAD TO SEE THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF CHRISTMAS TO TAKE THE FOCUS OFF THE REASON AND THE SPIRIT OF ITS TRUE ORIGIN.  I HOPE THAT AS YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES CELEBRATED AND ENJOYED THE DAY AND THE SEASON ITSELF, THAT YOUR WERE REMINDED ONCE AGAIN OF OUR GREATEST GIFT.  THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOR IS THE ONE EVENT IN HISTORY THAT HAS BROUGHT SO MANY OF US SO MUCH JOY.  DESPITE THE NON BELIEVERS FORCING US TO KEEP QUIET ABOUT OUR FAITH, THIS IS STILL THE HOLIDAY IN WHICH WE CELEBRATE HIS BIRTH.  MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL.  I HOPE THIS SEASON FOUND YOU ALL IN PEACE AND HAPPINESS.  I LOVE YOU ALL.  MERRY CHRISTMAS.

TIME FLIES....

when you have this much fun...  so i guess i need to update in a big way.  i have had some crazy adventures in getting to this holiday season.  first the flight out of iraq which was the only way i was going to make it home on time.  the flight was a go.  then we got to the tarmac and they pulled my friend and i off the flight.  then at the last minute they told us to get out there and try to get on.  as they were closing the ramp... we threw our bags on and jumped on... they just kinda looked at us like, "you guys just made it".  so with that much behind us the journey commenced.  we weren't sure if we would have to get off in al taquedem when we got there so we crossed our fingers and made it into kuwait.  we got there just after two... by three we needed to have our passports in to get the visa stamps back later that day.  we made that leg happen.  my friend was able to get his flight out and go home that same day.  i upgraded to business class which ended up being first class.  that is the only way to fly.  only three of us up there and it almost got annoying to have the flight attendants wanting to serve us... lol.  yeah right it was annoying.  all the juice i could want and the reclining chairs that allowed me to almost completely lay down... oh yeah... loved it.  so i at least have something to look forward to on the flight back.  never use my sky miles so i traded some in.  i got to kuwait and got into a hotel with a hot shower and a very very comfortable bed.  had to splurge and do the hotel where i was feeling very beat up.  it did the job.  the next day i met up with cathy cruse who is working in kuwait now and she took me to go get sushi.  how cool is that.  i loved it and it was so good.  makes me wish i had sushi all the time.  the architecture in kuwait is amazing.  things just kinda stand there in such strange shapes and they are hotels or restaurants or other places people would actually go in.  hopefully the pics will show what is going on.  i made it back to utah where i was greeted by some of the most precious people in the world.  first cathy picked me up at the airport and took care of getting me to joe's, well very much later.  so much to catch up on and all.  at joe's i woke up the same time rachel did and we greeted each other on the stairs.  there is no better feeling than knowing you are loved.  she gave me the biggest hug and came and watched cartoons with me for a bit.  jared woke later and as he crossed the kitchen he stopped, backed up and looked down at me and came running to give me another big hug.  and last but not least, our little brock came down.  he just stood there with the biggest smile ever... that totally made my day.  yep, snuggle time and a pirate shirt and a fun time playing with him before he headed off to play with mickey.  that my friends, is what its all about.  those kids are what i live for... them and uh... well you know who else.  what do ya think about that cathy?  so now i'm almost a day away from christmas and still not ready.  how does that happen to me every year???  so i will put some more up about cathy's trip up to idaho to meet the fam.  what a fun time and what a sweet heart.  happy holidays everyone!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLY!!!

happy birthday sis... i love ya a ton.  i can't wait to get home and celebrate the best season of all with you all.  i have a great gift on its way for you.  hope you don't mind the delay but its worth it.  vacation and christmas together... that is a first since i have been doing the contracting stuff.  wish i could celebrate with you holly.  have fun and save me a piece of cake.  see ya soon.