Tagged!

It seems the torch has been passed on to me. :)

3 Joys
1. Laughing with Austin
2. Having time to actually read a book on my own
3. Seeing a healthy green lawn – dandelion-free

3 Fears
1. Having to shave - looking ay myself without facial hair
2. Not being able to support my family
3. My wife poking me to death

3 Goals
1. Developing specific people-skills
2. Learning how to fly-fish including tying my own knots
3. Owning our own home

3 Current Obsessions
1. Webkinz (Goober’s Lab, Mini Golf & Get 11)
2. News/Current Events
3. Mickey Mouse :)

3 Random surprising facts about me
1. I just saw “The Sword in the Stone” for the first time last weekend
2. I have had a pedicure
3. I’ve shaken hands with President Hinckley & Mitt Romney

People I tag
1. Joanna
2. Evan T.

The New Me - Clean Shaven

I finally had to shave this weekend. Jaclyn and I were looking at different apartments and places to live this past week and our bishop let us know of a elderly brother in our ward who willing to give a place to us for free, sort of. To make a long story short, he recently returned from a 2-month stay in the hospital due to some infections. He moved in with his son, but he wants to be back in his own place. Since his wife recently died and he is still recovering, he was looking for someone to help him make and eat meals together, keep up the yard, clean the house weekly, in addition to have family scripture study, prayer, FHE, and a weekly planning session all together. He would provide the basement of his fully furnished house for rent free, utilities free, and complete with pictures of his family and wall decorations. It was a great deal on the money end, but for us to live we would be more like guests and not be given the freedom to make it our own home. For example, of the two bedrooms, we could only really have one--one of those would be given to any of his family that came over and Austin would have to move out for the time being. Besides, Jaclyn and I would be so busy meeting his needs, we wouldn't have much, if any, time to raise our own family. How does shaving fit into all of this? Well, when bishop and I talked about it before going over, bishop candidly told me the brother would probably not approve of my facial hair. He has a strict personaly, growing up in the military and while also serving at the MTC and in the temple for a number of years. Facial hair was just out of the question. Jaclyn and I discussed it and we were not happy about it, but we figured if it meant free rent and I would have to do it eventually for school, it wasn't so bad. Well, I shaved it and almost cried. I can empathize now with many of my sisters who cut 10 inches of their hair for "Locks of Love" and feel a piece of them is missing. I feel the same way. Although the housing didn't work out with this brother (even after he called us back and offered to pay us $100/month to live there), we talked to our current landlords and came to a great conclusion after an open and understanding conversation. We are staying put for at least until December and they don't have any plans to change things after that anyways. Jaclyn, Austin, and I can finally feel at peace knowing we don't have to move, but we don't feel at peace quite yet with the clean shaven look. It's going to take a few weeks.

My Birthday and Recent Events

My birthday was on Tuesday, June 10 and I had a pretty good one. Last week, my "Mom" (Jaclyn's Mom) and Abby came to visit and took us out to Winger's for dinner. Yummy! They stayed for the weekend and we had a great time. Then on Tuesday, Jaclyn got up early and made me breakfast before I went to work. Austin got up early too (as usual) and gave me a kiss on the cheek (unusual).

At work, my co-workers wished me "Happy Birthday" several times and we celebrated with a Strawberry Ice Cream cake from ColdStone. Yummy again! When I got home from work, we had our usual Tuesday Night Dinner with Jeremy and Jenn. Jaclyn made my requested dinner with the help of Jeremy and Jenn--Pot Roast with Potatoes and Carrots, Dinner Rolls, Fruit Salad, and Butterfinger Chocolate Trifle Cake. Yummy Yummy!

It was a great day capped off by numerous e-cards, emails, and phone calls from friends and family members. Thank you to everybody!

In other news, Jaclyn, Austin, and I had our first formal family pictures. Our friends Monica and Ryan Kirkham took our pictures on the grounds of the Jordan River Temple. Monica has picked up photography as a hobby and is now turning it in to a profitable pastime and we were impressed. The pictures turned out really well. I'll be sure to post some very soon. If you want them now, go to Jaclyn's blog because she more on top of things than I am.

I am still doing well at work. I got another promotion recently and am now eligible for bonuses when I place people. This month has been pretty good for me. I've already placed two people and have potential to place a couple more. My plan is to work hard and fill as many as possible before leaving for school in the fall.

Man Night

It's me again! I know, it's been a while. I've probably bored many of you to death as I haven't written anything for a while. ;)

As many of you know, Jaclyn and I host a weekly potluck dinner with a small group of friends (Alicia and Jeremy & Jenn). Each week we pick a theme and everybody brings a dish or an ingredient to contribute. Past themes have included "Mexican Food", "foods that start with the letter of our first names", "Underwater Foods", and "Foods we wish we had for our lunches".

This week's theme was one of my favorites: Man Night. Jeremy and I planned a menu with more "manly" foods: BBQ chicken, potatoes, potato chips, soda, and Dutch Oven cobbler. With the recent nice weather, we decided to have it at the park across the street and took our baseball mits, Bocce ball set, and a frisbee.

We had a good time. The weather was a little chilly, but nice. There was plenty of open room and green grass. The food was yummy. Jeremy marinated the chicken and BBQed them with charcoals there at the park. We used the remaining coals for the Dutch oven. This was our first time using the Dutch Oven since Jaclyn's cousin, Darin, gave it to us for a wedding gift two years ago. The peach cobbler turned out pretty well. I used a simple recipe I learned in Boy Scouts-canned peaches covered with a white cake mix, dotted with a cube of butter on top. I added a little bit extra Sprite with the peaches to give it some extra flavor. I think there was too much liquid in the pot because the cake never really set up. After cooking it an hour, we took it home and had it with vanilla ice cream. Yummy!

Austin Crawls!

We have an AMAZING son! He is so strong and active. I got home from work today and Jaclyn starting telling me stories from her day. Then as we were about to eat dinner, Jaclyn says, "Oh yeah, Austin starting crawling today." I was shocked! He had started to reach out and "inch" forward, but hadn't made any kind of real progress yet, so today's news suprised me. If you take a look at the videos below, you can see he has his own style, but I think it is cute. He is my hero!

It's Official!

After some deliberation, I have decided to go back to grad school this fall. Jaclyn and I discussed it and we felt right now was the best time in a number of different ways. BYU made the decision much easier by awarding me a scholarship that will pay for most of tuition for the first year. We feel so blessed.

So, now we start preparing to go back and be students again. I'm a little nervous about going back and using all my study skills. I had a dream on Sunday night that I wasn't prepared and had a hard time. I hope it's not a sign of what will happen the first few weeks of class, because the dream really stressed me out.

I'll have a pretty tough schedule for classes. The MPA program is a 2 year-4 semester program with 57 total credits. That means I have about 15 credit each semester and I will also complete an internship between academic years.

Anyways, Austin really wants to type and is ending this blo?g entry early. Austin your turn: nb bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb 3.2klk mkm .

3rd Annual Pilgrimage to Disneyland

Thanks to Jaclyn and her Dad's family, I have become a Disney enthusist. It all started three years ago, just after we got engaged. Jaclyn's family has always been Disney fannatics and they invited me to go with them as the newest member of their fan club, which I couldn't decline. Each year since then, Jaclyn's family has invited us back. This year was special because it was Austin's first year and the last year the whole family would go together.

We were a little worried this year would get out of hand because there would be 12 of us there: Lee and Jenny, Marcus and Jenn, Michelle and Jared, Michael and his girlfriend Soretta, Alicia, and our family. Traditionally, we stay together in one big group, but as the group was pretty big this year, sticking together was going to be hard. In addition, we found out we couldn't even wait in line with Austin since the waiting in line would be "too loud" for him. Whatever! ;(

All that aside, we had a great time. The weather was less than perfect--overcast and rainy. We almost much stayed dry except for a rainstorm on Saturday afternoon. Austin was protected from the weather because on Thursday night on the road to Vegas, we stopped at the Mesquite Wal-mart and bought a Snugli. It's a pack that you can carry on the front or back-pack style. It was a great solution for Austin because we didn't have to bring a stroller and he could face out and watch what was going on. He is really a people watcher. He was so good the whole trip and especially the first day. He just sat in his Snugli so relaxed and warm. We had to buy him a hat because it was so cold and we didn't think to bring one, but we didn't mind because he looked so cute in it.

We managed to ride on all our favorite rides: Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Carribbean, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Finding Nemo Submarine Ride, Tower of Terror, California Screamin' Roller Coaster, Bug's Life, and Monster's Lost in Monstropolous. We also met Mickey in Toon Town and got our picture with him. Too bad the line was so long, Austin was falling asleep. ;)

We worked out a system for maximizing our rides. Since we couldn't wait in line with Austin, two people would hang back and then use a "baby fast pass" to go right after the big group got off. We didn't get to ride quite as many rides, but we still had a lot of fun. We had a lot of people stop and comment on how cute Austin was, which made the whole trip better. One time, as Austin was having a fit and screaming (yes, he actually screams), a ten-year-old boy came up to Jaclyn and said, "Wow, he is so cute." That made our day.

After two full days of Disneyland and California Adventure, we made the trek home. We hit some inclimate weather in Cedar City and Southern Utah, but made it home safely about 10:30 pm Sunday night. Alicia had school the next day and I had work, but we made it. With all that went on, we still want you to know, if anybody needs a guide to Disneyland or just some extra friends, we would always be willing. ;)

In other news, I got a nasty cold that put me out for two days before our trip and I have a persistent cough. I managed to keep most of it away from Jaclyn and Austin, but they have a cough and a sore throat.

I have been given a semi-promotion at work too, in other words, a promotion with training wheels. I am now an Account Manager managing 3 positions from end-to-end. So basically, I have to find the resumes, talk to the candidates on the phone, as well as coordinate with the hiring managers at our clients to make sure they are interviewing their ideal type of candidates. If I do well with these three, then I've been told, I will be given another pay raise and some more jobs to manage. I was a little nervous, but am doing better after a few days. I had a mini victory on Friday convincing a candidate that salary isn't everything in a job.

That's about it from my end. Jaclyn has updated her blog as well, so don't forget to jump to her blog and get her side of the story. TTYL.