New Season, new job!

Can I say it hardly seems possible that Christmastime is almost here! Wasn't it just Halloween? We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hosted this year, my mom and Bill, and step-brother Brad came. My sister, her friend DJ, and all of their kids came too. We had a late dinner, but ate lots of turkey, and ended the night at Grandpa Perkins house for a movie theater version of Polar Express. After a busy weekend of taking Thanksgiving decorations down,and pulling our Christmas decorations out again, I was anxious for Monday to come, for the kids to go back to school,and for our lives to be back to normal. Brad started a new job on Monday at the INL, (Idaho Nuclear Laboratory), we are excited for the many opportunities that await him! He works Monday through Thursday, and gets every other Friday off. This job and the flexibility will be such a blessing to us. Grandpa Jon starts chemo and radiation on Monday, and he will need help from the kids getting to and from appointments, and help with meals and around the house. With Brad's new job he will be able to help his dad, and spend some qualtiy time with him. We are praying that Heavenly Father will keep him with us as long as possible. I have faith that we will have longer with him than doctors have said. Please keep him in your prayers. Also, I will be sending Christmas cards out next week, so PLEASE e-mail me your address(onala@cableone.net)!

Go Cowboys!

Our little flag football team, named the Cowboys, (of course), ended their season 1 and 5. YEAH!!! They won their last game, considering most of the team is in kindergarten playing against sometimes 3rd graders. Each game they lost by less and less, but they finally figured it out the last game! Brad had so much fun coaching these little guys, and I think they had fun too. Ryker is such a little baller, and even got a touchdown! What a proud moment, I even cried.

State Swimming Championship+

Here is our swimmer Jayce at the Idaho State High School Swimming Championships. This is the 1st year Skyline High School has qualified for state. Brad drove Jayce and 7 of his teammates to Boise over the weekend, and Jayce beat his all-time score by 20 seconds in the 200 free-style race! We are so proud of you Jayce!

Trick-or-Treat

The kids had fun trick-or-treating, and of course, got way too much candy! It was a beautiful autumn night, until the next night when it snowed! Livy won 2nd place in a costume contest in her age group of 0-5 year olds in a group of about 50 kids, she was so proud!

Such a hard decision...

Tonight for FHE we went to the Pumpkin Patch. The kids all had their own ideas of the "perfect pumpkin". After a lot of contemplation, they all picked just the right one to take home to carve.

10 years ago....

Our little girl Brynlie Sage was born. She was 7 lbs. 14 oz, born on Friday October 23rd, 1998 at 7:26 p.m. She was born with a room full of people anxiously awaiting her arrival (dad, 2 grandma's, 1 grandpa, 1 great grandma, and 1 aunt). I can't believe it's been 10 whole years, but she has brought so much joy, happiness, pride, and love into our family! Happy Birthday Bean, we love you so much!

Changes!

We are experiencing changes in our lives right now. Our world outside is changing from the green and warm summer, to a beautiful autumn landscape. This is my favorite time of year! The leaves are falling, and the air is crisp. Our apples are ripe, and the kids are eating so many apples they are getting sick. I am going to try and can applesauce, pie filling, and dehydrate the rest. Another change is Brad is no longer with Clockwork, whom he has been with for the last 6 years, as they got a new CFO and he decided to eliminate the IT Department and decided to outsource. They gave him a nice severence package, as well as our insurance for a few more months. We saw the writing on the wall, it has happened to so many people we love who have worked for the company, so I guess our turn was coming, it was just a matter of time. Now that the shock has worn off, we are seeing so many blessings and opportunities come before us. I didn't realize how much the kids and I needed him around, but it has been so nice having him here ALL the time. We know Brad will find another opportunity, and many have come up, we're just trying to make a wise decision, and what's going to be best for our family. In the meantime, he has been taking some programming classes, and brushing up on his computer skills. We are all really proud of him, and are so thankful we are here in Idaho.