Taking candy from a baby

Emma had her first ice cream cone yesterday. We visited the great land of IKEA, and Erin felt it was needed. Needless to say that Emma loved it! Yes, it did make a tremendous mess. I had to take it away from her to put her in the car seat. She let out a cry like I had put her favorite teddy bear in the blender. I felt like everyone was looking at me thinking "What kind of father would take an ice cream cone from their child." I was expecting a black van with "Child protective services" labeled on it side to come and take me away. I handed back her ice cream cone and finished putting her in the car. She took one lick and got a very contented smile on her face. It was like she was thinking "Ahh that's the stuff!" When we got home we found that the car seat, the car, and Emma all needed baths. I don't think her clothes will ever get ice cream stains out of it.

I am still looking for a job. So if anyone needs some part time help, let me know. I do windows! Friday was my last day at Burton Group. I will miss it. I had a lot of good memories and a lot of good friends. I will be leaving the best manager that I have ever had there. I will miss it.

Matthew is the same as ever. He has started on rice cereal. He is doing very well. He started to swallow it and everything. I don't know how he does it. I can't swallow that stuff. He is a brave little soul.

Well, it is time for Emma's bath. So I must go. So...................BYE!

Another post. That's 3 in 3 days! Mailing address

Isn't it great! Three posts in three days!

Yesterday was very sad for us. We were invited back to Herriman to hang out with our friends. We had a great time, but we were really sad to see our old home. I know that we have only been out of it for 4 days. There were people walking through it and cars parked everywhere. I guess the house is a hit. It makes us feel a little violated. You want to run up to them and scream "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" I still look at the lawn and think that I need to mow it again. We'll get over it soon. As the saying goes "I am a man, and I can change. If I have to, I guess."

When I see people looking at our empty house, I just want to grab our family and walk in like we own the place. We would then look around really confused and Erin would start to cry. Then I would say, "We were only on vacation for a week. What happened to our stuff?"

Emma's vocabulary is starting to get scary. She is putting short sentences together. She will run up to you and say "Go outside?" and "Daddy ok?" and the ever famous "Drink, Milk". I know that they are only a couple word sentences, but it still surprises me to hear them.

Matthew is really really cute. He smiles more then 3/4 of the day. He has one of those big full face smiles that is infectious.

Erin is doing good. Moving home has been the hardest on her. She almost feels like she is in high school again. I feel really bad because it is hard for me to understand her feelings on the issue. My high school career was a lot more fun then her's was. Her parents have been very accommodating and haven't told her to clean her room once! It helps that our room is the cleanest in the house.

I have good news! I found my razor last night. No more wolf man for me! I know that most of you were concerned on that topic, but you don't have to worry any more. No more tossing and turning in the middle of the night for you! People actually like to look at my face again. Well, everyone but Adam. He still can't grow a proper beard and I think he is jealous. Poor soul.

We are still looking for friends in the midway area. We are now taking applications to help streamline the process. Please stop by the house and fill one out.

That also reminds me. Our new mailing address is PO box 76, Midway UT 84049. Due to the mass of fans that we have, we are unable to give out our real address at this time.

Day 3

Living with the in-laws is not all tea and crumpets. Granted it is a good experience, but there are some hard points. It is nice that we have a huge room to our selves. We have partioned off part of the room for our bed, and the other part for a living space. Just so we can be away from everyone when we get the chance.
Emma is showing signs of being happier. She was almost her giggly self last night. Today has been better. I think that she understands that we are not going home from grandma's house. Now, it will be a miracle if the rest of us can get to that point.
I am still looking for a job. Somewhere in Provo there must be someone who needs some part time help. I'm not that expensive. Really! PLEASE!!! We'll find it I'm sure.
We are pushing through the problems though. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I can see it!

Back on track?

We have had an exciting month. Let me begin at the very beginning. It's a very good place to start. Several weeks ago our land lord "Erin's Uncle" came up to us and said, "By the way, I want to sell the house you are living in. You have to move." He was a lot nicer then that, but it threw us for a little bit of a loop. We sat and discussed our options. They weren't pretty. I have been going to school in Provo, living in Herriman and working in Fort Union. We had to cut out some of that commute. We wanted to find a job in Provo, but that is almost impossible.
We did what any couple does in times of emergency. We called our parents. Erin's dad said that he had actually been thinking about us moving in with them for the past week. Even before he knew that we were being kicked out. We prayed and decided that this was a fantastic option. Then we thought and decided that it will be harder then shoving a square peg through a round hole. Probably as hard as getting our daughter to eat lettuce.
So, going off of faith, we agreed. This gives me the chance to go to school full time and work only part time. We can also help them to keep their house clean and do some cooking for them. Everyone is a winner. We were not aware of the disaster that was soon to follow. (foreshadow!)
Everything came to a head last Saturday. We were supposed to move on the 21st, but decided to get out of the house ASAP so they could try to sell it. Yes, there is more to that story but your not getting it here. So we set the move day on the 14th.
I made the dumb choice of going to school over the summer. I was assigned a huge 10 page instructional manual to write. So this last week I have been inaccessible to help pack. I have also been staying up past midnight while I tried to finish. Needless to say, I have been getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night because of it.
The next dumb thing is that I also have to quit my job. I can't afford to live in Midway and commute to Salt Lake. I have been looking for a job on top of home work and packing.
The next dumb thing is that our CV axel on our Passat just went out. So the car is a glorified lawn ornament. Better then those stupid garden gnomes. Those are just scary.
Let me give you the stress list. The first is homework, then packing, then job hunting, then car. We also have to say good bye to the great people and friends that we had made in Herriman. The problem is that there are a lot of them. Herriman has been the most welcoming ward that we have ever had. We will miss it.
What was this post even about? Oh yeah, moving. Friday comes and I finally collapse. We still had a lot more to do before Saturday, but I just couldn't move anymore.
Saturday's plan was perfect. My brother and father in law would tow my car to his shop to fix it with the CV axel we bought on E-bay. While this was going on, the rest of us would fill the two trailers that we had. That honestly took us two hours. We only had about a truck's worth of stuff left in the house and we had to wait for my father in law to return with his truck. To make a long story short, the CV axel was the wrong one. So we had to buy another one.
On the way to Midway there was a huge accident that blocked the entire road for about 1/2 an hour. What should have been a four hour job took us all day long. Needless to say we were all frustrated.
We are now situated in Midway. It looks like it is going to be a good arrangement. It will be stressful at times, but it should work out ok. Erin is doing an excellent job of making our small living space livable. Emma is having a hard time getting adjusted. She isn't as happy as she once was. I think it is because she feels the tension in the house. As soon as we are adjusted, I hope that she will come along. She sure loved Nursery this week though.
Matthew is cool with what ever comes his way. Being four months he doesn't have much to adapt to. He loves the grandparent attention though.
We finally got our room in order last night. We celebrated this occasion by watching the first part of the five hour long version of "Pride and Prejudice". It was nice to relax and cuddle for a long movie.