Halloween- sorry a week late

Joshua the Soldier

Ashley, the Queen of England (Queen Elizabeth the First)

Tyler the Cowboy

Kids had fun this year. Always too much candy- but it was fun.

Ashley and her friends went "Pumkin Caroling" - Halloween themed words to Christmas Carols. Very cool- I am glad she has friends that are as fun as she is. They did get a few treats, but were mainly in it for the fun and singing.

Kayla was in Bernalillo at the State Soccer Tournament so she missed out on the Halloween fun- which is fine with her- she is feeling too big for the candy day, anyway.

Here at work at the bank- my crew really gets into this holiday for some reason. They do themes and contests and go all out. Here is an example of some of the crew.

General Conference Musings

I am truly thankful for Prohets and Apostles. We are very blessed in troubled times to have watchmen on the tower who can see afar off.

Since I work in the financial industry, these past few weeks have been tumultuous. Gratefully, I work for a bank that did not play the sub-prime game nor did we get entangled to a large degree in what had caused so many problems recently. That does not mean there have not been ripple effects- so many people are nervous that I end up spending much of my day trying to calm the fears of people afraid to lose their nest eggs.

Then comes the weekend of conference. In direct contrast to the weeping, wailing and gnashing of poll numbers that you get as a steady diet on the evening news- you hear the calm and reassuring voice of men we sustain as prophets, seers and revelators.

Did they deny times were tough- no! They acknowledged it and then sent the message that there is a way to peace in this life- by living the gospel of the Prince of Peace.

Very reassuring.

Joshua's first win in Football

Last night was a great night for us. I am sorry I do not have pictures, but this is a blog, right?

Joshua's games are on Thursday nights. Problem for me since I usually have Stake Presidency meetings on Thursdays. I have missed most of the games. At first, Joshua was not playing a lot, but now he was put on the line as a tight end and really started to get into that position. He won a starting position this week and did a good job. Well, his poor little team had not been winning too many games, so we are learning lots of lessons from losing. We would rather not have to learn those lessons too many times, but really it was starting to get on the boys from the team. Joshua continued to say how much he loved it, though.

Well- he got the late game and I got out of meetings early enough to get there in the 2nd quarter. His team was down 6-0 and it was not looking good again as both teams were stopping eachother and it did not look like there would be a way to win it. Joshua's team, the Maulers, really took over in the 2nd half though and actually controlled the ball the entire 3rd quarter. In the 4th, the team drove down to the opponents 20 yard line, only to fumble the ball. The Mauler defense took it to them, however and got that ball back without allowing a 1st down.

With only 2 minutes left, they had to dig deep to get into the endzone. They had only scored one other TD ALL YEAR, so they looked like it could be another disappointing night. Thankfully, they did pull it together and drove to the endzone with 40 seconds left. The converted the extra point try to go up 7-6. They held their ground after the ensuing kickoff and won their first game of the season.

After the game (all of the parents were going nuts, so happy to not have the "let's be good sports, and winning isn't everything' speeches again") we went over to congratulate the team and Joshua- who had contributed to the victory. They won. They tasted victory. They felt what it was like to get a win under their belt and deserve it. Joshua had the most amazing look on his face. It was a mixture of joy, relieved frustration, exhaustion and pride all at the same time. We are very close and I could almost feel what he was feeling. He looked up at me and he just said -"we did it". His eyes welled up with tears and he just cryed for joy. It was definitely one of those moments that I will treasure forever. We connected. We bonded and it was all I could do to keep from crying myself. The history of the world will never remember the night the Maulers beat the Pouncers on a fall evening in Gallup- but we will remember. If it had happened on the first night of the season- it would not have meant as much. If it had happened early in the game, it would not have meant that much. But it was all aligned in such a way to have a great life moment for a 9 year old boy. I love sports for exactly that reason. A little microcosm of life lessons.

Football Time

This is Tyler ready for his first flag football game of the year. He is ready to go, as you can see. He is part of the Paws- and I am happy to be his coach. He is fun and has a great time out there, although he plays so "full blast" that he sometimes forget that he does not wear a helmet or pads when he is going full force out there.

He loves football and is very good on the defensive line "sacking" the QB by grabbing flags before the play of the opposing team really gets going.

Happy Birthday Babe! :)

Well, today (August 12th) is Tommy's 40th birthday. Our family is so grateful to have him. I asked the kids if they could tell me one favorite thing about their daddy and here is what they had to say:

Tyler's favorite thing is that his dad is his football coach.

Joshua's favorite thing is that his dad is funny.

Ashley's favorite thing is her dad's sense of humor.

Kayla's favorite thing is her dad's dorkiness.

My favorite thing about Tommy is that he loves me - even with all my faults.

As you can see, Tommy makes life fun! (I always said I didn't want to marry someone boring.) He does so much for our family. He works hard at his job to support us. (He's the Senior Vice President of Pinnacle Bank in Gallup, NM.) He loves the Lord and serves Him in whatever ways he can. (He's the 2nd counselor in the Gallup, NM Stake Presidency.) He likes to tease and be silly. Life with him is great!

We love you!!!

Family Get together

Some of the related pictures are on other blogs- and thanks to Melissa Roquemore for these pictures. We are so happy to have been able to get together during Jeremy's furlough from Iraq. It was the first time that so many of us we able to get together in a very long time. We love our family so much and although we get caught up in our own lives for the most part, we are happy to take a break and get reaquainted wtih the people we love the most. Thank you Tyra for getting us together.

Las Vegas Trip

Eileen and I went to a six State Bankers Convention in Las Vegas. It was held at the Wynn Resort- some place we would never be able to afford on our own. It was sure very nice to be able to be together for a few days, though. Thanks to Grandma helping out with the kids!

The covention was a success and I leared a lot of good things. The time schedule was not too hectic, either. Eileen and I got to go to the temple and spend some time together. We got to see a couple of shows and ate some good food.

Las Vegas is a busy place and we could not believe the growth. So much money is spent in that place. I heard a good analogy the other day, though. Las Vegas is like eating something rich or sweet- it might be good for a while, but if you get too much of it, it gets old real quick. We were happy to get home and back to our more simple life.