Christmas Wishes

I can't believe that it has been almost 4 months since our last post. We are very much alive and well in the heartland of our nation, Rugby, North Dakota. While we most certainly miss all of our family and friends, we have settled in to our new home and new life. It has taken us just a bit to get used to the laid back way of life up here, and of course the cold and snow. We actually like it up here, the pace is slow, but the people are genuine and good "salt-of-the-earth", hard-working people who we are coming to know and love. We have everythng we need within an hour of home and don't want for anything.

Sue and I have talked about keeping our blog up to date on a more regular basis this year. We really did try last year, but oh my heck, what a year.

We want everyone to know how much we love this season. We love Christmas, and yes we love buying gifts and stuff for our family, but we really love this time of year becasue we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Because He was willing to come to Earth and gain His own body, we reap the benefits of the Atonement. Without His birth, there would be no Atonement. He KNEW what was going to happen. He knew that he would be scourged, mocked, beaten, nailed to the cross, and suffered unspeakable punishment...and for what? He did it for US...and only for US. So Merry Chrismas everyone, never forget what this holiday is really about.

So as we celbrate Christmas temporally, let us not forget the true "Reason for the Season".  We know that all of our familiy members are well taken care of and are continuing to grow each and every day, They are making their own memories. We won't be away for long, and this time away from everyone is just preparing us for our Misson in a few years.

We hope this post finds everyone well, We will do a better job of checking in on your blogs and posting on ours...just be patient with us, and we won't let you down.

Until then...Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night

We Made it To Rugby

After two long days trekking across America's heartland we have safely arrived in North Dakota.

We will update you on a more formal post in the days to come. Right now we have to get our house in order as everything was delivered today....now uncpaking and outting away...yikes!

Stay tuned...

The Trek Begins

Well...we completely cleaned out our old house yesterday in preparation for our move to North Dakota. We got done around 1:30 then chilled for the rest of the day. Enjoyed jimmy Johns in the park with Minnie.

We visited Camel's Back Park and had some of the best ice cream ever at Goody's...homemade...yumbo. then capped the night off at Ling and Louies...a kind of Asian/American fusion kinds place...it has been a real favorite for us.

As we enjoyed each others company we reflected on how blessed we have been and are. While North Dakota certainly is not our "Shangra-La" we are looking forward to our new adventure together. It has been so clear to both of us that the Lord has had His hand in our lives continuously...I think in part because we have invited Him into our marriage and lives, and partly because we have remained faithful and obedient.

We could have easily backed out of our lease in meridian, but we decided early on that we wouldn't do that and that we would honor our lease agreement as well as leave the house in the same shape that we received it in.

Sue has been taking care of the house while I have been away..."what a woman I have ". I joined her at the house on Wednesday to help with the final packing of the house and the cleaning (Argh). But we both wanted to the right thing. it cost us $3750 to buy out the lease plus we forfeited our $1000 security deposit...but this was the right thing to do. We decided that we were going to do this before we started looking for a new job. My new company is so awesome and they offered a tremendous relocation package and told us that they would pay these expenses for us...blessed? ya think!

The day before we moved the rental agency told us that we would have to continue paying the utilities and have the lawn cut until the end of the lease (December) or until the house was rented. While we were bummed, we also realized that this was the right thing to do if that is what the contract said. We scrubbed and we cleaned so that we could hold our head up high when we left, knowing that we did the right thing. The moving van driver said he owned a lot of rental properties and he never had one of his renters clean his houses the way we cleaned that house. We told him that we couldn't do it any other way as this was who we were. We also asked him what kind of people he rented to.

We went and turned n our keys and garage door openers at the rental agency and they were sad to see us go. We left on our way and it wasn't 5 minutes later that the rental agency called and told us that they had made a mistake and that we didn't have to pay any more of the utilities or have the grass cut. Do you think the Lord has His hand in things....we sure do.

While we were eating dinner we realized that we hadn't picked up three piles of dog poop, so we decided we would go back to the house to make sure that that was picked up...we didn't want to leave anything un-kept in the house. it truly was in move in condition.

We're on to Billings Montana today...we'll keep you posted

One More Week

In just one more week I will see my sweetheart for the first timie in almost 7 weeks. I'm so excited because I'm not just stopping in for a visit, but I'll be picking my special little lady up to bring her to our new home in North Dakota.

You never know where life is going to take us. You have to be open, willing, and prompted by the Spirit, to always know what you need to be doing in this life. We decided a long time to go to always invite our Father in Heaven io be a vital part of our relationship. We know that when we subject oursleves to His will, we will be fine, no matter where that path takes us. This is the reason why Sue moved to Utah, wiht no family and moving away from her family. It is the reason why we moved to Idaho, to be humbled and instructed.

Sue nor I would ever make any decision to draw us away from our families, who we love so much. But when you think about the larger picture, we know that we will find a way to see our families one way or another, and that we will be happy as long as we are together and put each other first in each other's lives.

This is just another adventure for us and we're certainly going to hang on for the ride. I have been here for 6 weeks already and I can already see some of the reasosn that Sue and I are supposed to be here, I think that we are both goiing to help inject some life into the company, the community, and our LDS Branch.

As Sue reminds me, you never really know exactly what the future is going to bring, but if we stay close to the Spirit we can always safely navigate life's rough waters.

Peace, love, and happiness to all of our family and friends....

Rugby North Dakota...AKA...Small Town USA

I thought that I would introduce everyone to our new home. Rugby while small and out of the way is a true American gem. Rugby is the geographical center of North America. It sits in the North Central portion of North Dakota, about 50 miles south of the Canadian border. It is a real nice, well kept city full of Midwestern pride. The peop;le are friendly and reserved for the most part. The whole town is full of true "Mom & Pop" shops. My employer, TBEI-Rugby division is a major employer in the area and is a national player in the Dump Truck bed and hoist manufacturing business. Check us out at www.tbei.com

I thought everyone might enjoy seeing a few of the sights of our new adopted home town. Enjoy the sights. Rugby is served by Minot International Airport which is only an hour a way. We have daily flights to Minneapolis, Denver, and Las Vegas. Hopefully you will get a chance to visit us every now and then. We'll keep the front porch light on for you...