Humility

I am in need of writing today because of the sacrifice my Savior made for me. I need to recognize His atonement in my life, for right now I am feeling extremely downtrodden . The Savior descended below all for me. I am grateful for His life and the example he set for me.

For the last year and a half I have been going through a refiners fire and am no where near complete yet. The heat has been turned up and have felt the Master's hand in my life. Teaching seminary and Gospel Doctrine for my ward has been a blessing to me and my family and part of that journey is coming to a close. I was informed that I would not be hired as a full-time seminary for this fall. I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to teach at Borah and getting to know the kids from Zero Hour. They are an example to me and a strength. I have truly seen a glimpse of the strength of the youth that will one day be our leaders.

The Lord has a way of humbling His people, and as the scriptures say it is better to humble yourself than to be compelled to be humble is true. I had forgotten and neglected habits that kept those spiritual muscles strong and they became very weak. I know what it is like to make decisions one day and the results do not come to fruition until later. Sometime those results are less than desirable. I know that when it rains it pours and when you think you are through the worst of it another white squall can knock you sideways. It is not fun to be sideways.

Back to Back Champs

Ashlynn just finished the 2009 season undefeated. Champs again. These girls have been playing together since the 4th grade and have been improving each year. They play together during the school season and then AAU as well. I think they have lost 4 games in the past 4 years. Pretty amazing.

It has been awhile

So many things have transpired since the last time I wrote. Ashlynn turned a year older made the b team for the first time playing volleyball and did rather well. She is playing basketball again and they are doing well so far this year. In the first four games they had a HUGE margin of victory. Abby is excelling in school. She has been picked as one of the class leaders and is considered a peer advisor in her class. She also has turned a year older. One more year till she enters the young women program with Ashlynn. What can I say about Andrea. She is one of the funniest kids I know. Her laugh is contagious and at the same time she is probably one of the most sensitive kids I know. (I am working on that) Adriauna turned a year older and has had a difficult time adjusting to school all day. I think she went through some separation anxiety with Natalee. Doing better now and is enjoying the leadership tasks the teacher gives her each week. Natalee is being the best MOM, wife and homemaker I could ask for. She is continuing to support me and the family when the chips are down, which seems to be a bunch lately. She has done flowers for a few weddings of friends we know and I must say she learned a great deal from her father on arrangments. They have been beautiful. For myself, much has changed. I am no longer working for Ecolab, but I am pursuing a dream to become a seminary teacher. I currently teach zero hour at Borah. I will find out in the spring if this will become my full-time occupation. If not then I plan on teaching at a local high school. Still enjoy teaching the gospel doctrine class in sunday school. Nat was just called to be the volleyball coach for the YW's program. Should be interesting. That the update. Love and take care all.
Mike

Bring on Vancouver 2010

My sister-in-law did a NBC photo shoot this week in LA. Getty images took about 80 photos but only posted a few on their site. She is also waiting for some photos where she had to take pictures in a red dress. She had to do it. It was for charity for AIDS. That is the only way they got her in the dress. She is going for the Gold in Vancouver 2010.

My Big Fat GREEK Restaurant

This week was pretty good. It went by really quick. Tuesday and Wednesday I was down in Phoenix for my annual regional meeting. We finished by noon on Wednesday but our flight did not leave until 8 that night so needless to say we had some time to kill. We went to lunch at this greek place in Tempe. While we were eating Shaquille O'neal walked in. So we let him eat and then asked him for a picture. I thought it was pretty cool. As you can tell he is rather large. That is nothing new but he looks so much bigger in person than on TV. It was great.

Well the family is back to normal now that Ashlynn is done with basketball. Their school team went undefeated and won the championship. Then they went straight to AAU. They were undefeated and were seeded #1 in the tournament. The semi-final game they got out coached and lost. It was tough but losing every now and then is ok.
Abby continues to be Abby. She is so cute. She has earned a place with a reading group at school on the accelerated reading program. We are trying to get her into a sport this spring.
Andrea already earned her plaque for the reading program at school. She loves to read.
Adri is still Adri. What can I say about her? She has been sick alot this year. She says there are a couple kids in her class that are sick all of the time. She takes it like a trooper. She is a very loving little girl.
Natalee continues to support me and our family. She is a wonderful wife and companion. I know my life would be in shambles right now without her. She is selfless and loves to serve others. Her and her friend Melanie were called as the Stake YCL leaders for girls camp this year. They are amazing.
I am continuing to kill bugs and rodents. I will student teach for 2 weeks at the end of April. That will tell me if I am going to student teach in the fall. I also continue to grow and learn as I teach the Gospel Doctrine class in my ward. I love it.

Bringin' the 80's Back

The other night Nat and I were invited to a Murder Mystery party. The theme was the 80's, so Nat and I went all out. It was like way fun and totally tubular. Dude it rocked. It was radical. Ok so enough with the sayings I think you get the point. I tied for the best outfit and character, so we each took home a prize and Nat took second on the most cash collected. Below are some of the pictures.


These were some of our friends that were also at the party. So much fun.

What a GREAT weekend

I was just getting ready to go to bed and thought I needed to post about my weekend. IT WAS AWESOME. Ashlynn's b-ball team is still doing awesome. She made a tough decision over playing in a game or going to her sister's baptism. (She was in a dress that night and not hightops) I had the privilege of baptizing my 3rd daughter and then confirming her a member of the church. We then gathered at mom's house for cake and ice-cream to celebrate that event as well as Andrea's birthday. (her's was the only one in the month of January) Sunday I was edified as I attended church. I really felt that I was full even though it was fast sunday. I was spiritually fed today. Then we went back to mom's to watch the superbowl and fed our physical bodies. Food good, Game good, Family good. It was just fun. My team won and I got to listen to the rest of my brothers complain. I thought it was a really good game. Two years in a row with great games.
I am really grateful for my family and the chance we have to get together as often as possible. I just wish, Brian and Barb, and Jeff and Chrissy could be here more often with us. We miss you guys.
Take care all.
Love Michael