It's the Best I Can Do

New background....new photo...it's the best I can do for now.

Random

Chad on "Ugly Christmas Sweater Day".  He and friends thot it would be funny to all wear sweatshirts with the stocking attached and then they all would decorate on their own and wear to school the friday before the break.  Turns out, all the stress the night before was for naught because he (we) was the only one to decorate!  He wore the sweater all day anyways, even in the 80 degree heat.  Why does this concern me so much?  Gotta love his enthusiasm, tho!

My niece, Kiley, had a baby boy the beginning of November - little Dallin is an absolute cutie pie!  Above is Dallin with Mommy, Grandpa Scott and Great Grandma Andreasen - 4 generations - we haven't had that for a long time.  Weird!  My brother is a grandpa!

Elder Spampinato is tearing it up in New Zealand, Wellington Mission.  It's been 5 months now and the people really love him and as usual he is gravitating to the kids.  He's such a natural with them.

Let Me Introduce You To ....

This is my new love, Zach!  I am watching him every M-W-F all day - he brings me an incredible amount of joy!  He is so good and so smart!  He loves the boys and they have so much fun with him.  What a great addition to our house!  I want to post more pix but I'm having a problem finding them.  When I do, I'll post.

New Location

So you're all aware that we moved from the Mountain Laurel house after 9 1/2 years- to a house 1/2 its size but I am lovin' it!!!!!!  It's still in Dove Canyon, closer to the gate, beautiful view of the mountains, no pool, no dumb dark cherry wood floors and so much easier to maintain.  I'm still in the process of getting things in their spots but it's liveable.  I'm not even missing the old house and haven't been by it in almost 4 weeks.  Here are some pix.

Travis and Wyatt's Football Banquet

On December 10th, Travis, Wyatt and I attended their Tesoro Freshmen Football Banquet at the school.  I didn't feel well that day but I wanted to go in support of them and their awesome team.  They each received certificates for playing and some really nice comments from the coach they worked with closely in the program.  The season ended with only 64 points being scored against Tesoro and Tesoro scoring 394 points.  A perfect winning season!  They are a team to watch for in the future of Tesoro and I couldn't be more proud.  They love football and thats good cause I love watching it!  We're so lucky to have the caliber of coaching that we do at the school.  I hope the budget cuts don't threaten that.

A Message to My Boys

I was reading a friends blog the other day and more often than not, she writes something that totally resonates with me. I get the thought but I can't find the words to express myself or if I do, the thought doesn't come out the way I'd like. So, thank you Victoria, once again, for a profound post. I hope my boys pay attention to this.

Here is what my boys deserve:

1. A girl who is beautiful. But beautiful in the right way… a girl who is unfailingly modest in dress, speech and actions. One of the standards of my church is to dress modestly… something that most of the world thinks is rather strange. But my boys deserve nothing less. Whether you see her at the beach, at church, shopping, or just on Facebook, she should be modest. Let me be clear here… this is not because I don’t want the boys to think bad thoughts. My boys can master their thoughts. It is something much more important… it marks a commitment to covenants they have made. And no double standards either... my boys are modest themselves. I am a big fan of beautiful, stylish modesty. It is really easy to say that most of the girls wear their skirts too short and their swimsuits too tiny, so you can’t judge a girl by that standard. But I know girls who are unfailingly modest. They stand out like a bright light from the girls who are not… and my boys deserve nothing less than that.

2. A girl who is honest. No ex-boyfriends that aren’t really ex. No saying things she doesn’t mean. No pretending to feel more or less than she really does. No treating my boys like a plaything. Honest.

3. A girl who is unselfish. She needs to care more about others than herself, because that is how my boys are. I have worried, in the affluent area where I live, that DK and I have spent the last twenty years raising sons who can support a family, while my neighbors have spent the same years raising daughters that my boys can never possibly afford to marry. My boys are not just finding a girl to marry; they are finding a mother for their children, and that is about a hundred times more important.

4. A girl who is kind. She must be kind to her friends, kind to her family, kind to children, and… kind to my boys.

5. A girl who is better than my boys. Or at least they think she is. She needs to be so amazing, that they behave better around her. They try harder, and reach bigger goals, because she makes them want to be better men. She safeguards their virtue along with her own. She reminds them of how great they are, encourages them, sets a good example, and yet still follows wise counsel. Every one of my boys deserves a girl who is better than they are.

So come on, girls. It’s time to step it up a little. Be more to get more. I told you the apple analogy. You can never be that rotten apple sitting on the ground waiting for any lazy boy to scoop you up and take a bite. You are better than that. My boys are better than that. You might wonder how you can compete in a world of girls who use tricks and sexy clothes to get their way. Don’t think for a single minute that my boys can’t tell the difference. Yes, there are boys that are looking for those girls. But I will tell you right now… not my boys.

Here is the apple analogy - again from Victoria.

“Girls are like apples...the best ones are at the top of the trees. The boys don’t want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they just get the rotten apples that are on the ground that aren’t as good, but easy. So the apples at the top think there is something wrong with them, when, in reality, they are amazing. They just have to wait for the right boy to come along, the one who’s brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree...”