We are under contract with a new house!

Let me start out with a message to Garrett and Hayley. I have tried to call you guys, but no one answers your cell phone. All your cell phone will do is put me to your voice mail. I have left messages in an attempt to let you know before we announce this to the rest of the kids. We want to give you as much notice as we possibly can about the time frame when we expect to be moving, so you can make other arrangements for what you want to do with your condo at Oak Meadows. Maybe you will read this if you are not getting those phone messages. We hope you are enjoying your time in Chicago! Hopefully this post will not dampen your time there.

We got word last night that we are under contract for a new home. We are excited about it! We expect to have the closing in about 30 days from now. We have some painting to do and we want to replace some carpet before we move into the new house. We can’t do anything to the house until after the closing, so we hope to have all the repairs done to the new house and all the cleaning done at the Condo, and moved out by the end of April.

We will need lots of help to get everything moved, so we hope you won’t all start planning ways of being out of town! That is just a joke; we know you will all help us, just as you have always done in the past. We really appreciate all of you!

We are having an inspection done on the house this coming Friday.

If any of you are in town and want to see the house on Saturday, let us know. I’m not sure where we are holding FHE this Sunday. If FHE is here in town you could see the house on Sunday. If FHE is at Tiff and Mike’s, Saturday may work better.


We love all you all!

The wind has been taken from our sails

We didn't get the house we were so wanting. Bummer!! We are getting too old for this kind of drama! But we won't give up. Thanks for all of your support!

We are looking for a new home!

Tension is building as DeAnne and I are turning in an offer on a home in W. J. tonight. We really fell in love with this house.

Can we ask that you join with us and pray that our offer will be the one they accept? We will have their answer by tomorrow, Wednesday the 17th at 2 pm.

What should I Invest In?

It has been a long time since I posted anything. Things have been very busy at work and by the time I get home, I just want to relax for awhile and go to bed. Every new customer we have wants to get their time clocks up and running for the new year.

I have been trying to figure out how to invest the money form Mom’s house to make it last longer. I thought it would be fun to get some feedback from anyone that is reading this blog. You tell me which one you would use. Just for fun let’ say I have $100,000 to invest. So here are my choices.


1. Put it in a bank Savings account and draw 1% interest. This would give us pretty much a guaranteed amount of about 1 grand per year.

2. Put it into a money market account at 2% and get 2 grand a year. No risk.

3, Put it into a CD at 2.5% and get $2,500 per year, but there will be a penalty for early withdrawal, if we need the money.

4. Put it into Bonds. There is risk here and you could loose the principle, but there is also a chance at earning two or three times as much as you can in a CD.

5. Stocks: Tremendous upside and also a risk of loosing some of the principle. You would also need to have help in selecting the stocks. (Newsletters cost from $150 per year to $1,500 per year, and who knows how good they are.) (See next option for return on investment estimates.)

6. Mutual Funds: Let the fund manager select the stocks and move them around for me. Tremendous upside but also a risk of loosing some of the principle. (Then I would just need a newsletter to tell me which sector of mutual funds to invest in. $150 to $450 per year.) I saw a list that shows the last 20 years with of the average stock gain/loss for each month of the year. Using this list as a guide, the average gain per year would be $12,931 per year.

7. I went to a meeting with Chris Krohn, who is the founder of REIC (Real Estate Investment Club). Real Estate is not liquid, but he says he can show you how to have a monthly income from Real Estate, without being a landlord. Has anyone heard about him or his company? I would be interested in anything you have heard, good or bad.

We are paying about $52,000 per year for the Care Center.

So, there are the choices. What would you invest in?

The Sacrament

Pres. McKay – Talking about the sacrament in Gospel Ideals – "We must come to a “true sole acknowledgement of its Deep Spiritual Significance."

Christ took the twelve apostles into a special guest house and celebrated with them, for the last time the Feast of the Passover. Then, with the twelve still there, he instituted the sacrament.

Matt. 26:36-40
Christ took only the three members of the First Presidency, Peter James and John, with him to Gethsemane and asked them to stay and watch for him. He had something very special that he wanted to share with those three leaders of His Church only. He wanted them to witness one of the most important events in the history of the earth, something he had just explained to the twelve just minutes earlier. He was replacing the law of sacrifice with the sacrament. Christ wanted them see the reason for the change and the fulfillment of the old law of sacrifice. He wanted them to witness the atonement. But they fell asleep. When He found them sleeping he asked them, “Could you not watch with me one hour? How would that make you feel if you were one of them?

Apply that question to yourself. Could you not watch (stay awake) with me one hour? (15 minutes while the sacrament is administered so the atonement can take effect in your life?) This is a one on one “spiritual experience”.

We can see and hear Christ every Sunday. Our sins are remitted every Sunday, cleansed by the sacrament, if we have repented and come prepared. We come to know the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ and how much they love us and care for us.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving was great. We went to Tiff and Mike's. Tiff had a yummy meal prepared for us. There were only eight of us there. Tiff, Mike, Carter, Mikes parents, McKay, DeAnne and I. We had a great meal, fabulous deserts, a chance to talk, watched a little football and played catch with Carter, with his football. He is getting pretty good!

Then some of them played Guitar Hero. I also had the chance to walk outside and listen to how quiet it is out there in Eagle Mountain. It is amazing. I love the sound of silence. I am thankful for being able to appreciate the way it energizes me. It let's me reflect and ponder the things that are important. I am so thankful for our family and for the chance to see how you all parent your children. You all have a special talent and understanding for how to teach your children. I am impressed will the way you all do it! Don't ever stop parenting.

Tiff also sent us home with leftovers, which we enjoyed all weekend. Thank you Tiff, Mike and Carter for a great Thanksgiving!

We stopped on our way home and visited Mom. She was quite confused and it was not a great visit, but it was time well spent.

We love you all!

Five Things (Tagged)

Emity tagged me and I'm not sure how to get the form, or even if there is one, but I will do what I can do.


Five Things I don't leave the House without

Keys
Eye glasses
Driver’s license
My black binder and my Mom’s Checkbook
Morning Prayer


Five Cartoons I watched when I was Younger

Woody Woodpecker. (He had lots of red hair.)
Chip & Dale (the Cute little chipmunks, just to clarify.)
The Huckleberry Hound carton show with Yogi Bear.
Mr. MaGoo (He was a blind as a bat, but everything worked out for him.)
The Road Runner (He always out foxed the fox)


Five Things That Terrify Me

Spiders
Snakes
The thought of something happening to DeAnne.
The thought of loosing my scriptures.
Male in-laws on my side of the family.


Five Things I hate/dislike that everyone else seems to like.

Brownies (I know. . ., but give me cheesecake or give me death)
Pasta without any meat
Cottage cheese in Jell-o
Gummy Bears or worms
Orchestra Music


Five Things I want to do before I Die

I would like to have seen Alaska.
Take DeAnne to upstate New York and Kirtland on a church history tour.
Be watching conference when the prophet announces the building of the Temple in Jackson County.
See Elder Bednar and Elder Holland called to Jerusalem to help the Jews build their Temple in Jerusalem, testify of Christ, and act as the two powerful prophets that John saw.
See McKay get married! (In the Temple of course.)


Five People I tag

The Cat
Jared
Shelby
Christ (Wouldn’t that be interesting?)
Sarah