Interesting occurrence

Well, I had originally planned to take a Microsoft certification test(070-290) this weekend at a testing center I have found to be open on Saturdays. Last time I took a test at this center it took forever for them to get my registration paper work ready prior to taking my test. So I thought I would be proactive and call the day before to give them a heads up. Good thing I did. I found out that the testing center wasn't going to be open and there was a miscommunication with Prometric regarding their availability. I found this whole situation to be rather interesting. I wasn't feeling too prepared for the exam even though I have read almost two books worth of material and spent plenty of time working with Windows 2003 Server. A similar thing happened to me last time I took a Microsoft exam. I went to the testing site, feeling unprepared and Prometric just happened to be having problems with their servers that day. I rescheduled my exam, took a few more days for preparation, and passed the test. I hope that is what will happen again this semester. Someone might consider these little bumps in the road as annoying or inconvenient, but I think they are heaven sent. I am not the type to drop out of a class or postpone an exam because I don't feel ready, so I feel like God is helping me on my way to do better. Even if I don't pass the exam the first time, I feel more prepared now than yesterday in taking the exam. We shall see, but I really feel good about what happened. The bad part was I really wanted to go and see my family and because gas prices are so high and Heather wasn't feeling well(besides the fact she has surgery on Monday), we elected not to go. I will get to see my family at our house later this week, but in some ways it is not the same. I guess there has to be a downside to everything.

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend was nice for us. We were able to spend time together and get other things done also. On Saturday I was able to repair the rest of the roof. We have a few places where individual shingles have either broken or came off. I spent more time than I should up on the roof as I have a test less than a week away, but I feel better knowing that it is done and there isn't anymore tar paper showing. There is a spot on the roof I might redo. When I initially tried to fix the roof I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. I still don't know much, but at least my eyes are accustomed to how the shingles are supposed to lay. I don't think I will have any problems with leaks right away, but it bothers me it wasn't done better. I have other things to worry about. Heather was able to get a lot of laundry done and is trying to get better so she can have gall bladder surgery the first week in June. Christian is just a little character. He always wants to be on his feet. Even tonight as we tried to bathe him, he refused to sit down. He would push back again me as I held him and stand up. It took both of us to bathe him. In thinking about the poll we had a while back on our blog, I believe that Christian will likely walk by 1o months. If he already puts that much weight on his legs now, I don't think he will have any trouble walking by that time. We are the ones who are going to have trouble. Heather is going to be way tired chasing after this little squirt. Who knows maybe something will happen and Christian won't walk that young, which could be a real blessing. Yesterday, on Sunday we went and saw some of the graves of family and also one of my best friends growing up. Because we are concerned with security we elected not to post the pics of the family graves, but I did want to post the pictures of Caleb's grave because there no inherent link between us . The oddest thing about the whole matter is that Heather's deceased family and Caleb are buried in the same graveyard though Heather and I grew up almost 300 miles away.

Christian bonding with his car seat.

Christian's latest game

Having fun......

Here are some recent pictures. We have been having fun lately but haven't updated our blog very often.

Heather shows off one of Christian's monkey blankets

Christian enjoys sucking on some tasty plastic beads, definitely high in food value.

Christian sits up by himself for at least a moment or two.

Christian in his walker, feet on the floor and ready to go

Sunday Stroll

Today we went for a Sunday walk. The weather was better than we wanted it to be, probably high 80s. When you sit on your softer end inside of a temperature controlled office all day you forget that heat is not for the light hearted. Our walk made me wonder how I used endure being outside for work. Christian seemed to do okay. He didn't cry at all, which makes me think he tolerates hot better than cold. Doing better in the heat would make sense per his genetics. After our walk we took some pictures of Christian and the stroller.

Christian Rolls Live

Heather and I were working on putting Christian to sleep tonight. He didn't really want to go to bed. Heather put him down and then ran to get the camera. Heather said something to the effect of: "I am going to try to get him on camera turning over". It seems that Christian only rolls when he gets mad, and tonight was no exception. After a few video clips taken this is what we came up with:

Family Home Evening Fun

Chris and I decided last week that we were going to have more productive family home evenings. We out line the calendar with each week. The first Monday of the month is Finance. The second Monday is a fun activity. The third is food storage and the last Monday of the month is spiritual. Since this week was a fun activity we decided to go to Settlement Canyon Reservoir. Chris decided to go fishing. I took some awesome pictures of him fishing and the beautiful scenery.

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Today is Heather's first "real" Mother's Day. I say real because before she always felt depressed and sort of left out. But now we have Christian!!!!Yeah!!!!! Both Heather and Christian are sleeping right now so I thought I would write a message while I had a moment. I am so thankful that I have Heather in my life. She is so good for me; we balance each other out.

I spoke with my own Mother earlier today and she seemed to be doing well. I am glad to be her son and hope she is happy with what I've done with my life so far. Nevertheless, referencing my previous blog, I still hold a melancholy outlook. Thinking to myself lately, the question dawned: "The year is 2008, I graduated from High School almost nine years ago, and what have I become?" Certainly blessings frequently occur in my life. Certainly my circumstances could be worse. The most sobering fact of all: my choices and attitude exercise ultimate influence over my future. The outcome depends solely on me. I am definitely thankful for my job, home, and family. However, I often feel the slow pace of my educational pursuits depresses my outlook on the future. Now as a father, I feel this worry heightens my sense of urgency to get where I want to be.........Okay, Commercial Break.............I am sure that you all are sick of my rambling reflections so I am going to post some pictures of the ever popular Chocolate Christian:






The pictures listed above were from last weekend. We went to Richmond to see my nephew Cory receive the Aaronic Priesthood. Well, we are going to Farmington to celebrate Mother's Day. Thanks for your time and Congrats all Mothers and Mothers to be!!!!!

Inconsistent Blogging

Our blog is really going down hill. It seems we never update it anymore. Okay, so maybe once a week. I have felt bad about this and sort of in a melancholy mood. So, as a means of solving the problem here I am. I should be in bed as church begins at 9:00am tomorrow, but I really felt like doing something else. Earlier we attended the Tavaci concert for Mark and Cheree's children. This went pretty well and Christian was really good. Afterward we had dinner and watched a movie on Mark's projector. Thanks Mark and Cheree for the good food and letting us spend time with your children!!! We arrived home really late, and as I mentioned before, I should be in bed but I am not.

I guess I would not be doing anyone a favor if I didn't include a picture or video of Christian. He is getting so big, yet is still very small. I can't believe how strong he is though. He fights when you feed him. If he doesn't want the bottle in his mouth he finds a way to push it out, even if it is temporary. Earlier this week, Christian rolled over for Heather. She finally got the privilege of witnessing this relatively new baby skill.