All About the Argyles

This is Bryce.  He is a very kind 14 year old boy that lives in a neighboring ward.  He knows everything there is to know about fishing.  Almost every day, we see him over here in the ponds across the street from our home with his rod and reel.  He can't get enough of it.  So I had an  idea.    I asked Bryce if he would be willing to teach a "fishing clinic" to some of the cub scouts in my ward.  Lucky us!  He was more than happy too.    He taught those boys a little bit of everything.  He taught them about the different fish on our pond.  What they liked to eat.  He taught them how to set up a rod and reel and put the bait on the hook.  He taught them how to catch little fish called "Brim" and then cut them up and use them as bait to catch the bigger fish.  The boys really enjoyed that part.  And they loved every minute of it.  Now a ...

The Grass Isn’t Always Greener | Rachel Cruze

When Brent was ill all those years, it had a devastating effect on our savings.  There were lots of medications, diagnostic tests, procedures that weren't covered by insurance because they were "experimental".  After all, when you have tried EVERYTHING within protocol, and that hasn't "fixed" the problem, you are willing to try ANYTHING.  In addition, his earning potential went down during much of that time.  Can you imagine trying to be a productive salesman when you feel like you have an incessant spike in the center of your head? So for the last two years we have been on a bit of a self-imposed spending freeze.  Meaning, we assess needs vs. wants and have pretty much agreed to not make any large purchases (unless they were a NEED), or go on any extravagant vacations until we feel like we have covered a lot of the financial ground we want to recoup.  It was a decision that we both have felt good about and have stuck pretty fiercely to. Lately, howe...

I just want to go ahead and admit here, now that I had nothing to do with any of the cuteness of this Court of Honor.  I did this with my cute friends, Sheri and Lori, and they are quite the event planners!  But it was pretty amazing that we got these boys to consent to do a ceremony for their Eagle.  Noe of them really wanted to.  

Oh my goodness gracious!  What a month!  LOTS of changes.  More than I think we have ever had in such a short period of time.  In just a few weeks we were in a newly created ward, with a new Bishop, a new Stake, with a new stake president, new callings, end of the year award ceremonies, mission calls and lots of mission shopping and preparation, and that's just the beginning.  I'm still not really sure how I feel about all this change...  Brent was called to be the 2nd counselor with President Platt.  We love this man and had our own promptings that he would be our new stake's President.  He will be absolutely fantastic and we will learn alot from him. I love this cute meme that I saw on instagram and I thought it described me perfectly.  Tyler (closed eyes and all) and Amy came over to celebrate with us when Tanner opened his mission call.  Cheerleaders gathered for the last pep rally of the year when the incoming 7th g...