Puppies Have Invaded Our Hearts

Blair (my pup)

Dixie (Kayla's pup)

These two pups follow us around, chew on our hands, pee on the floor when we aren't paying attention, force us to go out in the cold when we don't want to, but have captured our hearts anyhow.

We just got back from a frigid winter stroll in Byers Woods.  We wore them out because they a snoring for their long winter's nap.  So much fun.  I think Kayla maybe on to something with this dog training business.

On another note to add to my load I signed up for two more classes at AU.  I'm going to make my principal,license official.  I will look hard for an administration position this spring.  We are going to start looking for the Michigan positions too.  We are ready for phase two or three of the marriage depending on your perspective.  If you don't hear from me much know that I'm typing away on internship projects.  phew and it begins.

More Like Him December Update

So where have I been this year?  I have learned to take on some attributes of the Savior that a year ago I would not have thought possible.  I started with service and ended with patience.  I knew this would not be a perfection goal, but I did learn some things.

1.  How to swallow anger and not react in emotion.  I don't always succeed, but I am better.  This has helped my relationship with my son.  His absence made this a lot easier.  Someday he might take on this goal, that would be amazing.

2.  Waiting on the Lord's timeframe, even if the answer to prayers did not come to pass yet.  Like getting a principal position or additional callings at church.  It is interesting when what I thought was revelation or answer to prayers being yes, did not come to fruition.  Or at least have not come to fruition yet.

3.  Remembering to pray when things are difficult, much soon.  Instead of floundering for days, weeks, or months without asking for divine intervention.  Sometime the intervention is the trial is removed, but this year, instead of having the trial removed I was strengthen or given peace and comfort.

I am going to continue with the goal to develop Christ-like attributes for 2014.  This year's focus is two-fold to make my body a temple by eating more healthy and adding more exercise.  I'm not attaching a pound amount to lose.  I just want to feel better physically.  The second fold is to live up to the 2014 youth theme with my daughter.  "Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him and deny yourselves of all ungodliness," Moroni 10:32.

One thing for sure is this is a process because as I learned "perfection is pending."

All I Want for Christmas Is...

Is two puppies.

What?!  TWO puppies...yep we did it, broke all our own rules and got the kids each their own puppy.

But, before you judge, I am going to raise Kota's puppy when he leaves on his mission.  Kayla has been wanting a puppy for years.  She is planning on being a dog trainer as a profession, and needed the dog for her schooling.  We found when getting the cats that having two was easier on the animal and did the same with the pups.

Crazy?  Yeah, but the kids had one of their favorites this year.  Potty training is interesting, but they wanted the dogs.

 

Both puppies were good at helping unwrap presents.  They will be great additions to the family.  Welcoming Blair and Dixie to the house.

Christmas Dinners

We started the weekend going to mom's Christmas dinner.  She had it catered at a new place in Ashland.  It was delicious and beautiful and so much less stressful on her.

Malea helped Santa deliver all the packages.  So cute!!!

It was fun to visit with Aunt Cyndi and her children.  Lots of fun that evening.

 Sunday we ventured to Dad's house and had Christmas dinner number two.  It was fun and yummy too.

It was fun sitting with the brother and sister and watching the energy of the little nieces and nephews.  It is fun watching the little children and how their eyes shine while they get presents.  It is fun being with family.

Next year this guy will be out on a mission, so I am soaking up every jolly moment I can.

 

I love this time of year.

90 Years and Counting

 We celebrated Grandpa Steigerwalt's 90th birthday on Friday the 13th--his actual birthday.  It was fun to get together with my aunts and uncles.  We don't do that very much anymore.  I sure did love talking with them.

This is the kind of guy my Grandpa is: a builder.  He worked for Steigerwalt Builders for a long time.  When he got home, he worked with my dad on the farm; we grew up on.  Grandpa was used to 14-16 hour days.  He always had time to be nice to the grandkids.  You hardly ever saw him without a smile on his face.

He was all about the golden rule of treating others how you wanted to be treated.

Grandpa would come over to our house every Christmas morning because he wanted to be around when kids were opening packages on Christmas morning.

Grandpa would help build projects for school with us and he showed us how to do things the old-fashioned way often...like butchering our own meat for the freezer.  He had sayings like "enough salt to track a rabbit" when we were making our own sausage.

 

I think my favorite memories are grandpa taking us ice skating.  There was a box of ice skates in his closet.  And we would try them on until we got a size that worked from the old skates.  We'd waddle from the house to the creek about a football field or so from the house.  He would take a scoop shovel  from the farm and push the youngest grandkid around in the shovel.  We thought he was talented because he could do a figure eight.  Grandpa was awesome about giving us the gift of his time.  He always had time to talk to us or tell stories.  I loved growing up in the house next door.

Now Grandpa can't remember who we are.  He is pretty healthy, except for the memory.  I think that is okay, I hope he is happy where ever his mind is, because he sure has a legacy of love all around him. 

One of my funniest memories is when Grandpa thought it would be a good idea for me to drive his standard truck in the corn field at age 15 while he was sitting on the tailgate with a hand-crank broadcaster for seeds.  His idea was that I would drive while he sowed the seeds.  I don't know how many times I threw him off the back of the tailgate before I got the hang of it.  He would smile while getting up and explain what I had to do with the clutch and brake, again.  And again... and again...

Gramps, I love you!  Happy Birthday, I hope you have as many more as you want!

Still Waiting

Well, he met with the Stake President on Sunday.  Papers went to the next level.  I wonder if they will come in before Christmas?  We shall see.  This is so exciting.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We like to put up our tree the day after Thanksgiving, and this year wasn't any different.  We had the tradition for several years of going to Grandma Beninghof's house to cut a tree, but we're unable this year because she had to cut them all down this past summer.  Her land is in a government program to not farm or to let reforestication.  So we had to find a new place to get a tree.  This year we bought a tree from TSC in town.  We got a beautiful Frasier Fur for $20.

You know this is just about my favorite tree we've decorated.  We started decorating with the kids who both had to be some where else.  We ended up decorating on our own.  I think it turned out great.  It's amazing how each tree we decorate turns out so different, but we have the same old decorations.  The one the kids complain about the most is the angel on top of the tree.

I love that angel.  I remember where Kyle and I got it.  We were on our honeymoon in Asheville, NC visiting the Biltmore Estates. We went into the Christmas shop there just to browse and Kyle pointed her out to me.  We bought her.  Each year I unwrap her, I remember that beautiful day in NC and how much fun we had that day at the beginning of our marriage.  I still think she's beautiful.