The Past Life

Well here I am again...up late...darn school! I should have been smart and finished it long ago! I decided I should put some pictures of our past life up here. As many people know we were enlisted in the US Coast Guard before moving back to lovely Boise. For a little under 5 years we lived on the Oregon Coast. I was able to experience life on a boat for 1 year and 20 days...not that I was counting! Boat life is not exactly the greatest family life so I decided to join the Aviation field and am glad I did. The friends I made on the boat were awesome and the same goes for those in the Aviation community. Maybe someday we will meet again, maybe I will have the uniform on once again. Many people know that upon getting out I joined the Air Guard and love my weekend job....I am drawn to the military life and it gives me a little glimpse every drill weekend of what I love so much! Anyways....life in the military is fun and exciting and who can say that they had an office with a view like this!

Kelli came along with us on a family cruise when I was on the USCGC Orcas(WPB-1327)Carrying line....in my gas station uniform....

This is our first house....888sq ft. This is after we painted it...it was our little beach bungalow. We lived on up the street from the river and about 15mins from the beach. What a great starter home!

They grow up really fast!

Until next time,

Joshua

PS Here are some good quotes!

“Sometimes we let our thoughts of tomorrow take up too much of today. Daydreaming of the past and longing for the future may provide comfort but will not take the place of living in the present. This is the day of our opportunity, and we must grasp it.”

Thomas S. Monson

"There is no obstacle to great, no challenge too difficult, if we have faith."

Gordon B Hinckley

Halloween fun

So here is our start to Halloween Day. We waited until the day of Halloween to carve our pumkins. Ben could not wait any longer. Josh's and my schedule are opposite so it leaves very little together time as a family some days in this case most of this week but Ben was very paitent with us.

Katie of course had to throw in a tantrum. I think she was worried that Ben was the only one who got to carve by himself......

Ben did really great this year with getting all that gross stuff out. I just realized that I don't have any pictures of Josh on Halloween. It's usually the other way around, he cleaned out most of the pumkins....Thanks Josh!

Mmmmmmm Good!

Of course Josh got some cute pictures of Ben and most of his skeletons (aka Ha Ha). But he's starting to get a big collection it makes me a little nervous. How many kids collect skeletons?

Both the kids picked out the stencils for their pumpkins. Of course Katie picked a hard one so it did't turn out that great. Josh doesn't like the stencils he likes the plain old toothless faces.

Anyways we had a good Halloween! We had some friends over before we went out and had some potato soup. I made it all by myself it is a very easy recipe. And the kids made their own pizzas. Then we went around our neighborhood. Some of the kids were afraid of our house because we have a loud witch that makes a laughing/howling sound, so we had to shut it off. Katie was a little spooked as we started out because a Grim Reaper was following us around while making our first stops. So we had to ask the kid to show her his face to show it was a person, poor girl! But she does that even if kids are playing around her with any costume with a mask. We were at a friends house and all the kids were dressed up playing spiderman, batman, Turtle and she got freaked everytime they got near her....to funny.

Being Home

Well greetings to everyone....this is Josh and I will make some posts now and then on here. What an awesome time I have been able to have with the family upon returning home. It is amazing to spend time with the loves of my life. I am such a blessed husband and father! I have a wife who is willing to put up with me and my work! I have children that are just bundles of joy, 99.8% of the time....

It was quite a long summer, longer for Kelli than me, but it is good to have it all out of the way. Now I can move forward and finish some college and pursue whatever crazy job that pops up in my sights. It was kinda interesting that on Sunday we talked about Joseph Smith and his letters to his family while he was traveling and being persecuted. It was interesting to hear alot of the comments from those in the class and then to have my own thoughts running around in my head. I, as Joseph Smith, missed my family so much while I was away. Unlike him I was not being persecuted or hurt but had it pretty easy. No waiting for letters, just a phone call or a click of the mouse away. It is amazing that when you talk to the family it takes all your worries away...when you know that all is okay the day just seems to go better.

My family is my life and I would and will do anything for them. I cannot express how much they mean to me in words, it is literally impossible. I am so grateful to know that I will be able to spend eternity with them! For those of you who have children, remember how precious they are and love them always, even if they pee on the carpet or write on the wall! They are a gift from God!

It is just awesome to be home!

"People need spiritual anchors in their lives if they are to remain steadfast and not drift into the sea of temptation and sin."
—Elder M. Russell Ballard

Ensign, Dec. 1993, 50