What a Difference a Decade Makes

Tomorrow will be 10 years since we bought our first house. We were living in Wymount Student Housing at BYU and I was working for the BYU PD as a dispatcher. Christopher was only a few months old, and we realized that we couldn't stay in those tiny apartments for very long.

Topher, Jared, and Meile

The house had belonged to another dispatcher at BYU and we really fell in love with it from the first sight. I still remember showing the video tape to Becky's parents when they came down from Boise for Debi and Steve's wedding. Funny thing, I also remember the great rolls and raspberry butter at the reception dinner too. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Anyway, back to pining for the old days..... We moved in March and it was one of the best places you could choose for that time of our lives. A great ward, lots of families with kids our age, and we had two wonderful bishops. I was lucky enough to be the Cubmaster and Becky served as Primary President. Jared was born in Payson when we were living there, and that was where we experienced all the MPA portion of my schooling. We still had Becky's Toyota, and went through two station wagons: one I wrecked (that is a story unto itself) and one to replace it which was a total lemon. Sold to us by some Ute fans! No, I'm not bitter! After six months and $5000 of repairs, we unloaded it and got the van. Still have the van today.

Our Big Adventure
Then, four years later, in March of 2003, we moved again to Sterling, Colorado. I had graduated in August of 2002 from the MPA and this was my first big-time job. It was a new position as the emergency manager and 911 dispatch director. It was our first big adventure as a young family. I still remember packing all our belongings into the lower floor of the townhome, and painting the upstairs until the last minute. Darren Keele and his father even helped. What great people!

When we moved to Sterling, it was a real change for us. We were lucky enough to find a great home north of town, after renting an apartment for the first few months. In Sterling, we met some of the most fantastic people we will ever know. Many of them are members of this blog and they know just how much we love and admire them. Both Daina and Matthew were born in Sterling, Matthew only three weeks old before we moved again. I served as Assistant Scoutmaster and Becky was Primary President. (I see a pattern developing...) We also grew by one dog, a stray we named Lucky.

A great home, terrible yard!

Our house was a great place, but the yard was always awful. Inside, we had plenty of space, storage areas, places for the kids to keep their toys (junk) out of sight. We loved the double-deck outside and always dreamed of getting a telescope for viewing the skies that were almost totally free of light pollution. We also had the best sunsets ever!


However, the water was from a soft water well, and growning anything there was a challenge. The yard easily grew weeds, most of which I am allergic to. Mowing was simply keeping the kochia weeds at bay. It was only when we were about to move that we put in some salt-tolerant sod, and only in the front. I never got that yard to where I wanted it.

Moving from Sterling in 2007 was very bittersweet. The new job in Nebraska was a step up and into something that was more likely to meet our long-term needs. However, leaving our friends, particularly those in the wonderful Sterling Ward, was so very hard. We have often wished we could have joined this new job opportunity with the wonderful Sterling Saints.

Welcome to the Land of Cornhuskers!
In May 2007, we moved to Grand Island, Nebraska. Becky found a similar, but more developed, job here that offered things that Sterling could not. We spent February and March 2007 interviewing and looking for houses. In fact, the whole family came with us for the February visit. We told the kids it was a "work trip" and that I had "work meetings." However, before and after the interview, Meile repeatedly asked us why we were just "driving around looking at houses!"

We accepted the job in March and since Becky was due with Matthew in early May, we delayed my start until May 15. We thought we would have about two weeks after Matthew and I would leave, and Becky would move out with the kids at the end of the month, following school. Well, Matthew was late, by about four days, born on May 8. That left me only one week before moving to Nebraska. The two weeks that followed were filled with the stress of a newborn, separated parents, moving to another state, and the revelation that the man who had been fired from my job, and was suing to get it back, had won his case. (That's a completely different story as well...)



We have found a wonderful place to live here in Grand Island. Christopher called it our "half-mansion" because of the vaulted ceilings. We love our home and are lucky that it has the yard that we never had in Sterling. One week after we moved in, our Bishop met with us and said, "We prayed you here." Soon, we had callings and yes, I am the Scoutmaster and Becky is in the Primary Presidency.


Ten years, three homes, numerous callings (all quite related) three new children, a dog, two station wagons, a van, two work trucks, two offices, tens of thousands miles in the car going back and forth. But best of all, countless wonderful friends... We are truly the luckiest people I know.