Mission Call

so my papers have been in for a while now, and its possible for me to get my call as early as this Wednesday! so I'm taking guesses on where I'll go. If by an off chance you guess it right, i just decided I'll buy you JCW's, and everybody likes food, so go ahead and guess!

Fun Blog -

Allright, I put a link (to the right) to a fun site that makes you (at least me) think you CAN live off of your food storage. Plus some great ideas! Now we have a link that we can check it out all of the time and get new ideas!

Return of the Toyota

Yahoo, I get to pick up my car today!!!

Though I have enjoyed my rental, but it's just not the same.

After several evenings of nothing but studying it will be fun to do something different!!

Tile is down

I thought, as I have nothing else to say about myself or my fam, that I would keep you all updated on Greg and Trish's new house. The tile is now down, grout tonight, and countertops on Saturday. Since that is what I am most involved in right now, you all now know what is happening in my life.
PS Have fun in Texas Doug!

diary entry...

A lot of people like to use their blog as a sort of diary. I guess that they enjoy telling the whole world about their lives. Usually, I am a bit more private, but what the heck...here goes:
I woke up. I started eating breakfast, but the red fruit loops got soggy quicklyer than the blue and green. I had to throw my cereal away. Then I fed my son Jonas. I forgot to feed Ian. Kati and Ian went to church. Jonas was sick. I stayed home. I cleaned, yes--even on Sunday. Kati came home. So did Ian. We ate crepes w/ a cool cream cheese filling and strawberry jam/nutella accents. Home teacher. Dinner--hash browns, eggs, bacon, orange juice, and by the way, the waffle recipe in the family cookbook cannot be accurate. We are going to eat crepes again when shane gets here in a few minutes. Hope you have all enjoyed this window into my soul.

Hello everyone. Just updating!! We are working hard on the trim work to get it all done to put our house on the market. We are a little burned out and very excited to have Doug to help out. Here are a few pictures of Bryar working hard with us, or getting in the way whichever way you want to look at it. Love you all.

Good News

If the gospel means "good news," then this has to fit in somewhere. Direct TV has reportedly picked up the Mountain. This means that next year we will be able to find all our cougar games in one package. Everyone pray for the gospel to be true!

NEW POLL

Back by popular demand - the ever exciting poll!! This may become a weekly feature - so stay tuned!

MOVED

Current suggestions have included making the music more accessible to turn off. I hope the move to the sidebar will make this easier. No longer do you have to scroll to the bottom of the page!

Political Thoughts

Well, I don't know if you all heard, but today Mitt Romney officially endorsed John McCain. Does anyone out there realize that having a membership in a particular party does not mean that you follow it's platform and should be elected? I am sure that Romney thinks it is for the good of the Republican party, but if that is what the Republican party stands for, then who wants to be a part of that? I wish he would have stood more aloof from McCain, as McCain believes in about 20% of what I do. I have a feeling that if this is the best the Republican party can muster, regardless of Mitt Romney endorsing him, I must still vote against McCain and the wonderful party he pretends to belong to. In case you can't tell, politics is rather disturbing for me at the moment. Sorry.
PS Yes Joe, we will be coming down this weekend to hang with the crowd.

High?

Umm, I think Joe Buck is high. Those high school kids must be passing it to the teachers now.

Anyway, APRIL 3!! Yes, April 3. Mark it on your calendars. Because, the OFFICE is returning to NBC. A brand spankin' new episode. Don't we all have a renewed appreciation for sitcom writers? Other than the tiny little fact that they nearly obliterated the hope for new Dwight-isms and Michael mishaps. I realize, of course, that few readers will truly feel the same way I do, but do I have some kudos from the Shane corner? Awesome.

My Post

I haven't posted for quite a while, though I read everyone's work. There simply isn't too much exciting information going on besides the love I bear for my wife. I must shout it from the top of a place...very high!

Total Cost of Damages

So some of you may know that I've been driving around in a rented Nissan Sentra after a small ice misshap.

I just called the shop where my beloved Toyota is, and it's going to cost $4,500 to restuff the airbags and replace the windshield and front bumper (though I don't know why they're replacing the bumper since there was no damage there).

Anyway, happily my insurance will pay most of that - though in the long run I'll more than pay for it when they raise my rates. Happy Day!!!

The Board Finally Likes Me

Well, just so you all know, I called Boise today, and they informed me that they have approved my application for certification. I still have to pass a test..., but the big hurdle is over. I thought I would tell you now, before we come down this weekend-to avoid all the hugs, kisses, and hail mary's then.

PS Here is Mitch and Melanie's blog address if you are interested
http://mnmchocolatecandyfunhouse.blogspot.com/

Interesting quote on the effect of thought

A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but it is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts.Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armoury of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master. -James Allen, 19th Century British author

Can't sleep hummm...

We are sleeping great here. We just got great news. Joe just got transfered to Alabama so we have to move and be there by the end of May. Why this is great news do you ask? Although this may not be the state of choice, it is a non deployable station for the next three years. Can you imagine!! Joe doesn't have to go back to Iraq for at least three years. And who knows what will be happening by then in our dear country. So, although we have only three months so trim out our entire house (because half of it looks like it used to and the other half looks beautiful from the trim that Joe did to our bedroom and office), and put our house on the market to sell, we are excited. So if anyone is not doing anything and has an extra three hundrend or so dollars to fly out and want to get out of the cold you are more than welcome to come and help out. Oh did I mention have a baby somewhere in the middle of all that too. Life is great here and hopefully your lives are all working out as well.

Can't Sleep

It's 3:19 AM and I can't sleep.  Maybe it would be a good time to look at the ranch blog.

Hopefully this is good night everyone.

Midnight

Yup, it is midnight. Obviously I can't sleep and I am trying to get tired by staring at a computer screen. Well, in my travels this evening through the wonderful world wide web I have found a fun site that you all might appreciate. Well, maybe Val. It is a blog of a lady who takes pictures and gabs about her cattle ranch. She has some fabulous pictures, and she is funny stuff. Check her out! Thepioneerwoman.com

Goodnight! (hopefully)

Thought for the week!

Concrete is made of a mixture of very simple elements which of themselves are not stable enough for a foundation.  But, mixed together in proper sequence and proportions, tiny grains of sand, small pebbles, water,  and cement powder form a unique substance of unusual strength and durability.  For a few hours after the concrete is mixed, it can be poured into any desired form.  At first, before it is completely hardened, even a tiny bird hopping across its soft surface will leave an imprint.  But later, it becomes so firm an elephant could walk over it without leaving any track.

Just a few simple elements,  combined in a proper way,  form a sturdy foundation for a house. So do the simple teachings of the gospel bond together to make a strong foundation for our lives.

In contrast, small grains of salt sprinkled on the concrete can actually cause it to break up and crumble if they are not removed.  Small steps taken in the wrong direction, ignored or uncorrected, will weaken and destroy our lives.   BY SMALL AND SIMPLE THINGS......

May God be with you in the building of your homes.  Love, mom

85 Degrees in TEXAS!!

Wish you were here!



Just got back from a cool trip to Corpus Christi TX. The Army put us up in a hotel right on the beach. I had a ninth floor view of the gulf of mexico. WOW! I flew our aircraft in a flight of eight, through downtown Austin on our way back to Fort Hood today. It was pretty cool. Next week I get to fly one of our aircraft up to New York. It takes three days to get there. Fun!

Love Joe

Snow in Utah

I'm ready to move anywhere that doesn't have snow!!!!   

Address correction update

Hi Kati, will you change Ted and Elise Gilbert's address to 1080 S. 1500 E. Apt. 287, Clearfield, Utah, 84015. Also, Mitch Workman's new email address is: mitchellsads@gmail.com Thanks, mom Elise's is: elisecgilbert@gmail.com

Political Commentary

Amen to Joe's statement about being tired of political deceit.

You'll all be very surprised to hear that I voted today for Ron Paul. Yes, it's true.

I know that he has no chance -

I would like to believe that Romney and Obama are sincere and not just politicians, but perhaps I'm too cynical. McCain and Clinton only seem to inspire venomous comments, but I don't think they're any worse than the other two - in other words, though they each claim to be the candidate of "change," the status quo will remain.

From Joe Buck...

So, it looks like it's definitely McCain--the world's most wonderful man--and either Clinton or Obama. Not much of a buffet. Anyone else just as disenfranchised as myself? (I will be forward enough to admit that of the three, I would vote for Obama) And did anyone hear about the West Virginia primary deal between McCain and Huckabee. Makes you wonder why Huckabee is even in the race still unless it is to spoil Romney (not that I'm a huge Romney fan--I just hate politics and political deceit).

Glen Beck's Tribute to President Hinckley

well a picture was requested of Bryar so here it is. Luckily she pulled off her bandaid and the rest of the glue that was supposed to be holding it together. So you all get a nice view.

girl pictures

I am sure that some of you have looked at Kati's website, and some of you have definitely commented on the need to have pictures of girls on the girl announcements, rather than pictures of Ian and Jonas--so Kim, Kristen, and Tonia, could you put some pics of your little ones up on the blog as infants, or e-mail them to Kati?

Hello everyone just checking in to see what is going on. I hear you are all cold and the snow is pretty deep where you guys live. Too bad. It is only in the 70's here. Ha Ha Ha. Not too much has gone on around here. Bryar had her first nice cut though. She was holding a glass bowl and tripped and cut her forehead. (I'm assuming that is what happened since I was actually in the other room). So on Friday we spent the morning in the emergency room glueing her head back together. It was a lot of fun. But all to no avail because that night we were at a friends house eating dinner and she fell and cut it right back open. We just pulled it together with a bandaid from there. We could have gone back in again to fix it but since then she has opened the cut at least two more times, so we figure she will just have a nice beautiful scar on her forehead. Oh well war wounds are good aren't they? Well, that is the update of the Stoney family's life. Joe is back to work and I am back as well, cooking and cleaning. Until later.

optical illusion

there are no moving parts, cool huh?