Pranks, Procrastination and Piety

Some people NEVER grow up! Toilet-papering (or any other form of vandalism) your neighbors house, door-bell-ditching or the flaming bag of poop. Take your pick. It was funny, then annoying and now its just downright juvenile which means I'm old. I'll cut teenagers some slack because I was once a teenager and I got a lot of kicks out of the tricks and I don't want to rob my sons of making memories that don't include an overnight stay with law enforcement. But someone has been playing a REALLY bad joke on us.

Chase and Jen kept getting random private calls on their cell phones. The person on the other end, never spoke or responded to their repeated "hello's" or requests to stop the behavior. That is, until Jen finally threatened to bring in the police. Then as sudden as it started, the calls stopped completely. We're still tracking the calls so if you're reading this blog and you think you're ready to spend some extended time with law enforcement, please give it another shot so we can send you there faster!

How do you get your son to move a little faster? I mean, has anyone else had to BEG your kid to get a drivers license so that they can drive the car you bought them? The one that's been sitting outside gathering dust, bird poop and rust? Seems strange to me because when I was a 16-year-old, all I ever wanted was to get behind the wheel of a car. Until he can finally get that drivers test done (he's got until the end of today), the car will stay parked on the curb and he will continue to walk to school. I'm still not sure if that's enough motivation.

Our work with the young men in the Lehi 41st Ward is progressing towards several rank advancements including Mica's to Life Scout. We're very proud of the Scouts we've been working with. They have made a lot of sacrifices and they have been working hard. Jen and I are so excited for our Blue & Gold Banquet (Jen's in charge) and our first Court of Honor since moving to the Ward. We'll have pictures and more from both events.

We've been trying to get our boys up to speed on the new Duty to God program and that's been a struggle. Does anyone else feel like there's never enough time in the day to get things done? Between school, work, church and all of the sports we participate it, its hard to feel like we've accomplished anything during the week. Oh well, on to February. We're gonna give it our best shot.

New and Newsworthy to Us

One of my (Seti) many New Year's resolutions in 2011 has been to make sure that I do everything in my limited power as a living, breathing, working, husband and father, is to make the people in my life happy. If you're a spouse and a parent you know firsthand that making your household happy is much harder than trying to lose weight, chase chickens or herd cats.

So far I think I'm making good on my promise and part of that resolution is to update this blog regularly. I started a new job (which is actually an old job that I'm going back to after five years). Yeah for new beginnings, boo for long commutes. Thanks to my friend Rob, I'm back at Ingenix as a Business Analyst. If you have a few hours and want to know what exactly it is that I do every day, let me know and we'll sit down over a cup of cocoa and try to figure it out together.

It was sad to leave my friends at Ancestry.com. They were VERY good to me and I've made some great friends there. I hope to stay in touch with them (they probably don't feel the same way).

Jen is still working as a Manager at Greenwood Assisted Living, moonlights as a Scout guru, football (fanatic) mom, rugby mom, mom to the world and the love of my life. She still moves through life at an incredible pace. She is amazing. I'd bottle up that kind of energy but its nuclear and harmful for a normal person's health.

Kingston got a haircut. No more Polamalu-like hair on the football field. His friends and family members are still trying to figure out who the 'new kid' is when we go places as a family. Its so nice to see his face again. He donated all of his hair to Locks of Love, a cause that is close to my heart after watching my mother lose her beautiful hair to cancer. The hair actually goes to children, but its still a great and worthy cause.

All of the boys, Kingston, Chase, Mica, Kenyon and Quinn are currently playing basketball but can't wait until they can get back on the rugby pitch. Practices start up next month. Aside from that, we're enjoying school and our time in our new ward. We're now attending the Lehi 41st (Tongan) Ward with Abby and Sam Havea and their kids. Its been a blessing for us to serve in multiple callings there and we're making a lot of wonderful new friends while strengthening old bonds.

Here's are some recent photos of our family (thanks Alisha!) from earlier this month. God bless you all and we hope you're having a very wonderful 2011 so far.