Door Stop

We ate at a little restaurant about 15 minutes north of us called the Door Stop.  They are featured on Diners, Dives and Drive-thrus.  The one dish they feature on the show is french toast battered and dipped in corn flakes so that its crunchy on the outside.  This will be a must eat when you come to Pittsburgh to visit.

We had a good time with Bracken's family over Thanksgiving.  We had turkey, yams, potatoes, cranberry sauce and pie. 

Our stuff arrived yesterday and I spent all day at the house pointing where things went to the movers.  I also took some time to switch out lights throughout the house.  The only problem I ran into was an exposed wire in the master that threw up a flame ball in my face and made my thumb go numb.  Here is a picture I got a Lils dressing up like a Tinkerbell.

Eagle Scout Dinner

Erin and I attended the Pittsburgh area Eagle Scout Recognition dinner last night in downtown Pitt.  CONSOL purchased a table of 6, as they do each year, and passed tickets out.  Normally, the tickets never get lower than the Vice Presidents of the company but this year Cody was not able to go.  He flew out last night to attend a conference in Paris, France.  He gave me the tickets and said this is a network meeting.  We had fun and the meal was pretty good.  I was able to rub shoulders with others from the company and it was nice getting away from the kids for awhile as well.

Erin had a good birthday.  Thanks to everyone who called and wished her a happy day.  I didn’t get her a gift; she asked instead that she be allowed to buy some things for the home once we are in it.

Kena is feeling better, but now Lils has the fever.  This is a weird flu virus that includes symptoms like sores in the mouth.  

They are painting and laying the floors in the house.  We have built a good relationship with the guy and have invited him to church.  He has kids our age and a boy on the way in December.

Afternoon Drive

We went to Mingo Creek Park this past Saturday and were planning on letting the girls run rampant, but they were both fast asleep when we got there.  So instead, Erin and I drove through the park and visited the two covered bridges in the park and enjoyed the afternoon talking while we drove.  We first drove over Ebenezer Bridge.

 

Then we went to Henry Bridge. Henry’s bridge was built in 1881. I don't know who built these bridges, but they are amazing and the park is nice.

Turning Cold

The leaves are all falling and everyone is raking.  That is the general feel of the neighborhood right now.  We met our next door neighbor and had a good talk.  They are from Ohio, but have been in the neighborhood for years now.  She is really nice and loved meeting Kena and Lily.

The day I arrived for work, I was put in charge of a documentation project for Materials and Supply Chain Management.  It has been difficult so far trying to track people down in order to get them interviewed and the different processes documented.  I am sure it will continue to be a challenge going into the end of year.  I was told in a meeting I needed to be ready for the first training class about mid November.  That will be fun, me doing training for employees that have spent their whole lives in the industry and companyJ

Our house just got a facelift, the roof, soffit and fascia have all been completed and now they are working on the inside of the house.  The builder says that they still plan on being done mid-November right when our stuff comes out.

This was the before picture, I will post the after soon.

Halloween

I went to the trunk o treat for our ward two nights ago.  I was surprised by the turnout.  We had about 30 cars there and lots of kids as well. It was a lonely night without Erin and kids though.  Erin was nice enough to send me some pictures of the girls.

 Cuteness!!!

Settling In

I went in to Pittsburgh and snapped some pictures.  I stumbled across Primanti Bros restaurant, home of the coleslaw, french fry burger.  I also went to the Fort Pitt museum.  It is weird to think that this area was well inhabited by Europeans well before we were a nation.  George Washington fought his first battle here against the french.

There are lots of bridges that cross the three rivers to lead into Pittsburgh.  The rivers are the Monogahela, the Ohio and the Allegheny.  These rivers are massive, like the Mississippi in Nauvoo.  We are about 20 minutes from Pittsburgh following I-70  going SW.  The ward building is about 10-15 minutes SW in Washington, PA going down I-70.  Work is only 4 minutes from Cody's and since we are moving in next door, it will be nice to come home for lunch and not having to worry about commuting into the office.

My office is located on the first floor of a 4 floor building.  The building is shaped like a C and is only a few years old.  I report to a gal who works out of an office in the middle of nowhere in VA.

Bridalveil Falls

We went with Erin's cousin Matt and his family to Bridalveil Falls.  The kids enjoyed building a dam and playing in the freezing cold water.  It was nice to spend some time with them before leaving.

PA

It was a crazy-long drive from Utah to Penn.  I drove along I-80 and passed through Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa, then decided to take another route and continued on through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia before crossing into PA.

I took this while the car was moving because I wasn't going to waste my time stopping.

I also stopped to get a looksy at our closest temple. This is the Columbus, OH temple and is about 2.5 hours away from us. Very pretty and very mini.

The most exiting thing about having a boy...

TOYS.

I mean buying dolls, barbies, strollers, and hula hoops is great n all...but now we get into the good stuff.  Stuff like: Hot Wheels, Nerf toys, Balls for every sport, and toy guns.  Not to mention having someone to play Xbox 360 with.  Check out the Nerf Vulcan Gun...gotta have it.

What were your favorite toys when you were a kid?  My favorite toys of all, not that I had a lot compared to my kids now-a-days, would have to have been these little plastic wrestling characters.  I had a bunch and Omai had some as well.  The best of my lot was this one I called Ninja.  He was tall and wiry and dressed like a ninja. (Creative name huh?)  I would set up wrestling matches every day even having battle royal where everyone would enter the ring.  Fun times.  HOLY MOSES, I FOUND THE ACTUAL WRESTLING GUYS WE USED TO HAVE.  WE HAD THIS PACKET OF WRESTLERS!!!!!!

Thurs

This Thursday we find out if we will add another girl to the family in January or if we forge new territory with the addition of a boy. I have heard that boys are easier to raise, but all we know is what we have now. Lils and Kena are getting to be a handful as of late, but are so cute.

For FHE last night, Lily was telling us the story of 'Daniel and the Lion King'. She had all the right details except the title and the fact that the lions were biting Daniel. Still, even though the story changed a little, it's still amazing the amount that kids retain from their Sunday classes.

Bank Account

We took Lily to the bank the other day because she had completed the challenge of filling up her piggy bank.  The goal was to fill it up to the 'bank account' line so she could open an account.  Both she and Kena had fun picking up loose change and depositing it into the pig.  It took about 2.5 months to reach the line.

The challenge also helped Erin and I stop and pick up change instead of passing it by.  Lily is holding up her $35 bones in the picture.

Next challenge is to refill the piglet for Kena.

The Perfect Job

What would be your perfect job?

Would this job description be enticing?  Over 700 people applied.

How enticing does this job posting sound?

MEN WANTED

For hazardous journey

Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete

Darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful

Honour and recognition in case of success.

This was the ad that Ernest Shackleton took out of the paper for his legendary trip to Antarctica.  This is one of the greatest leaders that I have ever read about.  He brought his whole crew back alive after countless setbacks should have killed them.

Weekend in Cinci

We had such a great time visiting my bro and his fam in Cincinnatti this weekend. I got to hold my sweetest little baby niece and the cousins got to be silly and have so much fun. Thanks guys for having us! Here are some of my favorite pics. (FYI the picture where Lily has the black choker up her nose she was pretending to be an elephant....so funny. Also, the pic where the girls are eating leaves..they were just enjoying some fresh basil)

Graduation in Phoenix

This is for T-Bone...I know it has been a while and I am sitting at my computer on hold with the bank technical support so why not make a post.

This is from back in April when Riki and Keri graduated from Grand Canyon University. We went to Phoenix to see the campus and to see them walk. We stayed with my aunt Holly in Gilbert and it was so fun to see them and their beautiful neighborhood. Keri and her parents got a hotel.

Riki graduated with his MBA in finance and Keri got her Masters of Education with an emphasis in Technology I think. The first day was commencement with each of their colleges and that was pretty cool with some neat speakers. Then we toured the campus which was beautiful and took pics in their robes. The only way I got them to was to tell them we wouldn't do any pictures the next day.


Later that night we had a BBQ with the Graybill cousins at a really cool park in Scottsdale. These are cousins I have never met before so that was really fun....and the food was yummy! Thanks guys.

Here are a couple pics from the following day of graduation at Chase Field for the entire school. My aunt Holly picked me up some flowers at Costco and we watched a you tube video on how to make leis so I could surprise Rik and Ker with some. They turned out pretty good for being made by a palangi.
My hot graduate.
Congrats guys!

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