A New Year-- 2009

It is hard to believe that a new year is upon us. It seems that time goes so quickly and there is never enough of it. The holiday season brought a lot of joy and fun for our family. We were able to enjoy the hustle and bustle of holiday parties, music performances and family traditions. As the kids get older, they remember the traditions and sometimes have to remind me. I'm glad that the memories are being created and the time that we spend together means something to them.

With the various music performances we had (singing and violin) we were able to get down to temple square a few times this season and enjoy the lights and festivities there. Walking around the temple grounds always helps to bring the true spirit of Christmas into the season.


Of course with the new year comes goals and changes and we have had both. The biggest change we've had to start the new year off with is a new ward. Our ward was once again realigned. We have lived in the same home for six years and this will be our third ward. We have decided to look at it as an opportunity to make even more friends. With the new ward came new callings. James is now the bishop of our new ward. The call from our Stake President came on the eve of Christmas Eve. We have learned from past visits with the stake presidency, the calls come spur of the moment. After answering the phone, you are usually given about ten minutes to get down to the Stake President's office. (The first time this happened was the night I got home from the hospital after having Matthew.) This process gives new meaning to the scout motto: "Be Prepared."

Upon arriving at the Stake President's office, we were greeted and James was led into the office to chat. Then he came out and I was led into the office for a nice visit, afterwards, we were both brought in and the call was extended to James to be the bishop. We were both very surprised because we were not prepared for the ward to be realigned, let alone have a new calling. The meeting that transpired after the call was extended was full of emotions and a time I think we will never forget.

This last week the meetings were held, the wards were split, and announcements were made. When we finally told the kids what was happening they took it much better than I expected. Because such a small area of our old ward is being pulled out and put into this new ward, they are being split off from nearly all of their friends. I expected them to be upset but they truly surprised me with excitement for the opportunity to meet new friends. They have been very positive about still keeping their friends from our old ward and have been an example to me.