A complete mess!!

OK So today I am a complete mess. I have been crying for hours and am having a really really hard time! As most of you know we are moving in 2 weeks to Lehi, UT. Mike is starting with a new job in sales and its completly out of our element so we dont know what to expect. We will also be living with my parents for awhile so we can get on our feet a little. With all the stress of Christmas and moving I have been really struggling. Ashlee and I sat up last night and cried together and our sweet little bubbies Halle came and gave us some good advice. She said "Mommy your supposed to be excited to move so please dont cry mommy!!! You have me." What a blessing and a joy our kids are. Even at the tender age of 5 she knows mommy shouldn't cry so I am trying to stay positive. We will keep you all updated. Merrry Christmas Everyone!
-posted by Kim

Christmas Time

Those of you who really know me, know that Christmas is my most favorite time of year. I am not quite sure if it was because my birthday is in December or what. Grandpa Priday was a great example to me when it came down to loving this time of year. I have found that as I am now responsible for the excitement of not only myself but my wife and kids as well it tends to be more work than I remember being a kid. I must have done something right so far because the kids had the tree and lights up a week and a half before Thanksgiving.

The things I am constantly learing about Christmas:

1. Even though I want one of these

I will be lucky if I get

2. The wife might want....

but she will have to settle for....

Not a gift I would suggest FYI.

For you men out there (and you women who would enjoy a good laugh), I strongly suggest you watch this video (click here)

3. The kids are asking for

but will be sorely disappointed when all they get is

When in all actuallity I am truely grateful to even have a job. Because one of these

keeps me from having to do this....

So as for me and my house this year, we are going to do more of this

and a lot less of

that's a picture of a bunch of escalators in a shopping mall if you can't tell. We are grateful for family and friends. And especially for the real reason we celebrate this season.

Getting Better....Slowly

I finally found time between slaving over a hot stove and cleaning the house to update the blog. Just kidding, the wife is still recovering though (3 1/2 weeks now) and the neighbors/ward have been great in their support through all of this. We've had visits from Grandma and Grandpa Murdock, the Youngs on their way to Disneyland, and several other friends to check on us and make sure we were all doing ok. Those who were too far away have found time here and there to call and check in. Thanks to everyone for all of your support.

Go Warriors Go!

There are several things I love about this time of year. The first one is that the temperature outside goes from unbearable, scorching 100+ degree days every day to a more comfortable mid-90's. The second thing I like is now that it's getting a little cooler the time of year when it is actually ok to have stuff like yams, turkey, meatloaf, chilli and all of the good stuff that heats the kitchen up too much when you try to make it in the summer. The third and best reason for the season is football....anykind will do. From NFL (mostly Fantasy) to College and last but certainly not least....USA Football (definitely not the flag football Mike played when he was a kid). They even play on the big kids' field with cheerleaders and everything. Something Alyssa has always wanted to do is be a cheerleader. Being one of the smallest her age makes her a perfect candidate for this. I would have to say that for her first year she is doing pretty good. This was also the first game that she has done and as a proud momma she is absolutely AMAZING!!! She is so precious and even her coaches are amazed at the talent and skill she has at this age. Her "kicks" are the highest out of the whole group! You cant tell that we are so proud of her can ya? More to come when she has her next game.

New House, New Neighbors (who are great), New Ward, New Friends, New School

Since we moved during the summer we have been able to take the last couple of months of the summer to adjust to the new place. It has been perfect timing though - enough time to make new friends before starting school. Ashlee has a best friend next door and the two of them are inseparable. Cade and Ash both get to go to the same school they would've gone to even if we hadn't moved. Cade asked me not to talk about his girlfriend so I will honor his wishes. Which by the way, thanks to Lori, we have located, adapted, printed and posted on the refrigerator the "Priday Family Dating Rules". Rule number 11 states that no dating until the age of 16. Alyssa is in a new school due to the move. She is starting cheerleading this week and is very excited. And Halle.....well she started kindergarten this year so everything is new for her. Its amazing to me to watch her innocent little face as she experiences all these new things. Her face brightens up with excitment when she goes to school and she calls it her "princess school". We love the new neighborhood. It's nice when the kids can go outside and play and not worry about the neighbors yelling at them to be quiet. You would've thought we lived in a rest home.
The '08-'09 school year is officially underway! I have never felt so old as I do today. All of our kids are in school now. We hesitated keeping Halle home for one more year. She is so little! I think our second guessing was because Kim didn't want to see her "Bubbies" leave her alone. The big day came and Kim mustered up as much courage as she could to walk her into her classroom and help her find her seat. Halle wasn't lucky enough to go to preschool so this was all new to her. I think Kim thought Halle would be a little more apprehensive about the whole thing so when it had only been 2 minutes since walking through the kindergarten door and Halle looked and Kim and told her "she could go home now." and "I'll be just fine". I think it broke Kim's heart - she definitely cried more than Halle.
I got nominated to take Halle to get her Kindergarten shots. It seems that Dads are supposed to be better at watching their kids in pain. Whatever. The whole appointment was going good. Ears, nose, throat, check the eyes. She knew what was coming. Every time the Doctor or Nurse came in she would ask if they had her shots. After all test were done the nurse informed me that she would be giving 5 shots today. The 2 nurses had no idea how tough of a little girl they were dealing with. One nurse had 2 syringes and the other had 3. Halle watched them do the first couple and when I told her to look up at me (I was holding her little hands that up to this point hadn't even flinched) she gave me that look like "how could you sit there and let them do this to me". I didn't realize it, but I guess one of the nurses told Halle that she was going to give her a certificate for Del Taco. As we walked out to the truck to leave I asked Halle why she was so brave? "Because I get Del Taco"

Long, Hot Summer....but almost over.

Summer has come and gone again, but not without a lot of fun. School starts in a couple of days and the kids are more than ready to get back. After so many times of hearing Cade say "I'm bored" I think Kim is just as ready for them to be going back to be "entertained". We've a a lot of fun this summer with time spent at the cabin in Hatch, Ut., Zion Mountain Resort (Compliments of Split Rock) and four wheeling anytime and anywhere we could.

Cade's Mini-mission

Ok, so I gotta give credit to Nate (my brother) for the Lafonda sign. He picked me and Cade up from the St. George shuttle drop off in Provo last year with the same type of sign. He had the whole van full of people in tears from laughing. Leave it to Nate.

So Cade just returned from his “mini-mission” last week. He got to spend 10 days with Granny and Grandpa in the Calgary Canada mission with his cousin Trace as his missionary companion.

I would say the whole time was spent doing missionary work, but they did get to do some “non-missionary” stuff on their “Preparation Days”. He had a great time and since he got home, he has expressed over and over how he can’t wait to be a missionary. He even brought home souvenirs for the family. Thanks for the opportunity Granny and Grandpa.

Lookin for a reason to visit?

As if you needed a reason to visit St. George, right? Well, now ya got one more. In n Out just opened last week here. We went for the first time tonight and eventhough there were over a hundred people inside, we waited less time than if we had gone to Carl's Jr.. Burgers are great, shakes are awesome but the fries could be better. They say that most In n Outs serve on average around 5,000 burgers per day. The new one in St. George has been serving 9,000.

Vegas Trip

We just got back a week ago from a trip to Vegas. I had to go down for a followup visit from the Lasik I got done a couple of weeks ago (By the way, thanks Nate, Darin, Mandy, and Mom for not telling me they pry your eyes open. It hurt like heck on the second eye. I almost thought about telling them nevermind, one eye is good, its not worth it. I have newfound sympathy for you Blake). We decided to stay a couple of days since we really hadn't even had a day off since the parade to relax and not think about work. The hotel was pretty nice and the kids loved the pool. I know my brothers and sisters remember Dad taking rolls of pictures of us jumping into the pool trying to get us in mid-air. It is a little easier now with the convenient "delete" button and try again. My hat is off to you Dad, you did it in one shot and you couldn't see your work until we were back at home and there were no double takes. Here are a couple from the pool.....
















Lyssie had figured out a new hairstyle that might take a couple of years before it is popular, but I can totally see this one taking off. The other thing we found out on our trip is that there is only one song that Halle knows....well, kinda knows. We like the new words to the song:

We have also been spending a lot of time at the ballpark lately with Cade's baseball. The girls love it because they can go play on the playground. Halle found a little friend and came to intruduce the "nother Halle". She had found a girl to play with on the slides whose name was also Halle. They were the same age, same height, and ran off holding hands. It was pretty cute. I happened to have the camera with us tonight when Cade hit a pretty sweet double.

Nice slide into second, Cade!

He is doing really well and loves baseball more than anything. He is going to be 14 in about a week. I can't believe we are all that old.

Done with Parade....*ahhhh*

For those of you who don't live down here in Southern Utah with us (that's pretty much anyone who reads this), I thought I would give an update of the latest and greatest. Since I am new to this "bloggin" thing, I am not sure if it posted, but I put up a slideshow of the Parade House I just finished last month. It took an amazing amount of work, mostly on my subcontractor's part. I was excited to be the one involved with it and Split Rock was very generous by giving me a lot of the credit for the management of the home. There were many long days (and nights) needed to complete the home. For the last 2 months of the home, I spent right around 100 hours per week and don't remember the last day off I had. But the good thing is that the home is done; in record time. A house that should have taken 2 years to do was built in less than 11 months. I don't know who is more excited to have it done, me or Kim. She has been an excellent support to me and is glad to have me home more. She pretty much had to run the house like a single parent for the last few months. Glad it's done. When do we start next year's parade? I hope soon.

Parade House '08