Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Ever since taking the position with MassMutual on April 2nd I've been living in Salt Lake City in an apartment.  We've only been together as a family on the weekends which has made for some long weeks.  It has a silver lining though.  It has allowed me to really dial in and work long days and nights which is needed as I become adjusted to the new position.  It has also made us appreciate one another more than ever before. 

This weekend Andrea and the kids came to Salt Lake City and we stayed at my apartment.  Today we got up and found a local ward to attend.  Afterwards we made our way over to Temple Square for a few hours.  The boys loved all of the water fountains and Brynlee and Andrea enjoyed the sweet smells coming from all of the new flowers.  I enjoyed just being with my family.

Families are Forever

 I love this picture.  Lately Ridge has been carrying around pennies in his pockets.  He likes how they rattle around when he walks.  He'll also take his prized coins out throughout the day and count them.  So you can only imagine just how excited he was to see that all the fountains have lots and lots of coins in them!  He loved staring at all the bright coins in the water for what seemed like an hour. 

Nash didn't care as much about the coins but he did love the water.  One of his favorite things to do is throw rocks in the water.  There weren't any rocks laying around so he just enjoyed the warm spring afternoon next to the fountains.  He seemed like he was in deep thought.

Something that has become a tradition in our family is whenever we go somewhere that we walk, Nash always likes to let either me or Andrea get ahead of him so he can run full speed into our arms.  Today Andrea was the lucky one.  I hurried and got the camera ready just in time to capture the moment.

After we went back to my apartment everybody piled out of the car.  As I was helping Ridge out I noticed what looked like a rock stuck in the tire of the car.  After careful inspection I could see that it wasn't a rock but rather a bolt that was lodged in the tire.  I felt very thankful that I saw it.  I don't believe that it was happen chance that I parked just right so that the bolt would be pointing right at me when I got Ridge out of the car.  I knew that early tomorrow morning Andrea and my 3 little kids would be making the 5 hour journey back to Meridian.  I'm so thankful that we were able to avoid any of the potential dangers and inconveniences that inevitably would have come had we not noticed the bolt.  Ironically enough when I went to get the tire changed, the service person found another nail in the tire. 

Only 3 more weeks until we get to move into our new home in Alpine.  Andrea got to see it for the first time on Thursday.  Yep, you read that right, the FIRST TIME!  I have the most trusting wife.  She let me pick out our new house without even seeing it!  Luckily she loved it!  I look forward to the near future when Dad comes home every day at 5 for family dinner and time to enjoy each others company.  In the meantime, we'll keep preparing to pack, move, and all the other fun stuff that comes with a relocation.



To Utah We Go!

In 2005 I graduated from Utah State University and took a position with a financial services company to open a scratch office them in Logan, Utah.  I learned very quickly that I loved this industry, especially the aspect of developing new financial planners as a manager.  Things went great and in 2008 my family and I moved from Logan, UT to Meridian, ID where I accepted a position of Vice President for this same company. 

Moving to Idaho was a very rewarding experience for my family.  Both Andrea and I had spent most of our life living close to family in Cache Valley (Logan, UT).  In moving to Idaho, this was our families first opportunity to be "on our own".  The only people we knew in Meridian were a few individuals from my work.  This was great because it forced us to get out of our comfort zone which created much personal growth.  We also enjoyed having the opportunity to truly rely on each other now that our family was no longer readily accessible. 

After a few months of adjusting, we really started to enjoy our neighborhood, neighbors and my new position within the company.  Life was good and we loving being "Idahoans".

Fast forward 5 years which brings us to today.  Recently we have had a considerable amount of growth outside of Idaho in my job which has required me to travel increasingly more.  This was tough considering my children are getting older and these years of their lives we'll never get back.  We also started to see some changes in the demographics of our extended family.  There's lots more cousins in Utah and our kids love spending time with them.  All of our grandparents are aging and their health has been poor.  In a nutshell, we started to miss our family and our home in Utah.

That's why when I was approached about interviewing for a position that would give us the opportunity to return to Utah it caught my attention.  The opportunity itself was also very appealing.  I would be interviewing for the position of President/CEO of a financial services company in Utah.  I knew it was a long shot to get the job, but I gave it my best shot.  Long story short I got lucky and was chosen for the position!  I am now working for Mass Mutual Financial Group - Intermountain West.

We are so excited to get back home!  I'm also very excited for the chance to work in this capacity.  Tuesday was my first day.  Throughout the week I've been fortunate to meet with many of the advisers for our firm.  These are very driven individuals that are committed to their clients, their family, and their community!  The future is bright!

We've already found a home that we love!  We'll be living in Alpine.  The kids are excited because the lot the house sits on is zoned to have up to 2 horses.  Nash really wants a goat or some chickens.  I can only imagine Nash with a yard full of farm animals!  I'm not too sure we'll be getting any animals anytime soon, but I guess you never know. 

Another reason I'm excited to live in Utah is because of the triathlon community as well as the Down syndrome community.  Both are great!  There are some excellent triathletes and there are some great races in the community.  Brynlee has been doing some training with me this year so she can do her first kids triathlon this summer.  There are also many families who have adopted children that they found through Reece's Rainbow.

In the meantime, we'll be packing, moving and then unpacking.  Summer time is just around the corner and before I know it, June 8th will be here.  That's the day of my first triathlon of the season, the Boise 70.3! 

Change is good.  It creates opportunity for growth and the opportunity for renewal.  It challenges us, but it also refines us.  For this I'm very thankful!