Thanksliving

So, today in church, Brother Ray Smith, gave a talk about service missions. He said that when we serve others we take our life from the level of Thanksgiving - to actually Thanksgiving. I just thought of the great dinner we had yesterday. (Those of you who live out of town - we noticed that you weren't there.) It was a huge success. And it was only a huge success because of the service that each person gave. I especially noticed all the little elves staying to clean until the very end. You kids are awesome.

I talked to Aunt Marcy about our dinner next year - the Saturday after Thanksgiving - so mark your calendars. We want to celebrate all the Thanksliving every does through the year. Not to puff anyone up, but to inspire our kids and because sometimes we just need to hear another idea. So as you serve, whether it is Vici staying in a job she hates because of the long hours, but she knows that it is the best thing for her company or Serhana staying up nights with a new baby or Andy letting Rachel hang out with him - and there are tons more bits of service you all do - tuck it into the back of your head. If you see someone else serve in a way that impresses you - it might be the simplicity that impresses you - tuck it in the back of your head. We are going to use your awareness somehow next year. We have time to think about it.

We are loving our new place. I am without a computer, I get on Dad's occasionally, but it has been a big blessing. Because I don't sit down and lose track of time. Things are looking better every week. The car is on the fritz - hopefully, it won't take too much money to fix it. It goes in the shop this week. Dad is now serving in the temple all day on Fridays - he does get the next two weeks off, which is great.

Nothing too exciting. But, I thought I would catch you up anyway.

Love, Mom

Changes in our life

We are moving tomorrow. We have a new place across Gilbert. It will be in Granny & Grandpa's ward. That should be fun. Moving isn't fun - but the good parts are a really nice house, cheaper rent, very responsive landlords, going to church with Granny & Grandpa, and not having to cross Gilbert in the mornings for the carpool.

Grandma is having surgery on Tuesday. She is doing pretty darn well right now. The surgeon sounded very optimistic about the outcome. We will keep you informed.

Alaskan Summer

Alright, so our summer was pretty busy, so this is going to cover our whole summer!

June was pretty fun - Beth's little sister came and visited us all the way up in the frozen tundra.  We made trips to Girdwood, downtown Anchorage, and went to Girl's Camp on Porcupine Island.  It was an awesome time, and made Beth wish she could see Rachel more often!

Rachel was able to find out just how awesome we are, and admitted that Troy is her favorite brother in law, because he's SO funny.

July was great as well - Troy's Dad and Step-Mom came up and visited us over the fourth of July weekend.  They had a great time, and we went on a day-cruise out of Seward.  Alisia and I decided next time they come, we're sending them golfing and we're going to a spa!  :)  We also went and ate at Seven Glaciers, a four diamond restaurant in Girdwood.  The food was divine and the presentation was incredible.  We had no complaints there!

 Doug and Alisia (above) and Troy and I (below) at the top of Alyeska.

 

We also went to a Wildlife Reserve, and celbrated Troy's Birthday.  It was pretty awesome.

August was also TONS of fun.  Troy's littlest sister was getting married, so we made a trip to Utah, and had SO much fun with his family.  It made us realize just how far away we are, and just how much we love them and spending time with them!  It helped to seal the deal that we won't stay here more than the three years, as we just want to badly to be near our amazing families.

 Whitney and I were excited when we found out that we both still had our wedding dresses at Troy's mom's.  We decided to make the best of it, and since Courtney told us we could wear whatever we wanted to to the temple, we wanted to freak her out a bit.  Whitney and I put on our dresses so that when Courtney came home from her hair appointment, she'd come home to us.  We were in luck, because Alex came through the door just before her, and she came in to the above scene!  :)

We took family pictures, and this was one of the pictures of Troy and I.  We LOVE it.

Courtney on her wedding day!  Hooray!  :)

End of Summer, (sigh)

Can't wait for school to start around our house.  It seems like it has been one long summer and our kids are so ready to get back to see friends and "learn things".  We have had a fun summer though.  We went camping in June at Ponderosa Campground, enjoyed that but need to do it again soon for a longer period of time.  We had lots of fun when Jake and Serahna's Family came down in July.  I think we got our swimming fill in that week and as the week was winding down Emily and Max decided all we needed to make it better was Aunt Vici to come down for the family reunion (sorry Beth, guess that means you need to visit more frequently so they know how fun you and Troy can be too).  They were convinced that if Vici knew that it was only a 12 hour drive that she would hop in her car that day and come down.  They would take care of everything she needed when she got her, she just needed to bring her toothbrush and they would handle everything else.  

We have been getting Charlie ready to join the Navy Reserves in July and hopefully in the next month he will be official and have everything lined up to start.  He is very excited to have something different to do and not feel like he has the most boring job on the planet but actually do something more exciting too on the side.  We both keep having weird boat dreams.  Hopefully he gets through training and such quickly and won't be gone from us too long!

Emily and Max are busy getting ready for school.  Max is hoping not to get Ms. Crackwhip for 1st grade (Charlie has him convinced that there is a mean teacher with this name in 1st grade).  Instead he is hoping for Mr. Smith the Janitor as his 1st grade teacher, not sure how either of those are going to work out for him but I am pretty excited to tease him about getting Ms. Crackwhip today when we find out who teachers are.  Emily is SO excited about going into 4th grade, mostly because she got some cute Van's that she wants to wear but also to see friends.  She is my social butterfly, hopefully she has lots of friends returning to her school this year and we won't have so much drama.  Asked the kids what they wanted to do on one of their last days of summer before school starts Wednesday, Max's reply - "Rent a helicopter and fly around the Statue of Liberty." He thinks BIG.  

It is now just August and Emily is already getting her Christmas list solidified in her mind.  3 reams of copy paper so she can draw all she wants and an I-pod touch (or she will take a nanew - yes it should be nano but she can't pronounce it right, or shuffle if that is all we will let her have).  We asked Max what he would like and he said Avatar and A-team Lego's, when we said I don't think you can get A-team lego's his reply was "Its not like santa buys the stuff, he can make anything you want."  Oh will he be heartbroken someday!

Well that is about it for us, just working lots and killing plants unlike Ben the gardener, hopefully when the weather starts to cool down more we will be able to try again and be able to eat more than 2 tomatoes from our "garden".

Ben is actually a gardner now

Its kind of a relief to know that we can actually grow a garden. We may be a little less likely to starve to death if the stores shut down :)

We have been working hard (ok, Ben has been working hard) but it is doing well and we have been blessed with a few tasty "fruits" (and veggies) of our labor.

Soon there should be summer squash and some early bird tomatos.

Now if we could just get some grass started, our "Barren wasteland" theme isn't working out.

Love the other Bennetts

Update from the Head Household

It is May 29th and the temperature is not even approaching the warm category. It rains and rains but somehow, some way, we have not floated down the river. Weather.com claims we'll see an extended period of sunshine w/ temps on the 70's starting Tuesday. That will be nice....if the forecast doesn't change yet again. (You can call me Eeyore.)

Chan and I have been busy getting the yard into shape. After the snow melted it was clear that there were many things we didn't get done before winter hit last year. The tulips already bloomed and have started to die. So did the grape hyacinths. The phlox are beatiful right now, in spite of all the moisture. My hens and chicks seem to have somehow grown exponentially under the snow.

The back yard has been under construction during the last 2 weeks. The rain made it hard to get the work done but the landscapers finished late Friday evening. Now the perimeters are ready for me to finish putting in new plants. We may do a few more this year but the bulk of them will be planted next year. If you want to see photos, go to my FB page.

We got our garden planting done several weeks ago. If they ever get any sunshine they might actually grow! We are trying zucchini, cucumber, several varieties of peppers and a few tomato varieties. We don't know if everything will live but we're sure going to do our best to make things live. :)

Well, hopefully by the next time I blog I'll have a "sunnier" outlook and more interesting things to write about. Hope everyone is well. Take care!

The Griffiths: April & May

The Griffiths: April & May: "So sorry that We've been bad about blogging the last two months. Well, what has happened...? First off, Beth got her wisdom teeth out at ..."

Well, we are boring and very little has changed since the last time we posted. Still just waiting to get in school, working, dealing with kids and plugging along. Highlights of the past while?? We celebrated our 11th Anniversary in Feb. unfortunately it snowed the whole time, I turned older, Max is now 6 and 1 more month and Emily will stop driving me nuts about her 9th birthday (hopefully). And best of all Charlie and I can now say we are officially 20 lbs lighter than last year. Hopefully we can keep it up.

The Salt Lake City Life

I again have Internet access from home! Yay me. My previous PC slowly began having problems during the last couple of months. It was 4 years old and after waiting months for a new fan (it did finally arrive) and having other problems, I gave up. It has been donated to a friend at work who wanted something to give his 2 year old - hopefully it will prove to be an enticement for the child to play on his own laptop instead of his Dad's machine. Chan and I have been flying by the seats of our pants since my last post. This time of year is one of his busiest. He had a GIGANTIC quota to fill for March. While he didn't quite make his March numbers, he did make his quarterly numbers. He found that to be a relief. Last week is best buddy at work turned in notice to leave the company. Chan is quite disappointed - feeling like his mentor and dear friend have moved on too soon. I assured him he'll find a new one. Many changes at work have kept me very, very busy over the last few months. I've been working very long hours but have also been interviewing a lot over the last 2 weeks. Interviews always prove interesting. I see a lot of really BAD interviewees. Below are things that stick out is things the general public should learn. Interviewing pro tip #1: don't tell your prospective employer that you don't really want THIS job but, hey, it's a job so you can do it if you have to. Interviewing pro tip #2: don't make me beg you to talk. Interviewing pro tip #3: don't talk so much that I want to stuff a sock in your mouth. Interviewing pro tip #4: don't show up 30 minutes late. Interviewing pro tip #5: don't tell me how amazing you are and then refuse to articulate your salary requirements. Interviewing pro tip #6: don't BS me. If you don't know the answer to something, just say "I'm not familiar with that." You sound like a know-it-all bonehead when you talk nonsense about things of which you know little or nothing. Interviewing pro tip #7: make SOME eye contact with me. Interviewing pro tip #8: do your homework about the company giving you the priviledge of an interview. When you show up and ask me "what do you guys actually do" I wonder if you've ever heard of this little thing called Google. Any company worth working for has a Website. Usually a company website will give you a general idea of the company's direction. Going to an interview mildly educated makes you sound like you might like to work there. Interviewing pro tip #9: when you decide it's time to job hunt and you begin the interviewing process, have at least 3 PROFESSIONAL references lined up and ready to provide to your prospective employer. Your father-in-law whose computer you maintain does not count as an employer. I also don't care if your friend thinks you're a hard worker. Interviewing pro tip #10: don't pester me about hiring you. Daily phone calls will annoy me. Weekly phone calls let me know you're really interested in the position. There is a fine line. At any rate, it's late and I have more interviews tomorrow. I should be well rested. Signing off for now. V

The Griffiths: March!

The Griffiths: March!: "Well, March has been good. In News: We have a dog! She's a 3 pound Tea Cup Yorkie. She loves to nap. She doesn't und..."

December, January & February - The Griffiths

Alright - so I'm just going to do a quick recap of the last few months.

December - I finished work a week and a half before the wedding and put on "A Christmas Carol".  I need to put an album on FB of it.  It was quite awesome.  The kids were fabulous, and it was SO much fun.  Troy's mom came up on the last night to surprise me.  It was sweet of her.

We got married on the 18th.  Most of you were there, but it was a good day.  Megan made a GORGEOUS wedding.  :)  So glad she's my sister!

We went to Catalina Island for our honeymoon.  I didn't know where we were going until we were on the way.  Troy wanted it to be a surprise, but our flight was delayed, so he had to call and change the time we were taking the Catalina Express, which tipped me off.  We got to LA and took a taxi to the port.  We took Dramamine so that we wouldn't get sick on the rocky water, and it actually knocked us out for the next 15 hours.  We only woke up to get from the ferry to our hotel, and then were out cold for a long, long time.

They ended up having record rainfall while we were there.  It rained 4 out of 5 days we were there.  Apparently they rarely have rain that lasts longer than an hour, and so this was out of the norm.   It rained and rained, and rained.  Everything to do was closed, and a lot of stores and restaurants were closed for leaks/flooding in their stores.  We watched a LOT of movies to pass the time.  Finally on the last day, a glass-bottom boat tour was open.  It was fun to see the fish and kelp, but the run-off from the island made the water murky.  We decided that we could plan a fabulous Catalina trip, but wouldn't have it last longer than 2 nights, and it would be in the summer so that the water wouldn't be a bad idea.  We toured the Casino, which isn't what we think of as a Casino today.  "Casino" means a place of gathering and entertainment, so it is a theater, dance hall, and gathering place for big events.  It was a really interesting place.  It was built by the Wrigley Family (as in the gum) in the 20s, before Casino meant "a place to gamble."  It was one of our favorite parts.

We went back to Utah for a few days, and had Christmas, and prepared for Alaska.  We flew up here on the 29th, and found a place and moved in on the 31st.  It's a two bedroom, is freshly carpeted, tiled, painted, and has been a great place in general so far.  Our landlord is awesome.  Our dryer didn't work one day, and he got us a brand new one in less than 24 hours, and he's replacing our furnace next week. 

January - Our neighbors above us are in our ward, and have been awesome.  They recently lost a baby, that was stillborn (she died the day she was due), and wanted to move somewhere to get away and have a fresh start.  They have a living son named Kai, who is 3 and is a peach.  He is one of the cutest kids ever.  Don't worry, your kids are cuter.  They also had a son older than Kai, who passed away as a toddler.  They are an amazing family.  They made us Cafe Rio salads with the pork... So. Good.

I started working for Kanady Chiropractic Center and had a hard time at first, mostly because I was so far from anyone I knew, but it's turned out to be an awesome job.  I work directly with the owner, and it's part time.  She believes that part time employees are happy employees.  I believe she is right.

Troy is starting to get used to his new job.  He misses his work buddies from Idaho, but we're glad we're here.  The economy up here is SO much better than it is down there.  Apparently it's a lot worse than it was before the recession, so I can't imagine what it would have been like pre-crash.  We're so grateful to have our jobs.

February - He traveled to Barrow on Valentine's Day.  He got to stand on the Arctic Ocean.  That's about as close as you can get to putting your toes in it.  He sent me pictures, and it was solid ice.

Since he was gone, he took me to Crow's Nest for Valentine's day before he left.  I was starting to get sick, and was quite sick with a respiratory infection for several days.  It was so nice to have that night before I got too sick.  He bought me a beautiful watch for Valentine's day.  Since he left in the midst of my being the most sick, our neighbors took care of me and brought me meals and a Valentine.  It was so sweet.

Well, that about sums it up!! 

Fun with grandkids

So, I said that I would post more often - last Friday we had the grandkids over to spend the night.

(We were supposed to have our girls party that day, but this dummy switched a day at work thinking that I could remember everything important without looking at my calendar - wrong.)

As I came in from work, Seada informed me that Sam was grounded from the Wii. Anna jumped across the room over to me and said, "Sam is bounded from the the Wii. He is bounded but we're not cause we're girls." (Good to know that being a girl has even more advantages.)

That night the kids were playing a game and Emily got a card that said she was a doctor and had to go around diagnosing people. She told Max he had chemotherapy. (Didn't know that was a disease - did know it makes you really sick.)

We were watching a movie before the kids went to sleep. Max insisted that we turn ALL the lights off in the house. When we finally got them out, he said, "See! Now doesn't that remind you of a movie theater?" He was so pleased with himself.

The next morning, Anna and Seada were in the kitchen helping me make waffles. Anna said, "My dad is 33 years old." I replied, "I know. Do you know how old I am?" She said no - so I asked her if she wanted to know how old I am. Seada piped up, "NO!" Lucky for me - Anna is an avid listener because she wanted to know. I told her, "I am 54 years old." Seada said, "My mom is 54 years old." Then a voice - not sure who called out, "No she's not, she'd be dead." (Sorry, Raina, apparently I have better health in my OLD age than you will.)

Anna proceeded to talk about age. She informed me that she is 4 - holding up four fingers. Seada said, "Me, too." and also held up four fingers. Anna looked at them both holding up four fingers and said, "That makes us eight." I thought they were very clever, but Raina said that Sam already told them the eight joke.

We had a fun little party with the girls. They determined the menu, so it was rather interesting. Emily helped me make heart shaped grilled cheese sandwiches. I also added some oranges to the mix. We had red velvet whoopie pies and hot chocolate with strawberry flavored, heart shaped marshmallows. The little girls were so excited to eat off of pretty dishes. Gina, Ali, and Emily got into the spirit of the party and wore their pretty Sunday clothes.

Next time, maybe we will all get on board. I think next time we will have a luncheon and try to get more grown-ups there. Gina, Raina, Rachel, Granny, & I sat around the table for two hours just talking and catching up while the little girls played with Lego's. The girls had a great time, and I felt it was good for us women to spend some time with each other.

Mom's Musings

I don't know if any of you read this regularly, but I know that I feel as if I need to be more diligent in posting. I don't have a lot exciting things going on. I have felt impressed that we need to be organized as a family. Difficult times are coming and I don't think we want to be caught off guard. So my first big thing this month was to start updating all the family information. Not too many got on board, but after pulling a lot of teeth, I do have almost everyone's address. I am still missing Beth and Troy's - but I will keep bugging her. We have a family meeting scheduled for February 26th. If any of you who live out of state would like to attend via phone or webcam, we would love it.

Dad and I have started going to institute. What a great date night activity! I am applying for jobs that will give me most weekends off. My applications have been out there for 11 positions since last week - so far I have been rejected by 4. I am reading the New Testament. I am doing it in an odd order. I am working my way up from books with the smallest number of chapters to the most. I am on the 6 chapter books right now. I did this with the Old Testament, but I didn't start until about October of last year. I wanted to see how far I could get by January 1. I can now say I have read every book from Ezekiel to the end and a few of the books previous. It is really fun.

In case you are looking for something just fun to watch on TV - we love the new show "No Ordinary Family." Kind of a take off on the Incredibles.

That is about it for today. Beth, I do plan to contribute more often.

It's cold and Wintery in Utah!

This post will comprise our updates for November and December 2010. I have been busy and not made the time to sit down and post. I have a few quick minutes and am writing to get this done because before I know it, January will have concluded and it will be time to write again.

November was a mild introduction to winter in Utah. Cold but not unbearable. I hate snowy winters. Chan loves them. He is a snowboarder and loves 4 distinct seasons in his life. Alas, Arizonians, never will we live amongst you. :)

Chan has been snowboarding a few times already this winter. He has a friend in the snowboard industry so he just got a new board at a great price. Beyond that we have been watch football and football some more. I keep telling Chan he misrepresented himself when we were dating. I had no idea how much he enjoys a football game and I, on the other hand, hate it. Mostly it's the background noise of the crowd I hate but I've been pretty good about finding something to do so that he can watch the games he enjoys. Chan was busy as could be trying to get his sales numbers where he wanted them for the end of 2010. Being married to someone in sales proves stressful month after month. He says he loves it. I have to take his word for it.

As most of you know, I broke my foot on Thanksgiving evening. I took the boot off on Christmas day. It does not feel great but I couldn't take wearing the boot another day. Work has been continually busier which is a blessing and a curse. We are smack in the middle of organizational restructuring in my department. Some of the entry level team members are moving to report to someone else. I'll be keeping the top-tier support guys. There are some team members pleased with the changes and others that are down right angry. We'll see how it shakes out by the end of the month.

We visited my family and Chan's Uncle in Arizona during December. It was wonderfully warm and sunny. Coming home to gloomy cold was kind of depressing for a few days but I have re-accepted winter. I am now longingly awaiting Spring.

Hope to see posts from others soon!