Hello from Virginia Beach!!

Hello everyone! A lot is happening and has happened. Right now my wife is eating waffles while trying to keep Kirsten happy cause I just set her down. At first she was happy and talking away (talking like most 2 month old's talk) and then as she was giggling it turned into frustration!! She can be such a goober. But, she is such a gem!!!
Let me sum up the latest of what has happened with us. We have a new addition to our family, Kirsten Nevaeh. She was born on 8/8/08 @ 8:51pm, weighing in at 8lbs 13oz, and 20in. long. We are so blessed to have such an angel apart of our lives. She is full of so much energy and spirit. Every since she was born we have really been blown away by how she has grown. In her first weeks watching her we noticed that she was very observant and worked very hard to lift her head up and look around. And now she does things ranging from standing with very little help from mommy and daddy to talking and giggling. It is just so amazing to see your own child do things so unexpectedly. I have no idea when a baby is supposed to do things as they grow and I am not trying to compare with any of those known averages. It just floors me to see Kirsten grow as she is and to be a welcome part of it all. It is truly amazing that our Father in Heaven would entrust to us his children when we are imperfect beings. Being given such a perfect being unspotted and unmarked from the world. It truly is one of the many things that testifies to me of the reality of our Savior and the atonement that was provided. Without it, it wouldn't be possible for us to have such joy and such a blessing as children. We truly are blessed to have her. She is such a bundle of joy!!
Soon after having Kirsten we moved just at the end of August. My wife and I were house sitting for a friend of ours for five months and we knew that we would need to move after that time was up. And thought that it would be a good idea to use this opportunity to save and prepare for a home to rent. (We are not yet in the position to buy a home). We were very blessed and found a 3 bedroom home just a few streets away from my parents and even more streets away from my brother Josh and his family. At the time that we found this house I was working a job that provided very little of our needs and wouldn't have provided us with this new need of a 3 bedroom home. I applied at the beginning of July with DECO Security services which would give me a $4 an hour increase in income!! To make a long story short I got the job just 3 weeks before the move. And now since starting the job we have been given another raise of $2 more and hour. It really has been amazing to receive the blessings of the gospel.
We are now in our new home. It isn't new by any means, just new to us. We have a big yard, two climbable trees (Brandon loves them! Although he hasn't spent much time in them.), 3 bedrooms, our own things (it was nice using someone's things. Especially when they are so nice. It just wasn't the same as having our own things.) Last but certainly not least a GARAGE !! Yess! Finally a GARAGE that I can call my own! A place of refuge, a place that a man can be a man! Get dirty and greasy working on my car(s), talk loud, shout a little if I want to! Let the air compressor run while giving manly grunts and filling the air with familiar smells that make a garage a mans garage. Well, it isn't really all my/man space. (sigh) Of course there are the usual problems that you run into with any move. Space filled with boxes and boxes of stuff that got packed. And wondering why they were packed away when they are still in the garage almost a month later. Anyways enough about the garage.
Barbara is very busy keeping the house together while caring for our little one. And Brandon does what he can every other weekend to disrupt the order of the house or to help out. Depending on which mood he is in. While my family is at home I am usually at work especially since I went back to my old job part-time @ 32 hours a week! (actually most if not all companies look at the work week and when you are working 32 hours you are technically working full-time!) It is only a temporary thing while we get some of our other things in order. Barbara keeps me sane by babying me and loving me like she does. Because of all she does I am able to carry the work load while Barb carries the real weight of it all. She is amazing!! I couldn't do it without her and frankly I don't know how I did. Brandon is 10years old now. And the boy won't stop growing!! (not that we want him to. It is just getting hard to keep the boy clothed!!) He is in the 4Th grade and has been quite a challenge for his teacher and us (his 4 parents). Whenever he is home he seems to do well. He had just really been a pill at school! He started out the first couple of weeks pretty rough constantly getting marks against him almost daily and losing privileges. But, who didn't act up like he has when we were kids? He is such a good boy though! Always asking to hold Kirsten or if he can help with chores or any work I might be doing on a car. He is very smart too!! Always seeing where he can sly by his parents and get where he wants to go. He really enjoys riding his bike in the neighborhood and taking the occasional trip to Grandma's to walk the dogs or give Grandma a hard time. The love of his life right now is video games. If given the chance he will stay glued to the game and waste his days away. I do enjoy playing video games with him occasionally (I write occasionally when what I really mean is every time). It really breaks our hearts when he has to go. We really miss him when he is at home with his Father and Stepmother and look forward to having him with us again.