Back in Utah

So it's been a long time since we have posted.  We moved back to Utah from California at the end of June after things didn't work out as we had thought with Prestige.  I started working with Mike and Taylor Proudfit's company, Titan Alarm and have been in charge of the operations for Salt Lake, as well as offices we opened along the way in St. George, Denver (now closed) and Boise.  That has been a much better work experience and I have enjoyed working with those guys again.

We rented an apartment in Taylorsville and immediately started looking for a house.  In September we purchased our first home in Stansbury Park, which is about 20 minutes from downtown Salt Lake.  We love it out here.  It is far enough away from the city to not feel cramped and feel like we have space to spread out, but close enough to be very convenient for Maddie's work and to visit family.  We are right on the banks of the Great Salt Lake and it is very pretty out here.

Poor Jack has now lived in 4 homes in the first six months of his life!  He's quite the little trooper, but it has been a little difficult adapting in each new place.  We finally had him completely housebroken in our apartment in Taylorsville, but adjusting to the new house has been a few steps back for him.  I think he is starting to distrust that this will be out last move.

Shortly after moving back to Utah, Maddie got a job working as a receptionist at Electrical Wholesale Supply (EWS) in Salt Lake. She has enjoyed working there and they have treated her very well.

It was very interesting to see the hand of the Lord bless us when we came back.  The summer in California was the most difficult and stressful summer I have had working in the alarm industry and it just didn't ever feel at home.  Once we made the decision to move home, blessings poured out.  I was able to immediately start working for Titan, which provided much more stability in our lives.  Maddie quickly got her job at EWS, when she had struggled for 4 months to find a job when we were living in Pleasant Grove after we got married.  We found a good apartment without a deposit, which was good since money was getting a little tight after moving to and from California in 2 months.  Then we were able to find an absolutely gorgeous house and find it at a time when the price had been reduced by about $50,000.  Without so many things falling into place, we wouldn't be in the position we are at in life right now.  It has been a real testimony to me of the blessings that come from living the Gospel, particularly paying tithing.  

The one sad part of our lives in the last six months was our baby.  Shortly after coming home from California we went to the doctor for a checkup and the doctors discovered that the pregnancy, for whatever reason, had not been a valid pregnancy.  It was pretty hard on both of us for a few days, but the good thing we got out of it was knowing that we were capable of having children and having the feeling that we will be able to have children in the future.

Happy Father's Day

Maddie got me this awesome Patriot's jersey for our baby for Father's Day.  Since I don't have a human baby to put it on yet, I put it on the puppy!

We have a Baby Holmgren ETA!

We went to the doctor today and he gave us a due date! Through the very scientific method of spinning a little cardboard wheel to the right dates, he figured our baby will be here sometime around the 8th of February!

We're going to be human parents now too!

Jack's First Video

Jack's work week

Jack's doing great! He's teething right now so certain things like carboard boxes and office chairs will never be the same, but it's no great loss. Since I take him into the office everyday he's become something of the technician's mascot, though all the reps love him, too. He spends most of his days sleeping on his bed here and playing with whoever shows up! One of his favorite playmates is one of our rep managers, Neil. He loves him! As you can see, they often play themselves into a stupor. Yes, they're both fast asleep, though Jack's eyes don't ever really look it.
The current heat wave is presenting somewhat of a challenge to his little body. Because of their short noses and short coats, Boxers don't tolerate extreme temperatures very well (I know, bad thing for a Utah dog). It's almost 100 degrees outside today when last week I was wearing a jacket! Nobody around here has air conditioning because it rarely gets this hot. So we had to get a fan for the office and ice packs for Jack to sleep against. Dang, it's hot...
Anyway, all in all, he's getting bigger, and according to the vet, he's perfectly healthy! Yay Jack!

Maddie got a baby for Mother's Day!

Maddie has been wanting a puppy since shortly after we got married (ok, I wanted one too!) When I was on my mission, I had a good friend who had two beautiful boxers and I have just loved them ever since.  They are strong and confident and once I showed some pictures to Maddie, she agreed we should have one. We couldn't have one in our last apartment, but I told her we would get one once we moved to California.  Maddie looked all over for good breeders of boxers and found one close to where we live.  Today we went and picked up little Jack.

Poor sleepy Jack.