Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I have much to be thankful for. I'm thankful for my family, a place to live, a job, food on the table, and the freedoms that this great USofA has. What a wonderful day to spend time with family. We had a Halladay family brunch at my grandma Halladay's house in the morning. After the brunch we headed up to Laura's parents house and I snuck in a little shooting before we left to have thanksgiving dinner. I shot my 45 for a little bit, but mostly I shot my father-in-laws Ruger 22 rifle. I was having a great time. My mother-in-law wasn't so thrilled because her husband was out there with me and we were suppsed to be heading to Laura's grandmothers house. We made it there and enjoyed a wonderful meal.

Well my interview last week did not go well at all, but today I had one and they are bringing me on as a contract worker. So finaly I will have a job for right now. I have had some wonderful friends that have been very supportive along with my family.

We're on to week 3 of not having a job. This really stinks! I do have an interview this wednesday and it will be the first one since I was laid off. I hope all goes well.

OK... I finaly have a second to sit down and write. This week ended up being quite the doozy of a week. At the first of the week I was going to work and everything was fine and dandy. I had just got approval to travel to Chile to move their office and I had been in meetings discussing the moving of equipment from the offices that were being closed. So Tuesday I take a half day off so that I can go to the dentist and he decides he is going to go ahead an put on my three crowns that I have been postponing for years. That night I get home and I'm online and I get some messages from co-workers saying that Ron Heap (my boss) and several other Managing directors were let go in a lay off. I couldn't believe it. So I started worrying about my position. I go to work the next day and there is a lot of stuff going on. I got there early and I noticed cars of other managers in IT in the parking lot. I get to work around 7:00 and there usually is no one there but the call center. So I wander around the building and there is a big meeting going on in the board room. I knew something big was going on. I get back to my desk and sit impatiently wondering what is going to happen. 8:00 rolls around and my employee arrives for work. She passes by our desks and says that the manager over Techops needs her help. So I have no idea what is going on, but I am getting more and more nervous. I also continue to watch people get pulled in to be given their walking papers. Most of the morning has past and then I get a call from my Bosses boss. I go up and and there it happens. I get my own walking papers. I lost my job. I was part of the 85 people that were laid off from TNI. I am very sad about this. I loved this company. I loved what I did for them. I loved who I worked with. I couldn't have asked for a better job. So I pack my stuff up and head home. The next day we are off for Bothwell to help Laura's parents put in hardwood floors and celebrate Shaun's birthday. By this time I had also put the word out that I was out of work and that I needed to find something quick so that I can provide for my family. The response I got was amazing. I had so many people call or email me asking me to get them a resume so they could give it to someone or they would give me suggestions of places to apply. I was just speechless for all the people that were so concerned about me and my family. I am very grateful for them. So now starts the journey of finding a job. I have applied for a couple of positions and I have already had one that came back and said that I was fitting the criteria they wanted for the position. I hope this doesn't take long. I wish I was just back at my old job. I guess there is a reason that we decided to stay in our house and not move down to Happy Valley.

Today we celebrated A.J.'s birthday. We slacked off on the invitations and didn't get them out. Luckily we have family that made it to the party. A.J. had fun and that is what counts. I can't believe my little boy is 4 now. Wow.... how the time flies. It seems like just yesterday that we were rushing Laura to tha hospital to deliver him. He has grown so much and learned so much. I love him so much and I'm glad he is my son. Here are some pictures from the party we had today. It was a Kung Fu Panda party if you couldn't tell.





Laura made the pinata. I keep telling her we need to go into business making custom Pinatas.

This weekend was the Call Family Reunion. It was a blast. Friday we headed up to Bothwell to stay the night with Laura's parents. On the way up we met up with Natalie and Dennis and had dinner at the Dixie Grill in Brigham City. Laura loves their onion rings.

Saturday morning we headed up to Eden, Idaho. On the way there we stopped in Burley to have lunch. We at at this Mexican restaurant called Garibaldi. The food was great.

The family reunion was fun.. they had some games and a big water fight. Then they brought out the toys. 4 wheelers and other off road vehicles. Sunday came and we got to go Shooting in the desert. We shot some shotguns and our handguns. Laura's cousin brought his Smith & Wesson 460 and that was a blast to shoot. We should be getting some pictures of Laura shooting it.

I have posted pictures down below.



































We stopped at the Snake River so that A.J. could see it.

yesterday I finished my back porch, but I didn't have my camera to take a picture so I did it today. It's nothing special, but it beats what we used to have.

Yesterday was the big Summer Party at work. On the way there we stopped to get A.J. a haircut and he was none to happy with that. He came running out of the place with no shirt on screaming. His hair did get cut though. He was able to enjoy himself at the party at least. Laura talked me into getting colored hairspray on my head since her and Analise did. A.J. saw our hair and looked at us with this look of plain disgust like he was going to punish us and send us to the naughty corner.











We had Chinese food for our dinner.






A.J. had a blast playing on all the blow up slides and "jumpalines" as he calls them.

Here is part of our project on our house. We started our new back poarch. The stairs are started, but we are lacking a few boards.


This weekend we went camping with the Otterstoms from our ward. Analise was a little stinker and got into Laura's purse and ate 2 packages of gum and two chapsticks. She proceeded to vomit all over Laura and then keep us up all night once she was feeling better. Next time we leave the kids at home ;).

Earlier this week Laura took the kids and Grandma up the canyon for a hike.





Saturday night Laura and I had our date night. It was a fun evening. We went to Tepanyaki for dinner. We sat next to a bunch of people we didn't know. Luckily the couple that sat next to us were really cool. The guy had just got out of the hospital a few weeks ago from a Motocross accident. He broke his neck and was in a brace. The food was good and the company was good. After that we headed up the canyon to where Laura had taken the kids hiking earlier in the week. We hiked up for about a half an hour. When we were coming back down the trail we noticed some guy in the bushes and when he heard us he hurried away and got in his car and took off. When we got down by the car we found a bag that had been gone through. It looked like there had been a video camera in it. We call the Sheriff's office to at least report it.

the 4th of July was fun. We started out the morning with a childrens parade. Then we had breakfast at the park. It was so hot outside, I was sweating to death. Later in the day we headed down to Andy's house to continue with the 4th of July festivities. We had some good food and good company. In the evening we had a small fireworks show and the kids played with sparklers.

I'm very grateful for the freedoms that exist in the USA and look forward to celebrating this freedom every year.