Halloween

This was Lucy's first halloween. She was the perfect kitten. All she did was sleep and eat like real cats do. I have had these masks forever and finally decided to use them. I know they are a little scary but it went with the theme of animals.

We had to get a picture of her rear because it is the cutest tail and bow!

Fear in the Office

Wow, as soon as I announce my promotion, Highland is forced to lay people off. Having just received a promotion, I quickly learned that there was more going on behind the scenes.
My new boss called my whole group (about 30 people) into the big break room downstairs, closed the door, and said “if you are in this room right now, you still have a job. The people you do not see in the room, from our group, are being let go as we speak. We will stay in here until they gather their things and leave the building.” …. Whoa….breathe….breathe….breathe. That could have been the most terrifying experience I will ever have. Knock on wood.

As soon as Todd and I were allowed to return to our desks, we realized, collectively, that those not in our new group might have also been let go. We immediately began to check our office’s instant messenger and sure enough, people slowly start to gray out. (I know, how dramatic right?! I am being dead serious, this really happened.) Well, obviously, having come from our old group not 24 hours before then, we started to monitor the list of our old group. Our boss was the first to go, followed by two others. Now, putting 2+2 together, we realize that we were promoted rather hastily, and together, because they had plans to eliminate most of our old group! It went from ten with us, to just five and no boss. Wow. WOW. WOW!

I can only be grateful that Heavenly Father has allowed me to hang on to my job this long during our economy’s time of struggle. It also makes me glad to have a testimony of following the Prophets and the counsel we have received: to live within our means, save for a rainy day, have a year’s supply of food, and to have faith and hope for the best.

Dave's First Promotion!

Dave was promoted from Financial Operations Associate to Hedge Fund Accountant. He got an increase in hours along with his increase in pay. I won’t be seeing Dave for 60 hours a week now instead of 50. Hopefully the sacrifice will pay off, and Dave will be able to get up early enough (about the same time I am feeding Lucy's early morning meal) to still be home at a decent hour! Good luck.  The best part of being promoted, for Dave, was that he was promoted with his friend Todd. They were originally trying to fill only one spot, but Highland liked them enough to take both of them! Todd found out four days before Dave, and Highland didn’t tell him that both were being promoted. This was the same weekend as the blessing so the whole time Todd felt guilty.  Poor Todd! That made the team meeting announcement a much better surprise though. Congratulations!

Lots of Visitors

What a fun weekend! The whole family came down for Baby Lucy’s blessing on October 19th. And when I say the whole family, I mean Brent, Rejane, Dad, Kristy, Mom, Steve, Kathy A., Gary, Melissa C., Peter, Katy, Julie, Evan, and David M. Yep, that is 14 people, and none of them came from closer than Salt Lake City. What an amazing family we have!
Activities over the weekend included (more blog posts are to follow):
• BYU vs. TCU Football Game
• The Texas State Fair
• Spring Creek BBQ
• Rock Band
• The baby blessing
• Lots of trips to the airport
• Lots of hanging out with Lucy!

A special note to the Archibalds: thanks for putting up with the craziness of Crest/Broughton/Martinez bunch!

Baby Blessing

Dave didn’t drop Lucy! Other than that fear being conquered, there was a very nice blessing given to Lucy. In the circle with Dave was Dad, Brent, Steve B., Kerry, Evan, Peter M, Spencer, Todd, and Jed. Dave blessed Lucy to know God’s love and be able to share it with others, to honor and draw strength from her covenants, and to have good health. It was a very spiritual experience for everyone.

Dave Passed FAR

The CPA exam has dominated most of my life since leaving BYU. It is that big, daunting, ultimate task for accountants in order to really start their career. It took over a year, two additional college courses, lots of paperwork, over two months of prep coursework, and a lot of anxiety to finally be able to sit for the first of four CPA exam sections: Financial (FAR). It took much more than that to actually get a passing grade

About two weeks before sitting for the test I became overwhelmed with discouragement and fear. I had a nine month pregnant wife, a 50+ hour work week, and all the other little things that added to the pile on my shoulders. I finally broke down and said to Dianna, “I just can’t do this, I have to give up.” I can say that for the first time in my life, I really gave up on something important. Sad, right? I know!

The day came for me to actually take the test. I asked Dianna if I should even bother going. Without a hint of judgment or condescension in her voice she said “it will be a good experience, even if you don’t pass. Just go do your best.” Thank you, Dianna, for being a wonderful wife. I began the test and to my surprise I still recognized most of the topics! I didn’t feel like I was answering them all correctly, but I wasn’t lost. I reached the final 30% of the exam: the written section. In this part you are given two topics from the hundreds of topics available. I’d say I know four or five topics really well, even from before I started preparing for the exam. To my astonishment, both topics on the test were from that short list of four or five I knew well. I finished the written section thinking I hadn’t missed a single point. “Darn, if I had only studied a little more I would have done better on the multiple choice. What a blown opportunity! Oh well, I can’t be mad. I will just try again later on down the road.”

A few weeks later my buddy Todd, who had taken a section of the exam around when I did, asked me if I had checked my score. I hadn’t. A few days later I had gotten to work real early, before anyone else in my department even. I took a moment to check my score. “I got a 75, I passed. I PASSED! I GOT A 75! ….” I was speechless. I looked around, then back at the computer, then down at my desk and just cried. I had never felt a “tender mercy” of that magnitude before and I may never again.

From the beginning I had asked the Lord for help in my prayers. When I first realized it was going to be really difficult (pretty early on), I prayed the way I prayed on my mission, “Heavenly Father, I will do my best and I will put the rest in your hands.” Even when I was overwhelmed at the end, I told Heavenly Father “I really tried my best, I just couldn’t do it all.” The Lord was okay with that though. He didn’t want me to do it all, or be perfect, He just wanted my best.

Fun with Daddy

This is how Dave spends his evenings after work.

It was the calm before the storm and I'm not talking about Lucy.

Dave's version of play time. Eat Lucy!

I think she fought back pretty well.


Daddy daughter moments are fun. I recommend them.