Well, I suppose hard work pays off.

So people talk about miracles, but you don't get to see extraordinary ones very often. Well, yesterday I lived a miracle:
Maybe you have heard of it, maybe you haven't, but there is an event called the Best Bagger Contest. Well, I won for the Lehi Macey's store. Therefore I was the best bagger in the store. It gets better. So there is a state competition. I've spent the last month training every day to win this competition. Yesterday was the day of the actual state competition. This is where I would find out if all of this work would pay off. I had found out previously that the stakes were higher than I thought, we were talking about winning $500. When I went I thought I did pretty good. A half hour later I was told that I had gotten a fabulous score on the first round. I said my 6 millionth prayer for the day that I would win. The finalists were being announced, and to my great satisfaction I would be one of the 6 who competed in the finalist round. What was going on here though was that I was going against the infamous Ryan Collette, Sandy Macey's bagger. Their crowned jewel. The six finalists had bagged. Now they were just burning time. Finally the announced the top three, but of course they couldn't let you know in what order. I was one of the top three. I was up there with Ryan and a bagger from Harmons. Harmons was 3rd, then they announced 2nd place and it was . . . . . Ryan. Yep, that is right. Yesterday I was crowned the best bagger in the State of Utah, and oh baby I'm going to Vegas!!!!!! Now I compete in the National competition, and when I win that, I get $10,000. There is my mission money. It's all proof that miracles do happen, prayers are answered, and yes, God doest exist.

We're a team . . .

I think that the greatest thing about my family is that we are a team.
Ever since we were kids we've done everything together.
For us family reunions are pointless because, we just hang out with our immediate family.
Maybe it makes us selfish or maybe our other family is just annoying.
I love all the great things that make us a team and that make us my family:
 - We do dishes together every night, everyone
 - We have a quote board where we post all of our dumb, satirical, hilarious, memorable, and akward quotes.
 - We are all so weird, but in similar ways. We all extremely like some things, and even though we make fun of each other for it, we really do appreciate each other.
 - We love to have adventures. It doesn't matter if it is on a nice calm hike in Park City or sprinting in the redwood forest, as soon as we find a pinecone or a stick that is about sword length and someone says lamanites or orcs, then an epic battle ensues.
 - We spend a lot of time together, but it doesn't mean we go places.
 - We make fun of each other all the time, thus we keep each other in check.
 - Once in a while my mom says hilarious things.
 - Matthew has the most unfounded radical opinons that have ever existed.
 - My dad taught us to be boys, and so even though 4 of us guys are adults we are all boys at heart.
 - We all love legos. We were practically born on them and we probably have the biggest collection you have ever seen. aka. 200 gallons.
 - We can basically talk about anything, anytime, anywhere.
 - We all loved the same classic tv shows and we still talk about them.
 - I love my family so much.
 - We all listen to Christian rock.
 - unlike most mothers, my mom loves it when we are all home. At the end of the summer most mothers say good riddance to there kids for another school year, while my mom dreads school more than we do, because she likes to have us home. Maybe it is because we are her personal 5 man work force.
 - We have so many inside jokes, half the time we don't know if it is an inside joke, or something new.
 - We have a sister.
 - My mom makes different and amazing foods every night.
 - We are all extremely sarcastic.
 - We wrestle for fun all the time, but nobody usually gets really hurt.
 - We all make fun of our Dad and he really embarasses all of us.
 - We are all the same size so typically we are a one size fits all brotherhood.
 - We all have sterotypes that we are given, for instance I am the vain one.
 - We all have nicknames. For instance: Daniel is the miracle child, Dad is Diamond Medallion Commando, and I am Eagle Commando.
 - Most important we are an eternal family.
 - We all support each other.
 - We make fun of each other all the time about girls and for Rebecca boys.
 - We love each other so much.
 - We can all make funny noises.
 - We all think we are black.
 - We love singing together.
 - We all work to become better together.
 - We are so unique.
 - We read scriptures together everyday. I think we've only muffed probably about 10 times since the creation of our family.
 - We say family prayers every morning and every night without fail.
 - We eat every meal together when we can, including lunch and breakfast.
 - We share our pains togther.
 - We have very just parents.
 - We all have different talents and gifts, but they all compliment each other, so we can do anything.
 - We all have opinions.
 - We have a lot of pictures together.
 - We take the same picture every Christmas morning.
 - We can all quote Napolean Dynamite back and forth.
 - We have some very memorable quotes that we quote quite often.
 - We have an odd child syndrome, even though it only affects the even children, we just call them odd because we are the misfits.
 - We all hate country music.
 - We are all active members of the church.
 - This list is exceedingly long, and I'm going to stop it now, for now.

I am so grateful for my family and that we are a team. I think it is a rare gift to have a family like mine. I thank the Lord everyday for them, and I know that I'll never lose them. Thank goodness for that.