Now introducing...

The last month has been full of exciting events. Amanda and I have been looking for a bigger apartment. However the scope of our search was limited because we really wanted to stay in our ward. I have been the Young Men's President for the last year and Amanda has been the Laurels advisor. Even though we were in an apartment, our ward had always made us feel welcome and like we were a part of the ward family. Not to mention the youth that we worked with were incredible. So we searched through the limited apartments available in the ward boundaries that were bigger than what we were living in. We thought that had a place secured but the land lord rented it out from under us after we told him that we would take it. So we expanded our horizons and looked elsewhere. It didn't take us long to find a bigger place, for comparable rent. So after a few tearful discussions we decided to move. We are going to miss our ward and the friends that we made there. But at least we are close enough that we will still see everyone with some regularity. (We are still setting things up, but once we are done, we will post pictures.)

In other news we have new family members to celebrate! My brother Taylor and his wife Meg who live in Arkansas just had a little boy! His name is Fielding Elias Beckstead. He was born Sunday February 21st weighing in at 7 lbs, 13 oz and was 20.5 inches long. He has a full head of long black hair. I think that he is going to be tall and skinny like his dad. You can see pictures and videos of the little guy on their blog. My parents now have 3 grandkids, Grayson, Ella, and Fielding. (Fielding could have been born on 363 different days and not shared a birthday with a cousin, but both Fiedling and Grayson share the same birthday. I am sure Gray won't mind.)

Following up with the baby news from Taylor and Meg, my cousin Phillip and his wife Amy had their baby boy also! Crue Phillip Secrist was born February 28 weighing 8 lbs, 2 oz and 20 inches long. Congrats to Phil and Amy!

Finally it's time to introduce the newest member of our family! Last week Amanda and I while we were moving had the opportunity to bring a new bundle of joy into our lives. His name is Rusty, he weighs 11 pounds and has short red hair! He enjoys taking naps and going for walks in the neighbor hood. No we didn't have a baby and no we aren't pregnant. The new apartment allows us to have small pets and so a small pet we now have! Rusty is a seven year old Dachshund that we rescued from the Hurricane Animal Shelter. They found him wandering the streets, hungry and cold. When they contacted his owners, they were told he could be adopted out. So we took him home the day we moved into our new place. He is extremely nervous and has a problem where he piddles if you look at him wrong, but he is quickly overcoming that.

Enjoy the pics of Rusty, our Sunday drive to a snowy Zion National Park and hiking to Johnson's Arch with my dad.