I guess it’s about time I participate in writing a family newsletter.  I always enjoy reading all of yours, so I guess it’s only fair for us to contribute.

 

Some of you may have heard Christy and I bought a house!  We closed on December 28th and moved January 5th.  Thanks to a lot of help from family and friends we moved in about 5 hours!  We now live about 25 minutes from my parents.  We are going to miss being in the same ward with them, but we look forward to our new ward.

 

Christy is working for Conseco Finance, as a home loan processor.  She has made some friends at work and she seems to enjoy her job.  She’s also been working hard decorating our house and turning it into a home.  She received her first calling a couple of months ago as a Sunbeam teacher!  She’s love her little Sunbeams and I can tell her Sunbeams really love her.  She will be missed when we change wards.  She also teaches the pit (marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, bells, etc.)  at Woodstock with me.  Last month she got a puppy for her birthday.  Shadow is a black lab mix.  He’s almost 4 months old and he already weighs 30 pounds!  Sometimes I get a little jealous because he likes her more than he likes me!

 

Next month will be 2 years I have worked for ATC.  The last 16 months I’ve been testing more soil than concrete.  I test the moisture content (cook dirt) and the compaction or density of soil.  They call me the Dirt Doctor.  It’s been a good job but it’s not what I want to do for ever.  I’ve been looking into starting my own business.  I want to sell percussion equipment online specifically to high schools and colleges/universities in the Southeast.  I’ve already purchased a domain name.  It’s not quite up yet but check it out in the future.  www.southerndrums.com  I’ve been staying busy with developing the indoor show for Woodstock High School’s Indoor Drumline.  We are doing a Super Mario Brothers show.  It’s been fun but it takes up a lot of time.  We will be competing in 5 competitions the next 4 months.

 

Well that’s about it for now.  It’s good to hear from all of you.  Till next time.

 

We love you.

 

Ben, Christy, and Shadow

January 2002