Mom and Dad are coming home!

My Mom and Dad are coming home from a mission from our Church. They have been in Palmyra New York for the last 18 months. It is interesting the process it took to get them on a mission and us in Idaho. Now that I look back, I can't believe all the blessings that transpired on our behalf.

#1 - I got fired from my job. This was interesting because I had not planned to leave the job for a little while because I wanted to keep my word. I had stated that I would be there for 5 years. The timing of it was very interesting because I was miserable at the job. All these people I worked with turned into a very cold people. My interaction with them became very awkward. So being fired, although a blow to my ego, was a true blessing. I could then look to the future and make some very important decisions.

#2 - My mom called me early one morning and asked if we would come to Idaho and live in their house. She had talked to my Dad and they discussed going on a mission. Now my parents wanted to go on a mission and with our circumstances what they were, it became the perfect opportunity for them to do so. We would come and take care of their house and they could go and serve with no problems. I don't think they would have gone under different circumstances. They would have not have felt comfortable with renting their house, or leaving their house vacant.

#3 - I had always thought it would be great to work at BYU-Idaho. I had set a goal a while ago that I would do just that. However, as I moved away, got married, and started a family, I thought that was more of a wish than anything and never thought it would actually happen. When my mom called about coming back to Sugar City I turned my efforts to finding a job in Sugar City or Rexburg. I contacted some old friends. One of them was Robyn Bergstrom. She was the mom of one of my best friends growing up, Angie Bergstom. Well, it just so happened that they were looking for a one-year hire to teach visual media. This was perfect because I loved visual media. I interviewed for the job and got it. So having a job and a place to live I could now support my family again.

#4 - We moved to Sugar City and we really enjoyed the close contact with mom and dad. But as they put in their papers and we waited for a reply we felt like we were living on top of each other. We had some of our stuff, and they had their stuff and it was really chaotic. We even thought about renting a house until they were gone because of the chaos. We didn't know when the call fro them to leave would come and how long they had to prepare for their mission; 3 months, 6 months. It wasn't my parents, nor was it us. It was just the feeling like we were living on top of each other. It was weird for my parents because we had moved some of our stuff in. It was like they were in their house, but it wasn't their stuff. And for us it was like using our stuff in somebody elses house. We looked into getting another place to live and we had a house all set up and all we had to do is make the commitment. I was about to make the phone call when both Heather and I looked at each other. Although it would have been better for my parents and us, we felt it wasn't the right thing to do. So we waited. It just so happened that my parents got their mission call that week. And to top it off they had to leave in 10 days. It was a crazy time getting them ready to go, but we were so glad we didn't get that other place to live because it would have been a nightmare having a place to live and paying for two others; rental house and house in Iowa.

#5 - It was just the perfect situation. We stayed in their house and kept it up and maintained. My parents went on their mission not having to worry about their house. To top things off, Heather and I still had our house in Iowa. We did get a wonderful renter in the house, but it was very unlikely that he would want to buy the house. We thought for sure it would sell shortly after we left. But the longer we waited the less likely it seemed to sell. As the time started marking closer to my parents coming home, we had to make some major decisions. My parents were worried about us too. They thought that we should stay in their home and when they come home they would rent an apartment. We started looking for places around that we could rent and we found that with our mortgage payment in Iowa with our renter we could afford to rent a place. But if we lost our renter, then we couldn't afford to rent. It was an interesting situation. Well, Robyn Bergstrom had a house they just moved out of in Sugar City. They moved to Rexburg and she had asked us to stay in their house over the winter. I told her our situation and she said that we could pay whatever we could afford. It was the perfect situation. Well, the perfect situation became even better. There was a family in Sugar City that wanted to buy the Bergstrom's home, but they needed to sell theirs first. We tried a few things to help them sell their home, but nobody was buying. Bergstrom's decided to buy the home, they basically did a house swap. We were then going to rent from the Bergstrom's a nice 4 bedroom house, 3 bath, and good location. They felt it was a good deal for them because they would have good renters in their home and not have any worries. We were making plans to move of our parents house and into the Bergstroms newly bought house when we get a phone call from our realtor in Iowa. There was someone interested in our house. The timing was impeccable. We sold our house, moved into the Bergstrom's newly purchased home, and got ready for Mom and Dad to come home.

Miracles. I can't tell you how blessed we are. There are many other little things that I could write and write and write about. We are so grateful for the blessings that have been bestowed upon our family at this time. I can only see the hand of the Lord in our lives.

Spencer

Halloween photoshop

Ben didn't dress up for Halloween, so I made him up in photoshop!

Halloween Party

Heather planned this party with my brother Ben and his family. They came over and we had some goodies and mummy dogs. Heather spent a lot of time getting ready for the party and it ended up being a huge success.

Jeremy eating donuts off of a string. He cheated and used his hands a couple of times. He thought is was so fun.


The other game was popping a balloon and seeing what number was underneath it. They got vampire teeth and pencils.


Kierra was dressed up as Eeor. She was so cute and she loved wearing the costume. She just ran around saying "Hee Haaaaa!" It was really cute.

Jeremy sporting his costume and having a blast with his cousins.

BAD NEWS (everyone is okay)

So heather calls me the other day while I was in a meeting. I quickly ignore call with a text. She then sends me a text back and says, "Nobody's sick or hurt, but I have bad news!"

Pure Happiness

Makenzie's Birthday

Makenzie was so cute with her birthday this year. We let her pick her cupcake out and boy did she pick it. It was really fun to watch her eat/devour it. She got really messy, but that is part of the fun. Here are some pictures to view the joy.

She ended up picking the one that was on fire... surprise, surprise.

Omish face. (the beard)

This is what she did when I asked her how old she was. Smart girl.. Okay, she didn't really do that, but you wouldn't have known that if I didn't tell you.

Who's happy?

Clean up. She was so messy we had to hog tie her.

Her reaction to her present.

Makenzie sharing with Kierra.

6 Month Review

I haven't tried this full out yet, but the idea is this... Every six months we spend a Saturday and Sunday watching and listening to speeches and talks given by the leaders in our church. I thought it would be a fun idea that my kids color pictures of themselves from memories that happened the last six months. So I took the picture into Photoshop and made it so it is like a coloring book sheet. I colored one myself, and I had a fun time doing it. I hope my kids think the same thing.
This is how you do it...

Coloring Book Picture from Spencer Haacke on Vimeo.

Family Home Evening

Kierra walking through the fun kid straw maze. It wasn't that big and it really took them 5 minutes to conquer .
Makenzie really took up with this pumpkin. She held it most the time we were collecting pumpkins from the pumpkin patch.

We had our first snow fall for the season the other day. We looked out and our neighbors tree was just beautiful with the red, green and white. I had to take a picture and Jeremy had to take and apple.

Kierra's Face

We took this a little while ago, but I still think it is the cutest thing ever.

Kierra's Face from Spencer Haacke on Vimeo.

I love taking pictures

Bring me the head of a pig.

Water Play

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4unGfPpbvco&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Spencer L. Haacke

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

1/2 C margarine/butter
1/2 C Shortening
1 C Sugar
1/2 C Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp vanilla
3 C All purpose flour
Chocolate Chips

Directions: Heat Oven to 375. Mix softened butter, softened shortening, sugar, brown sugar & eggs together. Then add vanilla and mix well. In separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well. Add chocolate chips and stir. Scoop by the spoonful onto a cookie sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes depending on the size of your cookie. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet for 2 minutes then remove to cooling rack.

Splash Park

Our kids love the Splash Park and we love it because its FREE! They had lots of fun and Kierra even went down the slide but didn't like it very much. Maybe next year!

Makenzie just splashed and splashed.

The Haackes visit the ZOO

And they actually let us leave! Total lapse of judgment on their part but we won't tell them.

Our new buddy!

Kierra loved the monkey and he liked her too!

Look what hatched!

4TH OF JULY!!!

We enjoyed our 4th of July. We decided to go to the parade this year and the kids loved it, we will just leave it at that. I have a very different opinion on parades well at least most of them. You can also see by our pictures that my children have hit the "we refuse to look at the camera at the same time phase so I am sorry but these are the best we have. After the parade and naps we played "soda-ball". Yes we made that up but it was lots of fun. I will get Spencer to post a video but basically you shake up soda cans and then take turns pitching and hitting. Its a blast! But I warn you, you will get sticky!

Swimming with the fishes.

While at the beach we were able to go and feed some large fish. Kierra got stinky fish water flipped out all over her head. The kids loved feeding shrimp to the fish. Jeremy's favorite was the puffer fish.

I think the fish thought she was bait because they kept swimming back and forth in front of her.

Shark Bait!