Family News: Good Times

So.. we have been getting all settled in to our new house these past weeks. The kids are adjusting great and everyone seems to be pretty happy and comfortable. I am still so grateful how everything worked out.

As far as some life updates, Brad is getting close the the end of his program in school. His degree is in Informations Systems (a business major with emphasis in software, computer, web design, etc.) He is really happy now since all of this classes are things that interest him and he wants to make a career out in the IT field. He recently took park in a Microsoft event where he got to create and submit apps, take place in competitions, etc. He said it was great learning experience and he had a lot of fun doing it too.

A year ago this month, Brad and I learned about Dave Ramsey, we had heard about him before, but hadn't looked into his books or anything much. So this last year was a big Dave Ramsey year for us. For those that don't know much about him like us, he is a well-known financial expert who emphasizes the importance of staying out of debt. His basics steps are
1. Save a starter emergency fund ($1000)
2. Pay off all debt except for mortgage
3. Save a full 3-6 months of expenses in savings
4. Invest 15% of your income (on a monthly or annual basis)
5. Save for your children's college
6. Pay off house early
7. Build wealth and give

Anyway that's the basic outline for his teachings. He is a strong Christian family man with old fashioned beliefs and values, no fancy strategies or complicated investing technics or anything like that. Just very straight foreword, and simple teachings. Most of it is really what we have heard through the LDS church all of our lives, but somehow the way he teaches is so clear and simple and it really seemed to give us some extra motivation and excitement to do it.
In November we made our last student loan payment, meaning we were debt free, yay! and we have been able to have tons of blessings come into our lives this last year by working together on a budget, making financial plans based on mutual goals. It all sounds so simple, but for us it was a big learning curve. We've been able to get almost all of our 6 month emergency fund saved already while cash flowing buying and moving into our first house, and all of the other things that have come our way this last year too. So grateful for Dave and his teachings, we also attended a 6 week course called Financial Peace University taught be Dave Ramsey. Even if people who are way smarter than us with money want to learn more, it's a great class to take.

So.. that has definitely been a huge part of our lives. Other than that the all of us are doing great! Our kids are doing great and growing like crazy. They have all become little buddies, it's so fun! I am at that stage right now with the boys that I am loving each of their ages and the things they are doing so much! Each of them are so unique and special in their own way. I love their cuddles, laughs and "mommy I love you's" with all of my heart. Trevor is growing up so fast, way too fast actually. I looked back at a lot of our blog posts and can't understand where the time goes. Seeing baby pictures of Trevor from not too long ago make me realize how special this time is with our kids. Life is so great, there are always challenges of course, but we feel so grateful for our life here together.