Birthday boy

He just won't stop growing. He's getting so big, and he's 7! Wow. He really wanted a red robe, and loved it. The things that bring happiness to kids:)

We celebrated Birthday Week, just doing simple fun things each day. A dinner trip to Big Als, where he played some games and won a lot of tickets from prizes. He picked out a junky but fun cereal that was gone in two days. No chores on his birthday, and he woke up to balloons all over the floor of his room. He had a great week! 

Things I want to remember:

Ethan loves to tuck in his shirt each day. He'll sometimes wear a belt with his pants, and tuck that shirt in. It's so cute.

He loves wearing his watch and learning to tell the time. He wears it every day. 

He still loves to be loud and boisterous, running all over the place. 

He loves riding his bike.

He still sleeps with about 15 stuffed animals, and arranges them neatly in a row each night. So dang cute! 

He still lets me grab him at random times and pull him onto my lap to hug him. I love that.

He's just one stinking, great kid! 

Tonight, I helped the boys into bed, and read to them from "The Mouse and the Motercycle" book. Kevin quietly zonked out. Ethan was awake when I was done, and I could tuck him in and give him more love. I checked on them later, like I always do. I love taking a moment to just adore them when they are sleeping. Just to remember that everything will be ok. They are precious, and they love to be kids and be crazy sometimes. 

I love this thought.

"You will never be this loved again. So on those days when you are feeling stressed out, touched out and depleted, just remember that you will never be this loved again. One day you will long for their affection. So choose a soft voice, choose gentle hands, choose love." AK from Power of Moms

I love the last line, 'choose a soft voice, gentle hands, choose love'. As a mom of young kids, I sure need this reminder often. Thoughts like these help me believe in myself and try again to learn this mothering stuff. Love these guys. Glad they are still little. It's going by too fast, but love the chapter we are in.

My Mother's Day

My Mother's day was special. My boys behaved much better at church, and that was a huge gift to me. That week, I had the thought to try something new to help motivate the boys to be more respectful and reverent in their classes. I made a large ticket for each of them, had them sign their names on it, colored it, laminated it, and used it to redeem one treat of their choice on Sundays. 

I brought some chocolate chips with me to church. Each time I saw the boys sitting in their chair quietly, I snuck a chip to them, trying not to let Brooke see, or she'd freak out and start screaming. Brooke's at the lovely possesive stage. If she sees it and wants it, she turns into the Hulk. Toddler fun:) The boys got chips, and I snuck some for me. I just tried to do more little, positive rewards to help them know their doing good. It helped. 

They earned their ticket for being calm and not crazy in their little class. Both of the boys were so happy. I was relieved and grateful for the inspiration for this idea. 

I need to write this down; I know for a fact that the idea of the ticket and more little, consistent praise rewards came to me because I started reading my scriptures daily. For a long time, I have been supremely sucking at scripture studying. I would pray for help with the kids, and would get nothing. No ideas or anything, and it was really hard and discouraging. The ideas to help me come flowing now, and I've seen the huge difference. It has been most helpful, and makes me not want to stop my studies ever.

Same with our family scripture studying. We're still at it, reading a verse a night, and talking about it. Ethan began wanting to read along, and say the words that he could read. Blew me away, and is fantastic! I've heard of kids learning to read from scripture readings. Every little bit helps. Since we've started our readings, the kids have been fighting and teasing less. They're are still struggles, but the other crud has gone down trememendously. It has taught me so much. Forever thankful. Scripture studying. It works, and it's fantastically fun. 

When Mother's day comes around, I love to remember my dear Mom, my best friend. It's been six years since she went home to heaven. We did so much together, and have so many memories. She loved movies, worked in them, and had her favorite ones that we'd watch over and over again. Sometimes, I'll watch one of our favorite movies again for the fist time in awhile, and I'll remember all the funny parts that we'd laugh on, and all the little lines we'd quote. Special.

I feel bad sometimes, because I'm so busy raising my kids, and figuring out life that I don't remember her as often as I'd like. I try to keep pictures around, and remember her quotes and lessons she taught me. 

She worked as an extra on The Dukes of Hazzard. Such a great show. So clean and loaded with good ethics lessons. She loved working there, and would give shoulder massages to the Bo and Luke Duke actors. She was really good at reflexology and massaging. 

I found a special treat that is a joy. I have the DVDs of the show. On the 4th season, first disc, second episode, Bo, Luke and Daisy Duke actors made a commentary for that episode, just chatting away. At the end of the show, a celebrity country singer is performing in the Boar's Nest, where most of the extras were filmed. You could always see Mom in these scenes. Well, Mom was in this part, and I could see her a lot in the background, just enjoying the music. At the end of the song, the camera is pretty close to her, and she turns to chat with someone. I can see her beautiful, younger face. At that part, Bo speaks up on the commentary and says 'There's Jeanette' and talks about her a little bit. It delights me to no end to hear them say her name, and see such a good close up. That's my happy gift of my Mom.

This is another Boars Nest scene on youtube, and I found her in the bottom corner having fun. So tender for me. 

I love being a Mom, and I miss mine terribly. I got my love of movies, especially action ones, from her. Love the old movies, too. The musicals. Love her kindness, constant compassion, and quickness to forgive.

I love my kids, and have been trying to be more patient with them, play more, read more, tickle more, and love more. Day by day:)

When the Sun Comes Out

The past two weeks, the sun came out for a few days. We were outside nearly the whole day, going to bed completely pooped from physical fun. We cut our grass, and began to play in the backyard for the first time in about 4 months. Been too wet to go out in until now. How wonderful it's been to just play in the garden, the dirt, and the cool air. We've done our learning outdoors. I grabbed books to read to them while they played. Heaven. 

Could she not be any cuter? Girls, such a fun difference from boys. 

Moon dough. Another 'why do I do this to myself?' art project that requires major clean up afterwards, but is worth it for the kids:)

It was around 80 degrees this day. Everyone said it was really hot. I thought it was perfect. Desert folks we are. 

Huge park, with tons of green everywhere. Brooke chasing her brothers:)

Explored a little spot off the road, and found a secret, magical place. Showed the boys the fun of climbing trees and playing with a bucket. Best toy ever. Rope and bucket. 

Could not get this cutie out of the tree. He loved it. 

 Blessings of this time:

• Having time to read, play and explore. 
• Ethan wanting to sit in my lap outside by the garden, for at least 30 minutes, singing Let it Go and other fun stuff. Bliss.
• Brooke constantly dressing herself up, and loving it. 
• Discovering a great coconut chocolate chip cookie recipe here. 
• Learning more about homeschooling and finding our daily rythmn. Learning more about how my kids learn so I can help them. 
• Organizing an area, finding the dvd camera, and watching old clips of Ethan super young. Reminding me of how fast time flies, and to savor each chapter. Surreal to watch.
• Helping prepare food at an LDS missionary zone conference. Being sung to by the missionaries, thanking us for their lunch, and having a total flashback of being a missionary doing the same thing to other people who fed us. Tender. 

We've been busy each day, and when it rains, we read and play more inside. It's a different pretty up here:)

Family Scripture Study; It's Working!

First off, a few pictures of our visit to the Portland Zoo. We took advantage of a sunny morning, well, mixed with clouds and a few showers on us, but a good morning. It was wonderful to nearly have the park to ourselves, going on a weekday. The walk around the zoo was so gorgeous. It's a zoo within a forest, the huge Oregon trees towering over the walkways. 

This week, my testimony of family scripture reading has been strengthened, and I have to write this down. For the past few weeks, we've had too much yelling, too much meanness between the kids, and not enough kindness and love. It was getting to all of us, and I wanted it to stop. For the hundreth time, I tried again to start up our daily reading with the kids.

 Last Sunday, we decided to set a goal. It was really easy; 'Let's just see if we can read our scriptures for 7 days, just till the next Sunday. Let's see if we can actually do it', hoping it would last longer. 

Well, here's the magic that has happened in our home since Sunday; the spirit is in our home again. How can I tell? Ethan and Kevin have played nice together for two days straight. They've been buddies, playing in the backyard digging up worms, putting them in jars, and actually being obedient and leaving them outside to play with. They still have had their sibling moments of yuck, but it has gone down a lot. 

Kevin and Brooke have been playing so sweetly together. Kevin makes her giggle like crazy. She tickles him. In the picture above, he was holding her hand, and helping her around the zoo. All of this has made my heart sing with joy.

This is what our scripture study consists of; a little before bedtime we've been sitting on our big king bed. I play a church song on the guitar, and try to get the kids to sing. It doesn't matter if they sing, as long as we're actually doing something. We then have read a scripture mastery verse, or something. At least one verse, and then we try to talk about it, within their short attention spans. Then, we say our family prayers, and get them ready for bed. That's it, and because we've done it every night since Sunday, the love and kindness has returned. I don't want it to leave, so I'm going to try very hard to be consistent into next week and beyond. 

I've also learned some incredible things about my personal scripture studying and keeping a scripture journal. That will be another post for next week. I can't wait to share what I've learned. All I can say is this; I just want to study my scriptures in my free time. I actually want to, isn't that insane? I haven't felt that way since the mission. I'll explain tons more next week:)

So, if you're struggling in your family with scripture studying, please don't give up. Try again, be consistent and have the faith that your home will be blessed with a greater measure of peace. It might not feel super enriching, but the fact that you're at least trying will be met with help from above. I'm seeing it happen right now. 

One fabulous thought to ponder:

"Sister Maynes and I learned some important principles as we began the process of establishing a Christ-centered home early in our marriage. We started by following the counsel of our Church leaders. We brought our children together and held weekly family home evenings as well as daily prayer and scripture study. It was not always easy, convenient, or successful, but over time these simple gatherings became treasured family traditions.

We learned that our children might not remember everything about the family home evening lesson later in the week, but they would remember that we held it. We learned that later in the day at school they would probably not remember the exact words of the scriptures or the prayer, but they would remember that we did read scriptures and we did have prayer. Brothers and sisters, there is great power and protection for us and our youth in establishing celestial traditions in the home."

Richard J. Maynes

A busy week

Sometimes, the blog gets forgotten when a busy week comes along. The sun was out this week. Everything drops for the sun up here:) 

I had the wonderful blessing of  arranging two fun photography shoots with my new photographer friend, Mallory Wilkes, and are young lady friends. First off, I packed up the family and we went location scouting. While the boys explored for bugs and nature stuff, Brooke was my willing model. I asked her to do a cute pose with her hands, and she did it! It blew me away. Girls really love to rock a photo session. She was being so darling. 

Fun things that happened this week:

• A sweet family watched our kids, while Shaun and I went on our first date in 6 months. It was such a treat. We visited the Portland LDS temple, and had some insanely good whole wheat gourmet pizza. Portland is awesome for food. It was such a gift to have a date with my sweetheart.
• I read a great book to the boys, Steven R. Covey's 7 habits of Happy Kids. We read a story about selling lemonade to earn some money. Ethan loved that story, and went straight to work to put up a garage sale outside with some of his toys. He made a sign that said $1 for everything, and sat in a chair, waiting for people to come. Shaun was out there with him, and our kind neighbor came by and bought some things for her grandkids. Angel neighbor. Ethan earned some money, and was delighted. He is so passionate, just like me. He just puts his mind to something, and does it. I think I have a real leader in that boy. Sure lucky to be his Mom, even on the rough days. 
• Kevin continues to love dinosaurs, and has proclaimed himself a T-rex. I have to remind him to not bit me when he says he's trying to eat meat:)
• I had so much fun on the photo shoots with the girls. I just love photographing teenage girls, and helping them to see how beautiful they are. Its a rough world for them today, with so much crap being put on them to be a certain way and such. I just want to help them remember that they are beautiful inside and out. Photographing this week made me fall in love with educating myself about photography, business, marketing, etc. again. My youtube Creative Live playlist became loaded with new videos I found and saved for later. Oh, to have free, solid education available today. Supreme blessing, but I can't study all the time. Balance, balance, balance. 

Tonight, I just look forward to reading books with my kids, and holding them on the couch, if they'll let me. For some reason, the boys go nuts at 6pm, and start chasing each other around the house. It takes me a bit to wind them down, get them to bed, and finally have a break. I love tucking them in, and checking on them later, just to see them sleeping. My favorite:)

8 Years of Marriage!

Happy anniversary to us! 8 years of marriage, wow. Sure has flown.

One night, Shaun and I were looking for something to watch on Netflix. He turned on 'Ghostbusters'. I looked at him, and said "Are you serious? I'm going to freak out." I have a love/hate relationship with this movie. It's way funny, but it has scared me to no end ever since I saw it as a little girl. Basically, the dogs with the red eyes. It's ridiculous and silly, I know.

So, I said 'Ok, let's just watch it for the funny parts', because there are lines that make me giggle. Then, it shows the haunted apartment building, which looks some tall building my Mom and I would always pass on the freeway somewhere in Las Angeles. Scared the crap out of me, and I would shrink in the car to not see it.

Of course, I'm such a daredeveil. I said "Well, let's just see if it's as scary as I remember. I'm older now. Shouldn't be so bad." Total dork. So, I see the part at Rick Moranis's party when he opens his closet and throws a jacket in, landing on one of those darn dogs. As soon as I see those stinking red eyes, I freaked and said 'Yup. Still scary', and I dive into Shaun's arms, making sure he is holding me close, because I am still a wuss. I asked him 'Is it just me, or isn't there a movie that scares you?', to which he admitted about "The Grudge".

This movie incident made me think about how lucky I am to be married to Shaun, my movie buddy, silly friend who's super smart, strong, loves the kids, and loves me. The last time I saw this movie, I only had my stuffed animals and my mom to get me through the scary parts. Now, I have this big, handsome, wonderful sweetheart who takes care of me through everything. I love making those dang good chocolate peanut butter cups for him. I love saying stupid stuff just to make him laugh. Love seeing him play with the boys, and how much they love him. Love how hard working he is. So many things to write about him, but I love that I've been married to him for eight years, and I can't wait for more memories with him:)

I also love these pictures of us. My good friend Celise Salmon took these, and I love them so much. She did such a fantastic job. I love the last picture of us laughing. Oh, that is so precious to me. I can't wait to order it big on a float wrap or something. How important it is to get new pictures with your sweetheart, every year. It's a gift to be treasured.

Rain fun and my thoughts

I took a little blog break last week because the sun was out nearly every day. I have learned that when that happens, drop everything and play. There are less sunny days here in the winter. Now, when the sun is shining, I let it shine on my face, look up to the sky, and say a little 'thank you' for it.

A few weeks ago, it was pouring rain. We took advantage of some fun water play with our wagon and toys. It was great, and delightful fun for about 30 minutes:) The kids loved filling their buckets up, pouring, and transferring. Back home, when it rains it usually lasts about 5-10 minutes. Hours of rain on end is definitely new to us!

Arent' those pictures fun? Sweet kid moments.

In the midst of life, I had another birthday. I totally forgot about it coming up on me, until I got a candy bar at church. I would love to say that I had a birthday bash, went out to a show, or something amazing, but it was just an ordinary day taking care of the kiddos. Yet, I made a fantastic white chicken lasagna with whole wheat noodles that everyone ate. That was a gift.

I also made our favorite gold mine of a recipe find; a really, easy chocolate mousse.  I doubled the recipe, which filled the mixer bowl pretty decently. I declared my birthday weekend chocolate mousse day. We ate mousse for dessert, breakfast, and any other chance we could lick it up until it was gone. Lasted an amazing 24 hours. It's so good.

Played a little Wii with the kids and watched Hook. Put them to bed, and got to relax. It was a nice birthday.

Now, it's raining again. Steady stream of water. It's a pretty sound to hear through the windows.

Had a bit of a challenging afternoon with the boys. Yelled too much, getting tired, and junk. Tried my best to end the day right by tucking them in, reading to them, and telling them 'mama stories', stories from chapters of my life, which they greatly love. I love telling them, too. As I tell the story, my mind is taken right back to that moment when the story happened. I see all the details clearly in my head, and I remember the friends I met, and the great things I learned from them. The boys just love these stories.

Anyways, Kevin told me tonight he prayed for me when I was being a hag. It melted my heart, and I gave him a big hug. Later, I checked in on them, and just looked at them asleep, falling in love with them all over again. Sigh:)

So, this blog of mine is not the mommy blog where all the posts are rainbows and happy bubbles. I've heard of people reading those type of blogs, and feeling terrible about themselves, thinking they are not amazing like the blogger they just read. I hope whoever reads this will not be down on themselves, but know that I'm just like you. I struggle. I want to do better. I'm trying to see the beauty in life, the moments that are golden, and trying to learn what the Lord wants me to learn. Trying to do that while having crazy hard days, and great, peaceful days. It's quite the ride. I love learning, and I love sharing good things I've learned with others.

Wishing you all a peaceful week:)

Beauty of the Stars

Recently, they boys and I were learning about stars and the solar system. That night, I put them to bed and went outside to help Shaun fix some things on the car. I immediately saw the sky, went "Wow!" and went back inside to get the kids up. The sky was so clear, and the stars were very visible. Now, for Washington, that's a big deal in the winter. I'm learning that many winter nights are cloudy and not a star to be seen. 

The boys were still awake as I opened their door and said 'Come outside. I have a surprise.' Well, nothing makes little kids move faster than hearing the word 'surprise'. They raced to get on jackets and shoes. It was so funny. I brought them out to the driveway and told them to look up. They both looked up and were amazed. Not that we haven't seen stars before in Vegas, but there is a pink hazy light coming from the strip that sometimes blocks out the clearness of a starry night. This night was particulary perfect for our day of learning. It was at that moment that I thought, "Man, a telescope would be really cool right now." 

The boys loved it, but then Kevin said to me "Mom, I'm cold. I want to go back to bed." I laughed and helped them both back, thinking of nights when they will be up later than 8. 

Sometimes, I get so busy in my little world that I forget to stop and look at the stars, and remember this world that God created for us. Looking at the stars, I am amazed at His creations, how tiny I am, but always rememberd as His daughter. I love starry nights. 

My Greatest Fear

Hear I go again being completely open and honest with whoever is reading...

I see many good parenting articles about living in the moment, enjoying what stage you are in, and the constant reminder that kids grow up in a blink and to enjoy them. They are all written with the best of intentions by dear mothers. I read a few of them here and there, and try to find the positive in them to help me.

I am a mom of three young kiddos. Some days are good, and a lot of days are really, really hard. Days that make me think "Remember life before kids, when things were easier?", which makes me really guilty for ever thinking that.

I see glimpses of other families with older kids doing fun things together. Sometimes I think 'Wow, that must be fun. Maybe their kids actually listen. Maybe they have less nights going to bed not completely stressed and worn out.' Then, I try to stop thinking those thoughts, because I have heard that parenting teeanagers is an emotional, whole other ball park that I don't understand yet, and I just try to think of my family.

My greatest fear is that these fleeting years of the kids being young will fly past me too quickly, and I won't remember and enjoy it as much as I want, because I'm trying to learn how to discipline all the time, breaking up fights, teaching them good habits and gospel principles before they get older, and the sheer physical exhaustion of raising young kids. I'm so scared that I'll be the mom who looks back at pictures, and can't remember what we were doing at that time, because raising young kids is tough.

I remember when Kevin was born. I had an 18 month old and a newborn. That first year of Kevin's birth, all I can remember is being physically exhausted each and every day. I remember nursing all the time, being on my feet taking care of the boys, having a quick rest during their naptimes, and collapsing on the couch at 5pm when Shaun came home from work and could take over. Yet, I remember learning photography online at that time, and taking a beautiful picture of Kevin in his sweet, baby stage, but that's about it. It makes me sad that I can't remember too much more.

So, what do I do? How do I enjoy the stage I'm in right now with my sweet children who drive me crazy somedays, and melt my heart the next day? How can I not let this time, the only time that they will be this young, slip from me due to the fact that I'm just trying to learn how to be a parent for the first time, and to love them?

Well.. this is what I've done so far..

I try to read my scriptures better. I really have been doing a lame job at that lately. My dear husband inspires me every day when he reads on his own. Such a help. I'm not perfect, but I'm trying to do it daily again. It helps.

I search for parenting counsel in the treasure vault, otherwise known as the LDS Gospel Library App
I search through General Conference talks, scriptures, and more. I find gold every time, and I try to Instagram it, hoping it can help someone else out there.

I bravely and timidly ask for help on Facebook, because there are other moms out there that have been through the young kid stages, and that have wonderful wisdom to share with me and others who read through the comments. It has always been such a help.

I try not to read too many parenting blogs, and get overwhelmed, but the one I keep coming back to is The Power of Moms.  Over and over again. The articles on here and the podcasts are so great. I try to learn some good tips, skills, whatever! Anything to help little kids grow up to be good little men and women, and to bring more peace into our home.

I try really, really hard to remember to pick my battles wisely. Let a lot of things go. Keep the bigger picture in mind. Is it really worth arguing over this and hurting a family relationship, or can I let it go and breathe? Nurture. I need to do more of that.

There's more to write, but mainly, I try hard to not listen to Satan. He's a big jerk that just wants me to be miserable like himself.  I think he works hard on moms, especially new moms, when they are in the trenches of motherhood with young kids that wear them out. He works on moms of all age kids, because he never takes a day off.

Lately, I just have been trying to hug the kids more. Hold them. Read to them. Ask them what they want to learn about today. Throw them all in our big king bed, and tickle them. Let them run around and go crazy for a little bit, because that's what little boys do. Praise them when they do some little thing I ask them to do, because when they do listen and be obedient, it's the equivalent to the fireworks going off in Idaho Falls at the 4th of July. (Best firework show ever! Never forgot that from my college days:)

Thank you for reading, and please comment with any thoughts or advice. Helps me lots.

Rain puddle fun

I loved this day from last week. After a bit of heavy rain days, the sun came out, and there were many puddles and rivers to enjoy. We have sweet playmates in our neighborhood, and they boys were enjoying racing boats and toys down the gutter river. Brooke wore these great rain pants that keep her totally dry. She just loved walking in the water, and splashing about. Kevin was content to push a boat around with a stick.

I just tried to soak it in, thinking about the simple joys of outdoor play, and the things that bring smiles to my kid's faces. Sometimes, I just don't know how to be a parent. I don't know how to discipline them, what battles to pick, and what to let go. I struggle like so many other moms out there, and then I try to pray, read, and ask for guidance. Then, I go hug them and tell them I love them. I ask them to forgive me for yelling, and for being a 'poophead', which makes them laugh. I tell them that we all need to start over sometimes, and just give more love. Then, they hug me back and completely forget whatever the struggle was, and I'm given the gift of starting over with them.

This happens over and over again. I'm so glad that they still love me, and want me to be their mom. They are my gifts.

Our Valentine week

Last week, I tried to make it a fun Valentine week. I got some valentines from the dollar store, and each morning I hid some for the kids to find. They loved waking up to find a little card for them. Simple joys. 

Shaun got me some heavenly Trader Joe's dark chocolate caramel bars. It was my treat tonight to munch on after I got the kids to bed and could finally rest. 

I saw this blog post about candlelight dinners, and tried my best to do something special for the family. I printed off the menu plan, and tweaked it to what I could reasonably cook. It almost felt like Thanksgiving. We had chicken cordon bleu, parmesan roasted broccoli, and scalloped potatoes, with cheescake. We then tried to get everyone to say one thing they loved about each other. 

The candles were lit, and it was a battle to keep Brook from grabbing them. I had a nice cloth napkin for everyone, and the kid's napkins just ended up on the floor under the table, of course. Ethan kept fiddling with the lights, things were almost out of control and we were about to lose it, but we did our best to stay cool and try to have a nice dinner. Everyone ate their dinner, and liked it. That's the best part!  A huge feat to accomplish with young kids, as many know:) It was worth it. I think we'll do this Valentine dinner tradition each year. 

Good day

We had a good day this week, actually, two good days going on three in a row. After many storms of struggling in parenting, the storm went away for a bit. We prayed, searched general conference talks, and worked hard and lovingly with Ethan this week. The past three days have been wonderful. Here, we were having a good homeschool day working on writing. I used a pinterest idea of 'rainbow writing', having them trace their names with many colors over and over again. It was fun, it helped them write better than ever, and the kids didn't fight. Glorious! Brooke was enjoying some board games, which gave me a chance to work with the boys. 

Huge fan of the twisty crayons! No breaking. 

I took Ethan on a date. We rode bikes down to the store close by. He's gone a few times before with Shaun. As we were riding, he told me the specific directions to get there. I told him that I was glad I was with him so I would't get lost. He sounded so grown up it amazed me. He wanted to practice counting the soup cans as high as he could go. More learning. Easy math. I love it! 

Then, the best story ever. Things have been stressful and nerve wracking as we have been searching for employment for Shaun. You all know how that is. Job hunting, oi. Well, we paid what little tithing we had, sent in tons of resumes, and were blessed with two job interviews this week. We did our dardnest to exercise faith. We prayed specifically "Please help us get a job this week.", thinking not at the end of the month and not next month. We need a job this week, and we believed that it would happen. 

The day after an interview, Shaun got a call that made us all cry with joy. Ethan was with us while the kids were napping. I jumped off the bed, and said 'Everyone get on your knees now! We're praying.' We said a prayer of thanks. The sun literally came out of the fog while we prayed, and disappeared a little bit afterwards. I cracked up over that. 

We took that leap of faith, tried to be brave, and our prayers were answered. Good day.