Courageous

We watched a Christian movie this week that stressed the importance of fathers being men of God and leading their families spiritually. It was a great reminder to stand tall and walk with God. I'm grateful for any reminder to do this and any encouragement along the way. I'm also grateful that Jaremy does this so well. His family is his top priority. Every year he becomes a more powerful example, teacher, and leader to our family. Every year he seems to take it even more seriously. I'm so grateful Heavenly Father has blessed our family with a righteous priesthood holder who honors the covenants he has made.

Formal Job Interview

Jaremy has a formal job interview with GoalZero today. We are all excited! Yesterday they called and asked him to come down again today. Jaremy felt so awkward asking for the day off at ICON. He couldn't exactly say, "I have a job interview with another company." He is honest and responsible, so the whole situation was stressful. If you take vacation you are supposed to arrange it 2 weeks in advance. Jaremy wasn't about to lie and say he was sick or something. I told him to just say, "I'm not able to come in tomorrow. Can I work late or come in on Saturday to keep on top of things." But Jaremy still felt uncomfortable with that. So we prayed. The kids and I prayed several times for him while he was at work. That afternoon Jaremy's boss gave him a huge last minute project that would require him to work late. Nothing unusual in that. But then he said something he has never said before, even when Jaremy has worked all day and night and day and night. He said, "If you get this done tonight, don't worry about coming in tomorrow. See you on Monday!" Wow!!!! That was a miracle and answer to prayers. Heavenly Father truly cares about the details of our lives. He opens ways and answers prayers. He gives us strength and courage. I love Him so much! I want to follow Him and be worthy of the multitude of tender mercies He pours down upon us.

I also love Jaremy deeply. The kids and I are praying for him all day today while he is interviewing.

Temple Across the Street

Adelynn has been on a great napping schedule for a couple weeks; she sleeps from the time the kids get out of school until dinner. That gives me time to exercise, shower, fix dinner, help kids with homework, and dash across the street to the temple. Because of having a new baby yesterday was my first time back at the temple in several months. I'm so grateful I could go. Jessica and Benjamin prepared a bunch of names for the temple so we are going to have to get busy.  Also our family has a goal to attend each of the temples in Utah this year. Neat, huh! What a blessing to have a family who is worthy to enter the temple and desires to attend. I'm grateful we can just skip across the street and get to work.

Career Challenges

Jaremy feels he is at a dead-end at his job.  It provides great for our current needs, but we have a growing family with growing needs.  So should he go back to school?  How would we survive while he did?  What should our next move be? He would like to go back to school finish his engineering degree and get a business degree and an architecture degree.  Then he would like to run his own developing firm, creating eco-friendly neighborhoods with community gardens, maybe even a central farm with a manure digester. Awesome! Cash is the only challenge. Right now it seems like an overwhelming obstacle, but I really believe we can do it!  Heavenly Father helps us reach our goals.  Just wait and see; this will have an amazing ending!

Homeschooling Digital

I'm so grateful for tons of online educational games, worksheets, and information.  Heavenly Father has made things, so easy and convenient. Not to mention fun.

2011 Sum Up

Last night for Family Home Evening we reminisced about 2011. We all agreed it was one of the best years ever.

We camped in Snow Canyon (St. George) under the stars in the sand.

We went to Oregon and Washington with a RV trailer and had a blast. We drove across every bridge possible several times. We hiked in the forests and along the beach. We fed seals, explored northwest neighborhoods, went to the maritime museum, played in the sand, flew kites, and just had a wonderful time.

We went back to St. George for Jaremy, Jessica, Benjamin, and Moroni's first half-marathon.

We went to Moab.

We backpacked into Dry Canyon and White Pine. I was five months pregnant for the White Pine adventure. I took the kids up with most of the gear all the way up the 4.5 miles to the lake. Jaremy was supposed to meet us up there later that evening. He had to work late and came up in the middle of the night. He never found us in the dark. We had a memorable night of attempting to sleep on the cold hard ground, praying for Jaremy's safety, and trying to keep a tiny fire going with twigs. We ate Power Bars to try to stay awake while we waited for Jaremy. It was amazing to find out we are tougher than we thought. I slept a bit in the dirt next to a dying fire under the stars while I was five months pregnant thinking the whole time my husband was out in the mountains somewhere with a twisted ankle being eaten by a mountain lion. Oh, did I mention one of the kids had trail diarrhea in their pants and we had no extra clothes. That was an awesome adventure!!!

We discovered Green Canyon and fell in love with it. We hiked Jardine Juniper several times or at least part of it. Jaremy and the oldest kids took up mountain biking. This was the year we started running. We enjoyed sundae runs, trail runs, early morning runs, vacation runs, etc. We pretty much lived in the mountains during the spring, summer, and fall.

We volunteered at the American West Heritage Center and played pioneers and train driver.

We gardened with the Nielsens at their farm in Paradise.

We spoke in Church in our new ward. Natalie was baptized. Jessica started high school and began flirting with boys. Well, if you can consider spilling apple cider while you are talking to boys as flirting. Benjamin camped like crazy and was an amazing member of his deacon's quorum. The boys started their snow removal business. Jaremy traveled a lot for work. Hyrum learned to read. Ella and Tank became cuter and cuter. Adelynn was joyously welcomed into our family. Dad got a laptop. Mom got a tablet.

We had an amazing year! The best ever! They just keep getting better! Heavenly Father has blessed us beyond description!!!

Grandmas

Jaremy and I both have a grandmother still living. On Sunday we went to visit them. Grandma Martena Butler is in a nursing home in Brigham City. Grandma Zola Keller still lives at home in Honeyville. They both mean a lot to us. They have given us their love unconditionally since we were born. They have made our lives richer by their kindness, food, smiles, hugs, compliments, encouragement, perspective, cookies, and conversations. It seems we could do no wrong in their eyes. And because of this we didn't want to do anything to disappoint them. Both Grandmas are old now. Both wonder why they are still living. Both still try to be positive, but the golden years are laced with lead.

Neither grandma has ever been, shall we say, driven. As far as I can tell they loved and served their families, but kind of let life take them along. Now they are old and both say ready to die. I have seen other people age differently. They seem gun-hoe right up to the end. They are excited about life, serving others, and improving upon themselves until they kick the bucket. It seems they enjoy life, even with the trials age brings.

I have planned my life until I'm 113 years old. I need at least that much time to make a dent in all the things I want to do. I have an extensive bucket list. Of course, I understand when you don't feel well, or hear or see or touch or smell or taste well it is hard to feel enthusiastic about anything. But I want to push myself and make a difference until I slip on the banana peel into the grave. Of course, I might realize aging is way harder than I thought and find our grandmas did better than I will. But I hope to be healthier and more active at their age, because I'm a lot healthier and more active than they were at my age. But life is unpredictable, but I love it!!! And once again I'm so grateful for the love and kindness these two dear women have showered on us. That is much more important than having goals for yourself until you are 113. I hope my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren feel as loved by me as I do them.