Hello and goodbye

A few weeks ago I was released from my calling in Primary. It was a surprise to me and the presidency but we all managed to take it in stride - it just means we have something else the Lord has in store for us. My heart was mostly sad because I'd be missing out on watching Sarah grow and develop in her little class. With the sadness came excitement for a new calling, but I have yet to receive that. So in the meantime I'm going to enjoy having free hands and idle time to ponder the lessons in Sunday school and Relief Society!

With our purchase of our new mini-van has come a few obstacles to overcome. As with any purchase of anything used we were faced with a few expensive fixes within the first few weeks (er, days even!) of buying it. Ugh. I was heartbroken. I wanted it to be the perfect match and instead I was fighting back tears everytime I thought of the thing. Once we put the money into it and got her all fixed up I realized it wasn't the van's fault and I had to stop blaming her. She was probably aching for some loving family to snatch her up, clean her out, and fix all those ugly sad flaws she's been harboring so long...So now that she's almost back to her newish self I'm learning to love her gloriously.

She's got lots of room, she tries hard on the fuel economy but we are still working on it, and her leather seats always make me remind me of my grandma's cool cadillac she had when I was little. All in all, Joel and I both love the minivan and maybe I love it a little more since I had such a hard time finding this place in my heart for her.

Joel has been a busy busy bumble bee as per usual. He's spent more time working on getting the Thunderbird ready for paint...he's so meticulous about sanding and priming and wet-sanding that it's taking a longer time but it's going to be so worth it. I know he can't wait to get her running again. I think he wants his garage back for his other work in progress - the 302 Datsun truck. We have also been very blessed that work has been steady and providing the hours we need for him. January and February tend to be very slow months and we've been blessed to hold steady with full-time hours thus far.

Sarah is really cracking me up these days. I'm loving watching her little personality grow. We have my nephew Emmet over atleast once or twice a week while his Momma works and they have a blast together. The other day Sarah was trying to play a game of 'Would Heavenly Father like it if we made this choice or that choice?' and then she tells the choice options. It's a cute game we play together in the car sometimes so I listened to see what Emmet's reaction would be. His reply was, "Harry Potter is NEVER a good choice, Sarah." With Sarah's speech I can see where he would think she said Harry Potter. Then Sarah went on to say, "Heavenly Father is brought to you by the letter 'W', by PBSkids.org, and by viewers like you." Oh dear...she has been watching too much Curious George!

Tonight I taught her the jingle, "Bird, bird, bird, the bird is the word!" So I had her go up to Joel and say, "Hey Dad! Have you heard?" and he said, 'What?' to which she replied, "The bird bird bird, the bird is the word!' It was cute and we all laughed.

Allison, my sweet Allison...I am so excited to look back on these posts and remember how spunky and fun she was at this age. I'm truly in love with this girl. There are moments where I'm reaching to pull out my hair and then I look at her face, I mean really look at her (and sometimes I feel like I'm looking at myself 27 years ago...) and I can't help but see how smart, funny, and good-natured she is. I realize what I call her spunk is the love she has for her sister and her desire to emulate everything Sarah does. Allison has the stubbornness of a mule and I'm so excited to watch as it becomes her most significant asset. Allison loves to learn new words and I think we're adding a new one almost everyday. Today she learned to say, 'Tim' when she was oogling my brother-in-law. She LOVES men. Stranger men, familiar men, creepy looking men, nice grampa looking men - any men this girl says, "hiiiii!" or reaches up for them to hold her. It makes me laugh because Sarah was sooo shy around men!

I'm trying to update this post for Joel's mom since she posted on Facebook that she wanted more personal updates on the blogs - so I'll try to get as in-depth for you as possible, Mom!!

Here are some current things happening or things I've recently renewed my appreciation for:
- I realize that I am beyond blessed with how well my children go down to bed and sleep through the night. I am so grateful for full-nights of rest.
- My faith is the cornerstone of who I am. I am thankful for the gospel. I am grateful everyday for it.
- I am really glad that Joel loves Golden Girls. I love that he requests it at night if I'm watching something else and I look bored.
- I love cheesy teen paranormal romance novels. Love them. Easy. Sweet. Not smutty.
- One of my favorite sounds is Joel laughing as he plays the Wii online with Troy and Chris. We are ever so appreciative of the life-long friendships we have with them and their families.
- I am going through a rough time trying to get motivated to start training for the half marathon. My deadline start-time is approaching and I need to get in gear - any kind words of motivation and or tips are appreciated.
- I start training for my new job on Tuesday next week - I'll be for reals employed again...WIERD!! I applied as a secretary with Weight Watchers and will be working Monday evenings from about 4:30 until 7pm. I'm super excited!

My next post won't be as in-depth but hopefully it won't be as long before I give a another family update!