This place is just perfect for us.  Everything about it.  I especially love hearing Brayden express how he KNOWS that we are supposed to be here.  He feels very close to his friends and is doing so well.  He is already quite protective of his friends.  He is quite in awe of them and their situations.  None of his friends have parents who are married, and most have had physical abuse.  I think he respects them because they are very active in the church in spite of their home life.  His best friend was abused by his father and has had many tough experiences.  He is quick to reprimand the kids when they complain about rules or situations in the home.  Jacob will say things like  "At least you have a dad"  or  "Don't say bad things about your brothers, I wish I had little brothers to play with, I wish I had a family like this".  He keeps the kids humble and their perspectives in check.  He's adopted into our family and already calls me mom.  He keeps me humble as well.

We were able to attend Logan's first home football game.  Just as it was getting good, it started sprinkling, then raining, then whipping rain and wind, then the monsoon hit and literally everyone within 2 minutes were completely soaked and running for cover.  Jason and I were having flashbacks of Guatemala.  Riker and Chad were quite scared and begging to go home.  We finally had to comply because it wasn't letting up.  Apparently it finally did and Logan finished his game without anyone watching.  They did win and Logan did great.  Jason even left work early to come and within 5 minutes the storm hit.  Good memories!

I got a church calling...I'm assistant Webelos leader.  CJ is a webelo and super excited that I will get to be with him.  It's exactly what he needs.  I needed a way to spend some quality time with just him and this is it.  I'm grateful for that.  Granted, it's not my favorite calling, but it is what CJ needs right now and that is more important.

The only real stress in my life right now is our Heber house.  My dad is killing himself to clean and fix it up and try to sell it.  We keep getting told by our realtor to sell it for so cheap that it wouldn't even pay off our loan.  Very frustrating when I was hoping to get out of debt from the sell of the house.  But the market, as we all know, stinks and all we can do is hope and pray.  It may need to be rented out first and then try to sell it later.  I just hate putting my parents into that predicament.

Jason and I went to the Gila Valley Temple last weekend with another couple.  We stayed at the Marriott down the street for  $35 and played games with our friends and went to the temple in the morning and went out to lunch before we went home.  I loved it.  It was so nice having a little getaway weekend.  I just love the perks of being in the Marriott family again.  I don't mind letting temple attendance being an excuse for a quick weekend getaway.  The temple is a small one but beautiful inside.  A local widow was dripping with money and decided to donate millions to make sure the inside was as beautiful as it should be...from murals to crystal chandeliers to beautiful vases in the celestial room.  Wonderful.

I just found out that kindergarten here is full day!!!  I feel like someone just took a year off my sentence!  Chad starts next year and I will finally have the day to myself.  I'm so excited, I hope that doesn't sound bad, but I am really looking forward to having the house to myself and being able to do my errands without car seats and naps to worry about.  Chad is ready for preschool but lack of funds make that impossible.

Tyler is doing good and will hopefully be getting visits from my parents soon.  He needs that and I hope will feel loved and supported by the visits.  I miss him so much it breaks my heart, I want him here but I know he needs to be where he is, getting the help he needs to be healthy and ready to be a part of society again.  It doesn't change the fact that my son isn't here with me and I'm missing some of the best parts of his youth and growing up.  I hate that he is missing school here, sports, dances, youth conferences and family home evenings, family dinner, chore charts, sacrament meetings, baptisms for the dead and all the other wonderful experiences he should be having at his age. We pray so hard for him and I am so heartbroken every family prayer when I hear the kids pray for him and pray that he feels our love for him, begging Heavenly Father to help him so that he can come home soon.  One day we will be together again and it will be such a day of joy and happiness that we won't know what to do with ourselves except laugh and cry.  I look forward to that day!  

We are Here!

Well, we have been here for almost 2 weeks now and we are loving it. I love living in a small house, I feel that I can reach out my hand and smack anyone getting out of line! It's a good feeling having more control like that, ha ha. We have unpacked a lot but not all...there isn't enough room for everything. I have met a great lady who is my walking partner and a nertz player. They invited us for dinner and found out a lot of similar interests. They have only been here a month.

The boys are doing well, on the day of unpacking CJ spotted some boys riding bikes down the street and they quickly went down there to join in the playing. Now those boys come here to play and jump on the trampoline. Brayden took a little while longer to find friends. High School is just that way, but he found a group of men who get together at 5:30am to play basketball MWF. He has been attending the youth activities and went to a dance last night and was already texting people he met when he got home. He's loving that all the cool kids he met are in our ward. Looks promising.

Jason is loving his job, loves being back where he should be and using the talents and abilities he has for a greater cause. He is in his element. He's already getting compliments from bosses on a job well done. A happy husband is a great thing. And the fact that his work is literally a 1 min drive helps tremendously. He even comes home for lunch periodically. A far cry from the night shifts and never seeing my husband in Heber.

This is a great move for us and I know these people here will be wonderful blessings. I will miss being able to get together for family parties and celebrations, it was great while it lasted.

We are Moving!!!

Well, it's official as of last week. From applying to hiring it was 5 days. Jason applied for a job in Arizona and within 5 days he'd had phone interviews and face to face interviews and they immediately offered him the job. The shock finally wore off and moving mode kicked in. He has to be there on June 22, while to rest of us stay here to try and sell a house in a buyer's market. We need serious prayers for this to go through. The kids' school starts on August 8th. That doesn't give us much time to get all this done. The kids will be a little late to school because of a movie they've been cast in. It will be a feature film, meaning it will, yes, be in movie theaters. Tyler will have a main part and Logan, C.J., Riker and myself will have small extra type roles. It will be called, "Electrick Children" about a girl in a polygamist family. Tyler will be her older brother. Brayden has decided to go straight to school instead of being in the movie. He's quite more level-headed than most teenagers. I would have easily skipped school to be in a movie, but starting a new high school is difficult anyway, it would only be harder starting 2 weeks in. It's the best decision for him. We will be filming in the Vegas area.
We had our last performance of "Oliver!" last night and had a great time. It was so sad to know that we won't be working with our theater family anymore. We have come to love them all so much. I just hope there will be a great theater company in Sierra Vista as well.
That is the town we are moving to...Sierra Vista. It is about an hour south of Tucson. It is in the southeast part of the state. It is a military town. It is surrounded by mountains and is known for temps in the 90's and down to the 50's. I'm very happy to be in a place where there is prominently sunshine. I am a California girl after all. All the kids are excited except for Brayden, which is expected. He was really hoping to graduate here. But at least he will have 2 years at this high school instead of just one. Good news about Brayden is that he has finished his eagle project!!! He built an outhouse at the Provo Pioneer village. It is a replica of the kind they used back in the day. He did a great job with the help of my dad!
I can't find the cord that connects my camera to my computer to load on some pictures, so I will keep looking.

It sure has been a while...

Man, it is amazing how some things go on hold when your world falls apart. When things go bad or difficult I find I pull myself into my own world and close the rest of the world out. This had been the hardest two years of my life! And it isn't the sort of things you can just blurt out in casual conversations. Family, marriage, jobs, money...etc. The Lord must really want me back by asking me to endure and go through these things so that I may prove that I really want to live with Him again. I pray everyday that I can manage it. I've been working so much during the past 10 months that it has left little or no time to myself. But, fortunately I was fired from Ruby Tuesday. I say fortunately because my kids really needed me back home and I feel very blessed to not have to work there anymore. My mom told me that the Lord made the decision for me because I would never quit when I knew my family had a financial need. True. My work here is needed more and I love being home and getting things back in order. I forgot how to be a housewife and am re-learning, thanks to flylady.net.
I am now working for Michael McLean. Yes, THE Michael McLean. Dream come true, I only wish it had to do with music. Beggars can't be choosers right? I am putting all their negative, photos, documents on the computer. This includes Lynne's Father's slides as well. They are such wonderful people. I have had the wonderful benefit of becoming friends with their daughter, Meggan. I just love her to pieces! We have fun talking, beading and letting our kids play together. I also get to see a small percentage of the thank you notes they have received due to Michael's impact his music has had on people. What a blessing.
Jason is also about to get a job working for the Hyatt, next to the Canyons, in Park City...(I hope I haven't jinxed it by saying that) It will bring us out of the poverty level and hopefully on a normal schedule again. Having Jason work the night shift has been hard on us. It will be nice to sleep at the same time once again.
Brayden has also finished his eagle project!!!!! What a wonderful accomplishment. He built a replica of an outhouse for the Provo Pioneer Village. I hope to get some pictures on soon. We are so proud of him.
Logan is back in baseball and loving it as well. CJ and Riker both just ran their first race, a 1.2 mile race. Riker came in 5th in his race and CJ came in 7th in his. Jason stayed up to race with them and cheer them on. It was like 4 in the morning to him. A walking zombie but a great dad!
That is a quick mini update on our family, sorry it has taken so long, but I hope to be more regular with this again and have some pictures to share. Love to you all!