Happy Halloween!

The girls could hardly sleep last night because the anticipation of Halloween was so great.

First off was a costume parade at Sami's school. I thought this was so fun. All the kids marched around the school in their costumes. Jonathan took a half day off so he could be there and it meant so much to Sami. She told me later she was afraid we wouldn't come. I am so glad we went!

 

Then it was her class party. I got to help in the classroom. I made a bingo game and a calk walk game for the class. But I mainly just wanted to meet all Sami's friends and see her with her friends. Thankfully she loved having me there and kept telling everyone I was her mom. (Love that! I am going to remind her of this in middle school when she is embarrassed to see me. ☺)

 

Then we had a fun Halloween dinner and then it was time for trick-or-treating. Sami and Janie could hardly wait! And it was perfect Fall weather tonight.

Lucy was a monkey but I couldn't keep her hood up for anything.

 

Sami and Janie are both witches.

 

I am in love with Autumn here.



I brought Lucy home after a few minutes so that I could pass out candy and put her to bed. Obviously I let her enjoy a few treats first. 

Jonathan took Sami and Janie out for over an hour. He could have kept going but Sami and Janie said they were tired. And they loved handing out candy at our door.

I hope it was all Sami and Janie had been hoping for. I think it was.



Getting Jonathan Back

Omaha has totally changed Jonathan. I am so grateful.

Residency was so hard on him. It was three years total, but the last two years were the hardest. He fell into depression and a deep-rooted exhaustion. Whenever he had time off, he just wanted to rest but that doesn't really happen when you have three kids.

He often told me he hated his job. And there was nothing I could really do to help him.  He dealt with death and dying all the time. He saw so many people die and had to tell that many more that they were going to die or tell their families the heart-wrenching news. He had to deal with angry patients (because it's just human nature to want to find blame when things go bad), and he worked with nurses who didn't have a lot a respect for residents. And then there were his attendings. Again, not so nice. And I could go on and on about the horrible hours. 

And when he was home, he saw that I needed help. So he tried to help me. And after the kids were in bed, he had to get presentations ready or study for another test (because they never stop!). I feel like he had pressure on every front.

BUT NOW...now things are different. And I love it.

Jonathan is happy. He has a life outside of work. He is running again and has lost almost 40 pounds since we have been in Omaha. He comes home every.single.night. He comes to church every Sunday with us. There are a few times a month when he doesn't get to tuck the girls in bed, but it is the exception now, not the norm.

Even though he is now in fellowship, he still has to do a lot of presentations and research. He still has boards to study for (he just became board certified in internal medicine now he has to study for allergy boards). And he still has to moonlight. But the depression and exhaustion are gone. It is so fun to see him back and enjoying life and work. I worried it would never happen.

I am so grateful to the Lord for this opportunity for fellowship. It has changed our lives so much, and for the better.  

We learned so much during residency. In particular, I learned about grace. I know we couldn't have done it without the Lord's help. I learned about the importance of good friends, who stood by us and helped us so much. I learned about letting things go (although I am still working on that!) and I learned about patience.

And residency made Jonathan a good doctor.

But I am glad it's over. :)

My Nieces' Baptism

The past week the girls had Fall break so we were able to go to Scottsbluff for my nieces' baptism.

It was so nice. All of my family was at the baptism except my youngest brother. I was even honored to give the talk on baptism.

I am so glad I was able to be there.

This is Julia. She is 11.

 And this is Sarah. She is 9.

 This is my brother Ben, with his cute girls.

 And this is Nathan, Ben's youngest. My family calls him Nater. He is four and so cute.

 I love this picture of my Dad and Ben and the girls. My dad was able to help teach the missionary lessons to Julie and Sarah. I know it was a special experience for him to teach his granddaughters the gospel and then to perform the baptism.

And this is our family with Marcie and our kids. Marcie is Lucy's birth mom and Sarah, Julie, and Nater's mom. This was the first time that Marcie and her kids had seen Lucy since the adoption over a year ago. It was a really good experience. I know that Sarah and Julie have been looking forward to seeing Lucy for a long time and I am glad it worked out in such a nice way.

 

Autumn, I have missed you!

 I love the view from my windows every day. I forgot how gorgeous Fall can be. The girls get excited about every leaf they see fall.

But the weather is odd here. In the morning it is cold, so I turn on the heat. But then it's hot again by the late evening so I want to turn on the AC. I have yet to figure out the middle ground.

The only downside to this weather is that we are all getting colds. And Jonathan's eyes have been so dry that his corneas are scratched. He can't wear contacts and has to put in special gel eye drops.

But I love making soups and breads. It's fun to have the seasons. But not winter. I don't want that to come. Ever.