Fellowship Graduation and Marathon

We move in less than two weeks and life is getting chaotic, but I didn't want to forget to blog about two really special things: Jonathan's done with training and he ran a marathon!!

After 14 years of training, Jonathan is finally, FINALLY done!! Yay. Now we get to start paying for all those student loans. I am super proud of him. His fellowship program threw him and his co-fellow, Mark, a graduation party. It was at a bowling alley and super fun. 

 They recognized him briefly. It was perfect. Short and sweet. 

 Jonathan and the two other fellows and his good friends.

 And then today he ran a marathon in Missouri. It was his first marathon and he was nervous that he wouldn't be able to finish. I wasn't worried because this man is awesome and he always does what he puts his mind too. He finished residency, worked 30 hours shifts on a regular basis in said residency, and by golly, he can run 26 miles. And now he is out mowing the lawn. He's amazing. Love him!

And I found these cute pictures on my camera. I just love these girls of mine!! 

Next time I blog will be in Utah! I can't believe it. We are so blessed. 

♥

Release and House Drama

Two weeks ago I was released as primary president. It was bittersweet. Mostly sweet. There was a part of me {a big part} that was totally giddy. 

It was the hardest calling that I have had since I was a full-time missionary. The Sunday I was released, we had 175 kids on our roster. We had moved to a building that was too small for our huge primary and our ward is still feeling the affects of the move. 

I had no idea how much work there is behinds the scenes as an auxiliary leader. I spent hours and hours and hours every week just on my calling. My life became my kids and primary. And that's about it. I haven't photo-shopped or scrap-booked or even exercised consistently since I got my calling. It was just so demanding all the time. 

But I learned SO much! I grew so much in that calling. Here are a few things I learned:

-I always want to be nice to presidency leaders. I may not understand or agree with what they are doing, but there is always stuff going on behind the scenes that I am not aware of if I am not in the presidency. Always.

-Be nice to the bishop. He has a super-dee-duper hard calling. It's pretty much an awful calling. 

-You can't please everyone. And sometimes no one will be pleased. Our ward move to another building was so hard for a lot of people. But I couldn't change the decision. Heaven knows I tried. So I had to learn to not take things so personally. That's really hard for me. 

-One thing I got better at in the end was delegating. It was hard for me because I don't like to put my counselors out but then I would be put out, often for hours and hours. Delegating is a must-do. 

-If I am ever a primary teachers-and I hope I am in our next ward-I will get my own subs. With all the presidency has to worry about, getting subs should not be one of them. That's all. 

-Counseling with my counselors was a great experience. Whenever I tried to make a decision on my own, it didn't turn out so well. Whenever I talked to my counselors, a better decision was made. They knew things and had experiences that I didn't. And we didn't always agree as a presidency but we always got along. That was a great experience. I think that's how it's supposed to be. They challenged me and helped me see things in a different way but always accepted the final decision. 

-Mostly I learned I need to rely on the Lord more. One time I learned that one of my counselors was going to be released to get a stake calling. I was so upset because I really needed her and I was crying right after I got the news. I decided to stop what I was doing and pray. I totally spilled my guts out in that prayer and told Heavenly Father that I couldn't do this and I needed help. Immediately in my mind I knew what I was supposed to do. It was such an amazing experience. It taught me again that this is the Lord's church, the Lord's primary, and the Lord's kids. He knows what is best and is willing to help with it. 

I am so grateful for all I learned as primary president. And I honestly hope I am never president of anything again. I just want to be a primary teacher. Or nursery worker. Or librarian. 

And now about our new house drama. 

We almost lost it. The house and our sanity. 

We were supposed to close this past Thursday. 

On Monday night Jonathan gets a message from his new boss/partner that his clinic has been moved from Sandy to Murray. 

I was upset. I didn't think it was right of him to just make that decision for our family after he had told us (and showed us!) where the new clinic was. We bought our house for the location of the clinic so that Jonathan wouldn't have to commute or be on the freeway. Now he would have to commute and be on the freeway and would have a longer work day. I was really upset. 

Then the next day Jonathan got a call from the bank that our loan fell through and we no longer had financing. Less than 48 hours from closing!! 

So yes, I was crying. And I thought maybe it was sign that we should just rent in Murray. But there were no good rentals. I think Murray must be an older city because all the housing seems really old.

Anyway, Jonathan wrote a very professional but very specific email to Zions bank (who we were getting our loan through). He stated our position and why we were upset and that we were going to file a complaint with the BBB and he sent it to all the loan officers involved and the CFO, CEO, and vice president over mortgages. 

And surprisingly the CEO emailed back right away that he would look into it. Then later that night he called and talked to Jonathan for an hour. We were shocked. He said they would make it work out somehow. 

We didn't hear from anyone for a day and were discouraged again, but then we heard that a whole team was working on our loan. 

And it was a miracle. It worked out so well in our favor. It's really technical and I don't want to go into it all here, but this new loan saves us a lot of money and is a huge blessing! 

I feel very, very blessed. While I am sad that Jonathan now has a big commute-which was our goal to avoid-I feel blessed. We are going to treasure our house because we almost lost it a few times. 

And now for a last bit of awesome news. Sami's birth mom, Becca, had a beautiful baby boy! Colby is a beautiful baby and we are so thrilled for them!! We can't wait to meet him! 

And now back to packing...

The Variety Show 2015

Sami came home from school with a piece of paper that I had to sign if she was to be in the talent show and she was begging me to sign it. 

I asked Sami what she wanted to do for the talent show and she said she wanted to make up a song and sing it while she made up dance. 

Ummmm...not happening, Sami.

She sobbed when I told her she would have to wait to be in the talent show. But I was trying to protect her. Did she really just want to get up on the stage in front of a ton of strangers and make up a song and dance? Yes, yes she did. 

And she wrote a song and left it out where I could find it. I knew it was a song because it had music notes on it and then the words were how she wanted to be "a rockstar" and there were "tears streaming down her face," and how she wanted "to be freeeeeeeeeee!"

I read that, and took a picture with my phone, and sent it to Jonathan. 

We decided she could be in the talent show on one condition: she had to sing a song she knew or that she could easily learn. No making up songs on the stage. I gave her some options and she chose "Give Said the Little Stream." 

My mom found a beautiful blue dress for her, which seemed so appropriate since she was singing about water. I made her a wand with white and blue and green ribbons that she could wave while she sang. The big day came and she was so excited. We practiced and practiced. When the day came, she came and woke me up early and said, "Mom, today is the big day."

I was SO nervous for her. I was probably more nervous than she was. But she did a great job and we were so proud of her. She forgot about waving her wand when she got up in front of everyone, but we assured her afterwards that it was just fine since we just wanted to hear her sing.

Sami loves to sing and I think she has the genes for it. (Becca is an opera singer and talented in all things musical.) We are thinking that maybe we will get her voice lessons in a few years if she is still interested. Not so that she can be a rockstar, like she dreams, but so that she can develop this talent.  

I am really glad that we had this experience. We sure are blessed to have Sami girl. 

We are homeowners!!

Last week we went to Utah with the goal to buy a house. 

And after some very stressful days, we did it! 

We bought a cute home in Draper, Utah; more specifically, South Mountain. 

We feel blessed to have gotten it, as there were multiple offers. We are happy with it, and what we paid for it, and feel like it fits our current needs. 

I didn't get very good pictures on my cell phone, but I will just show my favorites:

I love the blossoming tree and the little porch. 

 I like that the kitchen has a pantry and a place for bar stools. 

 I love that there are two gas fireplaces. One upstairs, one downstairs. 

 My food storage room! Love this!!

It's been pretty scary and unsettling for me. This is our first time buying a house, and I felt the pressure. But we are really happy with it and even more happy with where it is. Jonathan won't have to take the freeway to work, which is HUGE for Utah. That I-15 is crazy, so this is a real blessing. 

It now feels real. We are moving. Bittersweet. 

Life

These past few months have been really challenging for me personally, but I have been so blessed. I have felt the Lord's grace and learned so many important lessons.

My parents have been separated the past five months and my mom is planning on living with us when we get to Utah. The situation is sad but we are thankful that we can help my mom and love my dad. We are going to Utah next week to house hunt, and I am excited to see what house we end up with and praying that we can find a perfect home for our own little family with room for my mom too.

Our primary has grown and grown. In the past two years, we have gained almost 100 kids. We are up to 174 kids on our roster with rumors of 7 more moving in this month alone. And last month our new stake presidency asked our ward to move into the stake building. It seems like is should be a bigger building but it really isn't. The rooms are smaller. We have 20 kids on the stage, a class in the kitchen, and have had to move our two nurseries into one room.  We still have two senior primaries and I am already planning on how to split our junior primary because we are not fitting in the primary room. We have had to change everything about primary, both on Sundays and weeknights. Our scouts are now combined with two other ward's scouts. It has been almost a full-time job to make this move happen and I can honestly say that it has been a real struggle for me. 

I have learned so many things being primary president in this ward. I have made lots of mistakes and learned a lot about myself and leadership. I have learned that I can do it, which I wasn't sure of when I got called. But I have learned I truly don't want to do it. I am happy to be a nursery leader or den leader and now that I truly know how hard leadership is, I have a new respect for leaders everywhere and how I can sustain and help them more. 

The past few weeks, I have had some mouth aches and pains. I went to our dentist and he sent me to a specialist and thought I might need a root canal. I went to my appointment last night and I was so nervous. But it looks like I just had some bad gum disease. Gross, I know. I do try to take care of my teeth, but I have two cavities close together that is really hard to clean and floss and it has been causing me problems. So the endo-dentist gave me some special mouth wash and instructions and I should be feeling better in a week. 

But our little family is blessed. 

We celebrated Lucy's birthday with a little Dora party.

 The next day, our family leprechaun, McRiley, gave the girls a scavenger hunt. It's the same one every year and Sami is figuring it out. I am going to have to change it up next year. 

We had a wonderful Easter and conference weekend. 

 My mom came for Easter and she helped dye eggs and hide baskets and make dinner. It was a nice weekend. 

Happy Birthday Lucy!!

Today Lucy is three years old!!

I can't believe that just yesterday, she was this: 

 And in the blink of an eye, she's not a baby anymore. 

She's three.

She's tenacious. She's adorable. She wants to be doing exactly what her big sisters are doing.

 She has stolen all of our hearts. 

She has also driven me to seek out more parenting books. 

 She loves to sing and dance. She dresses up every day. She often says, "Mom, Lucy is a princess." We agree. 

She is learning her abcs. She can count to 20 almost all by herself. She loves to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle", "Itsy, Bitsy, Spider, and "I am a Child of God." 

One of her favorite things is to go to Costco with me. 

 Happy birthday, Little Lady. We love you so, so much!!!

Our Winter

There has been so much snow! 

We have had lots of cancelled school, and sledding in our front yard.

The girls think it's awesome. Jonathan and I think we need a snow blower. 

Jonathan helped the girls build "Olaf." 

 This week they are celebrating Dr. Suess in school, and so yesterday it was "wacky dress," day. The girls were so excited for this. I helped them turn up the "wacky." They both thought they would win their class prize, but didn't. We reminded them that it was about having fun, and they did have fun. 

(And Lucy just dresses like this every day. Seriously.)

 Love these smiles.

Jonathan is getting pretty good at pulling teeth.

Yesterday Janie actually asked him to pull out her tooth and it came out pretty easy. She was so excited for the tooth fairy to come again. 

Good times here in Omaha.