Tears of...

This has been a week of great reflection. My mind has been a whirlwind of ideas, questions, and worry. For months now we have heard how the economy is shifting and people's lives are being thrown into turmoil by these changes. It is so odd to have it be my family now. Peter has been handling this all very well. He finished up resume and applied for his first job today. He is applying for two more tomorrow. These are about the only three local jobs and since real estate is what it is, we are going to try and stay in Las Vegas if possible. If in about 5 months we have still had no luck finding a job down here we will begin our search outside of Las Vegas. I have been able to add s hifts at work and will be able to provide for our family. This is where the first tears come. I have shed tears of immense joy that I have an education and parents that supported even insisted on me getting aneducation. Tears for the sacrifice my parents made for this to be possible. Tears for the fact that I have continued to work just a shift a week to keep my license so that just in case I could support my family. Tears that we are living in that "just in case." When I told my mom thank you for my education she told me that she and my dad heard a talk by Pres. Hinckely where he admonished members to get an education. Thus, tears for faithful parents who followed the prophet and in turn taught me to follow the prophet. While we are discussing parents, I have shed tears for the concern and love I have heard in the voices of my family and Peter's family.

Tears have come knowing we have food storage, savings, and a garden. More blessings and peace brought to me and my family by following the prophet.

Tears for the wonderful husband I have that is so smart, loving, faithful and eternally mine. He is a hard worker and any company would be lucky to have him as an employee. Tears for the hurt I have glimpsed in his eyes, as he faces what most of us would feel if we were laid off and no longer able to provide as we had for our family. Tears for the sweet way Joey was so proud of himself for being "in charge" of the house while Peter went to LDS Employment Services and I slept between shifts this last weekend. He had turned on Arabella's music in her crib and made his own chocolate milk and ensured Jon stayed asleep during his nap. Tears for Jon's amazing understanding of Jesus and how he made all of the animals, bugs and that he was hurt by the soldiers with a spear and nails. Tears for the time I will lose seeing Arabella grow and discover the world around her by working more hours.

My eyes have welled with tears so many times this week and yet I would be lying if I said they were all tears of sorrow. Most of those tears were tears of gratitude and peace. I have been given such an overwhelming presence of the comforter. I know in my heart and mind that all will be well. Reflecting back on my life, I recall numerous times where the Lord has taken control of my life usually with what feels like an abrupt stop and then led me to the best outcome. He knows me and my family. I know He will bless us and as long as I continue to put my faith and trust in Him and His timing, I will be able to look back on this time in our life and see the many blessings in it. We can not comprehend the mansions he has in store for us in heaven and I believe it is often similar in our lives here on earth. He has blessings in store for us that are wonderful and great but the pathway may be a rough, steep upward climb. I know I will be able to hold on and endure with my sweet husband and children by my side. So to fill in my title, this week has been filled with tears of peace.

Real Food

This is Arabella here. I am taking over for mom to write this post. I finally got my parents to feed me some real food. I have been trying to let them know I wanted some by pulling at their plates and cups and reaching for their food. Well, last Sunday they figured it out. But what do they give me? That's right, rice cereal!? I am going to guess they have not tasted it before or do not remember it from their childhood because if they did they would know that it is quite bland. I have learned to eat it though and they have realized that I may not have teeth but I can gum things, so they are not making it a soup anymore but an actual cereal like consistancy. Mom was totally awesome and let me suck on her watermelon last Monday for FHE. I am definitely loving the treat part of that family activity. Dad, being overprotective like usual, told mom she was going to ruin me by giving me something so sweet and I would never want veggies. Well, tonight they let me try some carrots and they were quite tasty. I even grabbed the spoon and pushed it into my mouth a few times because mom was being slow. I have watched Joey and Jon eat for awhile now and I know that there are wonderful foods to come!

The Two U's

The kids and I went to Utah last week and it was so great! My sister Jana and her husband were on their way through Las Vegas from Arizona from a family reunion on Monday. Jon was so excited to be with his cousin Sadie finally that he would not get out of their car. Jana and Randy were kind enough to let Jon ride up with them on Monday. It was a strange day without three kids and an odd drive up to Utah on Tuesday. My little sister Carla ended up having her baby on Tuesday night, two weeks early. Gratefully, she and the baby are doing fine and are both at home. Adelaide Elizabeth Thalman is adorable and has the most blonde hair I have ever seen on a baby!

Wednesday we went to the BYU Museum of Art to see the "I Spy" exhibit. The kids seemed to think it was quite interesting. We had 12 kids and 5 adults, I think we all felt outnumbered at some point. My nephew Carson found the reoccurring character in all of the pictures. The biggest event on Wednesday was actually the snow! It snowed a ton.

Thursday morning Joey could not resist shoveling the snow. He really does love snow! Jon unfortunately became sick on Thursday with a fever and then vomiting. He was doing better by Friday evening. My mom and sister Jana and sister-in-law Tammy took me to lunch at Zupas for a late birhtday celebration. Then we went to see my sister and her baby.

Friday, brought a trip to The Living Planet Aquarium in Salt Lake. I took Joey, Arabella, Josh and Brooklyn

with me and Jana, Randy, Sadie, and Trevor went up too. Jon was too sick to go with us. We touched stingrays (slimy), saw some sharks, pirahnas, poisonous frogs, and local Utah fish. My niece Calee was a participant in a national science fair in Texas so my parents were watching my sister's other kids. I really enjoyed spending time with them. They grow so fast. Joey loved having Josh show him how to play various Wii games.

Before heading home on Saturday, we stopped to see our dear friends Buff, Ethan, Alli, and new little Ty McBride (Ryan was driving up from Vegas). We miss them but I am confident my kids will ask to visit and play at their house again soon! Our drive home was really good. Arabella did not like the last 30 minutes or so. We were all glad to see Daddy! We had so much fun seeing everyone and wish we could have stayed longer! Thank you mom and dad for being such great hosts and the rest of my family for taking time to play with us!

This is where our second U comes into play. Peter told me Saturday night that he has entered the ranks of the unemployed. He was laid off on Thursday. :( x100! Whereas his job is so heavily dependent on construction we have known for awhile this was a possibility but we were hopeful. We did not know our insurance was cancelled that same day and I went to the doctor today! We found out it was cancelled because the boys were supposed to see the dentist tomorrow and the office called to say the had checked our eligibility and we were no longer insured. I was already home from the doctor. We will be able to COBRA but that was the most frustrating part of this whole thing. I have talked with my manager and I will be able to pick up extra shifts and may be able to switch to full time if we need to get the benefits. I am grateful that I have a job where I can get more hours and support my family. It is strange that the reason I got a degree and kept my license current was so just in case something happened I could support us. Well, that time has come. Peter is already looking for a new job but the market here is terrible and we will not be able to sell our house due to the real estate mess. I am grateful for so many things though. I have food storage, a job, adorable kids, a garden, the gospel and the peace of mind in knowing that my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ will be by us to comfort and bless us throughout this experience. I told Peter tonight that someday we will look back on this time and we will be able to see it for the faith building lesson it is!

Happy Easter!

Thesepictures are from our ward Easter Egg Hunt and picnic. It was so much fun! The boys both gathered a bunch of eggs. There was a really good turn out and we had a great time visiting with our friends. The kids were almost too distracted to eat but we wouldn't let them get a dessert until some lunch was eaten. Pam Maxwell had made cupcakes with peeps on top and that was the coveted treat by almost all of the kids. I had said that we were going to go to a different park each day and we almost made it. Wednesday, Arabella was sick so we went to the doctor but after we took daddy to lunch so that was a fair trade. Saturday we counted the ward activity because the boys rode their bikes to it and ran a ton playing with their friends. Peter remembered to take pictures when he went to the park on Friday so I will get those pictures posted.

Our sweet little monkeys woke up before the Easter Bunny had come. So I read stories to the boys while Peter kept an eye out for the Easter Bunny. The boys each got a new superheros shirt and Arabella a new summer outfit and of course there was candy. We had a great time dying eggs on Saturday night (no pics). Jon wanted a Wolverine and a Scotch (that is how he says Scott who is Cyclops for those who may not know) egg. Peter did a great job drawing those. I tackled the spiderman egg. Joey drew a few train eggs and a pizza house. It was fun!

Here is our cute little family in our new Easter Duds! Arabella was more interested in the tree than in the camera. And she was not exactly super smily in her other picture. Jon declared that his tie was not an Easter tie and did not like anyone calling it that. Joey as usual was a good sport! I hope you all had a great Easter weekend too!

Egg Hunt and Conference

Saturday night I took the kids to an Easter Egg Hunt while Peter was at the priesthood session of conference. It was held at the recreation center by our house. There were games and of course the egg hunt. They had a great time. Jon won a stuffed animal in the egg hunt and Joey picked eggs that seemed to be packed with candy. It was fun to watch the madness of kids racing and trying to get the eggs in their baskets. I saw plenty of kids pick up the egg and while looking for the next egg try to drop the first in the basket and it would fall to the ground again. We are having a ward hunt this coming Saturday and I am looking forward to it.

There are also two pictures of the boys outside on conference Sunday. We don't normally let them play in the sandbox on Sunday but it was a beautiful day and they played so well together. Jon came running into the house and retreived the fly swatter so he could get the bees. He was waving it with all of his might trying to get them. He has made me laugh so hard the last few days. Jon patted his bum the other day while they were playing and Jon screamed back that his "bum is not a drum." Then I was holding Arabella and he was playing with her and she spit up all over him, just missing his open mouth. Then while the missionaries were here on Sunday they showed us a video and at one point there was a shot of a bust of Christ and I pointed to it and said to Jon, "Look it's Christ." He turned to me and seriously said, "No that is his dad." And finally tonight for Family Home Evening we did the Easter in an Egg thing (the story of Christ's crucifixion broken into parts with an object and placed in plastic eggs). When it was done Jon said to me and showed true sadness, "I miss Jesus." You just have to love kids!

Joey has been such good boy lately. He is quick to help and do what we ask. Today he was doing some pages in his homework book and they were all about numbers. He decided to work on his addition, he got a piece of paper and was writing things like 5 5 4 and then he would tell me that 5 plus 5 plus 4 is fourteen. He loves to learn! I am happy to report that his attention span seems to be increasing and he is absorbing even more information than usual.

Arabella, is just doll! Her brothers shared their colds with her and so she has been coughing and has quite the runny nose. In just the last two or three days she has begun to grab at just about anything I am holding. That means we are entering the fun time when you can not really hold them and eat at the same time. She loves to lay on her back and kick and swing her arms. She also likes to sleep with her blanket over her face. At first, I was of course unnerved by this but now it does no good to take it off because she just pulls it back up.

I am sure I will post some more pictures this week. It is Spring Break and I am going to try to take the boys to a different park each day. Today we went to the Butterfly Park and the new park just on the other side of a hill there. They are two great parks and they are back to back. The weather was beautiful but I of course forgot the camera.