Playing

It's been rough to not have a yard for the kids to play in and so much snow this winter.  They have spent some time playing outside (in the post office parking lot).  They've also been great sports about finding things to do inside!

Legos have been a big hit!

Linq started pulling himself up to everything the end of February and the kids have learned they have to try and take their play somewhere he can't get to them, sometimes they don't quite go high enough :)

We've also enjoyed lots of board games!

(I'm pretty sure this picture came from Loa who hijacked my phone!)

Hard times

When LeGrand and I were praying and waiting for things to fall into place for us to move back to Grace, I knew without a doubt it would happen.  It took LeGrand a lot longer to get the same answer and be confident that things would work out.  One day we were talking about the upcoming events and hope to move and LeGrand said to me, "it will probably work out, but it will be one of the hardest things we've done".
The house sold quickly, the move went fairly smooth other than finding a place to live.  We ended up in the tiny two bedroom and it was a trial, it was hard.  Just before Christmas we were all sick with the stomach flu and it seems to have just snowballed from there.  In the middle of February after trying for weeks to get into our storage unit, we finally got in to find the unit had leaked and was filled with about an inch of slush (since it had frozen and was melting).  Luckily we were able to move all of our stuff to an empty unit and found that nothing was ruined.

And we've spent almost 6 weeks being so sick at our house, it seems to just make the rounds.  LeGrand had the flu, Laex and I got strep, Lytzi and Linq have had ear infections and I've been fighting a sinus infection the last week.  It has really been miserable, and hard, and exhausting.

On top of all of this LeGrand has been extra busy at work so he only gets two days off after working 12 on.

It has been HARD, our family has never been this sick.  We've never had to move so many times and live out of boxes for so long plus try to live life.  BUT I'm grateful that when I need the energy to make dinner and take care of kids somehow I have it, that really our 'hard times' have been nothing compared to what other people endure each day.  I know 'this too shall pass' though at times it just doesn't make it easier in the moment.  We are looking forward to One.More.Move back into our house and hopefully getting settled.  These hard times have helped me appreciate not just the good times but the good days or moments when I feel good or things are going well.  When LeGrand told me it would be the 'hardest thing we've ever done' I never could've predicted these things, but he was right.

Stinky has Surgery

From about a week old LeGrand and I were concerned about Linq's circumcision, the doctor who did it in Washington left what appeared to be WAY too much skin.  Our pediatrician in WA kept telling us just to keep the skin pulled down and he would grow into it.  When we got to Idaho and finally got insurances switched and holidays over with we took him to our pediatrician here who had the same concerns we did, there was too much skin and it was unlikely he would 'grow into' it.  So we had to see a urologist who also confirmed that he would need a circumcision revision.  If we would have done it before he got too old it would've been fairly easy, but because he was now 7 months old he had to be put under and have an inpatient surgery done.
We had to be at Portnuef Medical Center in Poky at 6 am so it made for an early morning for us.  Everything went perfectly and healed well and we are grateful to have it all finished :)

Drill Team Reunion

From 1999-2000 & 2000-2001 I got to be a member of the Uintah High Drill team, it was two years filled will amazing experiences that still shape my life.  I'm grateful for the time I had with great girls and an AMAZING Coach.  There's no one like Robin!  After this years Drill Review Robins husband Clark put together a Surprise Reunion and invited all the girls from Robins 10 seasons she coached.  I really wanted to be there and LeGrand had been so busy with work that he only gets 2 days off every 12 days...in the end I made the trip alone just for the reunion and then came home the next morning.  It was a good time, so fun to see people I haven't seen for 15 years and get some time to talk to Robin.

It's a long drive but I kind of enjoyed all those hours in the car alone, I never can get enough of the magnificent views coming up over sheep creek and seeing flaming gorge, it was beautiful as always!