Such a fun day! We took these kiddos on a 6 mile hike that left us all exhausted! I was so impressed with my kids! They were troopers and didn't give up even though it was hard and cold!!
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Thursday, March 4, 2021
Monkey Faces
Not sure how my kids are as old as they are and they don't know about how to use oranges to be monkeys!! We had to fix that error in their upbringing today!
Friday, May 25, 2018
Home
Jacob has been done with the military for two whole weeks now! It's hard to believe that that phase of life is over. Our life has revolved around it for so long! The military has dictated where we live, when we can be together as a family, when we can go on vacation, even how often Jacob needs a haircut for over 9 years! We have moved our family 10 times, and spent a total of 30 months apart from each other. The military has been good to us too. We've stretched and grown in ways I didn't know were possible. We've seen new places and met lots of new people and made lifelong friends. They've paid for all of my babies and cured me of holding on to too much stuff.
I have been in heaven the least two weeks having Jacob home. It's been more than just having him at home though that has made me so happyhappy, it's been the knowing that he can't ever get deployed again! Also, knowing that we may live here long term. We've never lived anywhere as long as we've lived here so we've never put down very deep roots. Knowing that we could possibly live here a long time really changes how I view things. It makes me want to make more friends and put more effort into my friendships. It makes me want to find a way to be more involved in my community. It makes me want to help my kids find friends. It makes me want to hang pictures on my walls and plant flowers in my yard. It makes me want to make Portales truly feel like home.
I never realized that knowing that everywhere we lived was only temporary affected my mind set so much.
Knowing that we are going to be calling this home for a while longer has affected us another way as well. Right now Jacob and I are starting the process to be able to become a foster family. That will be a huge change for us, but I'm super excited! I've always wanted a big family with lots of kidskids, but that wasn't in the cards for us which is okay. I'm happy with my three angels I've been blessed with! But I also feel like we could bless the lives of other children as well. I've felt for a wood that foster care is something I needed to do and we are finally in a position where it's a possibility. We meet with a social worker in our home next week.
The only constant thing in life is change. I'm glad that the changes for our family are guided by a loving Father in Heaven who knows what we need more than we do.
I have been in heaven the least two weeks having Jacob home. It's been more than just having him at home though that has made me so happyhappy, it's been the knowing that he can't ever get deployed again! Also, knowing that we may live here long term. We've never lived anywhere as long as we've lived here so we've never put down very deep roots. Knowing that we could possibly live here a long time really changes how I view things. It makes me want to make more friends and put more effort into my friendships. It makes me want to find a way to be more involved in my community. It makes me want to help my kids find friends. It makes me want to hang pictures on my walls and plant flowers in my yard. It makes me want to make Portales truly feel like home.
I never realized that knowing that everywhere we lived was only temporary affected my mind set so much.
Knowing that we are going to be calling this home for a while longer has affected us another way as well. Right now Jacob and I are starting the process to be able to become a foster family. That will be a huge change for us, but I'm super excited! I've always wanted a big family with lots of kidskids, but that wasn't in the cards for us which is okay. I'm happy with my three angels I've been blessed with! But I also feel like we could bless the lives of other children as well. I've felt for a wood that foster care is something I needed to do and we are finally in a position where it's a possibility. We meet with a social worker in our home next week.
The only constant thing in life is change. I'm glad that the changes for our family are guided by a loving Father in Heaven who knows what we need more than we do.
Friday, April 13, 2018
Life
Isn't it interesting how sometimes you feel your life going one dissection, and then something happens to send it in a completely different one? You think something is the right choice and then find out it is completely different than what you should be doing?
Our life is currently going through one of those tipsy curvy changes right now. For the past 9 years, the love of my life has been serving in the United States Air Force. It's been quite the ride. Since joining, we have had 3 children, moved into 5 different houses (not including the times we've moved in with family for brief stints), and endured 4 deployments and countless trainings that resulted in having Jacob gone apart from the rest of us for a total of 30 months (that's 2 1/2 years!). You would think with all that we would be used to big life changes. I'm not sure you ever really get used to it though.
With the end of Jacob's enlistment approaching, we had to decide, stay in the Air Force which pays well enough, or get out and face the unknown, but at least we will be together. Honestly it wasn't much of a contest. One of the things we have definitely learned from our time in the military, is that family time is so important! So next month it's actually happening! Jacob is getting out of the Air Force and re-entering civilian life.
So with this big change, we've had a lot of decisions to make: where to live, how to make ends meet, what should Jacob study. We thought we had ask the answers lined up. We would move closer to family. Jacob would study to become a middle school English teacher and he sounds get a part time job to help cover costs while I stay at home with the kiddos. Jacob applied and got accepted to a university in Utah with a pretty good scholarship. We put an offer on a house that got accepted. We started going through the process to sell our New Mexico house, including already moving all of our stuff into a storage unit and living in our trailer by our house. Now less than a month from move time, or plans are changing. Again.
As excited as we've been to get out of the military and be closer to family, Jacob and I have also both had a lot of anxiety considering going forward with this. I just assumed it was because of the big changes we were about to go through, and the uncertainty, and the no money, and what not. Well, faithful husband that I have, Jacob was praying about the anxiety he had been feeling and asking Heavenly Father to help us with these changes. As he prayed, he had a jarring thoughtthought, "Maybe we need to stay here."
Say what?!?!?! That was NEVER part of our plan. NEVER! We knew that every place we've moved with the military would be TEMPORARY! The longest we've ever lived anywhere has been 3 years and that had been here! Before that the longest had been less than 2 years! Sure the people here are nice, but honestly we live in a tiny town with nothing really to keep us here. My primary feeling since moving here has been loneliness. My kids don't have any friends. I have a couple of friends but they are in a different stage of life then me. No one I have felt I could call up to see if they want to come over in the middle of what can become very long days of stay at home mom life. Jacob has been deployed from here three times which left me feeling desperately lonely. I've developed a debilitating depression at times. In short life here in New Mexico has not been easy for me. These are the rights that were racing through my mind as Jacob told me that it might be Our Heavenly Father's will to stay here.
But at the same time, I felt an overwhelming feeling of peace. That illusive peace that has been missing in all of our planplans. In even just considering staying here, the peace I felt was undeniable. I knew that it was Heavenly Father's will for us to stay here.
I don't know why we need to stay here, but I will accept the Lord's guidance and as disappointed as I am that we won't be close to our family, I am so incredibly grateful to the Lord and his willingness to place our family where we need to be to fulfill His will.
We are still going to try selling our home here. It is a beautiful home but a little too expensive for our lifestyle change, and bigger than we need or even want anymore.
As we try to figure this all out, I have no fear. I have peace knowing in whom I trust. Who better to let guide your path than the one who made it? The one who is so kind and loving, all knowing and all powerful. He will not lead me astray.
Our life is currently going through one of those tipsy curvy changes right now. For the past 9 years, the love of my life has been serving in the United States Air Force. It's been quite the ride. Since joining, we have had 3 children, moved into 5 different houses (not including the times we've moved in with family for brief stints), and endured 4 deployments and countless trainings that resulted in having Jacob gone apart from the rest of us for a total of 30 months (that's 2 1/2 years!). You would think with all that we would be used to big life changes. I'm not sure you ever really get used to it though.
With the end of Jacob's enlistment approaching, we had to decide, stay in the Air Force which pays well enough, or get out and face the unknown, but at least we will be together. Honestly it wasn't much of a contest. One of the things we have definitely learned from our time in the military, is that family time is so important! So next month it's actually happening! Jacob is getting out of the Air Force and re-entering civilian life.
So with this big change, we've had a lot of decisions to make: where to live, how to make ends meet, what should Jacob study. We thought we had ask the answers lined up. We would move closer to family. Jacob would study to become a middle school English teacher and he sounds get a part time job to help cover costs while I stay at home with the kiddos. Jacob applied and got accepted to a university in Utah with a pretty good scholarship. We put an offer on a house that got accepted. We started going through the process to sell our New Mexico house, including already moving all of our stuff into a storage unit and living in our trailer by our house. Now less than a month from move time, or plans are changing. Again.
As excited as we've been to get out of the military and be closer to family, Jacob and I have also both had a lot of anxiety considering going forward with this. I just assumed it was because of the big changes we were about to go through, and the uncertainty, and the no money, and what not. Well, faithful husband that I have, Jacob was praying about the anxiety he had been feeling and asking Heavenly Father to help us with these changes. As he prayed, he had a jarring thoughtthought, "Maybe we need to stay here."
Say what?!?!?! That was NEVER part of our plan. NEVER! We knew that every place we've moved with the military would be TEMPORARY! The longest we've ever lived anywhere has been 3 years and that had been here! Before that the longest had been less than 2 years! Sure the people here are nice, but honestly we live in a tiny town with nothing really to keep us here. My primary feeling since moving here has been loneliness. My kids don't have any friends. I have a couple of friends but they are in a different stage of life then me. No one I have felt I could call up to see if they want to come over in the middle of what can become very long days of stay at home mom life. Jacob has been deployed from here three times which left me feeling desperately lonely. I've developed a debilitating depression at times. In short life here in New Mexico has not been easy for me. These are the rights that were racing through my mind as Jacob told me that it might be Our Heavenly Father's will to stay here.
But at the same time, I felt an overwhelming feeling of peace. That illusive peace that has been missing in all of our planplans. In even just considering staying here, the peace I felt was undeniable. I knew that it was Heavenly Father's will for us to stay here.
I don't know why we need to stay here, but I will accept the Lord's guidance and as disappointed as I am that we won't be close to our family, I am so incredibly grateful to the Lord and his willingness to place our family where we need to be to fulfill His will.
We are still going to try selling our home here. It is a beautiful home but a little too expensive for our lifestyle change, and bigger than we need or even want anymore.
As we try to figure this all out, I have no fear. I have peace knowing in whom I trust. Who better to let guide your path than the one who made it? The one who is so kind and loving, all knowing and all powerful. He will not lead me astray.
Friday, March 17, 2017
Blessings
At the RV park in Mississippi (that my brother in law was able to find for me), the person we parked next to offered to help me set up the trailer as soon as we parked. The next day at church we were welcomed. I went to relief society and "just happened" to be sitting by the one person in the room whose husband had a job similar to Jacob's. She understood what I was going through and leaned over and gave me a much needed hug. Monday morning, I was up early hooking up the trailer to the van. I had everything done except for one part of the hutch hooked up and for the life of me I could not figure it out. It was something I had done before but for some reason I couldn't figure it out. I tried and tried and tried and prayed and tried some more and had the thought, "Go wake up Rachel and have her pray for you. She has the gift of faith." So I did. I woke her up and asked her to say a prayer for me while she got dressed. I walked out of the trailer and to work on the part I was trying to get. I was immediately able to figure it out and get it all the way hooked up.
Another blessing was the police officer who changed our tire. Who knows how long we would have been waiting for the other people to show up, and I went out and helped the officer for a little bit and there is no way I would have been able to change the tire on my own. Also, that crazy Monday, Elijah did not cry in the car even once. That was a huge blessing!
The next day when I woke up, again I was hooking up the trailer to the van and there was a part that was stuck and I just didn't have the strength to get it right. I had the thought, "Go turn the van off and get your keys." I went and got the keys and mentioned to the kids that they should say another prayer for me. I went back out to work on it and the part I needed to get unstuck, moved and I was back in the van within 30 seconds.
I don't usually walk around the van before we start, but I do usually walk around the trailer to make sure we are ready to go and there aren't any problems. For some reason, I did walk around the van and noticed the tires were low on air. I had a man offer to put air in my tires for free. Every one of my tires were extremely low. We were then able to make it all the way home with no other mishap's. The Lord's hand was helping me along the way. I was praying. Jacob was praying. The kids were praying. My family was praying. Jacobs family was praying. Even my visiting teachers were praying for us! The Lord hears prayers. Even though we still had problems with our trailer, things were able to work out and testimonies were strengthened along the way.
Another blessing was the police officer who changed our tire. Who knows how long we would have been waiting for the other people to show up, and I went out and helped the officer for a little bit and there is no way I would have been able to change the tire on my own. Also, that crazy Monday, Elijah did not cry in the car even once. That was a huge blessing!
The next day when I woke up, again I was hooking up the trailer to the van and there was a part that was stuck and I just didn't have the strength to get it right. I had the thought, "Go turn the van off and get your keys." I went and got the keys and mentioned to the kids that they should say another prayer for me. I went back out to work on it and the part I needed to get unstuck, moved and I was back in the van within 30 seconds.
I don't usually walk around the van before we start, but I do usually walk around the trailer to make sure we are ready to go and there aren't any problems. For some reason, I did walk around the van and noticed the tires were low on air. I had a man offer to put air in my tires for free. Every one of my tires were extremely low. We were then able to make it all the way home with no other mishap's. The Lord's hand was helping me along the way. I was praying. Jacob was praying. The kids were praying. My family was praying. Jacobs family was praying. Even my visiting teachers were praying for us! The Lord hears prayers. Even though we still had problems with our trailer, things were able to work out and testimonies were strengthened along the way.
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