Right Now...

I am not feeling guilty for my lack of posts.  We are a busy family, and our spare time is filled with each other!  If you want to catch up with us, read on... but there are no cute pics today.

We have a 6yo Josh now, who's loving Kindergarten so much, but misses full day K and his buddies in WI.  He is a spelling and writing machine and it's fun to play word/letter games with him!  He has also shown incredible patience for a little sister who can make bedtime pretty miserable by keeping him up later with her mischievousness!

Speaking of Layla, she is such a fun, silly, beautiful, tricky, loving little girl.  Basically, she's a typical 2yo!  She is so smart, but has the same speech delay her brothers had, and we often find ourselves in frustrating situations when she so badly wants to convey her thoughts but can't.  We love her like crazy!

I think that of all my kids, Jack has been the most forgiving of our new situation here.  He had fallen in love with his class, teacher, and taking the bus home in WI.  He was learning new things every day, and shocking us when he'd recount those things! (since he's not nearly as forthcoming as Josh)  Now that we are here, preschool is not free, so not in our budget. (hello, we're building 2 business!)  But NEVER has he mentioned missing school or his friends.  He is so imaginative, spending his time at home building ships out of legos, intricate train tracks, and racing cars all over the place!  Jack is the definition of flexible!  I thank God for him and his patience every day.  

We have 3 kiddos in one room, which seemed like crazy chaos for the first few weeks of moving in!  But we have worked out some of those bugs, like having Jack fall asleep in our room and then transferring him later. It went from a 2.5 hour play time in the dark to 30 minutes before falling asleep!  (naughty kids) But we have created some good routines, and I love hearing them play together in their close quarters.

Dan and I will be celebrating TEN YEARS being married on Wednesday, Feb 1!!  Take that society with horrible divorce rates!!  I love this man more than I could ever express.  We have been through things that have torn other couples apart, and we came out a stronger, more faithful couple because of them.  I still find him funny and SO MUCH fun to be with!  My perfect evening together is the 2 of us in our PJ's, cuddled under our favorite blanket (a wedding gift from GG), watching a movie or favorite show, snacking on freshly baked chocolate chip cookies!

Did you know that you become just like the 5 people you hang around most?  Well, I couldn't be luckier to have a hubby that is the #1 person I want to be around!

It is amazing how quickly we have forgotten the ways of the corporate world.  What conference calls?!  What district meetings?  We don't miss anything about Dan's job.  In fact, there was a noticeable change in Dan's health and energy level!  Leaving what some consider a "secure job" to follow one's dream has it's own set of stresses, but when it's a self-made choice, they are SO much more tolerable.  I couldn't be more proud of Dan for following his passion.  He's the minority for sure, but our kids are learning valuable lessons right now about making goals, working through adversity, putting all of your faith in the Lord and the talents He gave you.  (I'm learning these lessons as well)  I LOVE having him work from home!  We knew early in our marriage that being away from the person we chose to spend life with for 8-10 hrs a day was NOT part of our plan.  That was just crazy and didn't make any sense to us.  We feel that we are doing what we were meant to do, and that feels amazing.

I am so happy to working with my full-time Mary Kay business.  (15 hrs a week is all!) I have found support in unique places, and made some life-long friends who have the same priorities and values that I do.  I have met some amazing women who trust me enough to share concerns with their appearance, as well as share their friends and family with me, and am honored to get to know them on such a personal level.  This company has helped me grow in areas I didn't know I lacked!

We love our new ward.  One day, we hope to have a house in this same ward.  Josh has requested being able to walk to school and I think that would be great!  Holladay is a nice part of the valley, and we have had fun getting to know some new places that we weren't super familiar with before.  We love being next to the mountains again!!  They truly are a part of what makes UT our home, and it was crazy how much we missed them while we were gone.  We are glad to see our family more often, even those who live out of state!

We are happy!

So there we are in a random post.