A Whole Year

I realized today, that we have been in this home for a whole year now.

We moved in on February 9, 2015. It's crazy how time flies.

We have really loved this home. It has been so wonderful to have our own house and yard. We've made quite a few repairs, and had some exciting adventures.

When we first moved into the house, it was in pretty good shape. The yard hadn't been worked on in a while, but we saw a lot of potential. The roof leaked around the chimney, and there were a couple of frightening paint jobs. The water ran at a boiling temperature for five minutes, and then went cold, and chunks of dry wall had been removed and then amateurishly placed back in without being completed.

I was so excited to start working on things.

Fast forward a year.

We fixed the water problem almost immediately. It turned out that the plastic tube that went into the brand new water heater was only about a foot and a half long. The water went cold so quickly because it was only sucking hot water off the top. The plumber inserted a longer tube...and it was fixed!

Our yard after we first finished raking it.

We did a lot of yard work, and planted a pretty successful garden. We grew peas, onions, lettuce, and cherry tomatoes. I planted corn too, but I planted it too late, so it never reached its full potential. We had a really good pie cherry and apple crop. We've cleaned out the two sheds, and filled one with fire wood from trees that we've had to remove and limbs we've had to cut off.

Kevin helped me pick the cherries

We've repainted two rooms, a bathroom and a bedroom. We've filled in most holes with plaster, and cleaned the carpets. We paid someone to fix the leak on the roof, and it seems to be holding pretty well.

Newly painted bathroom

Newly painted bedroom

Kevin has grown three or four inches, and Arkhon has matured into a wonderful dog. They are best friends, and love to play together.

This was taken before we purchased a lawn mower. The grass was beautiful!

Dakota died in our home, and we buried her ashes in the backyard.

Our beautiful old girl

We lost two fish, and decided not to have anymore of those for a while. Our snake has also grown a great deal.

We've hosted some birthday parties and have had three of Grig's siblings live with us. We've had some pretty amazing fun moments with his sister and some pretty scary moments as her health plummeted and she had to fly back to Virginia. We were sad to see her leave, and hope that she has a successful surgery soon.

Argent and Grig's mother making a snowman with Kevin

We've really enjoyed having Kevin's uncles here, and we have learned a lot from both of them. Kevin especially loves playing with them and is always excited to see them. In the morning, if they sleep in late, he goes downstairs and wakes them up by saying, "It's morning time!"

Uncle Allopex

Uncle Havelock

We've had a great snowfall this year, and found out that our front yard has a pretty good sled run. We've made snowmen and a wigwam using branches found in our yard. I'm hoping it snows some more so it will look like an igloo.

We've now had every holiday in this home, and it's been so fun to decorate for those! We had a great turnout for trick-or-treaters, and I really love our neighborhood. We've made friends with most of our neighbors, and simply adore them. (Many of them either have children or dogs, and if Kevin isn't friends with their kids, Arkhon is friends with their dogs.)

You can't really tell from this picture, but these two love each other!

I love this place. In the past year, it has evolved from a house into a home. It is a place where I feel comfortable and safe. We want it to be a home, a temple, and a haven for anyone who enters.

I think we're making pretty good progress toward that goal, and I'm excited to see what the next year brings!

Enduring Faith

(This post is kind of a continuation of The Right Time and Relating to Sariah. If you want to read the first two parts of this story from our life journey, feel free to do so.)

Sometimes it's really hard to wait for things.

Grig has reached the end of his probationary period at his new job. He was told that in 90 days (or possibly sooner if they were really impressed), he would be given a review, and if they decide to keep him on, he will get a raise. If they don't, we need to look for a new job.

He's been stressed about it for the last few weeks. However, after a lot of praying, we feel like he's going to keep this job, and we just have to be patient.

It's been really hard...especially now that we've passed the 90 day mark. His direct supervisor has told him that he'll put in a good word for him, and that he's pretty sure he'll get the appointment. However, we haven't heard anything from his direct boss yet.

We've tried to wait patiently and keep having faith, but some days, it's been a real struggle for both of us (usually on alternating days) to keep having faith.

Tied to this appointment are quite a few things. Back when we were praying about getting a puppy, we were told that if the puppy was still there when Grig got the raise, that we could get it. We were told that about six weeks ago.

Then, about four weeks ago, Grig felt really strongly that he was going to get the job and that we were going to get the puppy. (Thus, what I was talking about in a previous blog.)

I haven't doubted too much that he'll get the job. He's a really hard, thorough worker. He's pretty amazing and is learning a lot of new things. However, sometimes I've had a hard time believing that the puppy was still going to be there.

Then, about a week and a half ago, when my faith was really wearing thin, I looked the puppy up online where we had first found it. Six hours before I looked, the sellers posted an updated picture of the little girl that we want with a reduced price. I was surprised to find that I was floored.

Here's a picture of the little girl that we're going to get

I had been unconsciously preparing myself for the worst, and on some level I was sure that she wasn't going to be available anymore. As I felt a rush of excitement flow through me, I began to pray and thank Heavenly Father for this bolster to my faith. As I was later contemplating this miracle, in my mind I heard the thought, "Oh ye of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"

There are other things that we've had to have enduring faith with, and it was a good reminder not to doubt. One of those things is the fact that I've been told several times through personal revelation that our next baby is coming soon. It's been really hard to wait. The Lord's timing is perfect, and I'm really learning that. I just have to keep having faith even when it's difficult.

Tubing

Yesterday, for Family Home Evening, we had a ward (congregation) ski night.

I guess it was more of a stake (combined combinations from the area) ski night, but it was pretty awesome, because they also had tubing available for children three and up.

Kevin is three now, and so we paid for use of the tubes and over-dressed ourselves to go tubing.

The first time we went down the 600 foot slope, Grig dragged Kevin behind him, and at the end he got pretty freaked out. However, a couple people suggested to us that we should let him go by himself. They told us that he would travel more slowly with his own weight than being pulled by ours.

Kevin and Grig going together. (We put the camera away afterward because it was getting too dark)

We decided to take their advice. Aren't we glad we did! Kevin loved it!

I went first, and as his small body on his small tube came hurtling around the curve at the end, I shouted, "Hold on, Kevin! Don't let go!"

As he came to a stop, I helped him up and he said, "Mom! I did it by myself!"

He was so excited. I think I had been more freaked out that time than he was. He proceeded to go for a couple more times, and just got more excited every time.

Grig and I also had a great time. The first time, I was tense and I kind of hurt my neck, but after that I relaxed and really enjoyed myself. I would go so fast around the bend that I almost flipped over a couple of snow banks, and when I went tearing around the end curve I rode so high that I nearly hit the fence at the top!

It was great.

After a few runs, we went inside to eat. They had chicken soup and chili available, as well as a lot of desserts. Kevin mostly ate chips and pretzels. We tried to feed him other things, but he was more interested in those.

After eating, we went back out and tubed until 8:45 or so.

They had a little jump at the very end, and most people kind of went up the side of it, but for some reason, I was nearly always going off the top and getting some air. One of the workers told me, "Now you're just showing off. We're going to have to slow it down. You're having too much fun." I laughed and told him he shouldn't slow it down. It was awesome.

We had to go to bed early, so decided we needed to leave. At about 8:30, we were talking about leaving and Kevin held up one finger and said, "No, one more time," in a very bossy and commanding voice.

So, we went one more time.

We're really glad we went. We had a lot of fun.

Family picture taken after the first run. Kevin still wasn't sure how he felt about it at this point. 

uhythehyg75y78y7thy8t6ght (a.k.a. Kevin's First Blog)

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This is about as much of a blog as I got done today. I woke up late because I had a really restless night, and Grig was nice enough to let me sleep in. I had this dream that a friend was hanging out with me and she suddenly got a call that someone was trying to get into her house and her children were home alone.

I woke up, wide awake, and was unable to get back to sleep for a couple of hours. It kind of freaked me out. So, this morning, after Kevin woke up, I sat down at the computer to blog, and  Kevin said, "I want to type," which is something he really likes to do lately. I think it's because I've been doing it more.

Anyway, so he wrote a bunch, and then something came up and I never finished. So, this is today's blog. We're going to call it "Kevin's First Blog" and leave it at that. He is pretty stinkin' cute.

Getting up at 5 a.m.

A couple of weeks ago, I was praying about how I could help Grig get to bed on time and get up on time, and the answer that I received was to get up with him.

I think I've mentioned this on the blog before.

So, for the last two weeks, I've been getting up with him at 5 a.m..

It hasn't been easy for me. I'm really a night person, and I've never been very good at waking up to alarm clocks, but the Lord has helped me out. Sometimes, it's not the alarm clock I wake up to, but Grig moving to turn it off. Either way, I have woken up every morning.

That hasn't been the hardest part.

The hardest part, is that Kevin has been waking up at 6:30 or earlier. I used to get my writing time from 10-12 at night, and it was nice to have a couple of hours to myself. Now, by the time Grig leaves for work and I finish blogging, it's about 6:15 to 6:30 a.m.. That means that some mornings, when Kevin wakes up, I haven't even had a chance to write. Then, I go with him to try and get him back to sleep, and instead I fall asleep half the time. He never does.

I'm afraid he's too much like me.

For the first week, I was really frustrated. Then, Wednesday of this week, I decided that maybe a nap would help reset Kevin's schedule. So, I brushed his hair with a Kim Possible brush until he fell asleep and let him sleep for an hour.

It took him a little longer to go to sleep that night, but yesterday morning he slept until 7:30 a.m.. It's still earlier than he used to wake up, but I'll take it!

The other unforeseen blessing that we've been having is that, last night, for the second time this week, Kevin has slept in his bed for the whole night!

That's nearly unheard of. Usually be put him to bed between 8:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.. Then, sometime between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m. he comes into our room and climbs in our bed. Every morning we wake up with him in the bed, which is fine for now, but if we get pregnant, like we're praying we will, there won't be room for him in the bed anymore.

We've been praying that we would know what to do in order to help him stay in his bed all night. I just don't wake up when he comes in and crawls in our bed. For some reason, the changes that we've been making are helping him to sleep all night, and for that, I am very grateful.

I am grateful that I kept going, even though it was hard at first. There have been many wonderful blessings because I decided to heed the counsel that I received.

I AM excited to sleep in on Saturday though.

That will be nice.