Musings on Eight

I'm going to admit something here...something that might shock you a little bit.  

I purposefully throw out the fact that I'm about to give birth to my 8th child 

to random people sometimes just to see what their reaction is.  

I have to be totally honest though, quickly during any conversation, I usually turn part of the credit back to this guy...right here...

(and not just the physical responsibility for helping this child have the opportunity to come to our family).  

My husband is a loving, dedicated father who delights in being a part of each of our children's lives.  

He can tell when my fuse is short, when I need support or a break, and he doesn't treat being with us as a chore or a difficulty.  

I truly believe that if he were of a different mindset or temperament, 

we, as a couple would not have the family we do today.

  

Our children love each other, 

and while they have their normal sibling quarrels, disagreements and fights, 

               I believe they love each other fiercely and would defend each other if the need ever arose.

                       They find ways to hang out together and include everyone...some of the time.

                    And some of the time they crave independence and freedom from each other.

No matter what, they are all excited about the arrival of our newest little one...

set to arrive by May 3rd.

                  Wish us luck, an extra dose of patience, and lots of health, ok?  We need it!

{Not Always} Simple

If honesty is the best policy, I have to say that today has been hard.
I feel...let's see...unsure, sad, worried, forgotten.
There is still underlying peace about the job situation, but along with it, the natural part of me wants to KNOW, to SEE, to have SOMETHING accessible to hang onto.
There isn't any of that...and so, I feel like I'm stumbling, walking forward blindly with loads of insecurity.

This too shall pass, I am sure...as I was reminded tonight,
"Ye shall receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."--Ether 12:6
Now to trust God...and give this burden, these feelings to him.
Unfortunately, that's not always a simple choice...
but I'm working on it.

Trials

On Monday, Pat called me from work.
I responded with a cheery, "Good morning!", to which he responded, "Not really."
As that response was NOT at all typical, I was surprised, but not shocked when he followed those words up with the news that his job had just been officially downsized and he was no longer employed.
(His actual words?  "I was canned this morning.")

Immediately, my heart started pounding, with fear, shock, and concern.
As quickly as those emotions started, I felt a profound peace in my heart.
I knew of a surety at that moment that we are in God's hands.
There is a plan for us.
There is NO question in my mind about the reality of those two statements.
They are reality.

I have no idea what the path ahead will hold for us.
I do know, IF we can and will listen to the voice of the Lord, He will guide us onto the path that He needs us on.

I, literally, have given thanks to God multiple times over the past week for the choice we made about 5 years ago to get our finances in order.
Dave Ramsey, and his Total Money Makeover has literally put us in a place where we can weather this storm without having to dramatically alter our life.
I give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the inspiration and guidance to implement those budgeting strategies then, and not NOW.  
Because we chose to listen and consistently work at it, our debt is almost entirely under control.
We have resources that we can pull from.
We have food in our pantry.
And, most importantly, we have each other.

As trials go, this one is temporal for the most part.
We will count our blessings as we endure this.
Pray for us.
We need clarity and understanding of what God's plan is for us...and we will know.
Of that I have no doubt.

Sunday Thoughts

I have taken the challenge given by our Sunday School President to come prepared to our Sunday meetings.
That doesn't just mean getting my heart ready, but it also means that I do the physical and mental preparation of reading the lesson material that will be discussed during the 2nd two hours of church.
I have been breaking my Gospel Doctrine reading down across the weeknights, and adding in the Relief Society material when my scripture reading is minimal or finished for the night.
It definitely makes my thoughts focus on the concept or principle being taught, and has made for more insightful thoughts on my part as I consider what will be discussed.
It seems like a simple thing to do, but in reality, I have not been diligent about being prepared in this particular aspect of my spiritual life.

Today, as I contemplated getting ready and going to church, I was very excited.
Excited for the spiritual uplift I would be able to partake in...and for the opportunity I had to share the thoughts of my heart and learning with others, and more importantly, learning from the things that others would be able to teach me.

I am grateful...for continual progress.
I am grateful...for the ability to change.
I am grateful...for peace, and joy, and strength that comes from believing in and trying to live in the way  that my Savior, Jesus Christ would want me to live.

What are the changes you want to make, or have made that have blessed your spirit and your life?

Goals and Catching Up

My goal for this year is to blog at least once a month.
It seems like a very attainable goal, and since tomorrow is the last day of January, I thought I'd spend a little time catching up.

For those of you who don't know, I'm now 27 weeks pregnant with our 8th child.
We have been told we will be having a baby girl, which all of us are VERY excited about.
The problem however, is deciding on a name.
We've narrowed the list, but may end up taking it to the hospital in the end and deciding on a name after we see this little one in person.

We went out the 2nd weekend in December and took our annual family pictures.
My sister, Rebecca was kind enough to come out and help us take our pictures and get some really fun shots.
Here are some of my favorites:

We've spent the last month (since the week before Christmas) fighting pneumonia in our home.
Four of us ended up with it....Pat, myself, Stephen and Isaac...with Pat and Stephen having it the worst.
Just this last week, we also had a health scare with Pat's mom, who started bleeding internally and was air-evaced out of her small town to a hospital near us.
She was in the hospital for almost a week, and so Pat's dad stayed here due to his need for companionship due to his memory loss.
He was able to go to the hospital some of the time, but spent a good deal of time here as well.

Christmas was wonderful.
I truly tried to simplify, and felt like in the end, I was able to focus on family and traditions.
My favorite activity of the holiday season was decorating the tree and house as a family.
It brought me a lot of joy to see the younger kids play with the nativity set and enjoy "Baby Jesus".
Pat also decided to take the kids to the dollar store to get gifts for each other.
It was sweet, and sometimes a little comical to see what each child chose for his/her siblings.
(Stephen got 4 cans of silly string!)
My mom and my sister were able to be here for the days surrounding Christmas, and Mom and Dad John came up from Kearny for Christmas dinner.

Our New Year's Eve was very low key as Stephen had been diagnosed with pneumonia and still hadn't started feeling truly better.
We played games, did a puzzle, and watched a movie...and then went out and lit sparklers at midnight.
Everyone was up for the New Year except Stephen.

On the weekend of January 8th, we took our kids to see Wicked, the Musical (in Tucson).
We had given the kids (minus Isaac) tickets to the show for Christmas.
It was 2 days after I had been diagnosed with pneumonia, but I had started an antibiotic, and was actually pretty functional that day.
We have been singing the songs all month long...and enjoyed making the memory together.
We realize that time together is the best gift of all...and the more we can do to build lasting, fun memories, the richer our children will be in life experiences.

Our year ahead looks full and promising!
New baby in late April or early May,
Emily graduating from 8th grade,
Pat and I celebrating year 18 of our marriage,
Nate turning 12 and receiving the priesthood,
Pat graduating with his Master's degree (hopefully by August),
Stephen turning 16(!!) and getting his learner's permit (and hopefully receiving his Eagle scout so he can get his driver's license)...
And those are just the big milestones!!

Wish us luck getting everything accomplished!

Baptism Day

Bekah's baptism was in July...almost a full month after her birthday.  She chose to sing a song as her musical number and did a fabulous job.  

She loved every part of the day.

With her siblings. 

And her parents.

  

Alone, and a close-up of her special pearls.  She had a matching necklace.

Auntie, Grandma Jennie and Grandma and Grandpa John were all able to be there.

She was baptized with 3 other children from our ward.  Here's a picture of the 4 of them. 

(l-r: Rebekah John, Paige Jensen, Emilie Potter, Teagan Lunt)

  

As we left, she and her Auntie traded shoes.  They wore them like this for the rest of the afternoon.  

I love you, my dear sweet girl!  

Thank you for choosing to be baptized.  

Back to School 2010

A couple of things strike me about these pictures.
1)  My kids have grown so much over the past year.
2)  Breaking out of the summertime routine of sleeping in/taking it easy is rough.  I can see the tiredness in my kids faces.
3) Stephen needs to pose for a back to school photo!  He started way back at the end of July and I didn't take his picture then.  I'll plan on doing it in the morning.
4) Emily and Nathan's pictures were lost as I edited this blog for publication in book form.  :(

Thomas--4th grade

Rebekah--3rd grade

The first time for Sam getting a picture on the first day of school.  I don't remember what he was mad about!

Samuel--First day of Kindergarten!