Pillow Talk

I love evenings when I can just lay down and talk. I occassionally do it with each of my boys as I am tucking them into bed. You'd be amazed at the thoughts that come out when you lie in the quiet and talk, uninterupted, just the 2 of you. My favorite "boy" to talk with is Robin. Last night he had a hard day. He was discouraged on so many different fronts. I felt my hands were tied, I just didn't know what to do to help him. It was a moment of missing family and the frequent phone calls to say "hi" he used to get before our move; a moment of missing the shopping available nearby our I.F. home- he went to the store and couldn't get the quick snack he wanted; a moment of having not gotten out enough- he goes to work and comes home to work; a moment of just having a bad day. Well, we got all the kiddos tucked in, then laid down and talked ourselves. He was oh, so tired but his mind was too wound up. I rubbed his back as we talked about everything and anything. I LOVED IT! I wish we didn't have to have a 'bad' day to do this but......eventually he did fall into a restless sleep, but sleep none the less. Tonight he will be taking the big boys to a Real Soccer game. I think they will have a great time! Mom gets to stay home with the little boys.

Ever had one of those days? May I suggest a little Pillow Therapy?! Because, lets face it, regardless of age we all love to cuddle, have someone rub our backs while we unload our troubles! It's a great way to gain strength from and to those we love most!

Making our house a home...

Just a quick note from work at St. Marks. Life is still a bit crazy. This move has been rougher than I thought it would be. We are getting settled ok. The boys have all finally made some friends. I was worried Josh would not have anyone his age in the neighborhood but he has made some friends that live just around the corner. We have now been in the house for 1 week. Our internet and phone is suppose to be up by Monday. My fridge is still on back order- thank heavens for a small second fridge in the garage. The window blinds are up but no pictures on the walls yet- I hope to get to that this week. Last weekend I cried more than I thought I would. Curled up on the bed in Robin's arms and just asked him to take us home (to I.F.). I miss my house, yard, garden, trees, laundry room, Josh's room, friends and neighbors. Bless his little-BIG heart! He just let me cry and continues to reassure me everyday that this is a good move for our family.

Our ward is nice but very small. There are more older people in it. We heard many comments about members praying us into the ward, along with the 2 other new families. They have been very welcoming. I have wondered and even asked Robin if we chose the right neighborhood. He quickly points out we felt right about this home and move before we decided. He reminds me how Satan is working on my weaknesses. -See, I told you he was great! I am not sure why we had to make this move. Life was good in I.F. and I loved the house and our neighborhood but I am determined to learn what He has in store for my family and for ME. Each day I watch the boys grow closer together as they look to each other as playmates. I count my blessings for an incredible husband who works hard to support his family physically, emmotionally, and spiritually. He has grown a lot this past month or so. I have much to be thankful for and that is my focus to carry me through the rough times.

St. Marks is an incredible hospital. I hear so many good things about it here and so far, they are all true. The people have been a delight to meet and are very welcoming! Transfering turned out to be a piece of cake. The staff is cheerful and really enjoy working here. The 45 minute drive will be a challenge but I managed to get home this morning safely after sleeping only 5 hours yesterday. (I had worked the previous night as well). As usual, some of the docs are great; others have little to be desired. It was nice to come and have some sense of "normalcy"; the charting is the same and the patients are the same. It made me feel like I could go into auto mode just a bit. I do miss the routine of joking with Dr. Gorman and seeing Dr. Hodson arrive at the crack of dawn in his blue scrubs and long white coat. They are great docs and I truely enjoyed working with them, among others. I have an interesting perspective coming from EIRMC, an HCA hospital to St. Marks, another HCA hospital. Pro's and con's from both hospitals ways of doing things. Hopefully, I can provide some useful insite.

Hopefully we will have home internet soon and I will be able to reconnect with the outside world. I will post pictures then. No crafting happening anytime soon but I am at least able to digital scrapbook.

I am so thankful for my family. My sisters came over several evenings after work to help pack and clean. Mom and dad spent 3 days packing and moving us down here and my brother got us a semi to move with and drove it down to Tooele. Uhaul would have cost us a fortune!! They all helped to pack us up and then unpack us when we arrived. Family is great!

We miss all of you (a certain few especially-you know who you are)! But all in all our house is becoming home.....

Moving update....

Time is flying by and we are getting so close to moving day. Thursday I made a quick trip to Utah for 2 job interviews, one with a travel agency and one with St Marks Hospital in Salt Lake. I am ever so happy to say that I will be starting at St. Marks on June 7th!! WHOO HOO!

I was not thrilled with the staffing agency but it would have been something to get me started. I met with them at 11:00 and filled out some paper work to get the ball rolling. Then at 2:00 I met with the director of the Progressive Care Unit at St. Marks. It is a step down telemetry unit, the same thing that I am currently doing. They are similar in size and the best part is it is a transfer within the same corporation that owns EIRMC. This means I will be able to transfer my benefits such as 401K and leave time. Since Robin's job provides top of the line benefits we will not need additional medical insurance. Yay! St Marks was going to have me start on the 21st, but after explaining how an earlier start date would make a difference of $7000 to us they put a rush on things to get me into the earlier orientation schedule. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Now we will be able to close on our new house by the end of the month.

The Lord is truely watching out for us. Things have been happening ever so fast. 1 month ago Robin was still unemployed and now we are days away from moving to Utah. Just when we don't think things will work out the Lord proves he is in control. Robin loves to tell me "I told you so" when it comes to being patient and trusting the Lord will make things ok. He doesn't get to say that very often.

Robin is loving his job. The benefits are incredible and the premiums for great insurance is the best we have ever had! His self esteem has taken a MAJOR jump. He feels he can truely take care of his family now. He walks with a proud posture, with his shoulders held back and head held high. Unemployment was really tough for my guy. I am so glad to see him in a job that he loves, that pays him what he is worth and that shows the value of having him as an employee. Amet lost a great employee, I doubt they even know, but JT3 has gained one. And our family has gained even more.

So now I am frantically trying to finish packing. I only have this week left to get everything packed up. Saturday is Keegan's baptism, which I still need to get invites out for! YIKES! Then I put in a couple of shifts at St. Marks, then it is moving time. Finally our family will be back together.

Apple PIe al a cart....

Keegan couldn't wait open his presents today (we missed church d/t upset tummies). He managed to wait till 1:00. With the pie in the oven he tore into his gifts. Of course everyone was feeling better in time for pie. ;-)

Keegan had only asked for a new Pokemon DS game.....

Yep, I think he was happy. Of course that one was saved for the last. He has been in thralled with it since. I told him we would take a couple of friends to the movies this week (we have tickets to use before we move-double score) instead of a big party. Besides we will be having a dinner after his baptism. Our last shebang before moving. He was good with that. He prefers small gatherings anyway. 

Later, it was nearing time for dad to leave. I swear Matthew knew it was coming! We sat down on the couch, Robin was suppose to be rubbing my legs (I love that!) but Matthew was not willing to share his dad. Before I knew it Matthew was on dad's lap in the rocking chair getting his back rubbed, what the.. what's up with that?!? He was not thrilled to have dad leaving.....

Thankfully "Cars" came to the rescue to allow dad to leave without too much of a scene. This week will be full of activity. School is out on Wednesday 1/2 day, yeah. I have a phone interview tomorrow. And on Thursday I will be going to Utah to do paper work for a travel agency and check on a job at St. Mark's. Keep your fingers crossed all will go well.  I am hoping to sneak in  1 last craft project before I pack up my sewing machine. Then I will focus on scrapbooking, I will still have the laptop out at least.

Keegan's Baptism

 

I will be mailing invites out but wanted to post it too. We will have a brunch afterwards. I plan to have ham, cheesy potatoes, and a green salad. If you would like to bring something to go with this great. Just plan to join us celebrate Keegan's decision to Choose the Right. We are so proud of him. He, more than any of the other boys, takes his actions very seriously. His response is matter of fact, "of course I want to be baptized". He is growing so fast and is an amazing boy. We are so very proud of him. I count among my blessings everyday that I am his mother.

5 years ago, we blessed Tyler just before leaving our ward. Now, we will baptize Keegan, just before leaving a ward we have come to love dearly. We are so excited for our move and desperate to have our family together again...but, oh how we will miss this ward family! We have the most amazing bishopbric. They are valiant men with strong spirits. They are so in touch with the youth, I hope we will find that great strength in our new ward. We have made dear friends who have impacted our lives in ways they will never know. Great adventures await us but we will return to visit the saints of the Ammon 16th Ward!! We love you all!

Home possibilities...

I found pictures of the homes that caught our eyes.....

 

This one is 2685 sq. feet on 0.17 acres. Matthew loved the windows upstairs. The window went low enough he could stand on his toes and see out. Plus his was up high and could look out to the mountains. Yep, it was a winner for him.

The kitchen is one room that can make it or break it for me. I love this kitchen!

It was soo big. Plus I would get the wonderful morning sun. The lot is small but it is layed out nicely....

This is Robin's favorite part. A jetted tub- ohh la la!

The other home we liked is listed HERE. It doesn't have a picture listed and although we took our camera we forgot to take our own pictures. It has a bit smaller kitchen but the possibility of more storage space and another bedroom for a total of 5. Plus we could negotiate the builder finishing some of the basement which is usually left undone. It also comes on 0.53 acreas in Grantsville. The master bed is smaller and the master bath only has a shower. Plus it's slightly more $$. Closer to Robins work, further from the hospital.....

Ah, the joys of weighing pros and cons.......

We're on the move.....

This has been one crazy week. I nearly got my project done for Monday but kinda got side tracked with great news. Robin got a job in Utah! We are sooo thrilled. He will be starting 1 week from Monday- yeah that's fast. So this week has been a mad dash to get the house on the market, clean up, trips to the D.I., and a trip to Utah for buisiness and house hunting. The boys were really good considering they spent a lot of time in the van and going from one house to another. It was POURING rain yesterday but today cleared up so we were able to see the area a bit better. Tooele is a very pretty area. We are exciting and anxious all at the same time. I don't know what I will do with the boys, soccer, work, and school without Robin to keep me sane! The Lord definantely has his hands in these plans though. We are seeing every day, ways he is helping to guide us and bless us. So for now we are taking a bit of a detour. I will keep you posted on how things go but my posts may be more irregular. Moving is never fun but it is an adventure. My favorite quote of late is "Trusting in the Lord includes trusting in His timing". I read it EVERY DAY! and remind myself of this.

Yesterday we were lucky enough to, totally by chance, meet a GREAT realtor, Guy Kisel. I had called about a home I found online. He answered my questions then searched other homes for us too. He spent several hours yesterday and today helping us. Yep, another blessing.

Yesterday, we found some nice homes but nothing that made my heart speed up. Nothing that spoke "Welcome Home". We ended the day in the gray, pouring rain tired and down, just trusting in the Lord and His timing.

This morning dawned with a drizzle continueing and gray. By the time we were on the road the sun was trying to peak through the gray. As the day wore on it just got better and better. We had planned on leaving Utah by noon but fianlly HAD to leave at 1:30. We found several home possibilities and 2 specifically that would be great for our family. So we ended the day on a high note with choices to make. Now we sit back, ponder and seek the direction we should go. Yep, another blessing!

Either way I know that the Lord knows what my family needs and WHEN I need it. We are so very sad to be leaving our beloved home, our wonderful neighborhood, and especially our dear friends, *sniff* but ohhh, what a relief for my dear sweet Robin. Unemployment doesn't bode well for him.

Life is about adventures and growing and learning. We have grown. We have learned. We have loved. Now we move on to the next adventure. We'll see what's in store for our family.

I know this is long and no pictures but I had to unload what was in my heart tonight. Call it my emotional download.

Keep watching. I will post my projects as they happen and I will post pictures of homes we may be looking at..... Stay Tuned to our Adventure in Moving!