Update

I'm updating from Benji's laptop, so my pics aren't available for this post, but I thought I'd update anyway!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

December 31, 2009:

Baby girl born to my sister-in-law & brother-in-law, Sandi & Scott Lemmon. Kembree Marilyn was born the morning of the 31st. 7lbs, 1 oz. We don't have a picture of her yet, but we're hoping that someone will remember to send us a picture of her soon!

January 3-

to one of my good friends from Hawaii, Lorinda Kim Griffiths, who turned 34 yesterday!

January 4-

to my father-in-law, Clem McEwen, who turned 59 today! :)

January 5-

to Benji's great-uncle, J.L. Crawford,who turns 96!!

*~*~*

Today was "D" day. The kids went back to school (hallelujiah!), the "norm" kicked in (including Aunt Flo. Yay.), and the ritual house cleaning resumed. I welcomed the schedule, and thanked my luck that my monthly migrane hasn't happened yet. It was very nice to jump back into a routine. As I take a break, my mind wanders over the past decade:

Here it is, the new year- 2010 already! I still remember celebrating the beginning of the new millenium! How time flies! It's interesting that in the past decade, Benji and I went from being pretty desolate to making the best money of our lives, and then back to desolation again in the blink of an eye. However, the best part of the past 10 years was the addition of 3 more children to our family! We have moved countless times and now find ourselves in Panguitch, Utah. I hated it at first, but am growing to tolerate it, lol. I look at my friends who have had babies in the past year, and although they're truly adorable, I am happy to see my own children growing up. I am glad I'm not at the baby stage, and that we can now focus on the kids' upcoming tween & teen years. Benji and I are excited to travel with the kids and to keep building memories. We will celebrate 14 years of marriage this year and I find myself more in love with Benji than ever. I am so grateful to have been lucky enough to snatch him up and make him my husband. I couldn't have asked for a better guy for me, and hopefully, I have been the kind of wife he's wanted. I am also grateful that the Gospel is so strong in our lives. Being able to humble ourselves and learn what true faith is and how it works is a blessing. I KNOW that God lives. I KNOW He loves us and wants us to seek Him. I have a testimony of paying a full tithing. That is what is keeping me sane right now. Although Benji hasn't had work in almost a month, I know that our prayers will be answered. Benji put in a bid for a huge job over a week ago, and after not hearing back from the guy, we resigned ourselves to the fact that we didn't get it. It's okay, though, and we don't hold anything against the guy. We understand that if someone came in with a cheaper (and in this case a MUCH, MUCH cheaper) bid, that they would get it. It's okay. :) Just a few days ago, one of our sweet (and 'sweet' is an understatement!) ward members called Benji to go bid on some bathrooms of theirs. We think he has the job, and will be able to start on it in 2-3 weeks. This is such a blessing, as we need to pay our bills! Speaking of bills, we are also very blessed to have very, very minimal bills each month. It feels so good NOT to have credit card debt. So even though we're not in the town & home of our dreams, we have small debt only few dream about. We are blessed with generous family and friends. So, in case they ever read this blog, both Benji and I would like them to know how much we love and appreciate their generosity and support. :)

In other news: Benji & I are now team-teachers of the 12-14 year old Sunday School class. We went from having a total of maybe 4-5 boys in our last class, to having a good 16-20 kids (I didn't count them all!) in this new class!! Wow. I picked this class specifically because Jordyn is in it, and I think it will be a fun class. What's pretty cool is that in this ward, they have called 3 OTHER couples to teach the same class as well, meaning that we only have to teach once every 3-4 weeks! Cool. I taught the first lesson, and of course the kids were rowdy, lol, but they seem like fun kids anyway. Jordyn is thrilled to have us as teachers. :)

That evening we were invited to dinner at our friends Mike & Lucy Sarles' place for home-cooked Chinese food! 2 other families were there as well- our friends Cade & Kim Harland, and Candice & (don't remember her hubbs' name) Whiting. We found out just how amazing Mike really is at cooking- he totally puts Panda Express to shame! LOL. They were so hospitable and nice, we thank them for the delicious food. :) I also found a new FAVORITE ice cream! Well, it's technically 'sherbet'. I think it's called Island Punch and it's made by Schwanns. Wow. Totally heavenly, I highly recommend it!! Reminded me of Hawaii. :)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. Please keep checking back- New Year's Eve pics coming soon!

Oh, and just for fun: How do you spell "defense"? Do you spell it with an "s" like I just did or do you spell it with a "c" like "defence"? Just wondering- we have the Harry Potter "Clue" game and they spelled it: "Defence against the dark arts"....