Top ten highlights of the last 6 months...

Top ten highlights of the last 6 months in no particular order:

1. Link turned two! Birthdays are fun to celebrate but I didn’t realize that they are truly a celebration of life until we’ve been able to celebrate Link’s life. He is so busy and active and mischevious that I easily forget on a day-to-day basis just how blessed I am to have him in my life. His birthdays allowed me to reflect on all of our experiences at Primary’s and all the blessings and prayers that were answered in our behalf. What a blessing little children are. Even though at times he can be a handful (when he empties every single one of my pots and pans and lines them up all over the house, when we have to sit in the front of the clock for hours so that he can watch the time change, or when he yells at me because I did something for him that HE wanted to do) but I am so blessed to be able to be a mom and to have a strong healthy boy. We will still have surgeries and ups and downs in the future but Link is a great big TWO YEAR OLD!

2. Russ got a new job, well TWO new jobs. He became the Assistant Manager at his current job and started a new job with a financial company, which he LOVES! He is a busy man and we rarely get to see him but are excited for his new opportunities.

3. We moved! Both of Russ’ jobs were in a different town a half hour away. We decided to move so that we could be closer to him and see him as much as we could. We decided to put our house up for rent thinking it would be a few months til we got good renters. Two days after we put the sign up, we had our renters and they wanted to move in in TWO WEEKS! So we packed up and left! It was a two-week whirlwind but we are finally getting adjusted and unpacking the last of the boxes!

4. I quit my job! (Which in-turn, led me to get the condo that we are renting in our new town. Tender Mercy!). I am not going to lie. It was a very difficult thing to do and it’s been a difficult change to make in my life. Growing up, I was the girl that when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, responded with “a mother.” I grew up with a wonderful mother who stayed at home and raised 6 successful children. I grew up in a faith that encourages and supports mothers to stay at home with their children and raise them to be successful individuals so, needless to say, I feel bad that the choice to quit my job at the moment was a difficult one. I truly believe that “the greatest work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own home” (Harold B. Lee) and that “no other success can compensate for failure in the home.” (David O McKay) But honestly, being a mom is hard work! Endless days of laundry, cleaning, cooking, diapers, ABC’s, and little to no adult interaction along with little or no praise or affirmation paired with a society that looks down on stay at home mothering are enough to make any young woman pause before quitting her job. President Hinckley said “You will come to know that what appears today to be a sacrifice will prove instead to be the greatest investment that you will ever make.” I don’t know what context this quote was from, but to me it describes the sacrifices that so many wonderful women are making everyday as they raise their children. To me, it describes what “appears” to be a sacrifice of not working to raise my child full-time. I still have so much to learn and so far to go as a mother but now I get to work at it full-time!

5. Special Olympics. I have been working as a Speech Therapist at an Intermediate School for the past two years. The last week of school, our Intermediate School held a Pentathlon. The Special Needs Classroom that I work with was asked to participate. I was able to spend the day watching these incredible children participate in the five events but mostly watching them spend quality time interacting with their peers. There were many times that I choked up and had to hold back tears as many minutes after the races were done, one of our students came around the corner and every individual in attendance was cheering them along to the finish line. As they received their medals for completing the pentathlon, their eyes shown with pride and excitement for what they had accomplished and the entire school cheered them on. These children have taught me so much and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to interact with each of them.

6. Link can read! He absolutely LOVES numbers and letters and will stop anywhere and everywhere to point them out! He will sound out words all the time and it is so dang cute! He still is not the greatest talker but will repeat words one sound at a time. He is constantly asking us to sing the ABC’s and he loves to say and sign (ASL) them with us. We’ll keep working on the talking and I’ll let you know how it goes…

7. We went to California! Russ’ sister-in-law found a beach house in Huntington Beach two weeks before we went so it was a quickly planned vacation to California. We had a bunch of kids so we just kept it low key and hung out on the beach. We were able to spend five full days with dada!!!!... and two days with the FLU! All of us caught it and took turns puking our guts out! No bueno!

8. I discovered Kneaders Rasberry Bread Pudding! I know you probably think I’m crazy for putting this as one of the top ten moments from the last 6 months but it has changed my life! I crave it all the time and occasionally reward myself with a little trip to Kneaders after hard tasks (such as MOVING). I made it for my family for Mother’s day and they all agreed it was a life changing dessert!

9. It’s SUMMER! We’ve had a pretty much unplugged summer. We didn’t have internet for a couple weeks when we moved and we still don’t have our TV hooked up (and we don’t have ‘TV’ anyway). I gave my iPad back when I quit my job so me and link have been having some good ol’ fashion fun!! We've visited the treehouse museum, gone to parks, parks, and more parks, tried a splashpad, walked around Summerfest, fed the ducks, play in the sandbox everyday, along with the usual pots and pans all over the house and letters everywhere, etc. etc.!

10. Primary: Our ward (local church congregation) changed boundaries in January and I was asked to serve in the Primary (for the children 1.5-12 years old). What a blessing that calling was in my life as I was able to be more aware of the people around me and as I was able to interact with incredible children. I was touched every Sunday with how much they knew of the Gospel and how strong their testimonies were. It made me want to be a better individual and a better mother.

I'm sure there were many many more things that happened the last 6 months but that's the best update I can do! Now that the blog is all updated, maybe I will post more... maybe.