Mayhem Monday

• A whole lot of laughing, joke telling and hootin' and hollerin' around the dinner table tonight. We laughed so hard our spaghetti almost came back up.
• Mike's medical knowledge. (Just think of all the money I save on doctor visits).
• That I have taught myself to strip, sand and polyurethane the kitchen floor. (I am so excited to have it done...I'll post an after photo.)
• Family Home Evening
• Whoppers
• Ibuprofen (for my aching back)
• The palm trees of California
• Chester Greenwood (from Farmington, Maine)
• The nice guy at the tool rental place because he put that 300 (+-) pound sanding machine in my trunk.
• The late Gordon B. Hinckley
• The power of discernment

KKS

Sacred Sunday

There will be more changes around here soon. Something is happening in our family that will require more organization, more sacrifice, more commitment and more trust in our Heavenly Father. On the other hand, these changes will also bring great blessings to our family. I have a few (minor) reservations. I am weak and easily overwhelmed by all that I have to do. Mike is a key player in keeping our household running, our children happy and our finances in order. He is half my team. I feel like my plate is full and over flowing. So much of the time I am choosing between two equally important (and righteous) things. I think this is a common feeling among the members of The Church. It's no secret that we are asked to give, and give a lot. We give of our time (we have a lay ministry), our talents and money. But as all faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints can attest to, the blessings far outweigh the sacrifice. The Lord always blesses us for our obedience. I know he will compensate for the time that Mike will be away from us, fulfilling his calling. Many times today, I have thought about this talk that was given in October 2007 General Conference. It will now become more important to me and take on new meaning as I try to prioritize what is good, better or best.

Today I am thankful for a loving Father in heaven and the opportunity he gives us to serve and grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

KKS

November Thirteen

Full of Gratitude:

• Inanna put on a great show tonight. And the kids thoroughly enjoyed dancing their tails off.
• A most perfect working in the yard day with gorgeous weather.
• chocolate
• cupboards, the pantry and the deep freezer are all full of food.

KKS

Forget Not Friday

The two oldest kids had friends over tonight (they are still here) for pizza, some loud music, games, custom made milk shakes and Harry Potter 5, the movie. They're calling it a party.

Mike is in the ER tonight, chopping away at that extra money that we need to earn. Maybe I should seek employment myself. But I think it would be so hard to pick just one of my expertise's to make money on. Educator? Chef? Negotiator? Chauffeur? Accountant? Professional cleaner? Manager? If I stay home I get to do all of these every day.

Today was a very laid back day. Looking back, here are a few things that I recognized as blessings:

• peace among the kids
• cooperation
• my kids ability to learn how to work (Audrey "helped" Caleb unload the dishwasher today, it was so very cute!)
• a telephone
• good pizza
• Bose speakers
• comfy shoes
• Liam is learning to read and doing amazing!!
• Lundi had a huge break through in her math today.
• a paycheck
• a hot bath
• my ability to cut my family's hair (think of all the money I save)
• the television and it's awesome ability to district Liam during haircuts
• maps

KKS

Thankful Thursday

We spent the majority of the day outside today. The yard has not yet been prepared for winter, which is just around the corner. So we went out to make a dent in the work that has to be done. We raked leaves, stacked wood, took all of the supports out of the garden, used the garden shears to cut down a bunch of dead plants (in preparation for tilling) and picked up a lot of outside toys.

Right before we left for California, on a very windy day, the neighbors tree fell into our yard, right smack in the middle of our garden. I was so worried about our raspberries, but they seem to be fine. We just need to repair their support fence because the tree ruined it. The good part about the tree falling, is that the neighbors offered us the wood. They cut it all up into one foot pieces, and we were happy to take it. So we did a lot of wood stacking today. We won't be able to use it this year, it needs to stay out and get seasoned. But it will definitely be used next year. So today's blessings mostly stem from the days experiences. Here are a few of them:

• The American Veteran
• Harrison's ability to have fun while working
• the wheelbarrow
• my kids discovered that snow shovels work way better than rakes for scooping leaves. Smart kids.

• The Ensign, The Friend and The New Era
• the leaf blower (a necessary household appliance around here)
• a strong back (5 of them)
• Mike's willingness to work to support our family
• clean towels
• a piano (and that my kids can plunk out just about any song)
• Audrey's 3 hour nap (which enabled us to get so much done outside today)
• kissing
• Chinese food
• the talents of others
• Mr. Wells apple trees
• Mr. Wells
• Davis Wurts

KKS

Wednesday

I love how blogging about blessings keeps them in the forefront of my mind. Here are the blessings of Wednesday:

• my kids' friends and the good influence they can be
• sunshine
• Murphy's Oil Soap
• my marriage
• Eucerine (it's that time of year again)
• my GPS
• Tamara
• flash lights
• flushing toilets
• Boy Scouts
• Mary, the mother of Jesus
• Kyle Dickson and his military service
• the human body's amazing ability to heal
• Wednesday night activities
• I got to have a tour of the House's house tonight. I'm so excited to have them (almost) here.
• Maine architecture
• France
• insulation

KKS

Word Is Out

(The kids in Utah with the cousins in Utah who will soon be cousins in Maine)

And it's bitter-sweet. I know that there are those who will be very sad to see them go.

I am at liberty to share the news with you now. My Mom and my sister have been made aware of the upcoming changes. And since it wasn't my news to share, I had to wait until they knew (from the source) before I could share it on the blog.

It all started when my younger sister, on a whim, googled "houses for sale in Maine."

A short time later, I received this email:

On Sep 21, 2010, at 6:55 PM, Robyn House wrote:

Hello, Kim.

I have an idea. James may be switching jobs in a few months, (James' work may finally sell, and we may finally get a large chunk of money and be able to switch jobs) and the company that wants to hire him wouldn't require us to stay in Utah. The company is based in San Francisco, and he would travel monthly or bi-monthly to CA, but we could actually live anywhere we wanted. So why not live in Maine?

All I have to do is sell the idea to James. We've talked many times about moving out of state. It would be an adventure, good for the kids, fun to live somewhere different. And I want to live in a small town, in the country. I've always wanted to live in Maine, actually. Sort of a teenage fantasy. Now I've become obsessed with the idea. I've even been looking at houses for sale in Franklin County.

So, if everything happens with James' work (maybe 80% chance) the way we hope, we will be moving. That's the first thing I have to get his agreement on- won't be difficult.

What are the benefits of living in Maine? Why should we relocate our family to Maine, and not Idaho or South Carolina or some other random place? Is it a good place to raise kids? How is the homeschooling community? How cold does it really get? From what I understand, the winters aren't really any longer than Utah, just more intense? How friendly are they to newcomers? (The regular community, not worried about the church community, of course.)

Not that you have to convince me- I'm pretty much sold. But how do I answer these questions for James?

I hope, I hope, I hope, he is able to quit! Pray for us that everything goes well. (Should know for sure within three weeks.)

Have fun on your trip. And, of course, don't speak of this to anyone, Mike excluded.

I love you!I don't usually indulge in fantasies, but I can't help myself. It's not that crazy of an idea, is it?

Robyn

P.S.
I don't usually indulge in fantasies, but I can't help myself. It's not that crazy of an idea, is it? Oh, and being away from family- mixed feelings. And, of course, there's YOU!

I, of course, was ecstatic!! But Mike and I discussed it and decided that there was NO WAY that she would ever be able to convince James to move to Maine. But we hoped and prayed anyway, because we were thrilled with the possibility, no matter how remote it seemed. We really wanted them to move here, but more importantly we wanted them to be guided by the Lord as to what would be best for their family.

Mike and I had a planned vacation/business trip planned (for months) to San Diego. I had tried in vein to find child care for our kids. I mean, I asked everyone that I could think of. A week before we were to leave, I had a spot for Harrison and maybe a spot for Lauren. I kept thinking "maybe I should take this as a sign that I'm not supposed to go. Maybe something bad is going to happen." So as a last resort (because I knew he was busy and was caring for my nephew on a regular bases) I asked my Dad to come from Oklahoma to keep the kids. Another maybe. It depended on what his doctor said about his heart and whether or not he could find care for Jakub. So the Monday before we left he called and said that he couldn't come. I resigned to staying home, and that was fine. He couldn't find anyone to take Jakub and the situation at Jakubs house had gone from bad to totally hostile. There was no way he could/would leave him with his Mom. There was no way that I would ask him to. So I called Robyn that day to ask her to please pray for Dad, Carolina (Jakubs Mom) and Jakub because they needed all the help they could get. She said she would. A short time later (that evening) Robyn called and told me that she could come and keep the kids if we paid half the ticket. I told her that I had decided not to go to California and that it was a stupid idea anyway. Because that meant that the burden of finding childcare would be transferred from me to her. I mean, how much sense did it make for her to find a babysitter for her kids, so she could come to Maine and watch my kids. See, I told you it was a dumb idea. We decided to think, pray and talk about it with our husbands. The next morning (Tuesday) she calls me and says "Kim, I am supposed to come to Maine. I prayed about it and feel very strongly that I should come. I bought my ticket and I'll be there on Wednesday."

What!?!?!?!?! Okay, great. I guess I won't argue with that. "What time does your flight get in?"

So she got here on Wednesday and spent the next two days with Carol Hatch, our good friend and favorite real estate agent. We left for California on Saturday, totally in shock of what had happened, but totally hoping things would continue progressing while we were gone. And they did. It turns out that she extended her stay, James flew out from Utah to look at houses with her and they found their house. (I wanted to post a picture, but the realtor has taken it off the website since they are now UNDER CONTRACT!!!)

Now there have been A LOT of answered prayers and miracles along the way. Not the least of which, James has received his own confirmation that it's right for their family. I'm just glad it's not China, or Montana, or Mississippi. Because the Lord could have called them anywhere. We are so very grateful that we get to benefit and have them close. They will be just twenty minutes from us. We couldn't be more thrilled.

See? Miracles.

KKS

Voicemail

Tonight there was a message on my phone.

It was this:

"This is the Oklahoma City Morgue. We are trying to locate someone to identify the body of an Onie D. Sims. We'll try to call you again later. Thank You."

It's not even April, Dad. And It's a good thing I know your voice!!!

He makes me laugh. Today I am thankful that he continues to recover at lightning speed, and that this phone call was only a joke.

KKS

My Greatest Blessings

KKS

Indebted

Portland city lights. Taken from Casco Bay, Maine

• Prayer (it works)
• warmth
• beef (that roast was yummy!!)
• I think it's neat that Dustin posts pictures of his baby brother on FB. What a good big brother!! It made me smile today.
• my voice (I love to sing, though not well)
• baby wipes
• Benadryl (because if we give Audrey just 2 mils before a long trip, she doesn't get car sick. It took 27 times of cleaning up puke on long car rides for me to finally find this solution. Thank you Google.)
• Betsey
• missionary work
• our ability to learn
• the Celestial Kingdom
• Savannah Hurley (we still remember her)
• Harrison's giving heart
• Alexander and the Magic Mouse
• lunch in the van
• Stake Conference (today and yesterday)
• peace
• Nephi
• The New Hampshire, Manchester Mission Presidents wife.
• Primary
• the innocence of children and the way I can see God in their eyes.
• The Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was for all of us.

KKS