I've been horrible about posting this month. I haven't felt so hot, and honestly, it's been a rough start to 2009 for us. I won't bore you with the incredibly long story, a lot of you know it anyway. I think eventually I'll want to write about it for the sake of journaling, but I am going to need some distance from the situation first. However, due to our struggles, a lot of people have really helped us out, and I wanted to remember that. I don't know if it's pride or what, but I have a really hard time accepting help, and I don't know if I ever say thank you enough. So, here are some people and things I am grateful for during this time:
1. Joel. He works really hard and also is the equivelent of a full-time student. School just keeps getting more and more demanding and time-consuming, and I know it's not easy, but he's doing a great job. He ALWAYS does the dishes, because I can not stand the smell (this is not only when I'm pregnant, either!). For these and a million other things, I'm really grateful he's my partner!
2. My in-laws. They've helped us a lot financially, and I'm grateful for their willingness and love for us. I wish we got to see them more often.
3. My parents. My Dad has always been extremely intuitive when it comes to me. He can always tell when something is wrong before anyone else. And both of my parents help us in millions of ways that aren't always so obvious. I don't know what we would do without them.
4. My siblings. Whether they're just listening or paying my cell phone bill temporarily (thanks Shauna!), it's nice to have them. Each one of us is so different, and as we're all becoming adults and our own people, I really appreciate the different strengths each of them offer.
5. Lorae, who is practically a sibling, but different. If any of you have heard me refer to my "big sister," and been confused knowing I'm the oldest of 6, she's the one I was talking about. We adopted her and her 2 children into the family years ago, and now she's married, so we have Lester too. Anyway, she knows what she did, but it was huge and I can never say thanks enough!
6. Kelly. Kelly is my Visiting Teacher, but she has also become a great friend and advisor. She's been a great help to me through everything we went through last year. She probably understood our situation with child-bearing better than anyone else I know, so it was a great comfort to have her to talk to. And now she just keeps listening to me whine and helping out in various ways. I'll really miss her when she goes back to Australia!
7. My calling. I love working with the Young Women. I learn so much from them and enjoy all of their different personalities. We have a great group of Beehives right now who are really excited to be in Young Womens. It's also a great distraction to throw myself into at times like this! I hope they're learning from me half as much.
8. The Gospel. The past year has tried my faith in some ways, but if I didn't believe in anything, I know it would be a lot worse. I'm grateful for everything I know about the atonement and life after this one.
9. Christopher. This paragraph would be ridiculously long, so I won't elaborate. He amazes me every day.
All the kids hamming it up for the camera. From left to right: Zander (my cousin Dan's son), Abby (also Dan's), Christopher, Jason (also Dan's), and Eilio and Kyrelle (both my cousin Carol's).
Sending the ball down. They got bumpers on the lane AND this nifty little ramp to help aim the ball (and give it enough power to get all the way down the lane!).
The (almost) final scores. My camera was dying, so I had to take it a little early. Christopher didn't even care that he won. He was busy crying because he didn't want to stop bowling!
We broke for the kids to wat right in the middle of the game. Christopher looks happy in the pic, but he did NOT want to stop bowling, and we had to deal with a minor meltdown before we got to this point.
