Our New Adventure

There are a few really big reasons why I have not posted anything on our blog or commented on any of yours during the last month or two. Where do I begin...first of all, in January Cody got accepted into the National Park Service Law Enforcement program in Rangely, Colorado. He will train to be a law enforcement ranger in the National Park system and can work anywhere in the country. He actually left just this morning to start his training for 10 weeks in Rangely at Colorado Northwestern Community College. He has wanted to do this for a long time and the timing was finally right. We are so excited that he will finally be able to do what he has wanted for such a long time.

When Cody got accepted to the program back in January, we started to make some big decisions. Should the kids and I go with him? We decided no for a couple of reasons. The training that he will be doing is 24/7 so we wouldn't see much of him anyway; Rangely is not that exciting of a town and there would be nothing for us to do. So the kids and I are still here where we have family to help and where we are going to stay as busy as we can throughout the summer.

The second big decision we had to make was selling our house. Words cannot describe this expericence. Well, two words describe it all - Divine Intervention. Cody put the for sale sign up on a Tuesday and we had an offer by Monday - 6 DAYS. Everything went so fast and without complication through the whole closing process that we knew this was right. There is no other reason I can think of as to why it worked out the way it did. My trust and faith in the Lord as always been there, but when experiences like this happen, it always magnifies my spriritual outlook. So 3 weeks ago we moved into an apartment in our same ward. Cody finishes school the last week of July and then we will hopefully be moving again to wherever he gets job, which could be anywhere in the country.

So to say the least we have been a little busy. The kids have been doing really well through it all. Like I said earlier, Cody just left this morning, so his absence hasn't really hit them yet. But I know we'll be blessed and he'll be blessed as we start this next stage in our lives.

Some other things we've doing...

Cody has served in the Scouting program since we first bought our house in 2003. He has had such an impact on those boys and it shows because they presented him with some awards last Sunday. It was pretty special.


We also blessed Lizzie on May 2nd. She is such sweet baby. We all love her so much. Her older brother and sister are so protective of her. She was sent to us at this time for a special reason I believe.



Last weekend we went up the canyon with the kids to have a fire and cook hot dogs and s'mores; just to spend some family time together. They loved climbing and exploring and it was so fun to be "kind of camping" as Anna said.



So that has been our life the last little while. Lots of big changes and even more big blessings. We are starting a new adventure and we are so excited to see where it takes us!

Happy

Yesterday was Lizzie's first time to church. 3 hours of church seemed a little bit longer this time with 3 kids (especially during Sacrament meeting) but we did pretty good. I don't think she liked wearing her dress because she was mad in all the pictures but as soon as I took it off she was happy as could be. I love having two girls because now I get to match their clothes!!! I'm not sure how long Annalyn will let me do it but I'll take as long as I can get. I couldn't resist these Easter dresses even though we actually didn't go to church on Easter Sunday because of General Conference. But they wore them yesterday and they were beautiful. Jake is my little sunspot and he is a handsome little man too. Oh, they make me happy these kids.

Jacob's 3rd Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Jacob's 3rd birthday! We can't believe he is 3 already! He wants to do everything like his daddy so means having tools and a "seat belt" (which means tool belt) to carry the tools in. He is such a sweet, good little guy and we love him so much!

Baby Lizzie

My sister-in-law took these adorable pictures of Lizzie today. I think they are so cute! She is so talented at photography and she does such a great job. Her website is www.rayofsunshinephotography.com and there is a link to it under my favorite websites on the side if anyone wants to check out her portfolio.

Elizabeth Harwood

She's finally here!

Elizabeth Harwood
March 2, 2010
6 lbs 11 oz
17 1/2 inches
8:34 p.m.

These are just a few pictures (I will post more later!) but I wanted to get a few up for now. Elizabeth is such a sweet little baby. She hardly ever cries and she is so content all the time. Her big sister and big brother just love her. Jacob is doing a lot better than we expected and Annalyn is just a little mother. Everything went well and we are so glad she's here healthy and happy.