New furnace & AC & Blessings!

Back in Jan when we were trying to decided if we could go to Washington or not I told Chad that if we didn't have any house emergencies we could probably do it ...hoping that we could not touch our savings and make this trip and our Myrtle Beach trip happen and not tank us financially!......

Enter Chad's car dying in May! $5000 gone! Thankfully Mr. Trump sent a stimulus check for $5000 and we were able to pay cash for our new car! Phew!

THEN a new truck engine at $5000! I wasn't quite sure where this was going to come from. We had already been talking about refinancing because rates were so low and we started the process to refinance our home and pull some cash from our equity. We maxed our $5000 credit card until we got the money. 

At this point, I'm thinking nothing else can break.....then one day our house just seemed hot! The temp kept rising while the AC was still pumping but it was not cooling the house off. We have known for years that our AC unit and furnace size didn't match the size we needed for our house.We knew some day we would have to swallow the $10,000 pill of replacing them but who has an extra $10,000 laying around? Not us. But we knew it was time. 

We contacted our bank and changed our refi number and pulled more to cover the cost of this upgrade! But with the original furnace we knew if we didn't do it on our watch, we would have to do it on someone elses. So we found a company and the next day we had a new furnace and AC unit! It took all day for the indoor temp to drop from 84 to 74 but it did get there and it felt lovely once it did! 

 While it would be easy to complain that everything is breaking, I feel extra blessed right now. Somehow we were guided to this refinance at the right time. We received money we needed for a new car the same month it died. Who could have picked a better time for our AC to give out than right before we finalized our numbers for our refinance. And whats even better is after we have pulled out a significant amount to cover these things, our house payment is still dropping. What a blessing!

To summarize, we were still able to go to Washington, and still have plenty of money for all of these extra big things! Such a miracle in my eyes! 

I know the Lord is in the details. He knows about dying cars and furnaces and AC units.  He knows when we need these trials and he knows how to help us go through them. I am in awe at how he cares for the little insignificant things ALL THE TIME! We have not lacked in blessings in this hard time in the world. I have faith the Lord knows exactly what I need at the exact time I need it. He is so good. 

Oh Washington!

We had so much fun last summer, we knew we had to go back! With Covid hitting Washington hard, we didn't know what to do. But in the end, we went for it and it did not disappoint! Chad was so excited to surprise his brother at his office in his romper that he wore it the whole day in the car on Tuesday! (We left Monday night after a soccer game and made it to Pocatello, then hit the road early Tues.)

We ate at Cafe Rio in Montana and I was sure Chad would get beat up amid the cowboys in big trucks! HAHA he got a few great comments along the way. 

This view wouldn't ever get old! Pine Trees as far as you can see! Amazingly beautiful! And I didn't get car sick this time!

Mindy suggested Chad act as one of their Reps and ask to see Chet. The front desk ladies couldn't hold it in and busted up laughing about his outfit, but they were good sports. 

When we arrived at their house, the motor machines were hot and running! Brielle was ecstatic to show us that she has been DRIVING the 4wheeler!

I'm surprised we didn't leave more of a track in their grass wit how much these machines ran!

And the day we got there, Bri lost her first tooth!! Unfortunately she really LOST it in the carpet. But the tooth fairy still came!

This year, we rented a house down at Lake Roosevelt just minutes from the water! We got packed up and headed to the house Wed morning and asked a local where the closest beach was to us and he was super helpful and showed us a great little beach in a cove. The kids wasted no time in hopping in the water!

And in no time, Mollie's lips were blue! The water was pretty warm and it was hot, but where we were it was a bit colder. But look at this place!!!!!!

Once my toes hit the sand, all my unsettled feelings from the previous months melted! I didn't think about covid hardly at all this trip. My soul needs sunshine and I got just that and much of it! 

I played with the kids on the beach while the others got the boat ready. They were all ready to go and we were on the water all afternoon and evening!

We had several karaoke sessions and dance parties on the boat. So much fun partying with cousins!

The pictures do most of the talking and really we just played and played and played! Rylee napped in the boat every day and all the kids did so good. 

Sweet boat...even sweeter kids!

We had more time to play on the beach while it was windy one day and the kids just loved it. 

I made this little stack of balanced rocks just for fun but after looking at it I realized how symbolic it was for my life right now. I need balance so bad! In my social, spiritual, physical, intimate, relationships, and me time. Right now it is all out of wack! Sitting on this beach reminded me of some areas my life is lacking in and set some goals then and there of what I'd do better once we got home to get my life back in balance. 

The kids kept plenty busy building forts, sand castles, trying to hop on the surf board in the water and using nature around them to create fun things. 

We were way excited when we looked up and saw not one, but TWO bald eagles! So cool! They are so large and majestic. 

And every time we left the house there was a group of deer bedded down somewhere or eating fruit off the trees. It was so fun to see them everywhere!

We did not want to leave this gorgeous place but we know we will come again sometime. We love Chet and Mindy and their family and absolutely cherish this time with them. We can't wait till next time! 

The only thing that made leaving easier is getting to see Clyde and Evelyn on the way home!! They got permission to come home for Kari's wedding and we got to stop in pocatello again on the way home and spend the day with the rest of Chad's family! It was so great to see them. They seem so peaceful and happy. We are so grateful for their righteous examples for our kids. We sure love them and loved getting to see them for a few hours before they headed back on the road to Indiana!!!

 

Quick Idaho Trip

I heard my niece Kari was getting married while we were scheduled to be in Washington on our boating trip! I was so sad we wouldn't be there so when I was invited to her bridal shower I really wanted to go! Chad wasn't able to get away but the kids and I took a little road trip. It was even more of a bonus when I heard that Mindy and Emma were in town for a little bit and also a few of Justin and Carries kids while she had back surgery! 

We first hit some stores to try to get some school shopping done since with our trips I was starting to run out of time...but who knows if school is really going to start?! After that we hit the park for some play time to get some wiggles out. Emma and Mindy met us there. They were in town touring colleges for Emma and on their way home. She told me she would take some kids home with her from Idaho if we could meet her and so there was even more incentive to go since we would be headed up to their house in just a few days. 

We went to the shower and enjoyed catching up with Chelsey. So crazy that Kari is getting married! 

The next day we did a picnic with my brothers and played at the same park and got to see Haidyn and Greyson. We haven't seen them for quite some time! It was HOT but the kids still seemed to enjoy it. It's always good to see my brothers and their wives and cute girls! My girls LOVE taking care of Camry and Wren!

And Camry is at such a fun age! She was so cute at the park!

And Rylee basked in the shade holding this sweet little bundle that is Wren. What a sweetheart!

We ate chips and cherries and cookies and sandwiches and I turned around and thought Grey was bleeding! He wanted me to send this pic to him mom and tell her he had an accident. Can you see the smirk on his face? He just got a little wild with the cherry eating. 

Then it was back on the road to get home to get ready for our NEXT roadtrip! We came home on Sunday and turned around on Monday night to leave for Spokane! These kiddos passed out on the quiet ride home. Carter and Brielle got to go home with Mindy!

And since I got no pictures at the shower, here is Kari's wedding picture! She was married in their back yard in a beautiful, non conventional wedding by her bishop. But they decorated it beautifully and they both look awesome and happy. Congrats Kari! 

 

Silver Linings

Life has not been normal.

So many things have been cancelled, changed, and done a 180 to what we knew as normal. Somehow, though, these kids have kept smiling. Its been hard on everyone. But a common theme I keep hearing about kids these days is that they are resilient. It has brought a new meaning. It means in the dictionary to recover quickly from difficult conditions. Well the conditions aren't over, but they are changing and adapting in a world they don't quite understand and they are doing it in much larger strides than I am. 

My Brielley hasn't lost a step. I'm not sure she still understands 100% but even if she did, it wouldn't slow her down one bit. She hates the masks but will wear one when necessary. I think she is thriving on the extra family time. 

To help keep in touch with primary kids, the bishopric did an ice cream truck and went through the ward boundaries passing out ice cream. Our whole neighborhood came out for it and got some! I've heard and seen more creative things during this time than ever and this was one of them! 

Carter loved online school (but his work was hard for me!!!!) and really made his own fun. He found some neighborhood friends and went on many bike rides and had nerf gun wars and also really thrived on the down time and family time. He's had quite a few questions, but has taken it all really well for the most part. He keeps wanting to go out and do things but I have to remind him things are still closed. One fun thing that he did get to do was basketball camp! He really needed to do something normal and this was such a treat! We invited the neighbor kids and they all went together! They are all such good kids! And football will be starting soon which he has worked his butt off to help pay for and he is really looking forward to that! 

Mol for sure thrives on the social aspect of school. The hardest thing for her was not seeing her friends. Messenger kids has helped with that some but she is like me and likes to be out and doing things and seeing people and going places.  We had lots of reassuring talks that things would be ok. You can bet that when stores started opening back up we were first in line! She was very delighted to find this giant rainbow poop at DI and I was so glad she didn't have the $15 that it cost!

Rylee also doesn't understand much, but when I tell her we can't do something or can't go somewhere she says," Mom, is it because of the biwus (virus)?" And I have to tell her yes. She's been happy and loving to have everyone home to cater to her.  Having neighbors next door has really saved us in this time. Her and Bri and Avery play nearly every day and all the neighborhood parents agree that it is ok to play as long as everyone is well. These kids are my super heroes. 

Here's to hoping some super heroes can rescue us sooner than later from this biwus!