Monday, July 28, 2008

Glenwood Springs

We took a trip with Norm last weekend to Glenwood Springs. He had to meet with an ad agency so we took advantage of the situation and went with him. We stayed at the hot springs lodge and mostly swam. We went on the water slides at the hot springs.


The car started making funny noises while Norm went to his meeting so he got it checked out. We needed a new air compressor on top of many other things adding up to $1400. This turned out to be quite an expensive trip, but we made the most of it. While we waited for the car to be fixed we went up to Glenwood Caverns
It was quite a sight. They take you up the mountain on an enclosed ski-lift and there is a cute little western town at the top. We went on an Alpine Roller Coaster and sifted for gemstones. The tour of the cavern was beautiful and quite cool. It was so hot up there that it was nice to be in a cold cave for a while. As you can see it was very scenic. We had a really great time!!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Our really difficult Summer

We seem to be getting bad news one right after another this summer. It has been quite difficult to stay focused on anything good lately. When you think nothing could possibly be worse than something bad happens again. Well some of which has been going on is this:

Just your everyday things seem to be going wrong lately. Little things that don't seem much until you pile them on to each other.

We just got news that our director Mr. Brooks is leaving our school. We have all been very fond of him. He was offered a job to run a school in Switzerland. It sounds like a really fun opportunity for him and his family, but sad that we will be losing him. We are a little afraid of the change but are open to see what comes. Sometimes change is the best thing.

Last Tues. we found out that our new house has been sold. The new owners will be moving in next week some time. This is devisating and heart breaking. Last Feburary we were very much directed by the spirit to build this new home and everything just went perfectly. About August things weren't feeling the same and we couldn't seem to sell our current home. In October when the house was done our loan fell apart. All around the country the loan market crashed and we suddenly found ourselves without any loan programs that existed for us. We've held on this far to hopefully get our dream home, but realizing that this was in the Lord's hands and not our own. Although we are very sad and not quite sure why we were told to build this home to begin with (We may never know, but we are more dependent on the Lord now for all of our decisions), we are relieved to be able to move on and not hold on to something we just don't know the outcome on. I went to the temple to hopefully get some direction and guidence on this so that I can focus on the good things. As I sat and waited for 45 minutes to get into the next session, I picked up the scriptures, opened them randomly, and read on. I kept being taken to a certain scripture that I know the Lord keep trying to direct me to. It is D&C 5:32: Yea, for this cause I have said: Stop, and stand still until I command thee, and I will provide means whereby thou mayest accomplish the thing which I have commanded thee. Even though this was told to Joseph Smith concerning the lost pages, We know now that the Lord wants us to stay put for a season (however long that may be). We both have strong faith and trust that the Lord has a great plan for us and we have to be patient (which I'm constinaly told I must be) and let him prepare the way for us as we prepare ourselves. It seems so dificult to see Gods plan the mist of all our earthly desires. It doesn't seem to far fetched to me to want a bigger home where my children can have room to grow and we can actually find room for things we want, have and need. But maybe our family needs to grow closer in these tight spaces that we currently have before we are allowed to expand our wings and have something bigger and more comfortable. Perhaps the place that the Lord needs us most isn't ready for us now, or are we ready for it. For now we will be content to stay in our small and cozy home.

We have decided to do some remodeling. Norm has torn up the downstairs bathroom. We are down to a bare concrete floor for now. He will soon be digging it up for plumbing. This is a good opportunity for us to learn new things and of course demolition does really help with the frustration. I know I really poured my heart out, this was very theriputic. For our family and friends, we want you to know that even though it does feel like life falls apart quite often, the Lord is aware of our every move and he is there to help us and direct us. We are never ALONE!!!

Girls off to Colorado

All 4 girls took a trip to Colorado to see Norm's grandparents on June 10-17. They went with Norm's 2 sisters Cheryl and Tina. They had a great time. They took one day and went to an alligator farm. Haley held a snake and petted a turanchala. They all got to hold an alligator. They also went to the sand dunes, which is a national park a little ways from Grandma Culler's house. They ran into Norm's old friend and surrogate brother Brad, his wife Kim and their 2 kids Matt and Hailey. Matt is now driving and Hailey although 4 months older than Katie is twice as big as her. Norm and I were quite jealous because we haven't seen them since Lindy was 4 months old. Norm and I had a great time alone for 8 days. It was really weird, but did make us realize that we are going to have a lot of fun when the kids are grown and gone. We spent the weekend up in Park City at the Hotel Park City. We had our own hot tub on the balcony that overlooked the golf course and had dinner at Ruth's Chris. YUMMY FOOD!!!