Let's just call this the Quarterly Review....

I always thought that when my kids got older I'd have all this extra time on my hands. This has not proven to be the case. (If you're older than me, then you are probably laughing at the naïveté of that statement.) Life is good though, we are so very blessed! Please excuse the absence of photos, I'm having technical difficulties.

2017 Has flown by! I can't believe it's spring already. I am in love with all the cherry blossoms. Every  year I fall in love again.

ME

I just finished my second semester of Pathways last week. I've gotten A's in all my classes so far. I'll begin my final semester in a couple of weeks. It has been such a blessing in my life. If you want to go back to school, or just want to grow spiritually, check it out! I'm not sure what I want to do as a major, but I'm thinking maybe something in the health and wellness arena. I'll apply to BYU- Idaho this semester and see what classses they are willing to take from the college classes I had before I got married. So in the fall I will start online at BYUI. It's exciting, new, and something I feel very sure about even though I'm not possitive what direction it's going to take. I just know I'm headed in the right direction. 

So with that in mind, I decided to get a job at the YMCA here in Currituck and see how I liked helping people meet their fitness goals. I've been working for a couple of weeks now and I'm enjoying it! It's very different than my baking for the cafe, which I am still doing, but it's good. It has been a lot to juggle and I find I don't have as much discretionary time but I'm finding a balance. 

It has been quite a process and it was sweet to have conversations with each of my kids, at different times, when they gave me advice and encouragement. They are good kids and I am so grateful for them and the people they have become. 

EMIL

Emil is still enjoying surfing to his hearts content. He doesn't go as often as he would like but it's very close, and it's certainly much more than he could when the kids were little. He has been working with the Boy Scouts on quite a few merit badges. The current one they are doing is a hiking merit badge which has been very time consuming but rewarding. Work is good and steady. He has gotten back to running some and that's good too.

EMIL MICHAEL aka. Mossy 

He is alive (his discription!) and looking for a apartment to move into in May. All things relative, he is content and keeping to the status quo. He teaches, on occasion, at church and I always have people tell me what a great teacher he is. I think he is, and that is a talent he has discovered since being back home. 

KIRSTIN & KYLE

The newlyweds are coming up on their Anniversary in May! It's hard to believe it almost been a year! They are having fun in Hawaii and working hard. Kyle got a job as a Mechanical Engineer with BYUH or the PCC. He is getting some good experience and we are excited for that blessing in their life.  Kirstin has been working as a TA in the Art Studio and was accepted into the Art Program and should finish up her studies and graduate next June. I know they love Hawaii but I, for one, will be overjoyed when they come back stateside! I miss them!

NOAH

He is doing better this semester than last and enjoying his classes more. He has become quite a wonderful young man. He is kind and thoughtful when it comes to younger kids and he has learned to appreciate why, we as parents, choose sometimes to make our kids do the harder things in life. It's a sweet feeling when one of your kids says, "Now I understand why you made me....Thanks". 

KAI

This April will be 8 years since we lost our sweet Kai. We miss him! I often think of what he would look like now, at 14. How close he and Noah would be and how different my life would be. I am grateful for the promise of Spring and Easter, knowing that because Christ was resurrected, we all will be resurrected as well. It is a beautiful, saving promise for me. So that, even though April marks a time of loss, it also reminds me that I have a promise of rebirth. The fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ makes all the difference for me. I hope it does for you too. Happy Easter!