Well it has been about 3 weeks since I last blogged.  So much for my resolution to blog daily.  I am not even getting it done weekly lately.

Brinlie

After much prayer and fasting and talking about it with Larry I decided to ask to be released from my Family Search Support Mission.  I loved it but I need to get a job so we will have some money to pay for the house and other debts that we cannot afford.  I have been trying to spend most of the day looking for a job each day but there are always things that interfere.  I have 3 jobs that I have applied for so far and I have tried to spend some time networking also trying to find out who are the hiring managers on these jobs.

Ellie with Gauge in the background

I also need to make a portfolio of my work so I am going to have to make we a website with my stuff on it.  That is a little daunting to say the least but I am learning that I have to bite the bullet and get working on these things if I want the job.

We had fun with Maren and Landon for the last week of January that they were here. All of the family here got together for January Birthday's on the 28th of January.  We had hamburgers and Hot Dogs with all the trimmings and of course cake and ice cream.  Maren's kids all got colds so the next weekend Larry and I had colds.  We stayed home from church for the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of February but that worked out good and we ended up not having it for more than a week.

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  Max and Gauge

Brinlie's art work

On the 28th and 29th we worked on Brinlie's 7 year old quilt that I make with the kids.  She chose a Rapunzel fabric that was pink, green, purple and gold.  She chose a pink back and we tied it with yellow.  For once I was able to match the pattern on the top so it looked better.  Brinlie seemed to like it despite the fact she was not feeling super.

Maren, Gauge and Max

Taylor went in for a Heart Cath on the 5th of February and ended up having her surgery two days later when her oxygen would not go up and her blood was anemic.  She was originally scheduled for 5th of March so it was a surprise to all of us.  She did pretty good on her recovery until she was diagnosed with RSV on the 11th.  They thought she had probably had it for 2-3 days before they finally did some tests to see why she was throwing up and congested.  They put her in quarantine for two days and then they let her come home on Wednesday the 13th. She looked really good that day but she has had up and down days since then, but that is to be expected with major surgery.          

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    Isaac at Golden Corral with the staff singing to him for
    his birthday

  

  Nathan with Maggie

 Nathan and Sara are having challenges right now with their marriage.  He has moved to St. Louis, Missouri looking for work and has Maggie with him.  Sara is still working in San Antonio area and has the boys with her and they are still in school.  If Nathan can get a job there then Sara said that they would move there to Missouri close to her dad.

Taylor on Friday after Surgery

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Jeff and Michelle's great Aunt Betty had a stroke and a heart attack Saturday morning.  She was still alive the last I heard but she is not doing well at all.  Michelle and Daniel were thinking of flying down but were not able to get a flight.

Taylor on Friday

Larry is still working on cleaning up the house.  He has now gone to the bookshelf downstairs looking for things he can get rid of.  I thought it was funny because he took one of the fire extinguisher lamps downstairs when we first got married and brought one of his upstairs.  And it has been that way for several year.  This week he decided that it looked funny so he brought the fire extinguisher upstairs again because it matched better and took the other one downstairs with the lamp he had that matched it. It does look very nice and he has worked very hard to get things working well.  He has also hung up plaques and vinyl signs that I have put off hanging for years.  He is very motivated lately.  I should have had him retire sooner.

We are still doing weight watcher's.  Larry has lost 36 lbs and I have lost 21lbs.  We do great when we are home because we just don't keep desserts in the house.  But we had two chances to eat out this week and I did not do very well at planning ahead.  We took Kyle out to dinner this week for his birthday and we used the gift card Maren and Landon gave us for Christmas to Buffalo Wild Wings for an early Valentines dinner last Saturday.      

Taylor the day she came home from the hospital

We also went to the movie, "Les Miserables" on Saturday with some tickets that someone gave us that got lost and Larry found them in cleaning.  It was a wonderful movie.  I have seen several stage plays of the musical but the story did not come through as clearly as in the movie.  I came home feeling like I had had a spiritual experience.  It is such a good story.  It is hard to see movies anymore that have an uplifting feeling.

I am still teaching Family Tree classes at the Family Search Center here in Kaysville.  I teach them on Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. and then Larry and I work at the Center until 12:00 p.m.  Then we go down to help Mom with whatever she wants help with.  It is hard to get her to let us do somethings because she doesn't feel like doing it so she doesn't want us to do it.

Isaac had his birthday this week on Saturday.  It looks like he went to Golden Corral for his birthday.

Maren and her family were pleasantly surprised with snow this weekend.  A rare occurance in North Carolina.  From the pictures it looks like they had fun.

• • Well, we have read scriptures and said prayers and I am about finished with this so I suppose it is time to close and go to bed.  Have to get up early to take the truck to Kirsen's so John can work on it and I am going to help her with patterns for a dress for Taylor.  Larry has a job interview for tomorrow so wish him luck!

    
    

    

    Snow in North Carolina this week!!
    Gauge, Brinlie, and Ellie with Mr. Snowman

    

    Ellie in her layers!

  

  Ellie, Brinlie and Guage playing with their friends in first snow
  in North Carolina since they moved there.
  

  • Maren said, "The kids got themselves ready to play in it I was absolutely dying when I was pulling off clothes when they were done. Gauge simply threw on a hoodie hat and gloves while the girls each had at least 5 pairs of pants 5 or more shirts ellie even had on a nightgown...lol it was priceless and they were soaked to the bone! Good memories happening."

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