Friday, July 8, 2011

Summer in Pennsylvania

If I let myself, I can really feel down about living so far away from family. I miss them a lot! and wish I could be near them! The other day I read a scripture in Philippians 4:11 that stuck with me " . . .for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." I can choose whether or not I'm content with life. I can't choose to live close to all my family, but I can choose to find joy in my beautiful children and wonderful husband that I'm so fortunate to always have with me! There is always good to find in life! We can always be happy with what we have!

Here are some of the blessing in our lives:

Kirk has a job now! Ever since last fall he has been religiously applying for jobs. In May he finished up everything for his Masters degree, but still hadn't gotten a job offer. At the beginning of June there were still no job prospects, despite the number of jobs he'd applied for. So, we signed our intent to vacate form and thought we'd just drive across the country and move back in with family while we figured something out. Meanwhile Kirk continued to work hard at applying for jobs, and we continued to pay our tithing and pray. Even though we weren't blessed with a job right away, we were blessed with the gift of hope. A few weeks later Kirk was offered a job here. We feel so blessed! By the time we found out our apartment had already been filled, so we still have to move, just not across the country. The past few weeks have been stressful trying to find a place to live, but we found one. Another blessing!

We are blessed with such great kids! Our girls bring us so much joy. One of the best things ever is seeing the love they have for each other. Now that Clara is older, they have been hanging out more. Luci is a great big sister and really looks out for Clara!

We've been blessed with lots of time to spend as a family. Here are some of the things we've done lately.

Fourth of July Bike Parade. Luci rode her bike in a parade with her friends. (Clara rode in her stroller).


The parade ended at a park where watermelon was served.

I sure love these three watermelon eaters.




Clara found that hat with Luci's dress up stuff and insisted on wearing it throughout the parade. She would get so mad every time Luci tried to take it off.

Beach Time. Over the Fourth of July weekend we went to two lakes with nice sandy beaches. We had a really good time! Luci spent most of the time swimming with her tube. At one point she came back in to play in the sand. Almost immediately after she set her tube down Clara picked it up and headed out for a swim. So cute!



Free Food. Dress like a cow for free food? We're in!!


And yes, everything was free! Our order total came to $20.70, but because we let our inner cow shine through, it was all free! Definitely worth dressing up for! We had a really good time!

5 comments:

Nicole Marsh said...

I am still sad that you aren't moving back but I am happy that Kirk found a job. It looks like you have had a fun summer. It is so fun to see Clara wearing clothes that Maelie use to wear. I love the cow pictures.

Cassidy&Dustin said...

That's awesome Kirk found a job! I love that you guys all dressed up, how fun.

Shauna said...

Congrats to you guys on the job! It's amazing how life works out. You guys always do such fun things together. I love the cow outfits. The picture made me laugh. How awesome! What restaurant was it at?

I remember that about you.....you do things most people wouldn't. I still remember going on walks with you and our babies and running through the sprinklers. I miss that!

Janaca and Jared Seegrist said...

So glad to hear you guys are having a good time out there. It was fun to see the pictures. I asked Ashlyn if she wanted to see Clara and Luci and she enthusiastically said "Yeah!" She was happy to see some pictures too.

Marisa Jean said...

What a great update and such great blessings! Especially about the schooling being over and jobs coming your way! Congrats! One day we'll make it out there so we can finally meet the whole family and see where you guys are!

And dressing up for dinner is adorable! My husband would NEVER do that!