Been a few amazing days...

Sorry to not post... but I have been being a busy mom *grin*, being an involved wife *grin*, a busy office manager of JWD Electric *grin*, and being actively involved in getting my house back in the clean/organized state I once preferred! *GRIN* I feel amazing!! I have worked/been busy until I feel completely exhausted... but the GOOD kind of exhausted! (like after a long days work!) I have not had to take an afternoon nap in almost a week! Day before yesterday I was still awake after prayers with Jess at 7 am... so I got up and got busy! (I haven't been able to be up that early for months!!) And I went until almost 11pm that night!! And the next day I was not completely bushed! I didn't "pay for it" like I have for the past couple of years! I am so stinkin' tickled to feel normal again!!! I can't even tell you!! You know that great Cinderella song "Don't know what you've got 'til it's gone..."? Well my life is "Don't know what you missed 'til you get it back..." Bwahahaha!! Anyone have some song writting skills? Feels like a new #1 hit to me! *wink*

Monkey Boy!

Emma Spider Swinging with a friend...

Lub's Run Amuck!

Isn't he so cute!?!?

Spring break has been fun dispite the cold weather... I have taken the kids to the park...two different parks... two different days. We have played with friends. We picked up JWD's camper trailer... oh wait! I didn't post about it! Here's the scoop:

JWD Electric has it's first official debt. Now I am not one to celebrate debt... payments every month are not so fun... but it will pay off for both the busniess and our family in the end. We have "invested" in our family and in our business.

(We struggled with deep emotions on this one... we have been SO worried about what everyone would think... since so many helped me have surgery & we didn't want anyone to think that we were light hearted about it in any way or ungrateful in the least little bit... and after many a discussion, quite a few tears & prayers, and then some complete excitements (and of course some words of advice from our bishop)... JWD Electric financed a camper trailer. We realized that everyone helped us so we could move forward as a family and a business...and so we needed to honor their efforts and live our lives as we are lead to. It really has been an emotional experience...)

Jestin has some out of town jobs coming up this summer, and we were sick at the thought of spending a majority of his daily wage on a motel room. We also realized with a trailer, the kids and I could go with him! We have not taken the kids *anywhere* on any kind of vacation (with the exception of the inpromptu neighborhood overnighter last fall) in almost 4 years. Our circumstances (both health wise and financially) have just not allowed it. Also...with my heart...I can't do heat for extended periods...so most trips that we could do cost $$ because we would need access to A/C in the really hot parts of the day, which means a motel, which...well.. you get the idea! $cha ching$

So we began our search... it was tough! There were many options... but we constantly got the impression that it was not the "right one". Many had had cats or dogs that Cam is allergic to in them, or they had been smoked in. Others were just so much more than we wanted to spend, or too heavy for the Expedition to pull. And then there was the expense of a generator (which JWD had already budgeted for to buy this spring because of jobsite needs...but it still was an expense!) and a sway bar tow hitch! It got to be a very obnoxious bunch of days! We prayed often about a trailer only to be told no. So then we would wonder if we should forgo it, that maybe we misunderstood where Heavenly Father was leading us, only to have it re-affirmed that we were doing the right thing.

Then one morning we came across one that seemed too good to be true! It had been listed on KSL for a whole 18 minutes! We called them and they said we were their first call... and that they were still trying to upload the pictures as we spoke! LOL! We drove up to Sandy to look at it. I was almost in tears! I knew this was what we had been looking for! It had all the imenities we had talked about liking (but never quite hoped we could actually get all in one), & they were including a generator, and the tow hitch! (($2500 bonus!)) and they were asking $4k less than it blue booked for!!! (and $3k less than we planned on!!) They just wanted out of it! Jess and I were awestruck! Now, my husband is kind of funny about buying things on the day we look at them... he likes to think it over (and let sales people sweat)... but he asked who we could write the check out to!! *gasp* I was shocked!! The kids kept saying that it "felt like home"... and yet all the other ones we had looked at none of them agreed on one! We felt, as a family, our prayer had been answered! And the best part is... the payment is less than any car payment we have ever had, and it is $50 less a month than I budgeted for in the business expenses! We talked about it... and we have upped the budget even more and have made a goal to get it paid off in a year, that way if needs be we can sell it to make ends meet! (and since we can now take the better paying jobs out of town this summer it feels more possible!! wahoo!) *side note...it also has the tan stripe on the bottom of it like my car...so it matches! LOL! Isn't that dumb to get so excited about it matching?? But I feel like it is a blessing too! Another little whisper to me of how much my little family is loved by our Heavenly Father...that even the little details are important. :)

It has been fun to see how many "extras" I have already accumulated as well that we can use to fill the trailer. Blankets, dishrags, towels, an extra game of "It came to pass" etc. And Amy and I ran to get my blood checked one afternoon and decided to hit DI for some kids summer clothes, only to get lost in the kitchen section... we found TONS of things I needed for the trailer at near no cost (pots & pans, muffin pans, knives, bowls, untensils etc.) We had a blast making sure that for the silverware we found no matching pieces... to make it more fun while camping (see who gets what piece!) It was a hoot!(some were down right pretty!) And they were only $.10 a piece! Bwahahaha! I feel like Heavenly Father *really* has blessed us in this. I found an egg container...an egg container! but! Jess LOVES eggs...and now his eggs will be perfectly safe in that little fridge! We found those old tupperware ketchup and mustard dispensers...think back...you know your grandma had them!... and they had their lids and everything! It was riot! DI is so hit and miss... and we were blessed to "hit" big time! It really was fun! (thanks Austin for letting me steal her for so long!)

And so...it has been fun! All the kids want to do is hang out in the trailer and dream of our trips and adventures this summer! I can't believe how this has brought our family back into a unit. I hate to admit it... but we have not been "together" much with my health. Jess has been so busy taking care of both of our responsibilities, the kids would either watch TV or play video games, and I was often asleep or in my room laying down. It felt like we lived together, but were not a unit. (does that make any sense??) This week we have played together, cleaned the trailer together, washed all the items from DI and loaded the trailer together, planned meals together, made meals together, and we just all together feel like a family again! I dont know if it was the prospect of family outtings, or because I am feeling so much better and more engaged in life, but it has been W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L!!

I do have to say the kids are a little bummed out today :( We had planned on leaving and taking it out this weekend. Jess has 3 jobs in Roosevelt, and we were going to park the trailer on my G'ma's farm and I was going to show my kids around the farm while Jess stopped by and got an idea on what each job needed. (Cam & Caleb have never been there because we couldn't let them sleep in house for fear of Cam having a reaction to animal danders) *sigh* But his jobs here have not gone as well as hoped, and so he won't be able to get home today in time and get the trailer looked over and preped, so we decided to postpone draggin it out there. *sniff* The kids were only appeased by us telling them that they can sleep in the trailer tonight, and that we would "pretend" we were camping anyway! SO! For our first official family outting... we are roughing it... in our driveway!! Bwahahahaha!! (dont call the police if you see a little smoke coming out of the back yard... I like my smore's burnt! *wink*)

Ahh...this is longer than I planned... I better get moving... thanks for listening! I will try and post more... yeah... well... we'll see... I am just "busy" lately! ***GRIN**** WAHOO!!!