One Year

Our family has had an incredible year! If somebody had given me a timeline or breakdown of how this last year has played out I would have looked at it and thrown it across the room. I didn't imagine the heartache I would feel, how lonely I would be, or how this move would affect Cameron. I never would have believed that I would  be happy, that Cameron would thrive, that Joshua will never know anything different, that Cole would enjoy winter, that we would thrive as a family. I look back over the last year and I have so many memories...stories I hope to be able to tell to my grandchildren one day. I look back over the last year in awe of the lessons we have learned and the trials we have overcome! We have made friends...really great friends...friends we hope to keep forever. We have a cat that the boys adore and an apartment that feels like a home. We are slowly but surely settling into our ward. We have daily and weekly routines. We live in a beautiful town surrounded by majestic mountains. A year ago, the boys and I said goodbye to our friends and family...we took 4 suitcases and 2 boxes...and left everything I've ever known for this wonderful, crazy, challenging adventure! I am so grateful that Cole was there to meet us at the airport when we landed in Anchorage...I was scared out of my mind...but I will ALWAYS remember the grin on his face when we walked out of the terminal and he saw us for the first time in six weeks....he was obviously happy and I was determined from that moment on to make this work and it has. 

I have a new song that I play over and over! It reminds me to keep going. It reminds me to never give up. The last year has been so hard...but I would never trade it for anything. 

Change in the Making

From the album Higher By Mercy River

There’s a better version of me
That I can’t quite see
But things are gonna change
Right now I’m a total mess and
Right now I’m completely incomplete
But things are gonna change
Cause you’re not through with me yet

This is redemption’s story
With every step that I’m taking
Every day, you’re chipping away
What I don’t need
This is me under construction
This is my pride being broken
And every day I’m closer to who I’m meant to be
I’m a change in the making

Wish I could live more patiently
Wish I could give a little more of me
Without stopping to think twice
Wish I had faith like a little child
Wish I could walk a single mile
Without tripping on my own feet
But you’re not through with me yet

Chorus

From the dawn of history
You make new and you redeem
From a broken world to a broken heart
You finish what you start in everything
Like a river rolls into the sea
We’re not who we’re going to be
But things are going to change

Chorus

I’m not who I’m gonna be
Moving closer to your glory

April!

The five people that actually check up on my blog are probably wondering where I've gone off to hide again! Truth be told we've been so busy the last few weeks!

Cameron finishes school on May 9th. This year has flown by! He is thriving at home, at school and at church. he is writing his letters and trying to spell. He is counting and telling us all of the things he's learning. He has been called up to the front of the room during primary a couple of time to hold pictures during singing time and he loves his primary teacher. We are excited to spend the summer together and we are already planning playdates and park fun. I can't believe my baby will be in kindergarten.

Joshua has started talking and is talking more and more each day. He refers to himself as "baby" and tells us when he's "all done". I am "mama" and if he really wants my attention it's "mamamamamamamama". When he's in a really good mood Cameron is "bruder". He's learning animal sounds and he sounds so funny!

Cole and I are great. We are both enjoying the sunshine. I am so glad the snow is finally gone! I have started running :) It feels so good to be back out in the mornings running around our neighborhood! Cole's job is still going good.

I promise to not wait so long between updates!