Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Happy 14th Anniversary

On January 10th Ben and I celebrated 14 years of being married.  Our wonderful friends, the Piepers, offered to watch our kids for the weekend and we had a little stay-cation in Scottsdale.  Ben's brother Jake was able to get us a great deal at the Westin Kierland villas, where we stayed for Friday and Saturday night. These are some pictures of our sweet villa.
The kitchen

From the kitchen into the living room

The Bedroom
The bathroom

On Saturday we went on a two-hour horseback trail ride at sunset.  It was so much fun and so beautiful.  Although, we were both a little sore the next day.


These are the other people in our group from the back, but I just really liked the scenery in this picture.


On Sunday morning we were all dressed and planning to attend a nearby church when we got a text from the Piepers letting us know that Nate had been throwing up all night long.  The Piepers dropped him at our house and took the other kids to church. Needless to say, we went home and took care of him instead of making it to church.   The Piepers are truly saints to babysit our kids for the weekend, especially when one of them gets sick!  We are eternally grateful.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Testimony

So I'm not entirely caught up on my blogs, but I wanted to share a story that happened several months ago.  I'm afraid if I don't write it down I will forget it, and I really want to remember this event.

Back in August Ben was considering changing jobs and interviewed with a company in Georgia.  They really liked him and made him and REALLY good offer.  Of course we talked with the kids about this and the possibility of moving to Georgia.  Ben also talked with his boss and discussed his options for staying with his current company.  They offered him a raise, although not as generous as the offer in Georgia financially.  Other considerations with his current company, and prayers as a family, helped us make our decision to stay in Arizona.  Throughout this whole process we kept the kids informed about what was going on, not with numbers of course, but with the basics, and we continued to have them pray with us about what would be best for our family.

The Sunday after we made this decision was fast Sunday, and our children love to get up and bear their testimonies in sacrament meeting.  As soon as the time was opened for them to stand up they went to the front.  Our sweet Jared got up and his testimony went like this, "I know that Heavenly Father answers prayers, because my dad got a job offer in Georgia for A LOT of money, but then his boss offered him a raise, but it wasn't as much money.  But our family prayed about it and we knew we should stay in Arizona, so I know Heavenly Father answers prayers."  Needless to say, the whole ward now knows about our job situation.  One of the counselors in the bishopric was laughing so hard he was wiping tears from his eyes.

I love the honesty of children, and I am very grateful that Jared has learned that he can depend on the Lord to answer his prayers.