What happens in Vegas??????

So It is official. We are moving to Las Vegas. Nathan got a job there at a water treatment plant and it is better money than we could ever hope to make in St. George and the industry is so solid it is a real blessing. I have some reservations about taking the kiddo's to Vegas to raise them but.... it is were the proverbial window has opened and we are jumping on the bed trying to fly through it. I will be staying in St. George for a few months to try and tie up some loose ends and finish some things we have pending in the state of Utah but Nathan is leaving in a week and a half..... I am going to miss him so much but I am so glad he is going. Pray for us.... Its going to take a legion of angels...

whew

We are hanging in there. Hopefully we will be on our feet soon. I have one thing to say about a strong marriage. I am thankful for it. I have seen hard times ruin a family and most specifically marriages and I am happy to report that Nathan and I are as in love as ever. We are surviving on little else. We appreciate all the love, support, and prayers that have come our direction.
Nathan is starting school in the fall and has a couple of ideas about how to make some money in the meantime. I am still working with foster children and will be having one of them in our home for about ten days this month. We are hoping that I can continue this work because it is so rewarding and I dont have to put the kids in daycare.(the fact that it is tax free money does not hurt either) I have been given more girls to work with every month and am so grateful for my job. I really dont know what we would have done without it.
Keep the prayers coming and we love you all.

Hmmmm.

Its been the climax of the disaster that has been our lives over the past four or five years. Nathan is desperately looking for work. Anything, at this point is welcome.
What the next few months hold for us is unclear but I guess I did not realize how serious I was when I told my hubby I would still love him if we had to live in our van down by the river.

ZION

We have been going crazy. Things in our life are just a mess and we are unsure if we are going to stay around here or move or if Nathan is going to get a new job or what the heck is going on. It is crazy. We do have one little bit of solace. Zion. We go there a lot. It just grounds us and makes us remember that, no matter what, we are going to be ok.

New Shoes for Me!!

Victoria's party

I am a lame-o!! I got no pictures of Victoria watching pg13 movies with her friends. She had her friend birthday party this past weekend and they watched movies and then we went to Walmart for a scavenger hunt. I hope she had fun. But I have no photos to prove it. Sorry Vic.

Zion

Sometimes, when we are feeling like the world is looming over us and there is not a safe place where we can turn, we go to the canyon. It makes us remember how much we love each other and that we don't need all of the video games and mp3 players and computers. We just need to be together in the world. It is such a blessing to live near such beauty and have access to the relief we find there so readily. It is a quieting and an internal softening that brings our whole family again and again to it's soaring cliffs. It feels like a safe place in a world of uncertainty and peril. I hope when we are gone our kids will take there kids there and remember how, even when our lives were a mess, we could find peace there.

Victoria took a shot at being the photographer on this trip. I loved this one she took of Soren. Classic.

I had some fun with the picture taking on this trip and Victoria was my reluctant subject. I really love how her dad is just a blur in the background. I found it profound in such a strange way.
(and I think she is really pretty)

Little Hazel was so cute. She was full of wonder on this trip.

Here the kids are at a ghost town just outside of Rockville called Grafton. We had fun looking inside all the old buildings and reading all of the little stories about the town that is no more.

February

Is Victoria not just the cutest in this one??So this month has been a crazy one. I have been sick for the entire month. Our doctor said he believes we (Hazel, Soren and I) all have RSV. I took it the worst. I was in bed for two weeks and only barely moving for the rest of the time. I am only now starting to feel like I might not die. On a good note, Nathan and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. I thought it might be fun to put some of the pictures from the wedding up here. The quality is not great (this was our photographer's first wedding) but you get the gist of it. Nathan and I are more in love now than ever. It sounds (and is) cheesy, but I never imagined it was possible to love him more than I did in these photo's. He is amazing. He works so hard to provide for our family's needs and he is trying to secure a future for his widow mother who accuses him of doing the opposite. He never asks for any fanfare so I just want the world to know how much I love him and am glad he is my husband. This year has been the worst in our eight but I know together, we can get through anything.

ps. Yes Nathan I will live with you, in our van, down by the river. XOXOXO

Jan.

January was a hard and wonderful month at the same time. So much has happened. We celebrated Soren's sixth and Hazel's first birthdays. Soren was a ninja and Hazel was well, one. It was a blast. We also remember their Grandpa Eames who died last year at this time. We miss him and wish he could have stayed longer but know he is never far.