Our Big News!

{Rewind to January 2013}. When Abbigail was four months old, I had this thought/feeling that it was time to have another baby. Crazy, right?!? We had just had a baby four months prior, I already had a baby that was still waking up a couple times a night, barely rolling over, not talking, not eating solid food, heck she was still wearing newborn/0-3 clothing. What was I thinking?! But I couldn't shake this feeling. 

I brought my predicament up to Drew. I'm sure he thought I was nuts, but he was so calm and loving! We decided to both pray individually and as a couple to see what God had to say about this. It didn't take long for us to both receive our answer that we were indeed supposed to have another baby. Fearfully and excitedly we stopped taking birth control. 

{Eleven Months Passed.}

I understand there are some women, even some close friends that struggle with infertility for years! I'm not pretending I know what they are going through. I can't even imagine. One year may not seem like a long time, but I can tell you it was the hardest year of my life! I couldn't understand why God would tell us to have another baby, and then not allow us to conceive. What was going on?! 

This experience, as hard as it was, definitely humbled me. It taught me to have patience and to rely on God. It taught me that faith in God includes faith in His timing. It taught me how to pray more personally to God and really tell him what I was feeling and how much I was struggling. I think I can speak for both Drew and I when I say our relationship with our Father in Heaven grew so much stronger during this time. 

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Drew was offered the Job and we moved to Kimberly. My parents came to help us move in. My Mom asked me If I was pregnant and I told her I wasn't sure, but I didn't think so. She told me she had a feeling that I might be. Mothers Intuition?! I took a pregnancy test that weekend and it was positive. I couldn't do anything but cry. I was/ am so grateful to God for this chance to bring another sweet baby into this world. 

Currently, I am 10 weeks pregnant. We are due on September 16th, 2014. We couldn't be more excited! I am feeling the effects of "morning sickness" pretty much every day, but it is so worth it. Abbigail is already so nurturing with her baby dolls and stuffed animals. She loves babies and I know she will be a great big sister! 

Washington Trip (Jan 2014)

At the end of January, Abbi and I were feeling like an adventure. So we made a quick decision to go to Washington to visit my family! Although we moved two hours closer than we were, it is still a L-O-N-G trip but oh so worth it. This was our first vacation without Drew. It was hard (I'm the biggest baby when it comes to being separated!) but Abbi and I had so much fun with my family! We spent four days playing with cousins, shopping, eating out and just having fun! I'm so glad we went! Plus, Abbi and Kael were able to play and get to know each other and they are adorable! They just love each other and they played surprisingly well! I don't think we had any hitting, biting or toy stealing, so I'd call it a success! 

{If you follow me on Instagram, you have probably seen most of these pictures, but I wasn't very good about using my camera. BOO! So these are all I have.}

...also, while we were there I found these Gems. You're welcome! I can't wait for Abbi to grow up and look just like me. She'll be one lucky gal! 

Christmas 2013

Christmas was so fun! Isn't it always?! I just love the holiday season! Everyone seems so much more cheerful, inviting and friendly! Can't we all be that way all year round?! That's my goal for the year. Treat every day like Christmas! 

We had almost the whole family in Inkom for Christmas! Janelle and Jacob weren't able to make it, but they were there in spirit (and Facetime) which isn't as good, but we will take what we can get. With 4 babies, it was chaotic, but oh so fun! We all had a blast! Ryker, Abbi and Daniel had so much fun playing with one another. Every time they get together, it's like they've never been apart. Seriously, they're the three amigos and I love it! Sweet baby Julia was the cutest thing ever and has already changed so much since these pictures! It's nuts how fast babies grow up! Nuts I say! I'm not sure I'm totally okay with that, but that doesn't seem to matter. They just go on and grow up anyway. Although, they seem to get more and more cute as they get older. Is that even possible?! I know, I didn't think so either, but it is and they do! 

Back to Christmas! We all had a great time opening gifts and enjoying each others company. Also, there was a good hour, maybe an hour and a half that all of the babies were napping at the same time and it was glorious! We were able to sit down and play some games without wondering what the kids were getting into. It was nice. Nana and Grandpa spoiled their babies rotten (as they should) and the kids just adored them! I think they were all in Heaven. Cousins, Nana AND Grandpa? I don't think it could have been any better! 

The best part about Christmas for me is always the great company! I'm so grateful we were able to get together and spend time with each other. That's the most important thing. Right? The food was good, presents were fun, but spending time with the whole family was my favorite part! 

I'm Back!

You guys, enough is enough! I'm pretty sure I've been sulking in my "I don't have anything to blog about" attitude long enough. I was reading past posts I've written and I realized I miss blogging! Plus, I'm only hurting myself when I don't do it. I was so good at recording our life and I've missed so much! So I'm back! Full force! Get ready for some great posts. For now, I'm just going to do some catch up posts. 

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Last year was a pretty challenging year for us. After graduation, we moved down to Inkom where Drew did is Student Teaching for Seminary. We love seminary, but student teaching was only a part time job. When Drew first started teaching, he was able to work with his dad as well, but his second trimester schedule didn't allow that. We were living off a part time job and that's hard financially and emotionally. We were trying really hard to put our trust in God because we had felt good and peaceful about Drew's decision to teach Seminary. This was what we were supposed to be doing. But if we're being honest, there were A LOT of hard, hard days. 

Then, just before Christmas, Drew got a call from his boss asking if we could come to his house and meet with him. I immediately felt my stomach drop. Just before this phone call, Drew had heard about a few different student teachers being told they weren't being hired and we didn't know what to expect. This was either really good or really bad. {Spoiler Alert: It was really good!}

He told us that they would like to offer us a full time position teaching seminary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And you guys, we were speechless. We had been praying for this day to come, but we totally weren't expecting it. He told us a spot had just opened up that morning in Kimberly, Idaho. My first thought? I don't even know where Kimberly, Idaho is, but I don't even care! We are accepting this job offer! ;) He told us we would have two weeks to pack, move and settle in. TWO WEEKS! Drew would start teaching on January 6th. 

After speaking with Drew's boss and his family for awhile, we accepted the job offer and headed home. We were both feeling overwhelmed. We drove home and googled our new home. Kimberly is about five minutes outside of Twin Falls. It has a population of about 3500. There are multiple gas stations, a grocery store, a couple fast food places, an elementary school, middle school and a high school and two different LDS churches. Not huge, but not as small as Inkom. We were thrilled! We told all of our family and then the fun started! 

Our life for the next two weeks was nuts! Between our drives to and from Kimberly to find a place to live, Christmas and packing, we had little time for anything else. Luckily, we have awesome family and they helped us get finished packing in no time. 

On January 3rd, the moving truck came and we headed over to our new home. 

We absolutely LOVE it here! The town is small enough that I pretty much know my way around and can even remember street names when talking to other people! Twin Falls is close enough that we have plenty of options for shopping and eating out. The weather is very mild compared to our previous homes (Rexburg and Inkom) and we love that! The people we have met are extremely friendly and we feel very comfortable here! We're excited to continue our adventure here and see what life has in store for us!