Life's Great: Happy July

This week has been a pretty chill, normal week. Thank goodness! We were able to get together with Sean and Tiff and their sweet little baby Graham a few times this week. Once was during a tornado/sandstorm warning in the area while we were at their apartment swimming! We didn't see anything, but it added a little excitement to our night. Rob has been studying so hard; he had another insane test this week and we are all grateful it's over. (Although it just means another one is around the corner.) To celebrate Sean and Tiff and Matt came over for some homemade pizza. It was a so much fun. I've decided I would like to become a party planner, but only for parties I'm attending. (is that even a thing?) I love the excitement of waiting for the guests to arrive and then being able to enjoy the evening getting to know people and make new connections and friends. Especially if there is food involved! I'm not an introvert, but definitely not an extrovert; I think I sit somewhere in between. But one thing I know for sure is that I love having company over and hearing laughter, both from adults and kids. So I plan on hosting lots of get togethers for the rest of my life. And maybe next time I'll even get a few pictures. We had a bunch of people over last night and it was awesome to walk from room to room and just see our house so full and know that these are people we are going to become very close to over the next year, people that we are going to friends with for life. Thankfully for me the wives of Rob's classmates are amazing! I love that each one of us comes from completely different backgrounds, is at different stages of life, each reminds me of someone I know but we are all unified in our purpose; to help support our husbands in this new adventure. Life is so good, and we are so blessed.

On a completely different random side note, I played the organ in church today. When we moved down here I causally mentioned to Rob that I think being the organist would be the most amazing calling. Not to mention that it would help me on my goal to one day play the organ in the temple. I think that would be divine! So when the bishopric came over to visit us/get to know a little about us I mentioned that I had taken an organ class way back when, and that I did play the piano. (its kind of hard to hide the piano in our front room) And wouldn't you know they have 6 organists in the ward!! Each one takes turns playing so it's not a burden to any one person. 6!!! I about died, and almost gave up on my secret hope that I would get the chance. But luckily our bishopric was in tune and that's my new calling :) And then this week I got a phone call from a lady in our ward asking if I would be willing to play today!? I jumped at the chance and have gained several inches of muscle matter in my forearms from all the practicing. I have to say it was still as scary as I thought it was going to be, but it was also a lot of fun. The organ is such a beautiful instrument and so much fun to play. I'm super excited to learn more hymns so I can play more calmly and enjoy it more each time.

Also I finally caved and Max got his summer buzz. Last week Dane got one, but Max wasn't feeling up to it so we were waiting for Rob to get a chance to cut it now that he is feeling better. But with Rob's crazy schedule being what it is, he didn't really have time. So one morning I just decided that it was time and I cut it for him. For being my first time I don't think I did to bad of a job. And it was kind of fun to be able to do something I thought was going to be really hard. Max was thrilled, so win win.

Oh yeah and we got to see the baby this week. I finally found and met with my new OBGYN and was thrilled to be able to have my 20 WEEK ultrasound! So crazy that we are half way through this pregnancy. The baby was stubborn, which was lucky because I was still feeling like I kind of wanted to find out what we are having, but we weren't able to see anything. So the verdict is still out, and will remain out until November!

I feel like leaving you with a thought I'm still pondering from church today. The sacrament hymn was "Father in Heaven, We Do Believe" and the third vs says

O Lord, accept us while we pray,

And all our sins forgive;

New life impart to us this day,

And bid the sinners live.

I love that as the Savior forgives our sins, He replaces it with new life; The chance to start fresh and clean. As I sat there, for the first time in a really long time, able to just think about the Savior during the Sacrament, instead of the usual craziness from our circus, I couldn't help but look at all the new life that has been given to me. As I've tried to be more patient and calm with the kids and myself I have felt an extra portion of love in everything I do. I know that I've been given the chance to start fresh each day and really get rid of the sin and replace it with new life. I love the gospel, and I love my Savior. Have a great week!

Max's new hair do, not the best picture of it, but he was in a crazy mood. And you know how it goes, one kid gets a picture and they all need one ;)