Hello Old Friend

It's been almost two years since I've written anything on the old blog. Almost two years since I got called as Relief Society president in our ward, which was the main culprit for my extreme lack of posts, not to mention the need to take care of my active and growing family. A lot has happened in the last two years and there is really no way I could catch up with it all. A lot of things have gone undocumented with nary a picture to prove anything. This is unfortunate for this history of our family, but it is what it is.

I've often felt the nudge to document something, even a short blurb, but it all seemed so overwhelming at the time, so writing got put on the back burner. But here we are now. A chapter in my life has ended and a new one has begun. Of course things overlap, but there are some defining lines that mark the eras.

So why now? Why try to pick up where I left off after so long? Well, I seem to have a bit more time on my hands... for now. Every once in a while I've perused my writing and felt that twinge that I need to keep up with our little family's history. We're also still far removed from our families in other states and many of them have remarked that they miss reading what we've been up to. For now, I think I'll just reset and give an update on everyone in the family. This will probably be a long post. I may have to do it over the course of a couple posts.

Joseph is suddenly one extremely busy man. It all began with a letter he received last spring from the county asking if he'd be interested in serving on the grand jury. This is something Joseph was certainly interested in, so he marked "yes" and sent his response off. We didn't exactly know what this all meant, but it's something that's right up his alley. Fast forward through the whole selection process and since the beginning of July he is serving a one year term as a civil grand juror.

Two weeks after that began, Joseph got called as our new bishop. Our stake president was moving, so near the end of June we had our stake conference where the new stake presidency was called. Our bishop got called as a counselor in the new presidency, which meant our ward now needed a new bishop. After a few weeks of the new stake president visiting our ward on Sunday, Joseph got a call from the stake clerk asking us to come in and meet with the stake presidency. I kind of had a feeling he'd be called into the new bishopric, but didn't want to speculate or anything, so I pushed all my thoughts aside. I certainly didn't expect him to be called as bishop though.

Our stake center is about a 45 minute drive from our home. It was a very quiet car ride. We had a lot to contemplate. For some reason I felt that a calling of that magnitude wouldn't happen until we were much older, wiser, and more refined. Perhaps, also when our kids were older and better able to take care of themselves, out of the house even. The Lord has other plans for us, however, and we both understand that we need to jump into this with both feet, with faith, and know that we will be taken care of. It's been a little over a month since that meeting and I can already see the change that has come over Joseph, the extra strength he's been given, and the love and support from our ward family has been overwhelming.

In addition to being on the grand jury and being a new bishop, Joseph has also gotten very involved in the Masonic lodges both in Eureka and here in our home town. Last week, he went away for the weekend and joined the York Rite, which is a further extension than just being a member of a Masonic lodge. He's been enjoying his membership and has loved learning about this ancient fraternity and it's strong ties to what we believe in as LDS members.

All in all, Joseph is a very busy man. He still has his full time job, on top of it all, but still makes time with our family count, and I really appreciate that he does that. I love him so much and I'm so proud of him.

On to me. Since Joseph got called as the bishop, I've been released as the Relief Society president. I currently have no calling, which is kind of weird, but I think there's one waiting for me soon enough. My stint was rather brief, but I really enjoyed the experience. I got to know so many women in the ward I would not have gotten to know otherwise. I am in awe of some of the things my sisters do, not only for our ward, but for the community. I feel like I learned so much from them and I hope to perpetuate what they do, because someday they will be gone and people like me will have to step in and keep things going. I really love the work that the Relief Society does, not only on a local level, but worldwide the things that are accomplished are mind-boggling. The sisters of the world really help move the Lord's work forward.

This last year has been a rough one on me physically. Last October, my beautiful, wonderful, amazing sister was gave birth to her first baby. There was no way I was going to miss that, so I drove to Utah with Asher and Simon to help her prepare for and then help take care of her and the baby once he arrived. By the way, my nephew is perfect. Unfortunately, the whole time I was in Utah, I suffered from the worst allergies the entire month I was there.

While I was in Utah, Akiko got a new kitten. Its name was Fluffle. We all thought it was a girl, but a trip to the vet to treat the grossest case of tapeworm I've ever seen told us the kitten was a boy. Akiko was in denial for weeks. Fluffle was a spunky kitty. Always attacked Sparky when he came in to eat. Always on the table and counter. Always missing the litter box. Cute cat. Very cute cat. Silly even.

Unfortunately, he ended up being a bad fit. I was extremely allergic to him. Not sneezing and watery eyes kind of allergic. I literally could not breathe. He exacerbated my normally mild asthma so bad I was having horrific attacks several times a day. He almost sent me to the ER for treatment a few times. We didn't know he was the culprit until January. I still feel bad that we had to get rid of him, but when mom can't function, the entire household falls apart. Oh, I also got bronchitis for Thanksgiving and again for Christmas, both of which were hosted by us for family that came into town to visit. That was the icing on the cake. I still can't quite figure out how I managed to pull those off.

When I was finally able to breathe after getting rid of Fluffle, we found out we were expecting again. The joy of anticipating a new baby quickly went away when I began experiencing the worst morning sickness I have ever known. Most days I could not get out of bed. I missed about five weeks of church. I felt like I was going to die. None of my tricks for warding off the nausea worked. I tried everything and everything failed me. It was the worst.

I finally started feeling better after the 13th week, but still felt really off. I was extremely tired all the time. The nausea was still in the background. I'd have maybe one good day a week when I felt well enough to get things done around the house, so I'd end up over-exerting myself on that one day and be useless for the next several days. At one doctor appointment, my blood pressure was really low and I was diagnosed with anemia. I was prescribed an iron supplement and told to eat a lot of iron rich foods. I feel a lot better now, not 100%, but at least most days I'm useful. I feel bad because I'd been sick in one form or another for several months and barely able to get the bare minimum done in my calling. I was finally starting to feel better and excited to be able to do more when I got released. I guess it's really a blessing in disguise.

As of now, I have about seven-ish weeks left I think. I've lost track. I'm due sometime in the first week of October. I've been given two due dates: October 1 and October 9. I've learned that due dates don't really mean anything; they're simply approximate guesses. Oh, and if you hadn't heard on Facebook, it's another boy.

In the next month and a half, I've got to get three kids ready for school, which starts in a week and a half, rearrange furniture and get the crib set up, get all the baby clothes out and washed, get Halloween costumes made, and start getting things lined up and prepared for Moses' baptism in early November. I want to get as much done as I can before the baby comes. I have no guarantee that I'll be able to do any of it afterwards. We're going to try to do a VBAC (Google it if you don't know what it is) and I'm the best candidate for one, but I understand the risk that this baby could also end up being a c-section like Simon.

I'm going to have to leave this post here. It's quite long already and it's getting late, so stay tuned for an update on the kids in the next few days.