A lot has been happening around here :)

We have been keeping pretty busy around here. We have had some good times and some not so good times this past month.

We try to enjoy the weather, when it is nice, as often as possible. We have a neighborhood park just down the street from us. This particular Monday, we were watching Cousin, Lilly. She was completely enamored with Evie's new bike.....Evie, however, is not :( She took a spill on it not long after she got it and now refuses to ride it.....glad I only spent $5 bucks on it!

 Once we got to the park the kids had fun swinging. Lilly is the youngest of four and so she really enjoys playing with Zayne. She was really excited to push him in the swing at the park and he enjoyed it as well :)

 The beginning of April, the kids and I took a trip to see our friends in Moses Lake. It was their spring break so Evie had lots of fun playing with the her friends!

 This is  a BEAUTIFUL tree next to my friends house in Moses Lake. I remember it last year before we moved. It has the prettiest flowers I have ever seen. It was just starting to bloom the week we were up there!! On a side note - the picture does not do it justice!

 My friend Edra, in Moses Lake, is an AMAZING seamstress. She had a bunch of clothes her girls have grown out of, so we get them, until her little baby gets bigger! This is one of the nighties she made. Evie loves it :)

 We bought Evie a bike helmet, in hopes that it would make her brave enough to try her bike out again....no such luck. And so we have this picture:

 She is loving the trike/bike that she got from Grandma and Grandpa Ogden from like 2 Christmas ago!

 My sister in-law is very talented. There she is in the above picture, sanding away on some wood that turned into to this BEAUTIFUL BED!

 I decided it was time for a king bed. I told Owen that he could get Direct TV (we have been using hulu+ and netflix) for a year, if he would make me this bed. I asked my sister in-law how hard it would be and how much she thought it would cost for us to make it. She responded with a quick: I can bring my tools over and help Owen with it, if you watch Tessa (she is the same age as Zayners) Sounded like a good deal to me! I love how it turned out! The sheets look purple in the above picture, but they are actually dark grey :)

 Ever since we moved Evie out of her crib, I have had to lie with her every night to get her to go to sleep. This was growing old and it was making my life a lot harder. So, we decided to get a small mason jar and a bag of cotton balls. Every night that she falls asleep on her own, she gets to put a cotton ball in the jar. Once its filled up, she gets to pick something fun to do. After 2 weeks, she filled that jar all the way to the top! She wanted to go see a movie with mommy. So we went to Finding Nemo in 3D. It was really fun! We don't go to the movies much, so this was a fun treat :)

 Zayne loves the bath, and he loves to stand up in the tub. Usually giving mommy a small heart attack every couple minutes.

 I love this picture of Evie!! Grandma and Grandpa Johnston gave Evie a pin that looks like a missionary tag. It says "Future Missionary." She loves it! She wanted to wear it to church one Sunday :) We kept singing the primary song "I want to be a missionary now" :)

Zayne is getting sooo big! I can't believe he is almost 1!

While I was up in Moses Lake - I received some very bad news. I arrived Wed. night. On Thursday Morning , I received a phone call from Owen's mom. She sounded worried and was wondering if I was at home. I told her I was in Moses Lake and asked her if everything was OK. She told me to just have fun......then his dad called me, looking for Owen. Once again......I felt like something was wrong. I finally called my sister in law that lives by Owens parents and asked her if she knew what was going on. She was so sweet, but assured me that whatever was going on, was not her place to tell me.....by then, I was feeling sick. I called Owen - no answer. I finally sent him a text telling him that his family was trying to get a hold of him, and that I was worried. I finally got a phone call back - but not from Owen's phone. It was the human resource guy from his work - reassuring me that Owen was fine, but that he was no longer employed with the company. I was in shock. Owen had no phone, no truck - nothing. Apparently Owen had called his dad, because I was out of town, and his Mom drove to our house. Once she got there I talked with Owen. He was very upset, obviously. They told him, it just wasn't working out. So here's our side of the story. Last year, when Owen was offered this job, it was because their old field man, who is 70, was in the hospital after having a stroke. He was paralyzed and they didn't think he was coming back. Owen was hired to take his place. Well, this man refused to leave. He hasn't made a full recovery, but he won't retire. He suffered a stroke as a result of an injury he had while he was on a the job. They couldn't let him go, because I'm sure there would be some legal things there. So we got the boot. BOOO!
How I'm feeling about the situation: Very peaceful. I cried when I told me sisters and my mom, but it was momentarily. Maybe because of our last stretch of unemployment, I have learned that things ALWAYS work out. I don't know why this has happened to us twice. I do know that we are full tithe payers and we have never had to go with out. The Lord has always provided for us. In the brief seconds of first hearing from the human resource guy, the thoughts of: Owen is hurt, in a hospital somewhere, maybe he is dead, all flooded my mind, so when I heard the words: "he no longer works here," relief flooded over me. Things could be so much worse. This is temporary and we can over come it. For that, I am very grateful :) It's been two weeks (is that all?!) and he already has an interview this Thursday! Please keep us in your prayers.
I have been reading a lot of conference talks on adversity and trials and this last general conference was very comforting. Our patriarchal blessings have brought great comfort to us as well. I believe that Heavenly Father has a plan for our family and that he is leading us to the life that will be the best for us. You know that analogy of going hiking and wearing someone else's back pack....we would end up wanting ours back? I will take our trials hands down. Like I said; things could be worse! We have no other choice, but to forge ahead, with faith in Our Heavenly Father! My friends in Moses Lake were hoping we would move back there :) I guess its a possibility - ya never know!