Waiting - it's what we are good at :)

Minus a few days, here and there, it's been really nice outside! I love the summer time. It is by far my favorite season! 

 Evie loves driving with the window down. I usually don't mind - until we get on the freeway, then it must be up :)

 This clematis bush at my parents house is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I had to get a picture of Evie and her cousin Ruby by it. I love the color of it!

 My mom will hate this picture of her, but I'm putting it on anyway :) Her and my dad are so good to watch the kids every week while Owen and I, or sometimes just myself, go to the temple. Thank you guys so much!

 Evie got crazy with a cupcake one Sunday.....she really enjoyed it :)

 We have a couple of parks in our neighborhood and the kids love going! I love Evie's get up.....it makes me laugh....oh, to be 4 again :)

 The cousins got a hold of my moms flags one afternoon. Fourth of July is kind of a big deal around these parts :)

 One night when Evie was supposed to be going to bed, I went in to see that she had put all of her little beanie babies/small stuffed animals on top of her bed. It made me smile. About half of those came from Grandma and Grandpa Great. They were my Uncle Ken's and after he died my grandma had 2 huge totes full of them. Every time we come to visit, she lets Evie and Zayne have one. Evie LOVES them and plays with them all of the time!

 These two girls see a lot of each other :)

Evie is always doing silly things. I love having a 4 year old.......most of the time ;)

On a completely different note - we are still waiting to hear back on a potential job for Owen. It will be 4 weeks since his 2nd interview, this Thursday. They assured him 2 times, by 2 different people, that they would let him know either way. And so we wait......

Owen started asking Heavenly Father, in our prayers, to bless us with patience. I don't know why that one never occurred to me, but I'm so grateful he asked because it is really the only thing we can do. Be patient and have faith - and so that is what we are trying to do!

I love Elder Uchtdorf and I love his talks. There is a particular talk that I have always enjoyed and which fits our circumstance so well at this point in our lives. It is entitled "Continue in Patience." He delivered it in the April 2010 Priesthood Session of General Conference. These are some of my favorite quotes from this talk. They have brought me great comfort. 

Patience means accepting that which cannot be changed and facing it with courage, grace, and faith. It means being “willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father.” ⁸ Ultimately, patience means being “firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord” ⁹ every hour of every day, even when it is hard to do so. In the words of John the Revelator, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and … faith [in] Jesus.” ¹⁰

Patience is a process of perfection. The Savior Himself said that in your patience you possess your souls. ¹¹ Or, to use another translation of the Greek text, in your patience you win mastery of your souls. ¹² Patience means to abide in faith, knowing that sometimes it is in the waiting rather than in the receiving that we grow the most. This was true in the time of the Savior. It is true in our time as well, for we are commanded in these latter days to “continue in patience until ye are perfected.” ¹³

"Every one of us is called to wait in our own way. We wait for answers to prayers. We wait for things which at the time may appear so right and so good to us that we can’t possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer."

"Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed. Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness."

We have faith that something will work out. If it isn't this particular job (that we really want!), then Heavenly Father has something even better, that will fit the needs of our family, when the time is right. I have found great peace through prayer, scripture study and temple attendance. I'm thankful for the gospel in our lives!