Good News!

I am so happy to announce that Owen has FINALLY been offered a job! It's been a long 1 year and almost 4 months. 

I found the job in a Northwest Ag newspaper. At the time, I hadn't be checking on the website very often because there was rarely anything local on there. But something told me to check it a little over a month ago. We mailed in his resume and cover letter on Saturday and he got an email from the owner, the Monday after, asking him to come in for an interview. Things went very well with the first one and the guy guaranteed him a second one. The owner had mentioned having one other person to interview, but he wouldn't be available until after the 4th of August. That was at the end of June. Several long weeks went by and I was growing more frustrated. I prayed one night to please send us another ray of hope; Anything to help keep my faith to keep going. The vey next morning Owen received an email noting that he would be getting in touch soon to set up his second interview; So we waited. Another week went by and he received another email asking if he could come in on Saturday or Monday - this was last Friday. He goes in on Saturday and meets with the owner and his wife. He was there an hour. They talked about benefits and when he could start. The guy told Owen he would call Monday with his decision. Talk about a long day and a half! Sunday night we hardly slept and then Monday morning became the wait period. I was so nervous. The guy called at 9:30 and offered Owen the position. He asked him if he could come in that afternoon to sign papers and start on Tuesday! I could hardly believe that it was finally over. This might sound weird to those of you who haven't been through something like this, but maybe it's similar to other trials and situations. I felt so emotionally drained; almost like I just finished running an emotional marathon or something, and I felt like I had no energy left to be excited. Don't get me wrong, I am so excited, it's just that I didn't have much left over to give anymore. It's still sinking in that we can finally start to move on with our lives. It's almost like moving on from a bad break up. It's scary to move on into a new relationship; building trust and letting your heart open back up ( cheesy, I know, but a very similar feeling) We were so excited when we got the job offer with Owen's last job, and look what happened. But you can't live in fear your whole life, so I'm still praying to trust in The Lord's plan for our family. Owen will be working for a John Deere dealership out of Ontario, Oregon as an Equipment and GPS salesman. He is beyond ecstatic! Ever since I met him, he has always wanted to get into tractor sales and GPS sales! His territory will be covering the area that he grew up in and where he still knows many people, so that will be nice :) we haven't decided on an area to live in yet. We will stay living with my parents for quite a while until we can recover from our bout of unemployment and save up some money. We truly appreciate all thoughts and prayers that have been offered in our behalf. We are also grateful for family and friends that have lent support and listening ears during these tough times. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father has helped build our testimony during these trying times, I'm so grateful that we didn't give up on The Lord, even when sometimes it felt like he had given up on us. But this I know; The Lord hears and answers prayers! It might not always be at the time we want or the exact way we want them, but he loves us, and I know that he has led us on this path for a reason. 

We are loving Summer!

This picture was taken a few weeks ago. They were both sitting in the wagon, finally not fighting, and just being quiet, and my mom said she heard Evie say to Zayne, "I love you, brother." Very sweet :)

Evie started swimming lessons at BSU a couple of weeks ago. It's goes for three weeks and we are just finishing up our 2nd week. I'm really proud of her. She has grown so much since last summer. She is a lot braver this year and has really advanced. She isn't afraid to jump into the water anymore, and she puts her face in the water and head under the water! She is doing awesome!

First day of class! 

Subsequent days of class :)

She spotted this swim cap at Target one day. I had seen it a while back and tried to convince her to get it, but she didn't want any part of it. We went to Target last week and I guess she changed her mind because she REALLY wanted it; and how could I pass it up when she looked THIS adorable in it?!!! All of the parents loved it too! One lady tells me how beautiful Evie is every time I sit by her. I have to agree ;)

Zayne had his 2 year appointment the day after his birthday. He is in the 50% for height, 15% weight, and 75% for his head! He is such a cutie, and also kind of a stinker! He likes to yell "NO" at everyone, especially Evie.  He also likes to hit and push. Is this normal boy behavior?! We never had a problem with Evie.....hopefully it's just the terrible twos! We have Zayne in speech therapy now because he seems to need some help. His language skills scored above a two year old, but his actual speech is below an average two year old. We are praying that he improves as quickly as Evie has. And today's therapy session went great! He said everything he was supposed to say very, very well!

He loves his motorcycle :)

One day we turned on Mr. Poppers Penguines. Zayne was totally mesmerized. He sat in that box for a very long time!

This is what Zayne does during Evie's swim lessons.....

Most of the time he takes a tractor or truck to play with and has fun driving it up and down the bench. On this particular day we either forgot one or he was not interested in playing with it. He was so tired this day; he basically fell asleep in my arms while he kind of cried....good thing it is so loud in there, nobody could hear him!

Last Friday my sister from Alaska arrived for a three week stay! All of us are living under one roof and it's going quite well. The kids are having fun together and it kind of mixes the routine up, which is actually nice :)

Cousin Lilly happened to be here when they arrived! What a cute little reunion!

Archie and James are not too interested in each other, maybe in the future? Archie is very cute and says the funniest, little things!

These two pictures are not in the appropriate timeline. The Tuesday before my sister arrived, we watched Cousin Felicity for an evening. The two of them had to wear their matching horse Jammies! Cute girls!

We went out to Owen's parents house for Father's Day afternoon and I got this little picture gem! These two LOVE thier daddy so much. He is an excellent Father! He is so patient, loving, sweet, and fun!! 

This last week we went to Pojo's with some of the cousins!

This dumper truck was right up Zayne's ally! He took the driving VERY seriously!

This is possibly the creepiest, little ride I have evr seen! Anybody want to ride in the dark, tiny circus bus?! ;)

He also loved this space shop ride!

And of course he found a shooting game. I swear to you, this kind of stuff is ingrained into boys!

 

Evie amd cousin Lilly had fun on the bumper cars!

And Evie and Cousin Ruby had fun on the carousel :)

One day before swim lessons!

I love my beautiful kids!

These two had fun swimming with daddy the other night! 

Zayne and cousin Archie again :)

Tonight we went to Ivy Wild pool and had lots of fun! Daddy took both of the kids down the slide! They both loved it! Evie wouldn't go down last year until I forced Owen to carry her up there and make her go down with him. She was screaming the whole way up and then the whole way down! This year she WANTED to go on it!

So much fun! I love summer time!

So my last post was written in much anger, frustration, and despair. I'm happy to report that it didn't last long and I'm feeling much better this week. Owen has been very blessed to have two different interviews coming up this next week for jobs that would be local! One of them is for a job I mentioned a while back that he had a phone screening with and then we heard nothing but silence from it after that. We thought it was dead and gone, when out of the blue they call him for an in person interview this next week! The other one is for a job I found on Friday and they emailed him Monday for an interview this next week as well! He gets lots of interviews, but not so many offers. It's interesting to note that the last "no" we heard seemed so perfect, so right, except that it was in Twin Falls. As I mentioned, neither of us wanted to live there but we were willing to trust in Heavenly Father if that was where we needed to be. They flew him to Denver for the corporate, in person interview and he felt like he did very well and that everyone seemed to like him....I guess you never really know. Anyway, as part of the interview process they give the candidates the Wonderlic Test. There were 40 questions and Owen had 12 minutes to take it. He got a 34 out of 40 on the test. The HR lady told him that it was the highest score she had seen since she started administering the test. She said that a score of 20 is average intelligence. We thought this job was the one! And then they passed on him because he didn't have enough of the experience they were looking for. It was hard to hear; we wanted so badly to be done and to move on with our lives. But this wasn't what was meant to be. And we are ok with that. Heavenly Father has a way of giving you little blessings and tender mercies that just gives you enough hope to hang on and to keep going. How grateful I am to know that Heavenly Father hears and answers my prayers; even when it is not in the way I would like it answered. He's there and He loves us. I love this excerpt from a talk titled Trust in The Lord given by Richard G Scott in 1995:

Please learn that as you wrestle with a challenge and feel sadness because of it, you can simultaneously have peace and rejoicing. Yes, pain, disappointment, frustration, and anguish can be temporary scenes played out on the stage of life. Behind them there can be a background of peace and the positive assurance that a loving Father will keep His promises. You can qualify for those promises by a determination to accept His will, by understanding the plan of happiness, by receiving all of the ordinances, and by keeping the covenants made to assure their fulfillment.

To recognize the hand of the Lord in your life and to accept His will without complaint is a beginning. That decision does not immediately eliminate the struggles that will come for your growth. But I witness that it is the best way there is for you to find strength and understanding. It will free you from the dead ends of your own reasoning. It will allow your life to become a productive, meaningful experience, when otherwise you may not know how to go on (see D&C 24:8).

I don't know if I ever shared this on here, but last May, a month after we lost our job, it was an early morning and I had just got Zayne back to sleep and in his crib. I didn't want to wake him up so I waited patiently for a few minutes, to make sure he was asleep before I left the room. I was kneeling beside his crib and decided I needed to pray. As I knelt down to pray I remembered a specific line from my patriarchal blessing encouraging me to ask Heavenly Father if my thoughts were correct, after having thought it through and seeking answers from the scriptures, He would let me know if my thoughts were correct. There was this Job, the first job that we found and applied for after Owen had  lost his job. We thought, this is it! This was an awesome job, and maybe this was why we were led back to Boise so perfectly the year before. I took my thoughts to Heavenly Father; explaining to him the well thought out idea I had about this job and our future. I remember so clearly having this distinct feeling of peace and burning in my heart and the thought coming into my mind that - yes, all of these thoughts you have are correct; it is a great company, you would be able to stay here in Boise, there is great potential for your future, but that doesn't mean that this is the job you are supposed to have. And at that moment, I knew. I knew we were in it for the long haul. It has not been easy and that is why I love Elder Scott's quote that we can feel sadness, discouragement, and frustrations; but we can simultaneously feel peace. I know it's true because I have felt it. I am so grateful for a merciful Father in Heaven that blessed me with that peace and assurance. Even if neither of these two jobs work out, then maybe the next one will, or the next one. I do have Faith that our Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives. He loves us and He wants us to be happy! Please pray for us this next week - we need all of the prayers we can get :)