THANKS GRANDMA LULU AND GRANDPA STEVE FOR THE ABSOLUTELY MAGICAL TRIP TO DISNEYLAND!!
Hugs and kisses to the rest of the fam for a great week!
We loved it all but we have a few favorites!!
*Peter Pan (again) and talking about the waterfalls
*Lunch at Ariel's Grotto with all those beautiful princesses
*Indiana Jones
*The limousine ride to the Storyteller's Cafe
*THE MATTERHORN MARATHON
Kacie's new favorite form of entertainment is standing precariously on a chair, carefully balancing the dry erase markers and eraser and playing "school" on our kitchen whiteboard. Today as she was the teacher and I the student she said, "OK class, today we're going to learn a new word. Can you say (sticking her tongue way out in exaggeration) i-l-lu-st-rat-e?" She told me all about illustrators and what they do and then she illustrated a story she made up. I love this girl!!!
Last Saturday we gathered with Kevin's family at This Is The Place Monument to participate in a walk/fundraiser for diabetes research. The walking route itself is not an easy one(especially with a strolller or wagon)but it was definitely worth it. The walk ends with free entrance to the Hogle Zoo (which made it worth it for the kids.) Check out some pics on the new Conservation Carousel.
Maxwell's favorite part of the zoo is the elephant encounter. He especially loves it when the elephants "poop out the gigantic green poops." 
Kacie, Emma and Aunt Skippy choose the giraffes.
I think Jackson's riding a frog.
Mia was bound and determined to eat those feathers.
KEVIN HAS A GREAT NEW JOB AND HE STARTS TOMORROW - OCTOBER 1ST. Just two days after Kevin lost his job with Equity Title, an old friend/business associate somehow heard the news. Having started his own business just over a year ago, he called Kevin and said, "Let's talk." Well, a monster long interview later he made Kevin a job offer. Not wanting to jump into the first offer that came along, Kev said he needed to think about it. We prayed, fasted and went to the temple and sure enough it felt right. During the last month they've been working on business cards, email accounts, building keys and codes etc. Truly a miracle considering the number of people that are out of work right now with no options on the horizon.
Many, many heartfelt thanks for all your prayers, faith and offers to help out. Once again I find myself humbled and touched by the love and generosity that surrounds me and my little family.
When I was younger it used to make me absoluetly crazy to hear people say to girls, "You should go to college and get a degree because something may happen to your husband someday and you need to be prepared." Comments like that still make we want to vomit! Even typing that sentence just now made my whole neck break out in hives! I LOVE SCHOOL!! I have loved it since my first day in Mrs. Young's kindergarten class and I think girls should go to school for the sole purpose of education not for the LAME-O reason of "just in case." That being said, I DID get an education,(someday I want even more),and then I decided that I needed to be home full time with my babies. Fortunately for our family, Kevin also believed in getting an education, and made enough money for us to be a one income household.
That entire existence, the only one we've known in our 9 years of marriage, ended on the 29th of August when Kevin was laid off from his job. As you are all aware, I'm sure, the mortgage industry is in crisis and the company Kev worked for has made cutbacks here and there over the last 8 months. Just last month they completely shut down two offices. Not good news for a one income family of 6.
Kevin has been contacted by a few mortgage industry associates looking to recruit him. He's already applied for several positions in differents industries here in SLC and he's attending a networking seminar tomorrow at LDSBC. We both know the right job is out there. (Or do we send him back to school?) I suppose these things just take time to sort out.
In the mean time, and not knowing if he'll find a job with a starting salary comparable to what he was making before, I find myself smack dab in the middle of the LAME-O scenario of "just in case." I walked into one of our local elementary schools to see if they were hiring and because I have a degree I walked out with a job. I start Tuesday -part time at my request- implementing the school's reading program. Truly a blessing at the hand of the Lord. I'm anxious to leave the kids with sitters, (Kev will be here for a while.) And I'm REALLY nervous about teaching again - after 9 years of Elmo and Thomas the Tank Engine, I'm not exactly at the top of my game. I guess it's a good thing I'm not jumping back into the University or I'd be in big trouble.
So - we're moving forward in faith. While it's a total bummer for Kev to be out of work, it's exciting to think that a new adventure awaits us. (And that he'll have time to get some yard work done before the snow comes!)
In the end, this is my thought. We should all get as much education as we can. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father placed in me a very long time ago a love for learning. It has blessed my life in more ways than one and now more than ever. Tell your daughters, your sisters, your babysitters or any young women you know, to get an education for the sake of learning and discovering their divine role in this life. But then feel free to tell them you know someone who dug out her college diploma from the bottom of a dusty Rubbermaid tote, when the "just in case" really did happen to her.
One week after the rest of the school started classes, the Kindergarten finally began. Kacie has been looking forward to this day since Pre-K graduation last June and I was so excited last night that I couldn't sleep. Newman has three full day Kinders this year and Kacie has a brand new, fresh from interning teacher named Ms. DeJolie. She's excited to be taking lunch from home and looking forward to making lots of new friends. It was 40 degrees this morning but our little girly girl insisted on wearing a skirt for her first day! Oh how I love this tall, toothless 5 year old! Happy Kindergarten Kacie Jo!
