January 29th - February 11th

In Our Family the Last TWO Weeks...
* It's been C-O-L-D! We've had lots of snow and sub-zero temps!
* With all of the snow - Mom took the kids out sledding and pulled them behind dads truck around the neighborhood
* Ben went to the Tri-Stake Youth Dance
* Nathan lost 2 teeth
* Lexi lost 1 tooth
* Nathan had another Scout outing to finish up the Swimming Merit Badge
* Ben had another Counseling session and feels like they are really helping in setting him up with strategies to be successful in life!
* Made two visits to the Library - both the Billings and the Laurel one
* Kids were all sick - nooooo! All 4 of them have been sick in the last two weeks. Nathan has had it the worst (out for over a week!) and Ben is right behind him (and in fact, is still down with a bad chest cold)
* Mom had a Presidency Meeting for Primary
* Mom had her first "Girls Night Out" (since moving here to Montana!) with some ladies from church (Amy Polluck and Kristie Anderson)... we did some bargain hunting at the dollar store, Michael's and Sam's Club and had dinner at Cafe Rio. I really enjoyed myself and had a lot of fun!
* August is still keeping busy with his two jobs down in Nebraska... Big news is that he got a new (to him) vehicle!  He's feeling much safer on the snowy roads this winter and it enjoying the better gas mileage he gets as he travels for work!
* Mom's really been focusing on Family History and has been having success in finding missing people on dads line!
* Dad has been on a vacation down to Mexico!!! Rain For Rent had a goal for the last quarter and all Branch managers that met that goal were invited to go on an all-expenses paid trip to Mexico (with the owner of the company) to go Deep Sea Fishing. Sadly, dad got super sick on the little fishing boat so only went out 1 of the days. The rest of the time was rest and relaxation for him!!

Seth Spotlight...

* Transfers happened - he is staying there in Chinandega, but he got a new companion, Elder Herrera (from the Dominican Republic) and Seth says he is very cheerful and happy and feels they'll work well together

* Been teaching 2 people that he's excited about - Paul and Daniel. I believe that Daniel is set to be Baptized soon (like this next week!)

* Their ward has recently called Ward Missionaries (first ones he's worked with his entire mission) and so they've been doing some training (he says it's reminiscent of the MTC)

* Coca-Cola has now been banned in their mission due to one of the Missionaries getting a Kidney Stone

* Had two dinners on the same night. The first one was beans, with kinda like a quesadilla and the second was a ton of gallo pinto (beans mixed with rice) and some meat. At the 2nd dinner there lives a young woman and she and her friend made some churros like an hour earlier so that was dessert.

Spiritually Speaking...

* So we've gone through periods of time where we're REALLY good at FHE, and then other times when we're more spotty. We'd been somewhat spotty this past year and so we decided we wanted/needed to rededicate ourselves to weekly FHE's! We also decided to involve the kids more and so we've been rotating  who plans FHE (starting with Lexi and moving through each family member weekly). It was my week last Monday and then while I was emailing with Seth, I thought it would be super fun to have him give the lesson and so I asked if he had a Spiritual Thought that I could present to the family on his behalf. This is what he sent to me:

"Well something that is really important I think is just being a good example. It's the examples in our lives who make us who we are. Jesus is the perfect example for us and he taught us the way we need to live to have a happy life and a happy family. So if he could do that for us with his example I'm sure we can all be examples each and every one of us. We can be examples to our friends and family. Being an example doesn't always mean doing something big or special, but it's in all the little things that we do every day that make people want to be like us and be around us. I find being a good example is something key in missionary work not only for the missionaries but for members too. Because if people can see us as someone they want to become, it opens up windows and opportunities to teach. You know what they say actions speak louder than words. I just hope that every one of you can think of little ways that you can be an example in the family and to your friends, and by doing so you'll find yourself closer to Christ."

We then went around and came up with specific ways each of us could be good examples throughout the week. It was really neat to have him be a part of our FHE - even being so far away!

* Another thing I wanted to share is how mindful Heavenly Father is of us! He knows our thoughts, feelings and desires and is there to help us! So with that introduction, we had a BIG Tender Mercy and Blessing AND an answer to prayer! So we have been fiercely attacking all of our debt (3 Student Loans, 2 Vehicle Loans, Medical bills, a pretty hefty Personal Loan from when we sold our home last year and the costs that were associated with that, multiple insurance deductibles and then lets be honest - some of it is from just busting the monthly budget (biggest culprits being the food and fuel categories!) Anyway, our goal is to be 100% debt free within 2 years (which is a really aggressive goal seeing as all of that adds up to over $95K!!) In fact, the math says it can't be done in that short of a time, but I FEEL it in my heart that it WILL happen! Heavenly Father will provide a way and things will happen for this righteous desire to become a reality (like some big bonuses for John would help this move along quite quickly!) So last Sunday (Fast Sunday) I was specifically Fasting that we could be Financially Self-Reliant as quick as possible and for me to not obsess about it and to find balance (since I was fixating on the budget entirely too much and fretting about every cent coming in and going out and didn't have balance with all of my other commitments). So as I'm fasting about this we had some Divine Intervention happen at church! The Bishop came up to John and told him that there was some excess in the Ward Missionary Fund and they were going to pay for 1 month of Seth's Mission!!! John profusely thanked him and expressed how we're working really hard at getting out of debt and this was so appreciated! The Bishop then said, I feel impressed to have the Ward pay for TWO months of Seth's Mission (which actually is more like 2.5 months for us since Grandma and Grandpa Carlson generously contribute $100/month to Seth's Mission!) That evening as I was pondering about my Fast and praying, the distinct thought came to me that this was a direct answer to my prayers and a way that Heavenly Father was saying "I'm aware of you. I'm aware of your desires. Rely on me. Put your Faith in me. We can do this goal together!" What a beautiful experience! I felt so loved and known by Heavenly Father! So while I don't know exactly how we'll reach this lofty goal in the next 24 months, I have complete Faith that more experiences like this will happen during our journey to becoming Debt Free and Financially Self Reliant! In fact, the very next day we got a surprise $120 for John to take to Mexico to cover any expenses and tips that he might incur on his trip. We had already budgeted in some money for him to take and so I was able to throw all of that at our debt! Woohoo - another Tender Mercy!!

* And I can't forget to mention that I really felt watched over blessed while we were driving to (and from) church today! I literally was INCHES away from hitting another car and at the last second, regained control and was able to avoid it... We said a prayer of thanks immediately after as I totally felt blessed! We also slid through some intersections and were protected and kept safe! No more driving on the roads for us!!

* Oh, and one more really neat experience happened today that I want to recognize and remember... So, you would think that after having FOUR boys, I would know how to tie a tie... but I don't. John still helps Ben and Nathan each week (we really need to work on this but with their Dyslexia and Dysgraphia, it is VERY difficult for them to master this skill)... Anyway, so today with John gone to Mexico I just wasn't going to have Nathan wear a tie - but he was adamant that he needed to have one. So I told Ben to pull up a YouTube video for me to watch real quick so he could wear a tie to church. I watch the first step like 4 times (literally! haha) and I'm confused by it and then it was like all of a sudden my mind knew EXACTLY what to do and my hands are flying and doing what needs to be done and VOILA - I get the tie on him (mind you, I haven't even finished watching the video! It was mind blowing!) I was amazed! Ben was there watching and said "How did you know how to do that!?" and I was like "I don't know! My hands just knew what to do! I don't think I could do that again! Heavenly Father knew Nathan wanted to wear a tie to church and gave me the knowledge on how to do it!" It was crazy... but soooo cool to have that happen!! Seriously! Wow!