Feb 6th - March 5th

 In our Family this past month...

* Well, February 3rd came and officially marked our unemployment. All I can say is that this is certainly what Heavenly Father's plan for us is because I have continued to feel peace and comfort in my heart each passing day! John looks for jobs everyday, we're continuing with putting the Lord first and keep getting the answer that something will come our way "soon"!

* We've felt very confident in being able to sustain our family for several months with the money we've put away but one thing that will eat through that stash is our new monthly COBRA payment to continue on with our insurance coverage. It is $2,554 a month! While in the Temple several weeks ago, we felt that if we (both John and I) could  bring in some money doing Uber Eats to help cover this payment, it would be so helpful and beneficial. So most days of the week, we'll both head out and do some delivering. It hasn't been too bad and we listen to books, podcasts and chat with family/friends. I do miss being at home with the kids though and some of the housework has been neglected so it'll be good when we find some new employment and I don't feel the pressure to have to bring in money each week. But in the meantime, we're grateful for this opportunity to bring in some $$!

* We've been schooling everyday and working ahead so that when Grandma and Grandpa Carlson come to visit next month we can take a few weeks off! In History we've  been learning about the Great Depression. For one of the kid's assignments, I had them put on a a "Depression Dinner". Lexi made the main course of a Potato and Onion soup with 3 ingredient Dumplings. Nathan made 2 side dishes - Peanut Butter Bread and Leftover Potato Pancakes and Aubrie made 2 desserts - Depression cake and Bread Pudding. It showed us how fortunate we are to not have our food rationed!

* Besides Schooling and delivering for Uber that has been taking up our time this month is Rugby. Meridian was able to put together a Boy's High School team and so Nathan made the switch from Rocky to Meridian and the boys and girls all practice together at the Middle School. This makes it super nice and convenient that dad can just take all of the kids to and from practice. They usually leave at 3:30pm and get back home around 6:30pm. Lots of new girls have signed up and the teams are looking promising this season! It's our first 15's season and we're excited to see how it plays out! Yesterday (March 4th) was supposed  to be the Opening Jamboree but our weather has been rainy and snowy and so the fields are all super wet. The city of Meridian didn't want 100's of people tearing up their park  so asked up to reschedule so it's now set for next  Saturday (March 11th). In lieu of the Jamboree, we had a scrimmage against Owyhee. The boys played on Friday evening and the girls played on Saturday morning. Everyone played so well and it was fun cheering on the kids again! 

* Dad and I celebrated our 30th Anniversary of our 1st Date on Feb 11th. Our first date was actually on February 12, 1993 but that landed on a Sunday this year and so we celebrated a day early. We went to the Temple together and then had dinner at the restaurant that we ate at 30 years prior. It was a Sizzler back then but has since been turned into a Burger 'N Brew restaurant.  It was our first time going out to eat since our surgeries and I was certainly more leery than dad was! We got their smallest burger to split and water (although we can't drink until 30 minutes after we're finished eating). We mentioned to the waitress that we had our first date there 30 years ago and she was so amazed! Her Aunt happened to be the owner (and was there that night) and so she came and wanted to meet us. They treated us so well and gave us our meal for free and then gave us free dessert to take home! We were worried they'd think we didn't like the food because we didn't eat very much of it (and even asked for "to-go" boxes for the rest of the burger and fries!) so we ended up explaining that we'd recently had surgery and could only eat a few bites but that everything was so tasty! Plus, the kids were excited that we had extras to bring home along with a couple pieces of cheesecake! Happy Anniversary to us!

* The girls finished up their driving portion of Driver's Ed and got their permits! Yay!! The Bad part... Aubrie got into a wreck and totaled the Van 3 days later - Boo! The good part was that she just hit the big rock in the entrance of our subdivision and no one was hurt AND we felt so grateful that she didn't hit another vehicle or hurt anyone else. We were heading to the Thrift Store and had just barely left our subdivision and were approaching the 2nd entrance (back into the subdivision) where there is a stoplight. The light turned yellow and Aubrie didn't slow down. I knew at this point that we didn't have enough time to stop so I told her to just keep going and we'd go through a yellow light and be just fine. Well the next thing I know, we're turning (into the subdivision) at a speed of like 30 mph which is too fast for that corner and I see that we're headed straight for the entrance rock! Both airbags deploy we were stunned but ok. People ran over and told us to hurry and get out of the car because it was on fire! So of course I'm imagining the van exploding any moment - with us inside! My door was jammed shut from the impact so I'm crawling all over the seats to get out of the drivers side (and mind you, my glasses had been knocked off by the impact of the airbag!). An off-duty firefighter stopped and I mentioned how we were told that the car was on fire - he went and checked it out and confirmed that it was NOT on fire but that when the air bags deploy it produces a lot of smoke (which does look like a fire) billowing out of the windows. Knowing it was safe, the girls and I went in pursuit of my glasses which we thankfully found intact! Aubrie was completely shaken and scared and worried and every other emotion you can think of! The insurance declared it a total loss and wrote us a check. It was actually twice as much as we were expecting it to be and so felt so grateful! Aubrie was also given a ticket and she was enrolled in an "Alive at 25" class that the Police department puts on. We're hoping this will negate the ticket and not show on her record. As you can see from the pictures below - it doesn't look so bad (at least not to be Totaled!) but since both airbags deployed and there was damage to the entire front end and the passenger door and it was leaking fluids (and most importantly since it is an 11 year old vehicle) it was going to cost more to fix than give us a payout.

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Spiritually Speaking...

* Dad and I have been making a conscious effort to attend the Temple each week. We've been making our way through the Endowment for our Swiss Relatives that we did the Baptisms for in January as a family. We are gaining such peace and comfort and additional revelation as we navigate our unemployment. We always take a selfie picture outside of the Temple while there- here are a couple of them:

* As I started off my scripture study one morning with prayer, I felt impressed to read Alma 38. This is the chapter where Alma is giving counsel to his son Shiblom who had been his companion on a mission to the Zoramites. Some of the things that I took away from this chapter are:

• just like Alma was brought joy by seeing his son making good decisions and following the Lord -we, too, bring joy to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ by our  efforts in following the commandments, and trying to put the Lord first in my life.
• As we put our faith in the Lord, we will be delivered from our trials, tribulations and challenges. This can be an actual deliverance, or possibly having peace and comfort, as we are in the midst of a trial. This is how this trial of unemployment has been this far. I have had complete peace and comfort and have not been worried. As the days wear on it it is a more conscious effort to put our faith in heavenly father to know he will deliver us from this trial and challenge. But yes, that is a great principle to be reminded of that we need to put our trust in God.
• It is only through Jesus Christ to that we can’t be saved
• Alma councils, Shiblom to develop Christlike attributes. Specifically the ones of being diligent and temperate, being humble, and not prideful, and not boasting. Being bold, but not overbearing, bridling all of our passions, and not being idle.