Another Beginning

I'm soooo terrible at posting.  I hate writing in journals because I always get behind.  Then I feel a need to catch up with what I missed before I go on.  I get frustrated because I'm behind so I just stop writing.  Same with this blog.  This year, however, one of my goals is to at least post once a month...baby steps. 

I do need to catch up on a few things though.   Last year we finally moved from California back to Utah.  We wanted to move back from the time we moved there, but God told us it was not time.  We had lots of good times and experiences in California, but our hearts have always been in Utah.  It's been a crazy, rocky road, but we are so happy to be back.

The girls and I moved here in August so we could be here to start school.  The plan was for Jacob to finish things up and move here at the beginning of September.  Plans sure have a way of changing!  The house we wanted to buy fell through at the last minute.  We started looking for other houses but we just couldn't find anything we liked so we decided to rent a house until spring. 

Jacob's dad asked him to stay and finish up a few jobs, so he didn't actually move back with us until the middle of October.  Jacob decided he wanted to start cutting hair again.  While he is building up clientele, he is working 1-2 days a week for a construction company called Nailed Down Development.  Working the two jobs at the same time reminds him how much better he likes cutting hair!

I am working part time as a special education aide at Cedar Middle School.  I have spent a lot of my life working with people with disabilities but it's been several years since I had a job doing it.  I forgot how much I truly enjoyed it.  I really do love my job (of course there are a few annoying aspects-like every job) and the time I'm at work goes by very quickly.  My schedule goes great with the girls schedules so I can get them off to school in the morning and also be there to pick them up after school. 

Makayla is in 8th grade and goes to Canyon View Middle School.  I think the move has been the hardest on her, as she has had to sacrifice so many things that were important to her.  The biggest difference to her was soccer.  She played on tournament teams and her school team in California, but they don't do that here.  We signed her up to play AYSO in the fall and that was a disaster.  It is a recreation league, but where it is quite competitive where we were before, it certainly is not here.  Hopefully we will be able to get her on a competitive club team this spring so she can enjoy it again.  The other big thing Makayla had to leave behind was band.  In Wrightwood she had an incredible teacher and their band was awesome.  As a middle school band, they competed against high school bands and usually won!  Here the band plays the same songs Makayla played in elementary school.  As with soccer, band is definitely trying her patience.  Makayla misses her old friends but has been able to make some great friends here. 

Kelli is in 5th grade and attends Enoch Elementary.  One of her favorite things about school is that she joined the orchestra so she is finally learning how to play the violin.  Kelli enjoys playing and practices that (and the flute) quite often.  Kelli also signed up for soccer when we first moved here, but she was put on a great team.  They actually won several games, but even better than that, she made tons of friends.  It was fun watching Kelli play.  She was a lot smaller than everyone else, plus it's a co-ed league so there were a lot of big boys.  Kelli did awesome and showed them up most of the time.  The best thing about moving here for Kelli is that she has made a lot of really great friends.

Laney also goes to Enoch Elementary and is in 4th grade.  She really likes going to school and has made a lot of great friends as well.  Laney decided she wanted to join the choir and enjoyed it so much, she convinced Kelli to join it with her.  She was bummed that you have to be in 5th grade to join orchestra (or 6th grade for band) because she has wanted to learn how to play the sax.  Laney played soccer in the fall and did a great job.  Her favorite position to play is keeper, but she really does great no matter what position she plays.

Overall, things are going great here.  It's always hard adjusting to new schedules, schools, jobs, and people.  However, we are so happy to be back here and are looking forward to many good things to come.