Catching up

Since my goal is to make this into a family journal/scrapbook of sorts, I better catch up for the remembering.

Chris graduated last May. (Yay!) He got a job in Utah in June, the same time our 5th child was due. He was supposed to begin his job mid month, and we were a little concerned-ish because we hadn't sold our house yet, and he would be 4 hours away during the week and only home on weekends. I have babies really fast, and we didn't want him to miss the arrival. That is of course almost the best part ;) But Heavenly Father worked it out just like he always does. I had an uncomfortable night, and went into my 37 week appointment, only to discover that I was dilated 7 cm. So we went over to the hospital and had a baby. That can be another post in itself. It was of course a wonderful experience where I gained two new loves: My baby boy Logan, and an addiction to 'The Cocoa Bean'. They deliver cupcakes to the hospital everyday and all the new mama's and daddy's get to have one. We totally drove to Rexburg with a two day old baby to get a box of them before we officially came home from the hospital.

While we were away, my 16 year old niece Kira took care of the kiddo's, and we just love, love, LOVE her. Chris started his job 2 days later, and sweet Kira even came back to stay with me for the majority of the summer since Chris was away every week. I formed a really good friendship with her, and I now know what it is like to have a little sister. I always wanted one :)

We sold our house mid to end of August I think. Another miracle to us. That was a hard one for me, trying to keep the house clean with a bunch of little kids home for the summer and a new baby to occupy my time and interrupt precious sleep time. Chaos doesn't even describe it. Mayhem was more like it. I had no idea how to keep the house in house selling order without sacrificing my sanity, but another lesson was learned, or should I say re-taught: I am not in control. It was a Saturday afternoon, Chris had just finished Mowing the acre of grass, I had just finished cleaning the house top to bottom, and the kids had just gotten invited to the neighbors, when a car happened to drive by, and then come back again. They noticed our for sale by owner sign and wanted to have a look. They ended up making an offer that evening. They wanted to close pretty fast - I think it ended up being 3 weeks.

So, the next day the whole family headed to Utah for the week to find a place to live. Chris worked during the day, while I house hunted for rentals for us to look at in the evenings. That was a terrible experience! Everything we looked at was overpriced and in horrible condition. Like holes in the walls, 15 pets that had been living in the house, nasty condition. By Thursday I was in tears. I called my mom balling my guts out wondering what in tarnation we were going to do?! I only had one more day essentially to find a place to move to for probably a year's duration and only 2 weeks to pack husbandless and overburdened with children... I officially had a meltdown. I of course called the right person. My mom is always a pillar of strength and faith. She said sternly "Jenny, what are you crying for? Don't you know that heavenly father will work it out? Now dry your tears and stop and think for a minute..." I took a deep breath and we brainstormed a few minutes. She mentioned trying to find a family that hasn't been successful selling and would consider renting. That way we could find something in good condition, and it would also help them because we would be good renters. Later that day we looked at our last rental option even available, (it was another let-down) when Chris said "Jenny, I think Brian and Tiffany's brother has a house for sale in this neighborhood." They are some dear friends that had mentioned it to us about a month prior but we had dismissed the idea because we weren't going to be buying yet. Low and behold we drive around the corner and there it was, vacant. Brian's dad met us at the property about 15 minutes later. As soon as we walked into the house I felt an overwhelming sense of peace that this was the right place for us to be moving to.

Leaving Blackfoot was hard. Those 4 years were a turning point in our lives. Looking back I can see so vividly the hand of the Lord in our times of joy and times of pain. I can honestly say they were the best 4 years and the hardest 4 years of our lives so far. If I had the chance to go back and not move there knowing what I know now, I would still do it all over again.

We somehow made it through the move with LOTS of angels in the form of our wonderful friends helping us, and we are onto the next part of our lives. It is so good to be together. You know what else is good? We live right by the school. As in I can watch the kids walk right to it everyday. I LOVE it.

Another great thing that happened, is that we got a call the day before we moved down, from a company that Chris had interviewed with a few months prior. They were our first choice, and Chris even interviewed with a branch of their company in Alabama - that is how much we wanted to work for them. I was mostly relieved that we got another job in Utah first - even though I do have a little brother and sister in law living there (sorry Bobby, I still love you:) Anyways, someone was flying in from Texas that weekend and wanted to interview Chris because one position was opening up at their location in Utah. He couldn't do it because we were moving on Saturday! He said he would stay until Sunday if Chris would come and talk to him. When all was said and done we had dropped off the moving Trucks, my Brother, and gotten our kids from my sister in laws, it was nearing 3 AM. Chris had to interview at 9 the next morning. He asked a lot of technical questions and Chris later said he couldn't even remember what he said he was so tired, but we ended up getting the job. We have been really blessed in countless ways.

It is crazy how time gets away from you. We are just living our busy life, and everyone is growing up in the meantime. Bailey turned 9 in January, Jacob will turn 8 in July and get baptized, Carter is turning 5 this summer and will start kindergarten, Brayden turned 2 in January and to prove it is leaving his 'art work' all over the house, and my baby is now 9 months old and crawling all over the place. I would post pictures of my little Bedlamites but I can't find my usb cord tonight! Next time!

To Blog!

Okay friends, you sufficiently motivated me back into the blog-o-sphere! My main reason for blogging is so I can have a journal for my family. And since I will be making this into a book, this is the perfect forum. Also, it is fun to correspond with the people I love, adore, and admire (You:), so thanks for your words of encouragement and your thoughts.

My goal: once a week. Possibly Friday mornings. Maybe late Monday nights after kids are in bed like now. I don't know yet, but the goal for me is to find a good time that will still allow for me to have some balance with the other things I should be doing and so I won't get too distracted blog-hopping for too long. You are all really fascinating and talented and witty and well spoken (written) and once I start to see what is happening in your lives I lose track of time. That is why I haven't read any blogs of anyone or facebooked in months! Finding balance in life is hard, but I will never give up trying.

So, a new post about what is happening at the Cook's coming soon... :)

to blog, or not?

So, I am thinking about blogging again. The key word is here is 'thinking', because that is about all I have time to do these days. Lots of time to think amidst the chaos about all of the things I would like to do but not alot of time to actually do. Blogging keeps popping in and out of my thoughts... I need a better way to document my growing family other than mental snapshots I take daily with my mind. I am just not sure when I am going to fit this into a life busting at the seams currently... Any thoughts?