March Madness

March Madness took on a new meaning at our house this month. It was full of fun, family craziness! My parents and Kara came to visit for a long weekend and we got to watch Lori compete in Dancesport and do AWESOME! She took 7th place in the country polka and 5th in the triple swing, woohoo! It was fun to have them make the long drive to see us, thanks mom and dad!

The next weekend we had all of Brad's family come stay with us for a week. That means we had 32 people consisting of 12 adults and 20 kids all living under our roof for a week. Sounds absolutely insane, I know, but it was really fun! Everything went very smoothly, I assigned meal days to each family which I thought worked out awesomely, and everyone was a big help. This was the first time EVER Brad's entire family has been altogether, which means cousins were meeting each other for the first time and meeting Aunts and Uncles for the first time. I loved watching the cousins play together and get to know each other and become more comfortable. All the adults were able to go do a Temple session together, which was way cool,(big thanks to Lori for coming and watching the kids for us!) So here are a few pictures I had of our adventures...

I really should have taken another picture because pretty soon there was no room for the bowl, it was just all cups. I also need to get a picture my sis-in-law took of our front room with all the shoes lined up by the door, pretty crazy!

Playing games

Flying kites and a Sunday walk

Crafting it up with Aunt Mandy

Dusty's monster

Brooks would not open his eyes for a picture. He kept closing them anticipating the flash.

All the grandkids sang a song for Gma and Gpa's 40th Anniversary, so cute!

Swimming at the Springville pool for family night.

The Hogle Zoo

We had such a fun time, the house seems so quiet now! Thanks everyone for coming!

My heart is full...

I sit in my quiet house tonight with a full and grateful heart. The only sound is coming from my running dishwasher. My 3 beautiful children are sleeping, my husband is at the church at a meeting...and so it begins. The bishopric of our ward got released today. Brad has been called as the 2nd counselor, a calling that he has had before in Spanish Fork, but we both agreed this time feels different. Before, he was joining an already functioning bishopric because of yet another creation of a ward. Also, we knew we would not be staying in Spanish Fork for too much longer so I knew it would be "temporary." This time it's a brand new bishopric, and we are not planning on moving anytime soon, if ever, so here we are for the long haul. It's humbling. I feel so grateful to have such a wonderful man as my husband who is worthy and honors his priesthood. I am excited for him. Brad loves to be involved, he loves knowing everyone and he just hasn't been able to get to know as many people as he would have liked. He now has that opportunity. He will get to work with 2 other amazing men as well. I am excited for this new bishopric, they will be wonderful together, and I think Brad will be blessed to learn from them.

I know at some point, and probably more than one time, I am going to just wish he could be home more, but I know that I will be strengthened and sustained by the Lord. Especially when bedtime rolls around and I am once again putting 3 kids down by myself, which anyone who has young children can testify is an exhausting and sometimes frustrating time of day. But if there is one thing that I remember about Brad serving before it is this...when times were tough and I didn't know how I was going to do it all by myself, I felt the Lord lift me up and make me stronger so that I COULD do it with His help. And I KNOW He will help me again. Besides the Lord's help I have a wonderul ward family, I have had so many people invite us to sit with them on Sunday so they can help out with the kids. Truthfully, Sundays and Sacrament meeting by myself with 3 kids is what I was worried about the most. And not just with the 3 kids but thinking 5 years down the road when that 3 could be 5 or 6! :) But now I am not worried at all because I know there are so many people who are willing to help us out. I don't know if they even have a clue what that means to me, but it means a LOT and adds to the fullness I feel in my heart. I know the Lord knows each of us personally and He places us where we are supposed to be in order to have the experiences we need to grow. As rough of a time as we had getting in to our house in Salem, I have seen more and more over this last year and a half the reasons why we are supposed to be here. Here is just one more...