New Ward = New Callings

We met for the first time as a new ward today. It was weird being in the same building and seeing some of the same faces.... but there are so many people that I don't recognize - including the bishopric. We had never met any of them before. This is going to take some time to get use to!!

Since we are part of a new ward, that meant we were automatically released from our callings. I was so incredibly sad!!! (I don't think that phrase adequately described how I felt)

I have loved serving in the young womens for the past almost 2 years. I have made so many unexpected friends. My testimony has been strengthened. I have had amazing opportunities to participate in youth activities, girls camp, cabin retreats, fundraisers and the list goes on. I have worked with some of the most amazing young women. They know so much about the gospel and they know who they really are and what their goals are. The entire experience was incredible.....I did not want it to end. But that is what life is all about....change.

I was also sad to realize that Mike would no longer be Kenneth's young mens/scout leader. The young men have had an equally amazing program! I know that Kenneth has been blessed because of the different leaders he has worked with for the last couple of years. I am so very thankful for each one of them and their dedication to these young men.

Kenneth was also released from his calling as Deacon's Quorum president.

So onto our new callings today:

Mike was called to be the 1st counselor in the Young Mens. Instead of working with the Deacons - he will now work with the Teachers Quorum. (Kenneth will join them in June when he turns 14).

I was called to be the 1st counselor in the Young Womens - so I get to work with the same age group - the Mia Maids! I am working with an entirely different group of leaders and the girls are mostly new to me. I am nervous, yet excited at the same time.

Kenneth said there are only 3 deacons total and the other 2 are a year younger than him in school. He is looking forward to his birthday in June when he will join his friend Josh in the Teacher's Quorum.

We have been praying that this transition will be smooth and that we will love our new ward as much as our last.

Spring Cleaning

Kenneth likes to spring clean ........ as long as he can climb on things! He is striking a pose on top of the fridge.

We have a vaulted ceiling over our living room and kitchen and we love it! However, the ledges only get cleaned about once or twice a year. I know, that is totally disgusting!!

Don't believe me?

Check out the layers of dust that we found up there...

He is such good help. Now, how can I get him to be this excited about cleaning his bathroom?

Dinner with Mike's Family

While Mike's brother, Danny, was home from Iraq on a 2 week leave he wanted the whole family to get together for dinner. Mike's mom and dad and 5 of the 7 siblings and their families were able to get together. It is hard to get a picture of 20+ people - especially when they are all more interested in their food! Most of the little kids were sitting at the other end of the table - so you can't really see them.

We had a good night just visiting and spending time with the family.

Court of Honor

We had our last court of honor tonight as our current troop. Since our ward was realigned last week, these boys won't be in the same troop anymore. I am really sad that most of the boys Kenenth's age will be in a different troop now. We are hoping that our new ward has lots of boys his age and that he will continue to have an amazing scout/youth program!

Kenneth earned several merit badges - Citizenship in the World, Music, and Vet Medicine. He only has 3 more merit badges and a project to complete to earn his Eagle!

Mike has been working with the scouts since before Kenneth turned 12. He has had a great time with the boys! This will be his last duty as Scoutmaster. (I think he is kind of relieved.)

Kenneth and his friend, Jordan, messing around on the piano after the program.

Fingerprinting

I was fingerprinted today for the first time - at least that I remember - that's a good thing right? They don't use the ink pads anymore - instead they have these high tech scanners. It was pretty interesting to see how it was done (shows how much I get out :). Mike was not so impressed - guess he has seen it enough at work. The state worker said that both of our backgrounds were clear. Now we just wait for the FBI to review them.

One more step done!

Now we are just waiting for a date for our home visit.

Adoption Process Update

We have most of the paperwork completed now.

We still have the prospective birth parent letter to complete - we have the basic ideas down - just need to put it all together.

We have an appointment tomorrow to get our fingerprints done for the background check.

We continually pray that we will be guided to the right people at the right time.

Conference Sunday

I love general conference - I get to stay home with my family and lounge around in my jammies! (Plus we get to hear amazing messages from our church leaders). The talk about the importance of women was spectacular!

We listened to the first session of conference and then headed to my mom's for lunch.

Melissa (my sister) and her daughter were there too.

We were able to Skype my other sister Michelle to wish her a happy birthday (man she is getting old :)

Then we came home and this is what we did the rest of the afternoon/evening. Yep, it took that long!!!

While we listened to the last bit of conference we started the game. After about 4 hours we had hotels on every property on the board.

I don't think I have ever had such bad luck playing a board game in my entire life. I spent more time in jail than moving around the board during the first 2 hours. I only passed go and collected $200 3 times during that 2 hours.

I finally conceded and gave my 3 remaining properties to Kenneth. We tried to gang up on Mike, but he had much better luck than us. We even tried cheating (which he didn't even notice...hehehe) and that didn't work. We finally gave up and he declared himself the winner.

Man, I sure love these boys!!!!!!

Soccer

Another season of soccer has begun. Well actually practices began in early February. At least there is no snow on the ground now :)

This was Kenneth's second game this year. I missed the first game while in Salt Lake with the young women.

He played goalie for the second half of the game - that is why he is wearing the neon green jersey. He seems to enjoy that position and does really good at it!

This last week, his coach was able to have an experienced player come and work with the three boys that play goalie. Kenneth was excited and said he learned tons.