Looking Back While Looking Forward

It's been a very stressful and emotional last few months for us. We've been doing a lot of looking forward while also looking back (hence the title).

Looking Forward

We decided it was time to move on to other (better) teaching opportunities and resigned from teaching at Whitehorse High School back in February. Since then Jared has interviewed with many schools and school districts and has been runner up for several great positions. Other positions have come up but have not been the right fit for Jared or for our family. We're still looking for our next teaching job, and trying to have faith and trust that the Lord knows where our little family is supposed to do next.
We learned about a month ago that we had to be moved out of our home here in Montezuma Creek in teacher housing by June 10th (that's in less than 3 weeks from now by the way). So we've spent the last month slowly packing up our home. Our storage unit is now full of packed boxes and totes. We've gathered things we'd like to get rid of. Slowly things are getting packed. Hopefully by 2 weeks from today we will have packed up almost all of our belongings.
With us not having a teaching position for next year, we will be moving twice before the summer is over. Currently the plan is to store all our belongings in my parents barn for the next month or so (or at least that is the hope). So far it looks like at least in June we'll be living like drifters or out of suitcases. We've got a family reunion with Jared's immediate family less than a week after we move. At the end of June is another family reunion with our Davenport family (extended family on Jared's side). By July we should have thing figured out for the next school year, though that is still a big question mark. Again we're trying to have faith and trust that the Lord knows where our little family is supposed to do next.

Looking Back

As we have been packing and preparing to leave Montezuma Creek, a flood of memories have come. In our bathroom 8 puppies were born. For 2 months 8 puppies and their mother lived in my kitchen. Deciding to add Sam to our family and raising a puppy. Here is where we struggled the most with infertility, but also it was here that we had the support to get through it. We've had many outdoor movie nights with all our wonderful friends/neighbors. It was here that I finally got that positive pregnancy test and experience the joy of feeling that little life growing inside me. For 2 years I taught seminary which helped me as I struggled with my relationship with God and taught me so much about the gospel and what it can take to be a good teacher. Countless dinners with the missionaries which gave us the opportunity to serve and learn how we can help bring others to know Christ. Helping people move in and helping people move out of our little neighborhood. Playing at the San Juan River with Bo and Sam.  Playing down in the wash with Bo and Sam. Playing in the practice field both during the day and at night with Bo and Sam. Going on Band Tour. Band concerts. Holidays. Visiting the National Parks & Monuments in this area (Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, 4 Corners). Game nights with friends (definitely need to do at least 1 more of these before we move). Branch Activities. Playgroup with the neighbor kids. Countless movie marathons. It was here that we started parenthood, which consisted of late nights, lots of snuggles, teething, and baby giggles.
Our time here in Montezuma Creek has been quite the experience, if you couldn't tell by all those memories. We've learned a lot here. We've had to learn how to plan ahead since the nearest grocery store is about an hour away. I learned how to step out of my comfort zone and talk to complete strangers. I learned many copycat recipes since all our favorite restaurants/fast food is an hour or more away. We learned about dog training as we raised Sam and as we got them ready for Rachel to be here. We've learned a little of what it is like to be a minority and have cultural differences from the community you live in. We've learned to rely on ourselves more since we lived far from our families. Our time here has helped shape us into the people we are now. It's given Jared very valuable teaching experience, experience he could not get anywhere else.

To all our friends still here, you my friends have become our family. I know we wouldn't have stayed this long without you. You are what I will miss the most. And thankfully thanks to social media we can always stay connected.

We will never forget our time here in Mussi. The memories and experiences here are priceless. This area will always be a special place to us.

6 months

My how the time is just flying. Little Miss Rachel is 6 months old. I can't believe that in 6 more months she will be 1 year old. She is just growing SO fast. I don't have much time so I'm going to have to bullet point this post.

• Rachel LOVES to sit. She would rather sit than pretty much anything else.
• Tummy time isn't her favorite thing, but she doesn't hate it necessarily.
• She easily rolls from her back to her tummy, but has a harder time rolling from tummy to back. Not being able to roll easily from tummy to back is becoming problematic in the night when she rolls over and gets stuck.
• We've started her on some solid foods. She LOVES cereals (we've tried rice and oatmeal so far). She has tried pears, bananas, apples, peaches, sweet potatoes, carrots and beans. She wasn't wild about the beans or carrots. Her favorites have been the sweet potatoes and the apples. Her daddy loves that he gets to be more involved with eating now.
• She takes a bottle very well, either of breastmilk or formula (she prefers breastmilk obviously). In the afternoon she will down 6 ounces of formula within 10 minutes.
• She CAN sleep for 8 hours straight at night, though that doesn't always happen. She does take 2 to 3 naps during the day, though lately they have been only an hour or less long.
• She officially has 1 tooth popping through on the bottom. She's had all the signs of teething for months so it's kind of nice to see a tooth starting to actually show. Teething rings have been our friends lately.
• She loves to grab tags. It's funny how many things have tags on them.
• We watch a lot of PBS during the day so that she stays entertained while I work. Her favorites shows are Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Sesame Street. She LOVES Cookie Monster and gets SO excited whenever he is on screen. We also watch Thomas & Friends on Amazon which she seems to like too.
• When we went to the doctor a few weeks ago we learned she is in  the 50th (or over I'm not 100% sure) percentile in both height and weight. She's nearly 17 pounds now.
• She is officially in 6-9 or 9 month Jammies (mostly because she is so long) and is almost ready to move up to that size in the rest of her clothes. She doesn't particularly like to wear socks so we often don't wear them.
• She LOVES to be outside. However, the gnats are terrible here so we don't get to go outside for long. When we were at my parents last week she loved that she could stay outside for as long as she wants. We are looking forward to being able to be outside more this summer.
• She loves to see herself in the mirror. She thinks that Rachel girl is SO cute, and who can argue with that.
• She loves dogs (big surprise huh). We are already teaching her not to grab or even touch a dog's face and to be soft. She tends to grab onto their hair, but eventually she'll figure it out. We are glad that our boys have been  patient with her. She loves to watch them chase after balls and gets excited to see them.
• She laughs and giggles more and more. Her daddy can always get her to laugh (and he loves that).

Well that pretty much sums up our sweet little girl. I took her to get her pictures taken the 1st week of May, her 6 month pictures. Her dad wasn't there to get the best smiles out of her, but I think they turned out great. Here are a few of my favorites.

We love her so very much. Can't wait for the adventures we'll have with her this summer.