The Usual Suspects

I'm rounding them up! It seems that nothing much happens from day to day at the Little House, but if I take a look at the last year or so we have seen tremendous changes. So here are the usual suspects and the change they have committed!

 The Master of the House made a major life change leaving the world of public school teaching and trying something he has wanted to do for a very long time. He is now an assistant coach for the BYU Swim Team. They are a great group of young people and his life has been so blessed. He misses his kids at Lone Peak High but he is so much more relaxed and less stressed. 

We actually see him before dinner now too! Bonus!

(back row, far left)
Best of all though, he became a Grandfather! The Cutest Coach was named after his grandfather Deward Holden and he is going by "Pa" which is what the family called the original Deward.

Graduate Student Profile

Loose, Sarah M. B.A. and M.A. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
sarah.loose@utoronto.ca
Field: Late Medieval/Early Modern Europe, Italy
Supervisor: Nick Terpstra
Thesis Topic: L'Ospedale Santa Maria della Scala, Siena
Sarah is currently finishing her sixth year. Her dissertation will focuses on the role that L'Ospedale Santa Maria della Scala and public charity (particularly the allocation of food) played in Siena's relationships with its outlying territories in the 15th and 16th centuries.

(I swiped her Grad Student profile from the internet. I made a couple of changes

 because the only one I could find was a few years old!)

She is nearly done folks! That's a HUGE change from feeling like it will never end. She is looking for jobs and doesn't know where the future will take her. One thing we know for sure...she is amazing!
She recently got a nice break when she flew to San Diego to make a presentation at a historian's conference. The best part was taking some extra days and spending time with these her sister's family.

 Oh! Another change! She became Auntie Sarah this year too!

Event Manager accused of smashingly fun and successful events. 

Also accused of growing restless. Change is in the air, people. That's all I am saying.

Other changes include new roommates (us) after her old ones decided to move on to new places of abode, and the best one of all...She became Auntie Britt to her little Lukey Lou!

 Accused of blossoming and becoming a mother...what a change! 

This young lady has been through perhaps the biggest physical changes of all, 

unless we accuse her son himself!

She also went from working full-time to being a stay-at-home Mom  

which is a huge adjustment that she has met with grace and joy.

 I am so proud of her!

 

This man stands accused of pretty big change too. He went from being employed to not,

 and from living in Utah to living in sunny SoCal.

He went from part-time office work to full-time graduate student,

and most importantly...he turned into the most loving father!

One year down at USC San Diego, one more to go, and then what change will there be?

This girl went from being a Snow College Badger and artist in residence

 to living at home and working to get out of here again! 

Her latest adventure is a new job at the Fitness Center. 

She holds the keys folks! 

She is the night manager and shuts the place down.

 Don't you DARE be one of the patrons who takes their sweet time

 in the locker rooms after closing time!

She Loves being an aunt to this sweet little baby too! How cool will it be for Lucas to have little cartoons of himself drawn by his Auntie Rachel!

 

Our in-house Master Sword holder stands accused of great growth, physically and emotionally.

 Take for example this photo from just a year ago:

w

...and just a few months ago!

Notice he's taller than Sarah there, in December...and if I could get him to stand up straight you'd really see it!
Sarah and I are both 5'8" and he is even taller now.
I look way up into his eyes now.
Kinda makes me blue!
My BABY!

He loves his little nephew and I have loved watching him grow confident around a little baby.
He has become such a good young man. He is always so willing to go Home teaching with his Dad and has taken the lead in recent months in making the appointments and preparing the message. He made a huge change this school year in completely switching over from American Fork High to Lone Peak High. Sadly, it was the year his father no longer worked there, but Dee's colleagues have taken Richard under their wings ad helped him have a great experience. He actually likes going to school now and is on track to graduate on time...fingers crossed!


Our final suspect not only has had tremendous change in just the past 7 months,
 but won't stop changing!
5 lbs. 6 oz
on Sept. 1, 2012

 Down in the 4 lb. range and five weeks in the NICU.

His first Easter in March, and 15 lbs!

 Meeting a butterfly in his sunny new California home!

Me? Have I done any changing this year? Why, yes I have! I know I shared this photo before, but I love being a grandmother! Such joy I cannot describe as I have felt watching Lucas come into this world and watching my daughter become such a great Mom!

Oh, and I am working out again. I have lost 20 pounds since last year.
CHANGE!

There are moments in time, that when we pass through them are so profound we  just know that life will never be the same. I think of the five trips Dee and I made to the hospital, late at night, early morning hours, in sun, rain, and snow. I knew each time that the next time I sat in our car our lives would be different because there would be a new family member with us. Our family dynamics would change. The direction our family destiny was taking would be forever changed by the addition of a new baby. Which of my children would be happy and who would feel misplaced with sibling jealousy. Would it be a hard transition? Was I up for it? I would sit back in the car, take a deep breath and tell myself I could do this, again!

I remember another moment like this on my wedding day. We were ready to go to the temple, my father started the car and I knew that when I got into that backseat it would be my last ride as a single young woman. Life was about to change in a big way. I recall asking myself if I were truly ready because it was all about to change.

We have made decisions as a family, as a couple, and as individuals that have shaped our futures. Mission calls, job opportunities both accepted and turned down, which house to buy; these have all placed us in times and places that have helped shape who we are and what our futures will be. Phone calls come that bring these moments of sure knowledge that "it will never be the same again".

One such call came ten years ago. I answered our kitchen phone to hear my sister-in-law Renda on the other end.

"From everything the doctors are telling us we think it would be a good idea if you could catch a flight to Albuquerque and get here as soon as possible."

I was stunned. Wasn't my Dad getting better? Mom had just said so this morning! And there it was, that sinking feeling that my life wold never be the same beyond this moment.

Ten years ago on this very day (ten years?)  I lost my sweet father. He slipped away from this life with all of us around him. It was a sacred moment of sure knowledge that while we would not see him again here on Earth, he wasn't very far away at all. The pain was intense as we held each other and wept in his hospital room. As I turned to leave that place I knew that everything had changed...again...and that it would be alright. There were many deep breaths after that day. "You can do it" I would tell myself. Ten years later I have done it! I know with every part of my soul that my Dad has gone on to his heavenly home where he lives in spirit form with his parents and brothers and sisters, tow daughters & a little son, as well as many loved ones from his earthly life. I know that there will be a resurrection day and we will live again in glorious, perfected bodies. Most importantly I know that through Jesus Christ's atonement we can be a family, forever dwelling in the presence of God our Father and with our loving family!

On Thursday afternoon a life changing call went out to the family members of a young man who has been valiantly fighting Hodgkins Lymphoma. "Come to the hospital" was the message they received. Among them are Brittany's friend and roommate Sarah. Their son and brother Stephen was sent home from his mission to NewYork when it was nearly complete because he was not well. He hated that he could not stay and finish. When the diagnosis came he faced every treatment, every new medicine, every invasion of his life by this awful disease with great courage and faith. Memebers of his family, church, former swim team, and the community came together in fund raisers and events to help his well-loved family. If I recall correctly, this battle has gone on for about two years. Yesterday he was called home, surrounded by his loving family. I am grateful to know the Griener family and to have known Stephen. He was a swimmer for Dee's team and one of his very fine students at Lone Peak High School. I know he is not very far away and that with the passage of time, life will settle into a new normal for all who loved him so dearly. Until then, please pray for this sweet family. They are going to miss Stephen and need this support for awhile to come. Jeff & Jane, we love you! It is a privilege to know your family.  You inspire us all!