It only makes you stronger...

I'll be honest- we've run into a little bad luck as of late. Luckily we're all safe and sound, and surviving. I know this seems totally counter-productive, but I'd like to start with a list of my WORST things. Hey- I'm trying to just laugh it all off, and really it just goes to show that things aren't THAT bad- since many others are dealing with much difficult and long-term issues.

1. Roxy. Roxy ran away the other morning. Our fault for not having reinforced the fence that we knew was becoming weak, and for not having replaced her collar that she broke off a while back. Luckily we found her at the shelter after a $60 fee and a ticket for no tags. Then we took her to Bear Lake with us- where she was sprayed by a skunk- resulting in a need to take her the vet, the groomers, and our Tahoe for a major detailing and deodorizing. Total estimated Roxy expenses this month? Over $300.

2. A bad vacation. Bear Lake sounded like a quick, cheap getaway- we even had a free campsite to stay at (a family from our ward had a group site with lots of room). But when the biggest storm in 20 years came up minutes after putting our boat in the water, and flooding our boat we were lucky to keep it shallow enough that after the storm subsided we could finish bailing it out and anchor it down till the next morning when we could tow it off the lake (then engine was swamped and would not start). No one even had a chance to put sunscreen on- and so everyone (except for the boys thank heavens) got sunburned and didn't sleep too well. Roxy got sprayed by a skunk (see above), our boat cover shrunk and we had to stop twice on the way home to resnap it, and we almost ran out of gas between service stations while coming home. The boat is still at the shop- may possibly need the entire engine replaced.

3. More stuff breaking. Just as we try to tighten our budget to afford Jake's eMBA program it seems like everything is breaking. The motor on Jake's car window, the AC, Jake's bike, light fixtures, etc.... luckily so far we've been able to fix these things (or find temporary fixes at least) by ourselves.

4. The hardest of all. The hardest of all is one that I haven't yet told a lot of people about- it was a very personal trial, and one that I'm just now ready to start to document. I won't go into detail here- it'll get a post of its own on my baby3 blog- but basically our 20 week ultra sound revealed a few things of concern for our little girl. We were told that she had two "soft markers" for Down Syndrome. We had to do some blood tests and wait TWO DAYS for the results. The FABULOUS news is that the blood tests came back in our favor and immediate concerns are now gone. 1/5000 chance that she'll have DS- which is better than average. The "abnormalities" found are actually found in 1-2% of all babies and should resolve themselves without any affect on her- but the whole experience life-changing.

NOW ON TO THE BEST THINGS!!!!

1. We've made it through all of those things. Thanks to prayers, help from others, hard work and sacrifice we've managed to keep smiles on our faces!

2. 2 Timothy Chapter 3. Read this last night- what an AWESOME chapter. The world is too much with us- and ME!

3. Good food. Jake wanted to attempt his first dutch oven cooking on our trip to Bear Lake- and it was the highlight! I made this recipe the other night- substituted orange zest (what I had on hand) for the lemon zest, used half oil half applesauce, half whole wheat flour and half regular flour, oatmeal and coconut instead of nuts, and only one heaping cup of sugar instead of 1 and 1/4 and it was really yummy!

4. New habits. We're on a new schedule in trying to allow Jake study time, as well as time for all of us to get everything else done too. Going to bed at 10pm and waking up at 6am (boys go to bed earlier and wake up later). Jake's also eating breakfast, packing healthier lunches, and trying to get to the gym during lunch- which has drastically improved his energy level. It's all going pretty good so far!

5. Project time, and lots of help/deals. We're finishing our very basement so that we can move the toy room down there, and move Josh into the "toy room" so Dekker can move into his room, and free up the nursery. The basement is divided into a new laundry room/craft room, cold storage, and play/game room. Jake's brother Rick finished his last week of work and still had some time before medical school and so came and worked for a week doing all of the framing, electrical, insulation, and drywall- WOW that gave us a jump start. I found a great deal on cork flooring for the game room area- and saved on shipping since the store is based in WA and we can bring it back with us next month- and I found doors and some other things discounted on KSL to help keep costs down.