This Week at Our House # 47

1. Well it was Thanksgiving week. John had a second interview on Tuesday and it may have gone well. They were thinking he was more suited to their math position instead of the computer position they were interviewing for. They said they would get back to him. So we're anxiously waiting, praying and hoping.
2. Some days I feel so sad and anxious and other days I feel calmer and patient. I wish I could always be the latter. 
3. I think Ruth was glad to have some time off from school for Thanksgiving. She was real helpful in cooking and especially cleaning up after Thanksgiving. Ruth is anxious to get into our own house to. I wish that we could just fast forward through the hard parts of our life. I always know we will be fine and that things will work out, but the living through the rough spots is so hard.
4.  Kate has a really good friend here. Kate's friend's mother stopped me in church and said that they are praying for us to stay. They had been praying for their daughter to find a good friend and then, bam! Ruth and Kate came. I thought that was awfully sweet. 
5. Johnny finds the High School here, way too easy. So John has bought a calculus book and is really challenging him.
6. Adam loved having the 3 days off for Thanksgiving. He really isn't liking school here, and I really think Adam needs to be home schooled. I thought that before we moved, so when we get our home, Adam will be at home for a couple of years and maybe longer.
7. Whenever Rachel talks to me, she talks about all of the things she misses about Utah. Ruth has always been like that about moving. I hope when they are adults, they can live in just one place. 
8. Anya likes having school off, but she likes school here. She keeps having lots of field trips and loving that. I also think she has found it much easier to make friends here. 
9. Joseph liked his time off, but he has adjusted well. He likes school and he doesn't even mind sleeping on the floor in a pile of kids.
10. When the Christmas tree was put up, Josh said to me, "But it's not Christmas. There is no snow." I replied that there would not be snow here and that we would be having a green Christmas. He then asked, "does that mean there will be a green Santa Claus?"
11. Arwen is doing ok, I think. 
12. Suzy is still getting into everything and trying to be around my parents more than they would like. I think my parents are locking their doors more.

This Week's Pictures

This Week at Our House # 46

1. Late again this week. John had a promising job interview on Tuesday with the promise of a second interview. We are praying hard for this one.
2. I felt a little better last week since John had a job interview. It is nice to have some hope.
3. Ruth and Kate spent Friday evening at a friend's house and then went to a stake dance on Saturday. Socially, I think they are doing well here. 
4. Kate has made a pretty good friend here. She is the ward, goes to seminary, and school with Kate and they eat lunch together. 
5. Johnny had his first ever youth dance, and since he has 2 older sisters, he was really good about asking girls to dance. He was also asked by girls to dance a time or two. 
6. Adam has really enjoyed going fishing even though he has not caught anything yet. There are many lakes and ponds and rivers here, so that makes fishing an easy past time.
7. Rachel lets me know how much she misses Utah pretty much everyday. 
8. Anya seems to be doing fine. She is praying for a house before Christmas. I don't know how we could possibly do Christmas here, we really have no room for stuff beyond clothes and even then, saying we have room for our clothes, is a bit of a stretch.
9. Joseph has been reading really well. He has completed 2 chapter books and is onto a third. Every now and then I wonder how his reading is going, so I make him read to me, and I am always astonished that he knows the words that he knows. 
10. Joshua does so much better in life when he is not allowed on the computer, and he is finally writing his name. 
11. Arwen loves me to sit down with her and teach her the alphabet. It's cute.
12. Suzy loves her grandparents and my sister's dog. I think she has adjusted the best of all of us. 

This Week's Picture (guess I need to pull the camera out more)

This Week At Our House #45

1. I am a little late, well, like 5 days. John got 3 job rejections last week including the one he interviewed for the Church just after we moved. We weren't terribly surprised given how sure we felt about moving in order to find a job. 
2. I have felt like I need to not murmur so much. It helps me when I am not focusing on the negative aspects of everything. But, oh, oh, oh am I praying harder than I ever have before.
3. Ruth is making friends fairly easily here. She is very unhappy with the school and the state of North Carolina because all of the graduation requirements are so different and so she has to take a bunch of freshmen classes in order to graduate.
4. Kate is having about the same experience as Ruth. Church is good. I think making friends has been fairly easy, but she feels like the school is dumbed down and more like a prison than a high school and she is unhappy with having to take additional graduation requirements while having the ones she already took only count as electives.
5. Johnny definitely feels the same about the school. He is having a hard time getting enough sleep here and has a hard time getting up and going in time for early morning seminary.
6. Adam is doing fine in school, but misses Legacy Prep. He does however, have more recess and running time which he says is a positive.
7. Rachel was below in reading at Legacy Prep but ahead in reading here, so that helps her feel pretty good. She, like all of us, misses Utah and her old school. 
8. Anya has found it easier to make friends here and is doing well with the school.
9. Joseph likes school here. He doesn't say that he misses anything. I think he is doing fairly well on the whole.
10. Josh likes having aunts and grandparents around. 
11. Arwen is doing ok. She spends most of her time with me.
12. Suzy is getting into everything in my parent's house and always trying to hang out with my parents and sisters. She is curious and friendly, and I think she has finally gotten used to sleeping in a room with other people which is good for her.

This Week's Pictures

There is a beautiful park here that we love. It's wooden with lakes and walking trails and fun playgrounds.