Counting our many blessings...naming them one by one

For any friends or family that only get our news from this blog, we apologize for the lack of communication on our part. Let's just say that life is crazy for everyone and sometimes it feels like ours is crazier than most. But even at its craziest, we simply cannot ignore the obvious and numerous blessings that the Lord constantly provides. The short version of events and blessings is as follows:


In France:

We were so happy to be reunited in France after the month of August we spent apart. Ryn started at her adorable Ecole Maternelle and loved learning all the songs, new vocab and making new friends. Those 3 months of total French immersion have jump started her love of the language and now we just have to keep the ball rolling! She keeps asking what everything is "en francais", singing all the fun nursery rhymes from school, and her teacher is emailing me with the things they're doing over there so I can try and work with her here. We're so thankful she had that experience, even as short as it was.

Our branch was another example of all the tiny French units, filled with faithful pioneers that blow me away with their dedication. I cannot express the humility and love I feel when I think about these members. Every member of every branch we were blessed to live in is a giant. I hope to one day be numbered with such wonderful disciples of Christ and I will be thankful for every minute I was able to learn from their examples.

The team was plagued with problems from the beginning, and so we were always praying to know if we needed to go home or stay. As with every trying situation, it brought us closer as a family and to the Lord to be seeking his guidance so constantly and sincerely. Every verse of scripture I read, every conference talk, every lesson each Sunday spoke to me individually and gave us the answers and peace that we sought.

Coming home:

By mid-October, we were at one major decision point. After more praying and talking with the team, the answer we felt so strongly was: wait until the end of November. At the time, we thought that meant that things might work themselves out during that month, and so we needed to be patient and hopeful. We did our best at being those 2 things, but the situation on the team and with Kev's working options only got worse and worse. Finally, when the end of November came and it was obvious that no improvements had come or would be coming in the future, we did decide to leave. I was able to fly home with the girls and be in Texas for Thanksgiving with Joy, Matt, Rob, John and their families while Kev waited so he could finish out the month. What a blessing! It was so fun to be with all of them!!!!! Sweet Nat and Matt picked me up at the airport in Dallas and drove my car down to Austin for me, completely washed and ready to go! Joy and Natalie had prepared so much fabulous food and Darrell was in charge of deep frying the turkey. Wow. It was the best tasting Thanksgiving I can remember.

So maybe that wonderfully fun and tasty holiday was the reason we needed to wait til the end of November. I'm sure it was an extra 'tender mercy' for me. Then, the day Kevin was flying in to Austin, Joy's 19 month old, Nolan, was finally able to see some doctors who found out why he'd been so miserable for the past 10 days--osteo mytosis, an infection in his spinal column. It turned out that he had to be in the hospital through that weekend to start the heavy antibiotics (which he will have to continue for 4-8 weeks, poor guy). With 3 other boys in school, we were able to help out so Joy and Darrell could work and trade off being at the hospital with Nolan. I know this was one of the reasons I felt so strongly that we needed to wait til the end of November to come home. I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father can communicate with us through the Spirit and help us know what we need to do and when we need to do it. And He does it in such an amazing way that it not only blesses us, but everyone else we're connected with as well. I'm also thankful that He gives us the chance to help others so we can thank those people and Him for all the help they've given us.

For the drive home, Mama KK asked me to check the weather before we headed out last Tuesday. I'm pretty sure we would have checked on our own--I'm married to Safety Man, Jr., after all--but after I talked to my inspired Mom, I did jump on the computer and saw snow storms everywhere along our route for Tuesday. So we waited til Wednesday and, besides the perfect weather we enjoyed the whole way back to Utah, we had a whole post-hospital craziness day to spend with Joy, Darrell and the boys. We had such a great time with everyone in Texas-- Ryn keeps asking where everyone is... "Where's Joy and Darrell and Jared and Warren and Nolan and Cameron and Bandit and Sam and Ethan and Brian and Caitie and Matt and Natalie and John and Laura and Rob and Christa?" Honestly, the question goes like that almost word for word. It's so cute.

Back on the Wasatch Front:

Kevin is looking for work and we're enjoying the snow and Christmas preparations. We haven't had a Christmas in the States since 2004, so we're really excited to be here! It's so fun to listen to the all-Christmas-music radio stations, enjoy Carma's amazing decorations including the gorgeous fairy tree, be the audience for the Lehnardt family Nativity production, and get excited for seeing the lights on Temple Square, our own Linkous family nativity on Christmas Eve, and being with the whole Linkous family. It truly is a Wonderful Life.

I have pictures and videos to post from Thanksgiving, etc, that I'll post asap.....I promise :).