Home sweet home!

There is nothing like coming home after a long and tumultuos season. This year we even came home early and it feels sooo good.Let me fill you in with all the juicy details!



This change of plans all started back in September when we arrived in Chambretaud for the 07-08 season. The team president said that a few key sponsers had backed out at the last minute (meaning the day before we arrived!) and that in order for us to stay we would need to make some changes to the original contract. They were not good. In fact they were quite lame and I remember both Kit and I saying "let's go home now" but we also know how the Lord has worked in the past and so we knew that we needed to "search,ponder and pray". So we went about the whole process of analyzing the situation from every stinking angle until we thought we were going to throw up and then we made a decision and took it to the Lord.



Our decision was to stay and work through the changes and see what happened. The Lords response for us was to do exactly that. We felt good and called the President to tell him the good news. I also stated very clearly that after the miracle season we had last year and all the good that was accomplished by me coming , we did not want to put the club in financial difficulty or risk missing several key games if he thought my paperwork would cause any problems. His answer to this was " no problems, Kevin we need you and are glad you have decided to stay."



With that being said lets jump ahead to January... I was asked to meet with the President and General Manager of the team. They proceeded to tell me that the club was in financial ruins and that they saw no possible way they could continue paying my salary!



HUH?? I was floored. I then said," what would you like to do, then?" They told me they would be willing to pay me less if I would stay..:) I am sure they could see my look of ---are you kidding me---They then said, "if not then maybe it would be best if we parted ways."



One thing I forgot to mention was that during the month of November/December I missed three key games because we were waiting for my paperwork to go through. We lost all 3 and were in big trouble as we fell in the standings. So the two MAJOR concerns that I had when I said 'Yes we will stay' were now just that, two major concerns.



I went home and told Kit. We were so frustrated and torn because we knew that if I didn't stay then the team risked losing the rest of their games and also because I wanted to stay and finish. I knew I could make the difference and I hated leaving something unfinished. We also were hurting because we wanted so badly to continue serving in our Branch and to help strengthen in any way we could the members. We also new that we were needed there too. And lingering in our minds was the big question....



Why did we feel the Lord wanted us here, if everything was falling apart?



And now the answer--- in the form of a million little miracles, what we refer to as " The Lords tender mercies"



Basketball--I had been having one of my best seasons ever if not the best. I was averaging 31.9 pts per game. I also had played my best games against the best teams. I had two 45 plus games and three 33 plus games and even had a 54pt game in the French Cup game we played. We had always felt that this might be my last year unless a team came knocking down the door and accepted hands down our offer. The day that I announced to my teamates that I was going home was gameday, against a team from La Rochelle, a good team (2nd place) that I played really well against. After the game the team contacted me and said "we hear you are going home?" I said yes and they then said that they were interested in signing me! HUH?!? Again I was a little shocked at how bold they were in contacting me on my home floor, but I gave them my number and they said they would call. Monday they did and said, " we would like to demand a transfer from the federation so that you will be a member of our team, you cannot play for us this season but next season you will not count as a transfer player (only allowed 2 per year) and we are planning on winning it all next year and could really use your talents!" The transfer deadline.... Feb 28th! We told them what we wanted and although we are still working through some of the details, they said everything looks good. We will be making more money with this team than ever before and they have ambition to win it all! Perfect!



Church--Well it was very very hard to leave the good members of Cholet. But they are like family now so we know we will be keeping contact and that we will see them again. We were packing up our house and the night before we were to leave we came across some DVD's that we had ordered to give to non-members. We looked at each other and felt sick as we had been planning for weeks to share them and our testimonies with this cute little family just one street over that the missionaries had contacted but we had never met.With still a lot of cleaning left to do and a little packing as well we both felt that we could not possibly leave without doing this. So we bundled up the girls hopped in the car(it was raining) and knocked on the door. He opened the door looking very surprised, we introduced our little family and he invited us in. Pretty easy huh! We explained what each of the DVD's were and testified of the importance of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives and families. We then asked him if he had any questions for us. With a sort of blank stare he told us how a few days ago he had a rough day at work and on his way home he had the impression to read in the Book of Mormon and to call the missionaries. When he got home one thing and then another continued to pop up and he didn't do either.

The night we showed up on his door step he had had a similar rough day at work and was very frustrated, he said, " I really try to be a good person and try and focus on working hard and taking care of my family( wife, 2 little girls and one due any day now) but it seems like everytime I do this I get beat down by some other problem or feeling." He said that it was truly heaven sent that we came by and that they would watch the movies and contact the missionaries again. The spirit was strong and we felt so blessed to have been able to do that but at the same time felt so bad that we had cheated ourselves and this family out of the happiness and joy that is missionary work because of our inability to "forget ouselves and go to work" to use a great Hinckley quote! But better late than never and we hope that this family and our branch will be able to benifit from our last-minute efforts.



Paperwork/little stuff--The team in La Rochelle was in need of my carte de sejour( my work visa) in order to start the transfer process. We were still waiting and worried that if we went home we would not be able to get it in time as we needed to be there to sign for it in person. Our flight was leaving on wednesday and we still had not recieved them. I called the City building and they told me they had no idea how long it might take. We were stressed but Tuesday we stopped by the City hall bldg and they said, " oh, good you are here, your visas just arrived!" We couldn't believe it we snatched them up and ran to the store to make some copies. We went home finished our packing and went to bed at 1am. I was almost in dreamland when Kit said with a gasp and shot up in bed," We left our visas in the copy machine!" Thankfully our good friends that also got up at 4am to take us to the train station and help us load all 13 of our bags of abnormal size and weight, were able to go to the store and pick up our visas and mail them off to us. They are truly angels and took such amazing care of us!

When we got to the airport we had to ditch a few things to make the weight limit but we also had a nice man who helped speed us through the check in procedure. We then boarded a flight that was not full snagged the bulk aisle and settled in for the 9 + hour flight. Ryn was great and slept a good portion of the flight and Elle was a doll. We enjoyed some great films like "Dan in real life" and Martian child". We landed in Detroit rechecked all our bags and took off for St Paul MN. We had another connecting flight to SLC there and as timing would go we ended up missing the connection because we were 1 hour late after sitting on the runway forever.



Thankfully after our terminal dash to the gate they hooked us up with a nights stay in a Sheraton in a suite. Also 50$ for dinner. Needless to say even with the nice plush surroundings the girls didn't sleep well. Elle woke up every hour from midnight until 3 when I gave up and told Kit that I would stay up with the girls. Kit went to sleep and we played animals, crawling around on the floor and making the corresponding sounds in a whisper. We ate ice and enjoyed sportscenter and the disney channel from 1am until 4:30 when I gave them both baths. Kit woke up and we got our things together and headed for breakfast and the shuttle. The check in was not too bad although we were selected for security screening( of course, select the family with small children) and Ryn was not fond of some big security agent frisking me. Both my girls are very very protective of me, in fact Ryan loves to wrestle with me just to get them to cry. Elle as miniscule as she is even tried to crawl over to Ryan as he was laying on top of me and started crying like she was going to move the big ox. So adorable.

We made it to SLC and flew in over the gorgeous snow dusted mountains that I love so much and were welcomed by my Dad and Ryan. We needed both cars to get home and that included my brothers truck. To end this book of rambling the journey was actually not too bad and it is fun to have life be a little interesting whether it be psycho fast paced or a turtles crawl.



These past few months have made me think of a poem that my Dad carries with him all the time since the accident when Darren died. It is called "The Weaver" and it goes like this.


My Life is but a weaving,between my Lord and me;

I cannot choose the colors,He worketh steadily.

Oft times He weaveth sorrow,And I, in foolish pride,

Forget He sees the upper,And I the under side.

Not til the loom is silent,And the shuttles cease to fly,

Shall God unroll the canvas And explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful,In the Weaver's skillful hand,

As the threads of gold and silver,In the pattern He has planned.

He knows, He loves, He cares,

Nothing this truth can dim.

He gives His very best to those,Who leave the choice with Him.

So, here we are in Utah and loving it so far! Being with family and being back home is nice. All is well! And everything is just fine!