Thanksgiving

We were invited to go with 7 other families to a lodge for Thanksgiving. We were a little nervous because none of us knew each other all that well, but we felt blessed to have been invited so we didn't have to spend it alone.

We left Wednesday afternoon, we all caravanned for 3 hours- it was quite a sight with so many cars! The kids all had plenty of friends to play with, and plenty of fun things to do. We took them to the pool, but to get to the pool we had to walk and be fully clothed because it was a whopping 20 degrees outside. The kids would run from the pool outside to the lake that was iced over. They were crazy- their hair froze and they thought it was awesome.

One of the 15 year old boys broke a vertebrae in his back a couple weeks before and with his brace he couldn't swim. He asked if he could take pictures while everyone else swam- I'm so glad he did, he got some really good ones!

 

The kids watched Elf, but who needs a couch to sit on when you have an entire pool table?!

 

 Arcade fun!

We had an entire room reserved for our group, it was a lot of people! The kids were able to sit by friends instead of boring parents. 

The little girls loved putting on plays that two 9 year olds created. Baylee is the Magical Butterfly.

It was a fun couple days, the only bummer was Darrell had to work. With him being in what's called a Field Position he is required to work the Black Friday. He actually had a lot of fun working, he really enjoys getting out and helping. We had fun without him, but it was just so strange to not have him with us all afternoon and night. But, that being said- I'm so thankful he has a job! He has a great job that he loves, and we are able to make ends meet on his paycheck.

Thanksgiving night the families do a devotional, and I was asked to share why I am thankful for this move. I could make lists and lists of how this move has blessed us. It's been hard, sad, lonely, exhausting, frustrating, and did I mention lonely?! But along with all those negative things are some huge positives! We miss our old friends- oh my goodness do we miss them! We miss our family, we miss being familiar with everything and how things "work" in the city. We miss knowing the schools, teachers, and all the kids. But like I said- we have truly been blessed. The ward we have moved in is incredibly friendly! We were invited every Friday and Saturday to someones house the entire first month we were here, not to mention the many Sunday desserts and dinners we were invited to also. The kids are making friends quickly. The kids from church have included them- and they hang out almost every weekend. We've all drawn closer to our Heavenly Father. I can't tell you how many times a day I would pray because I was just so sad! Each time I prayed something would happen that would answer my exact prayer. I know He heard my prayers, and that strengthened my testimony. We have been blessed to draw closer as a family. Before we moved here Lexi and Ashlee were starting to fight, kinda just get annoyed with each other and didn't really want to be around each other. Coming here, they are almost inseparable. They still have disagreements, but they treat each other with respect and actually enjoy hanging out together. Carly and Ashlee even get along so much better- that is like a small miracle people! My kids testimonies have been strengthened. Each of them have also prayed more and more since the move, and they feel their prayers being answered.

Darrell and I have talked about "what if we would have stayed?" We know we would have been fine in Bentonville, Darrell had a good job, the girls had many good good friends, they had all their sports, I had all my friends, we had an incredible ward... So many things were great for us there, but we KNEW this move was what our family was suppose to do. And looking back and recognizing all the blessings and growth we've had- I'm so thankful we were brave and had faith to accept the job!