Life is more of a rollercoaster than a highway sometimes

What an up and down week. Sometimes, life just rolls along in a normal routine. Other times, it turns into an avalanche. This past week was one of those.

We started out last week in Portland with my family, ending the celebration of Christmas with our Time of Jesus dinner. Dad made chicken with garlic and a pomegranate vinegar sauce, along with the cheese, crackers, olives, and fruit that we always have. The grandparents came over. We even had a kids' table, though the youngest at it was 28. We packed up the next day and headed back home, where we were able to spend more time with family at FHE. The next day we had a Second Christmas with Brian's famly, opening our presents to and from them. We went and saw True Grit. We found out that their plane tickets home weren't for the 29^th, as had been thought, but the 30^th. Woohoo, one more day!

The 30^th started out like any other lazy vacation day. But about 4 in the afternoon, Brian was trying to help Joseph calm down by giving him some milk in a bottle. The phone rang and I answered, but his mom wanted to talk to him...it was important. She asked him how he felt about wearing white and getting wet. He said, “What are you talking about?” She asked him if he'd like to baptize his dad, who wanted to get baptized. That night. Now, the story of Reed's conversion could (and probably should) be an entire entry on its own. He'd mentioned to us about a month earlier that he was seriously considering it, but there'd been not a peep since then. We had simply assumed it wouldn't be any time soon.

When we got to the church, Reed was holed up with the missionaries, who were going over the entire set of discussions again because it had been over a year since he'd met with them. Even though it was an hour late starting, even though the audience was mostly family, even though they had to warm up the font by boiling water in the kitchen and carrying it down the hallway, the baptismal service was peaceful, joyous, and full of the Spirit. Brian baptized Reed and then Kyle, Brian's brother, confirmed him soon after.

Thursday evening, Brian and I took Joseph out to Shore Acres to see the lights. They have over 300,000 now, some in beautiful animated displays, and we want to make it a yearly tradition. Joseph's big, beautiful eyes and rosy mouth, along with his fuzzy white suit, led the woman taking our picture to say, “She's so beautiful!” Yes, he is. :)

That night, Joseph made the transition from bassinet to crib for the full night. He doesn't seem to care much at all where he sleeps, and this way, he wouldn't be awakened by Brian getting up early in the morning for work.

Friday morning, the 31^st, we woke to a world frosted and white outside. There was no snow, but we could skate down the street on the ice. We wondered what the weather was like in Portland, so I got online to check Facebook and see if anyone had mentioned it. The first post at the top of the page was from my mom, and she wrote that my cousin and her husband has lost their seven-month-old son. Little James was in heaven. I felt so much sorrow and sympathy for my cousin. I struggled with tears all day. It breaks my heart. I simply can't imagine it. I have no words for it.

We decided to do something to get us out of the house. Last year, we'd gone out to Golden and Silver Falls on New Year's Eve because it had been raining like mad so we knew they'd be roaring. This year, with the sun shining, they were equally powerful. Brian's dad came with us and Joseph rode along in the front carrier while we hiked to the top. Of course, we forgot the camera, but it was a beautiful trail.

On the way home, I had the thought that we should stop and look at a house we'd looked at before and liked. It was way out of our price range, but it seemed like the perfect setting for us. The sign out front had something new...the words “short sale.” Interesting. Obviously unlived in for a few months, we felt it was okay to peek in the windows and see what we could. When we got home, we looked it up online. There it was. The price had dropped by $120,000. Wow. Time to get serious. I don't want to get my heart set on a house, especially when our plan was to not look seriously or think about buying one for another two years or so. But maybe, just maybe. We sent an email to a realtor we knew. We'll meet with him today and see what he says.

New Year's Eve seemed to take a backseat to everything else going on, but we had a fun night with family, playing games and eating too much food. We rang in the new year with banging pots and pans on the front porch and trying not to wake the babies.

Sunday was yet another change as we switched the time we started church. We were all ready to sleep in, but we must have forgotten to tell Joseph. Darn it. My new calling meant I was back in RS for the third hour. I missed the young women.

Today, Brian is back at work and Joseph and I are back on schedule. We got the dishes done, worked out, and are getting to the laundry. Life is back to rolling.

All of these experiences will take some time to digest and get used to. Our one constant is the love of the Savior and Heavenly Father. No matter what life brings, we know we can always turn to Them. We are so grateful for our friends and family, who share this life with us. You all bring so much joy and happiness to our hearts!

Happy New Year!