The last twelve months for us have been great! That alone is a true blessing. During the first month of 2008 we moved back to our little cottage, in our little town, with our little family. We will be here for the next two years or so. Leif has continued with his schooling and is moving along great! We welcomed our second little boy, Caleb, in April. He has been a joy from day one. It is such a blessing to have a healthy baby. We love watching Jakob interact with his baby brother. He loves being a big brother!
Soon after Caleb was born and I was up and going, summer was upon us and we took full advantage of the fact that Leif didn't have work tying him down. My parents sponsored a trip throughout the the states of Illinois and into Missouri. We traveled for three weeks. We visited Nauvoo and Carthage jail. And we visited with family during the Westwood family reunion in Branson Missouri, along with many fun things in between. We desperately needed the trip. It had been a hard couple of years leading up to the trip and when we arrived home we felt re-energized. -Thank you so much Mom and Dad!! We will never forget the the precious time spent with you! -
After our trip we struggled a bit to find employment for Leif during the school months. But after much prayer and searching Leif was offered a position at the local Elementary and Middle school. He is their Office Aid/Lunch Coordinator/Character Counts Advisor. It keeps him busy and happy. But that is only his first job. He is also the local liaison for the Community College. He helps the local residents enroll in college classes as well as securing the faculty for our location. THEN, he is a full time student online with Northern Arizona University. He's working on a Business degree. Along with family life, these jobs, giving occasional massage therapy, and school, Leif is also the Primary Music Chorister every Sunday. Needless to say, Leif is a very busy man! Happy, but busy!
Jakob and I both started school this year as well. Jakob continued preschool. He LOVES everything about school. He also loves the ballet class he goes to each week. I started a Holistic Health Practitioner program this Fall. I have learned a lot and look forward to learning more as I continue. It is set up as a two year program. I also enrolled in some general education classes at the community college. I enjoyed them so much that I will be taking more classes every other semester. It's been really neat to have the chance to show Jakob the importance of education by example, rather then just by words.
Some how in between all of our responsibilities Leif and I made the time to fix up our house. The boys both have their own rooms now, the walls are painted, and it feel just like home. Words can not express how grateful we are to Leif's parents for their unselfish love. They have given this space to us unconditionally. We will forever be grateful for this home as well as the time we get to spend with Leif's family as we live so close to each other! - Thank you Mom and Dad! -
My life is full every day with the journey of being a wife, mother, and student. I am also blessed to work with the Young Women in our ward as the First Counselor in the presidency. It has been a great experience that has really helped me to get outside of myself a lot more.
As I said, this past year has been wonderful. It has been fun, happy, and stable. We feel truly blessed!
During the 2009 year we plan on continuing on the path that we're on. Leif will continue to build his education and serve the community. I will continue to enjoy my family, being especially happy that I'm not pregnant (I've been pregnant or recovering from pregnancy for a LONG time leading up to Caleb's birth) I will continue to work on loosing weight and getting healthy, continue my education, and continue to enjoy my time with the Young women and the ladies I serve with in the presidency. Jakob will continue to amaze us every day by his ability to bring us the greatest joys and the most aggravating frustrations all within one day. He will prepare for kindergarten and hopefully be able to start in the fall. He will also have his first dance recital this spring. Caleb will most likely be the one who changes the most this year. He will continue to be our little bright eyes. He will learn how to move around and then he'll start to talk. He will undoubtedly follow his big brother everywhere, chattering right along with him (Then I'll really feel schizophrenic!:). But oh how fun it all will be! As a family, we hope to improve our family scripture study, we look forward to a nice summer vacation(s) again, and just enjoying our everyday life together.
And for the present moment, Leif is ordering his school books for this upcoming semester, I am blogging (a common past time), Jakob is watching his Your Baby Can Read video and singing along with them, and Caleb is asleep.
Life is good!
Soon after Caleb was born and I was up and going, summer was upon us and we took full advantage of the fact that Leif didn't have work tying him down. My parents sponsored a trip throughout the the states of Illinois and into Missouri. We traveled for three weeks. We visited Nauvoo and Carthage jail. And we visited with family during the Westwood family reunion in Branson Missouri, along with many fun things in between. We desperately needed the trip. It had been a hard couple of years leading up to the trip and when we arrived home we felt re-energized. -Thank you so much Mom and Dad!! We will never forget the the precious time spent with you! -
After our trip we struggled a bit to find employment for Leif during the school months. But after much prayer and searching Leif was offered a position at the local Elementary and Middle school. He is their Office Aid/Lunch Coordinator/Character Counts Advisor. It keeps him busy and happy. But that is only his first job. He is also the local liaison for the Community College. He helps the local residents enroll in college classes as well as securing the faculty for our location. THEN, he is a full time student online with Northern Arizona University. He's working on a Business degree. Along with family life, these jobs, giving occasional massage therapy, and school, Leif is also the Primary Music Chorister every Sunday. Needless to say, Leif is a very busy man! Happy, but busy!
Jakob and I both started school this year as well. Jakob continued preschool. He LOVES everything about school. He also loves the ballet class he goes to each week. I started a Holistic Health Practitioner program this Fall. I have learned a lot and look forward to learning more as I continue. It is set up as a two year program. I also enrolled in some general education classes at the community college. I enjoyed them so much that I will be taking more classes every other semester. It's been really neat to have the chance to show Jakob the importance of education by example, rather then just by words.
Some how in between all of our responsibilities Leif and I made the time to fix up our house. The boys both have their own rooms now, the walls are painted, and it feel just like home. Words can not express how grateful we are to Leif's parents for their unselfish love. They have given this space to us unconditionally. We will forever be grateful for this home as well as the time we get to spend with Leif's family as we live so close to each other! - Thank you Mom and Dad! -
My life is full every day with the journey of being a wife, mother, and student. I am also blessed to work with the Young Women in our ward as the First Counselor in the presidency. It has been a great experience that has really helped me to get outside of myself a lot more.
As I said, this past year has been wonderful. It has been fun, happy, and stable. We feel truly blessed!
During the 2009 year we plan on continuing on the path that we're on. Leif will continue to build his education and serve the community. I will continue to enjoy my family, being especially happy that I'm not pregnant (I've been pregnant or recovering from pregnancy for a LONG time leading up to Caleb's birth) I will continue to work on loosing weight and getting healthy, continue my education, and continue to enjoy my time with the Young women and the ladies I serve with in the presidency. Jakob will continue to amaze us every day by his ability to bring us the greatest joys and the most aggravating frustrations all within one day. He will prepare for kindergarten and hopefully be able to start in the fall. He will also have his first dance recital this spring. Caleb will most likely be the one who changes the most this year. He will continue to be our little bright eyes. He will learn how to move around and then he'll start to talk. He will undoubtedly follow his big brother everywhere, chattering right along with him (Then I'll really feel schizophrenic!:). But oh how fun it all will be! As a family, we hope to improve our family scripture study, we look forward to a nice summer vacation(s) again, and just enjoying our everyday life together.
And for the present moment, Leif is ordering his school books for this upcoming semester, I am blogging (a common past time), Jakob is watching his Your Baby Can Read video and singing along with them, and Caleb is asleep.
Life is good!
5 comments:
That was a great re-cap and look-forward Lena! And the pictures were fun to look at, too.
I'm glad you & your family enjoyed the nativity performance from when we were younger. A few years back, I put a bunch of my mom's VHS tapes on DVD, so it's nice to be able to find fun memories. You'll have to send me your address & I can send some DVDs.
And - yeah, I'd love to hear about your dreams. Jason & I were up talking about mine. They just get more vivid every time.
What a fun update! Sounds like you are busy and loving it. I'm glad things are going so well for you now. You deserve it!
Happy new year. My best to you and your family in all you do this year.
Those are such cute pictures. You look sooo happy Lena! I know you've been through alot but what blessings you do have here & you'll have those babies again. I need to check out how to make those cute slideshows. Happy New year!
Love you - Ev
There are plenty of things to do in Branson! One of my favorite activities there is going to the different Branson shows!
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