So I was released as RS President yesterday.  I’m not too sad, just wondering if I did everything I was supposed to do in my calling.  Did I do all that the Lord needed and expected of me?? 

I always look forward to my new assignment, but I have the feeling that won’t be coming until after I have this baby.  And then I wonder, is delivery and recovery going to be so bad that I wouldn’t be able to manage another calling until there has been some adjustment time??  Just more questions and more changes.  OY!

Well, that is my least favorite topic.  I have learned that I really do not like change.  I like things to stay comfortable.  I love knowing what to expect and how to plan my emotions accordingly….silly, huh?

We have a lot of changes on the horizon.  Not necessarily bad ones, just different ones, taking my life in a direction I didn’t necessarily want to go.  Nothing life changing.  We are not moving.  Drew isn’t changing jobs.  Even expected changes, though, aren’t welcome.

Our principal is retiring this year.  He has been amazing.  I have loved having our children at his school.  His staff is happy.  The other children are happy.  He is a master at nurturing people and giving praise and solving problems.  I’m sure our new principal will also be wonderful.  I know her.  And I really, really like her.  I just don’t want to let go of our current one.  Of course, her move, means we will have a new, unnamed principal at Joshua’s school.

Our seminary teacher was released on Sunday.  She is amazing!  The teenagers absolutely love her.  The adults absolutely love her.  She is exciting and exuberant about the gospel and the lives of her students.  She isn’t even my teacher and I am sad for her to go…..even though that is the way of the gospel.  We all have callings and don’t always know when we will be released from them or who will take over after our turn is up.

I am not going to Girls’ Camp this year.  That is a lot of sadness.  The hardest part of the entire process is that I was called, cleared by my doctor, and given my favorite responsibility at Girls’ Camp this year.  But my body has been telling me that attending camp this pregnant is not a good idea and the Spirit confirmed that thought.  But I just really, really want to go….like I want to every year.

We are homeschooling Daniel in the fall.  That brings a whole dimension of newness.  I have never home schooled any of the children.  Will I be able to manage the curriculum?  Will we be disciplined enough to work on school at the times we need to without letting life get too in the way?  How am I supposed to do that with a new baby?  Will Daniel be OK missing out on the social environment he is beginning to thrive in?  What about his music?  A lot of unanswered questions.  I know it is the right decision.  I just really wonder if I am up to the task…?

Other changes….Tammy is attending UVU!!!  Hooray for her…..sad for me.  I am totally happy for her and so very grateful she is there to learn and grow.  And I miss her a ton.  She was over here a lot before she left.  But we still communicate and I’m sure we always will.  We just have that kind of a relationship.  Our stake presidency is changing at the end of June.  We are having a new baby in August and Johnathan is leaving for his mission in August.  Johnathan’s departure and the baby’s arrival are supposed to happen on the same day.  We will see how those things go.  But just more changes…..

And of course, with pregnancy and age, my body is changing every day and it is nothing like I have experienced with the other pregnancies.  I cannot do as much, at all.  Not just because I am pregnant, but because of my age.  It takes me two hours to grocery shop now when it used to take one.  I am not doing any of the dishes.  Even my cooking and laundry have been scaled down.  The kids are learning to pick up the slack, but some things are just being left undone. (I am very, very grateful I spent so much time teaching Joshua to read before I got pregnant……I have hardly worked with him since then.  But he is fine and his reading is better than anyone else at the end of kindergarten.)

So…….I guess for everything there is a time and a season.  But it is so very frustrating not being capable of  what I have done in the past.  I guess this is the part of growing old that I probably will not face so well.

I suppose at some point I will embrace the change and recognize and see that all of those things were for the better and contributed to my growth and development…..But today, just for today (well–according to this blog post not only for today but for the rest of tomorrows 🙂 I would really like things to just stay the same.

Well….you heard it!!  Johnathan opened his mission call today and is to report to the Provo MTC on August 3rd……  Our baby is due on the 10th, but the doctor said he would not let me go past the 3rd of August.  So I guess Johnathan gets his wish and most likely, he will be here to see the baby born and into the MTC before the Fall semester begins.  (So that when he returns he can jump right back into school!) 

We are very excited for him and know this is a call from the Lord which will provide the growth and development Johnathan needs and the people who he needs to touch.  Congratulations Johnathan!!  We are very proud of you!  (And we are so very grateful Kyle was able to call in when we opened up the letter!)

Johnathan’s papers are in!  Now the wait for that magical, large, white envelope that will tell Johnathan where he will spend the next two years in the service of the Lord.

Stay tuned for the next update 🙂

So again, things are kind of crazy here!!  Two weeks ago, I broke my right thumb, which makes typing, cooking, laundry, shopping, dishes, writing or signing my name all very interesting.  I have a new found respect for those with minor disabilities!  Oh! Did you want to know HOW I broke it??  Well don’t laugh!  I was playing basketball with the young men after mutual one night…since three of them were mine.  And yes, I know I’m pregnant…but I have played with each pregnancy.  I try to be careful and not to play too hard.  Apparently I am still fast enough on defense to get my hands on the ball, but too old to do it fast enough to turn it the right way!

I had stopped Jacob at the top of the key.  He was passing the ball to his teammate at the bottom of the key and I stuck my hand into the pass at just the right time to receive the full force of the pass into my thumb.  So blogging has been a little difficult.

We did baptize Spencer!!  Hooray!!  Darren did a marvelous job and the program was wonderful.  We also ordained Daniel that evening and had Grandma and Grandpa there for the visit.

Johnathan should have his mission papers in…..we are still waiting to hear from him that they really are in!!  And he gets home in a little less than three weeks………but……..
Here is the big news you are waiting for……..we are having a BOY!!  Can you believe it?!  Me either!!  I guess I am destined to spend the rest of my days in the scouting program and raising priesthood men!  No name yet….still working on that 🙂

I am getting a little more excited that we are really having a baby.  I know once he is placed in my arms….I will melt, just like I have with each and every one as I marvel at the entire process!

Dear Friends and Family,

I’m sure you are wondering where we have been!  Well, let me tell you…things have been kind of wild at our house.  But the biggest reason we haven’t posted in so long is because we are going to have a baby in August!  Yes, you heard right.  No, we were not expecting this.  We are all in shock and disbelief but the children are very, very excited.  We are only about 3 1/2 weeks away from knowing if our baby is pink or blue.  Morning sickness if finally over.  I have a little more energy and a lot fewer clothes.  No pictures with this post, because I do not have a cute little pregnant belly.  After this many children, it is rather large 🙂  But just know that we feel very honored and blessed that the Lord would chose to send us another little person to join the party.  I truly thought we were all done.  But as usual, the Lord’s plan is always very, very different from mine.  I really cannot wait to see how this new personality will blend with those already here.  Always an adventure at the Lund house.

For the rest of us, Daniel turns 12 this week!  He is excited to get out of primary.  Spencer will be baptized at the end of March, and he’ll receive his first set of scriptures.  And Johnathan is in the middle of filling out his mission papers.  All in all, we have a lot of exciting things coming up….stay tuned!  We’ll write more often now 🙂

Have we really been married for 21 years??  Is that even possible?  Monday Drew and I celebrated our 21st—yes!!  Our 21st anniversary.  21 years is a lot of life to live together.  So much has happened to us in that time…..we have shared so many memories, joys, heartbreaks, trials, blessings.  He truly is my bestest friend in the whole wide world.  I really don’t know what I would do without him.  When I say that to him, his response is, “Live a happy, normal life….”  But the truth be told, Drew, it would be so very difficult for me.  You are my emotional stability.  You bring me down to earth when I am flying away with all the things I want to do and accomplish.  You build me up when I just don’t think I can continue to face the world and all I feel it expects of me.  You love me when I’m obnoxious, hold me when I cry, tease me when I’m annoyed, and correct me when I’m out of line.  No, Drew, life wouldn’t be happy or normal without you in it.

Thank you for being such a wonderful father, a magnificent husband, and just for being my very, very best friend.  I appreciate you more than you know.  And I cannot wait to see what the next 21 years holds for us!!

All my love!

I haven’t felt much like blogging lately…….but today is different.  It is different because of THIS:

I have new cook tops and they work!  Over a week ago, we had the tile cut because it was just a hint too small.  The tile was cut and the appliance guys were supposed to hook up the new cook tops the next day.  Well, they could not do it because the old ones were old enough that the wiring was not compatible.  “You’re going to need an electrician,” they said.  Fine.  Well, he couldn’t come until Friday and then couldn’t fix it until today…..Monday.  The kitchen drawers were all over the living room, because the old cook tops had to be disconnected by the electrician, so they sat under the stove top propped up on buckets because the wires were attached.  We were an entire week without a cook top and drawers all over the livingroom.  Luckily, I know how to work the oven and several crockpots at one time.

Here is an up close view:

You can kind of see on the left where the tile guy is going to have to fix that….he’ll be coming later this week.  But they work!!!!  I have a stove top again!!!  And it doesn’t look like this:

And now, THAT is where it belongs:

Garbage man comes on Thursday–just in time to make room for Christmas!  Yea for small favors!

THIS is why I love these men!!  What an amazing testimony and understanding of his assignment!!  I love the humility and the love that just emanates from them.  WOW!  There’s an interview with Elder Holland on lds.org.  I’m off to listen to that one now!

I have a photo blog, What Karen Sees, that feeds directly to my email.  The author is Drew’s aunt.  I love her and think she is an AMAZING photographer, along with plenty of other talents!!  Anyway, this morning’s post was just over the top!  I LOVE Christmas lights, much like Karen.  Click on the earlier link to see her post, or click HERE to see where it leads…..This is the most incredible and beautiful display of Christmas lights I have ever seen and I cannot even imagine having the opportunity to have seen it in person!!  On Holdman’s website you can also see his 2008 Christmas lights display 🙂  Enjoy it!!  Happy Holidays!!