What Luck!

Some people spend a lifetime searching for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Lucky for me...I think I've found it. I laugh as I sit here looking at my surroundings. The carpet in the dining room needs replaced, a chunk of tile is cracked in the kitchen floor, the stove is on the blink, and now that the snow is melting I can see a multitude of landscaping projects awaiting our attention. In fact, that is only the tip of the iceberg. The projects and problems of daily life demanding our time and money never seem to end. The only thing not continuous is...our time and money. There never seems to be enough of either no matter how well we plan. And so it goes, I often feel like our guinea pig, running round and round its cage searching for something better when everything it needs is right there. (Wouldn't life be easy if all we needed was hay, some water, and an orange slice once in a while).

I take another look around. Troy and Jonathan are out in the garage working together fixing Jonathan's motorcycle. I can hear them chatting with each other as they discuss what parts they need and how to fix the brakes. Josh is out in front of our house riding and doing tricks on his bike with the some of his friends. The dog is running around grateful there are still a few snow banks left where he can mark his territory. The house has the wonderful aroma of the chocolate chip cookies Troy baked (yes...the one thing he cooks wonderfully well...okay, the only thing he cooks but they are fantastic cookies!) I'm watching a couple of the neighbor kids so there are toys spread out all over the family room floor (reminding me how nice it is to be past that stage of life). I have a pile of invoices in front of me from my bookkeeping business and I'm trying to maintain this blog and figure out what to make for dinner all at the same time. In other words...my life is perfect...just the way it is. I have a wonderful husband, two fantastic boys, a dog that keeps me laughing, good friends and neighbors, and lots of projects to give me a feeling of purpose. Sometimes it all feels overwhelming but in reality it is my pot of gold. It is my life....and it's a great one!

Saying Goodbye

Monday starts a new era for our family. Troy is now officially Mr. Troy Morrell and no longer Master Sergeant Morrell. His retirement is official and although we had every expectation that he would be working somewhere else at this point in time we are excited at the prospects of civilian life. The military community is like a surrogate family and so its sad to think that we will no longer get new assignments taking us to exciting new places to meet new friends, etc... (Our youngest son, Josh, still asks when we are going to move back to England.) The great thing about it is that we can now choose what to do and where to go....exciting!!!

Try, try, try...

I was so excited having 2 weeks off at Christmas time and had high hopes of maintaining an excellent blog. January came with the realities of going back to work and the pandamonium that seems to follow. For all of you working moms my hat goes off to you. I have been working part-time for the past 6 months and still not sure how the rest of you do it. I have been offered full-time work but am digging in my heels for the time being with the hope that Troy will land a great job and I can go back to my old post as just being "mom". In the mean time, I'm going to make another attempt at the blog.

Christmas Newsletter

Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year! We hope this letter finds you well. Our family has had another busy and blessed year in 2008. We apologize for being so slow to write, however we do appreciate all of the letters and messages we get from our friends and family throughout the year.

There wasn’t a lot of travel or holiday for us in 2008. We spent some time camping in the deserts and finding many local things to do. The boys are constantly busy with school, scouts, sports and friends. As a family we seem to go in 4 different directions at once but we do find time to come together every now and then.

Joshua is in the middle of his sixth grade year. He finds his studies this year very boring and never has any homework. He is playing basketball this winter and is in the 11 year old scout program. He likes to help his dad with projects around the house and he is very mechanically minded. He is always helping dad tinker with the motorcycles. He has a lot of artistic talent and he reads books at a rate that most boys his age watch movies, sometimes 3 or 4 a week. He also takes very good care of his guinea pig Muddy.

Jonathan is in the middle of his 8th grade year and is a busy lad, too. He is taking tough classes at school and getting excellent grades. He is playing basketball on a city team and even tried out for the school team along with 70 other boys. He didn’t make the team but we are proud of him for giving it a go. Jonathan is very social, often found texting on his cell phone and very secretive about his school social life. He is the Deacons quorum President at church, was just promoted to 1st Class Scout, and is involved in school orchestra. He wakes up every day at 5:00am and delivers papers throughout the neighborhood on his bicycle before school. He has a very fat bank account and is extremely thrifty and is becoming very style conscious. He is now taller than his mom at 5’10” and wears a size 14 shoe. If his feet get any bigger we will have to special order his shoes.

Jennifer stays extremely busy and involved as usual. She is serving as 1st Councilor in the Young Women’s organization for the ward. She is the Treasurer for the PTA at the Junior High School and on the Community Council there as well. She has taken a job part time at Embry Riddle University at Hill Air Force Base and spends her mornings there registering students and assisting the faculty. She hasn’t slowed down a bit as a homemaker and neighborhood busybody. She is constantly fixing a meal or dessert for a sick neighbor or giving advice or job counseling. When she finds a spare minute (usually at 5:00 AM) she is on the phone or working on the books and bills for her brother’s emergency dental practice.

As most of you know Troy has retired from the Air Force this year. He is excited to be moving on to a new phase of life and enjoying a lot of time off during the holiday season. He has been applying for jobs on the base and we are hoping that something comes through soon. Our plans for now are to stay in Harrisville, but we are excited by the possibilities that civilian life has to offer. We can chose now where to live and when to leave, so who knows what is over the horizon?

We hope this finds you all well and happy and finding time to reflect on our Saviors birth and the joys of the Christmas season. May His light and love warm your hearts and homes this holiday season. Lots of love, Troy, Jennifer, Jonathan & Josh