This and That

First things first, David is still out of work. But, I need to say that his being out of work was supposed to happen. It has been such a wonderful blessing for us and for other people as well. We haven't struggled the way I know so many people are who have lost work. He has worked on several side jobs, one of which was from a client he hasn't worked for in 8 years! My testimony grows when I see the Lord's hand in our life on a daily basis. Yes, we are living on unemployment of $480/ week but we have so much more that makes us happy. I don't know if I mentioned it on my blog before, but we received a bit of advice from David's sister a couple of years ago on how we could make it through the recession and always have food on the table (She received the counsel from her Stake President via an apostle).

1. go to the temple two times/ month
2. Pay a full tithe
3. Double your fast offerings

We have followed this counsel and have been so blessed because of it. There have been three families who have needed David's "handyman" abilities desperately and he wouldn't have been able to help had he still been working. That is why I believe David needed to be out of work at this time. I have also LOVED having him home to keep me company, to see movies with, to go out to lunch, and to run errands with. It's been a blessing, I tell ya!

We have been busy the past couple of weeks and I actually brought along my camera to a couple of them so I thought I'd share what we've been doing!

The kids tracked out March 7th and don't go back to school until April 4th. We went to watch Narnia at the $1.50 theater and made our track-out homage to Marbles when it was $2/ person.




This past weekend I took the kids up to MD because my sister was flying out from UT. I couldn't have her be on my side of the country and not visit her! I tried to keep them busy up there as well. I took them to Clara Barton's home and to Glen Echo Parkwhere they were able to work on their Junior Ranger handbooks. We went to DC to go to the zoo, but there was no parking to be found. So, we drove around showing the kids the sites and parked near the Jefferson Memorial. After a while, we left and went to a park in MD I grew up visiting, Cabin John Regional Park. Twice we visited the South Germantown Park, and went to their swim center on Saturday afternoon.





After the pool time, we went to visit my Grandmother in Bethesda. She lives alone and is always full of stories and laughs to share.



I missed so many times of having my camera around, especially to take a picture of my sister, her husband, or even my parents. I'm so lame! I do need to say my kids were AMAZING on this trip. To say I was apprehensive about taking them up there alone would have been a tremendous understatement. But it was fabulous. I would do it again. There, I said it. I could, and would do it again!!