Decisions, decisions!

Well things are happening on the job search front and we're pretty excited about it all! Aaron got his first job offer last week, in a town called Delta Junction, Alaska. He visited that town a year and a half ago and he really likes it. My favorite thing about that town? It is connected, by roads, to other places! And after a couple of telephone interviews, Aaron was invited for some in person interviews/ site visits. He got more invitations than we could squeeze in, actually. This week, we're leaving to check out two places: a tiny town called Medicine Bow, WY, not too far from my family in Denver (about 3 1/2 hours) and Kotzebue, AK, yes, the one in the Arctic Circle. Aaron convinced me not to knock it 'til I tried it. Culbertson, the little town where Aaron is now doing his final rotation, may have a position for him, but it's up in the air. As much as we are all loving this area, we don't feel like we should just wait around for possibilities and let definite offers pass us by. So when we fly back into Denver, we're going to spend the evening in the temple and hopefully decide where we'll be spending the next few years of our lives! We know the Lord will guide us in the future as He has the past. It'll feel so good to decide and move from the job searching mode into the move planning mode.

Siblings

Just being the goofy kids I know and love, a couple Sunday's ago. The beauty of it is, even if mom and dad don't think they're funny, they think each other are hilarious. Last night after I tucked them in, I heard them laughing uproariously about I-can-only-imagine what. I walked up to their closed door to eavesdrop and heard Xander whisper: "Shhhh, Elodie! We almost got in big trouble." I'm so glad they get to share a room.

This afternoon, Xander and Elodie were playing "Mom & Dad." Xander was the son. Named Christopher. Elodie was the mom, as usual. Named Chelsea. She first told me she was 19, but when I suggested that was a bit young for a mom, she threw out 38. Sounds good. As Xander was carrying around his big black clothes bin loaded with additional essential items, he informed me: "I'm carrying this because I'm 18 and I'm going to college to study foot fungus." Good thing he thought to pack a Nerf gun and the purple laptop. He was set. His mom, Chelsea, was very helpful with packing him up and getting him all ready to go. Although she did disagree with Christopher about who got to drive on their way to college, but I guess those power struggles are

normal between a mom and her barely adult son. Chelsea let her son know she was still the mom and he would not be driving, even if he was the one who grabbed the keys from Hazel, who was playing contentedly in her exersaucer. See? Cute, huh? (Her big brother recently learned to make paper boats, which can be shaped nicely into hats. This one from his daily math worksheet was just the right size for Hazel.)

I was making dinner and enjoying the entertainment. Foot fungus was the first thing that popped into your mind as something to study, huh? I love it! Aw, what would my kids do without each other? On one of Xander's school papers he brought home last week, he had written, "I like to play with my sister." Aren't siblings the best.

Speaking of siblings, today was a big first on the sisterhood front. It was the first day that Hazel and Elodie shared clothes. Sure, pretty much all of Hazel's clothes are hand-me-downs from Elodie. But today is the first time Elodie tried wearing something of Hazel's. Hazel was wearing these little jeans this morning before a nice up-the-back incident if you know what I mean. This afternoon, the jeans were just lying on the floor. Elodie tried them on and loved them. She said she looked "just like a mom" in them. Which to her is a very good thing. Unlike being cute. She is "tired of being called cute. Hazel is cute."

Yeah, they are size 3 months. But they almost look like they were meant to fit that snug! Elodie said they were comfortable, too, and wore them the rest of the evening. Oh, the memories. I loved sharing clothes with my sisters. I remember feeling proud the first time I was finally big enough for Marliese to ask to borrow a shirt from me. It felt like such a compliment. Like I actually had something cute enough for my super cool big sister to wear.

And come on, check out what my kids are wearing. Like it's summer around here or something! I will say, 40 degrees never felt warmer to me either. It's pretty amazing how quickly one can acclimate and become completely nuts!

Dream Big

El: Did you wanna be a Mom when you growed up?

Me: Yep, I did.

El: I wanna be a princess when I grow up.

Me: How do you do that?

El: You just study, and that's all.