Sunday, July 5, 2020

Father's Day!

We sure are lucky to have Riley in our life! There is nobody else I would rather be quarantined, locked inside Japan with. It honestly wasn't much of a Father's Day this year-- I attempted to make salmon and ended up throwing it away before it made it to the plates haha! Hopefully next year the food will be better, but the artwork was on point. I love you Riley!



We also had a special "zoom" online video call with Riley's family to celebrate Father's Day. All the siblings wrote poems about their dad and shared them together during the call. I was BLOWN away at the creativity and thoughtful words of each poem. Here is Riley's attached below. 
We love our Dads!


Dear dad

Today is your day they say 
Tribute and gifts we pay.

For you my dad, you’ve always lead 
Now apart, memories reign instead.

As I look back at the times we had l, I ponder 
Fully realizing the sacrifice, you grew stronger. 

How you did it all with such smile and fun 
Giving of your time til the sun was done.

Battling bills and mounting stress 
The ultimate test, you sought to pass.

The man of the house you lead with mom 
Working hard for a fresh new dawn. 

Being a father now of my own
Learning from you I set the tone. 

Much harder than I thought be
Lucky now to have you I see. 

The ultimate example you give
A Christ-like life you strive to live. 

So on this day we say thank you 
For who you are, much respect is due.

You’ve been our dad a family of eight 
All your love we now contemplate

All these things I have to say
But most important here to stay 

More happy days you will accrue
But today and everyday we love you. 

Happy Fathers Day. 

Sunday Strolls













Friday, July 3, 2020

THIRTY!


One of the ONLY movies I purchased for myself growing up was Jennifer Garner's '13 going on 30'! I thought it was so cute! I really should rewatch it now and verify this fact. At the time, I resonated with the little girl wishing to be older and now I'm officially thirty! Wow. 

I would not describe myself as "thirty, flirty and thriving," more like 'thirty and dying' haha, jk! That sounds a little drastic. Motherhood and life lately though, these months have been something else.

It is currently 3am, and everyone is sleeping but my mind is going, and insomnia is getting the best of me so thought I would write out my thoughts and maybe sleep would come.  

We are suppose to get on an airplane in a few weeks, but currently the boarders are closed and not possible to return to Japan because of covid. We are trying to figure out what to do and it's been quite the decision, if we decide to go it will be MONTHS before we can return home, potentially the rest of the year. I feel like it would be really, really good to have a change of scenery and see family and get help. However, being stuck and away from Japan would have several challenges too and the unknown. We've been fasting and praying, but need to make a decision soon.

Also, our new laptop fell from the couch to the floor and broke when Luke was doing one of his 'tricks.' It is over $800 dollars to fix it and so that is huge bummer and been extra frustrating to navigate that repair in Japan for some reason. 

Other thoughts include my YW girls. Pretty much every single girl is struggling with REALLY hard things right now and testimonies and its been really weighting on me and heavy. Not sure if I'm the right one for this calling, feeling hard to make time for calling and focus on girls.

YEP. Those are the things right now on my mind.. going to sleep now and hoping for better days ahead and clarity. 

Thursday, July 2, 2020

CHRONICLES OF CLAY- 5 MONTHS

 This month you started becoming mobile. I can't leave you laying on the bed or couch without you rolling or moving yourself around and would easily roll yourself off if I turned my back, we've had some close calls. You can sit up on your own for periods of time too and wouldn’t be surprised to see you crawling around next month. I ended up going off dairy this month and you've mellowed out and much more enjoyable to be around and nursing better. You love watching your brother and being tickled and talked too. You are a big fan of outside and being in the carrier on walks. If I sit or stand in one place too long though you will let me know to keep moving. You are very opinionated on everything and strong-willed. I didn't realize this was possible at five months! Love you Clay!