Three More Weeks

Three more weeks until baby Salem is due to make her entrance. In the interim, we are busy preparing to welcome her--mostly getting the house in order. The kids are ecstatic to have a little sister, and cannot wait till she's finally here. Mali says she's going to "take care of my baby sista," and put Salem in her bed with her... I'm expecting a fair amount of teaching that will need to happen about proper baby treatment, at least for the first few month's of little Sal's life.

Since I'm a lame-o blogger, much has happened since my last post. What can I say, there's always a child that needs attention, food, a diaper changing (no Mali, is NOT potty trained yet, much to my chagrin!), an intervention, a book reading, ect. ect., so blogging, along with many other things (like Facebook posting), are not really on my priority list. I don't think that making time for blogging will get any easier once a fourth child graces our presence.

Christmas was spent here, at home, with visits by Uncles Samuel & Elias & Aunt Becky. Of course, cousins McKenzie, Kyle, and James, were also a part of the holidays. We also got to see Uncle Nate & Aunt Kristen & cousin Avery. We always love to see our relatives, and it was nice that we didn't have to actually go anywhere to do so.

Some GREAT news that has rocked our world.

I mentioned Joseph's interview with JAG-Air Force in the last post. We were told the verdict would be out at the end of January. We were blessed with an early Christmas present when Joseph received a phone call from Lieutenant so and so a few days before Christmas to let Joseph know that the board had made their decision regarding appointments, and Joseph had been accepted to JAG, his position pending his passing the BAR exam in July. We were aware the JAG, particularly the Air Force has become quite competitive in recent years (blame it in the economy, everyone's scrambling for good, stable jobs) and so making it into JAG was a long-shot. But thanks to a good resume, an excellent letter of recommendation from one of Joseph's law professors and mentors (also an ex-JAG guy himself), a great LSAT score, and probably the most important, good interviewing skills, Joseph was one of 10 in the country (of 350 applicants, which amounts to a 3.5% hiring rate) to be accepted. We are definitely proud of all the hard work he has put into the past decade to get him where he is.

We don't have a lot of details about were we will be assigned, but what we do know is that once he passes the BAR, he'll become a commissioned officer and will enlist for four years (with the option of re-enlisting at the end of four years). This means we'll be assigned anywhere there is an Air Force base, here in the states or overseas. I've always wanted to travel, so I suppose here's my chance! We won't know where we will need to move to first until the fall. In the mean time, I'll have a baby, we'll put our house up for sale (and sell it), Joseph will graduate, study and take the bar, all the while working (I'm still teaching at the MTC and UVU & Joseph is also working for Kaplan, although no longer at the D.A.'s office in SLC) and caring for our three, soon to four kids.

Right now I'm reading President Monson's biography. I am amazed to read and learn about the many many life experiences that he has had that have shaped into the prophet he is today. I know why he is a man of compassion, charity, and faith. I can see how Heavenly Father has guided his life and his decisions. It's really quite amazing to see how when we put our faith in the Lord, he can tailor fit our lives to be what they need to be so we can become the people we need to, to further His work. Since we've been married, Joseph and I have always been greatly blessed temporally and spiritually. We've never wanted for anything, despite both having pursued higher education and had four children all the while. We have worked hard on all accounts (Joseph and I have nearly the whole time we've been married both had one or more jobs at the same time), but no doubt God has filled in the gaps.

For that, we are very, very grateful.