Changes

I guess I could have written this post a long time ago, but I figured I would wait until things were more settled. As many people have heard, we are moving in a couple weeks. We were so excited about Jeff's new job when he finished residency. We thought it looked like a great opportunity in a great area. Well, a few months into the job we realized it wasn't quite what we had hoped for. Without going into great detail, there were things Jeff didn't like about the job and they weren't going to be changing anytime soon. The first six months after residency were extremely stressful, probably some of the most of our entire married life. It was frustrating since we had just moved and gotten settled. We didn't have any other plans, and the kids were settled into schools etc, so we decided that we would just stay in the area and stick it out for a while. Meanwhile we started looking at many different options, trying to figure out what we should do. It seems interesting that some of the most stressful times in life, can also bring about times of enormous spiritual growth and increased faith. I really don't want to relive the stress, but I'm grateful for the positive spiritual aspects that came about at the same time.

In September/October Jeff was approached by a hospital that had approached him with a job opportunity right after residency. At the time he didn't feel quite ready for their proposal so he declined the interview and opportunity. Well, they were contacting him again to see if there was any chance he would still be interested in the job. They were also hiring another ophthalmology specialist, a lady who happened to be LDS as well. This time, he started to consider it and so in November, Jeff and I (with Emily) flew out for a few days for Jeff to interview and look at the area. We had a great experience and felt good about the opportunity. In December, Jeff signed the contract. It really was a miracle the way that everything worked out. They had never advertised the job, they got a hold of Jeff's resume and approached him. When he declined the first time, they decided to just wait on starting up the new practice. When the other doctor contacted them a couple months later to see if they were still interested, they decided to go ahead with it, and decided to call Jeff again. Although we were confused at the time why so many things weren't working out with his current job, we really believe it needed to be that way in order to point us in a new direction. My dad once told me of a story about a general authority who shared an experience of when he was traveling somewhere and running low on gas. At one point he came to a forked road, and didn't know what road he was supposed to take. He prayed about what direction he should drive, felt good about a particular road way and went that direction. Pretty soon he came to a dead end. He wondered why he had felt prompted to take that road when all it did was lead him to a dead end. Then it occurred to him that maybe coming to the dead end was the quickest way the Lord could have shown him where the correct road was. At that point, he was able to turn around and drive the correct way, and made it to his destination before running out of fuel.

We've felt kind of like this driver, wondering why we felt good about the job Jeff originally took, when it so quickly proved to be a 'dead end.' Sometimes you start to question yourself or promptings you've received. But everything has worked out and we know that Heavenly Father has been guiding us all along. We are excited about this new opportunity, and know that it probably wouldn't have worked out the way it has had Jeff's job been working out ok. Fortunately, Jeff's current employer was very thoughtful and understanding. He was sad to see Jeff go and told him he'd love to have him back if the new job didn't work out, but he thought Jeff was making a good choice with the new opportunity as well. I'm so glad that he is leaving his job on good terms with everyone.

I have loved seeing Jeff so excited about this new job. It seems like it's going to be a great opportunity that Jeff has dreamed about doing for years. The hospital will basically be setting up a brand new practice and Jeff and the other doctor (who we've met & really enjoy her and her family) will run the practice. Jeff will be able to have nice, new equipment and run the practice the way he'd like, the salary and benefits are much better than his job now, he'll have a lot more vacation time, and best of all they offer a student loan repayment program- basically upon signing the contract, they sent a check to cover half our student loans. (That was entertaining to deposit at the bank) It's a four-year commitment, but at this point we've done so much moving that staying for 4 years in one place sounds like a dream! We're sad to be further away from our families again, but we feel so grateful for this opportunity.

Budding Photographer

(This one is my favorite! At 5, he's already perfecting the self-portrait:)

Caleb is our little photographer. He is always asking if he can take pictures with the camera, and sometimes trying to sneak it out of the cupboard. Once in a while, I'll give him our little point-and-shoot camera and let him take pictures. It's always entertaining to see what he comes up with. Sometimes he'll get some pretty cool shots. I love to see the pictures of his favorite toys, siblings, and other random items.

Happy Birthday Emily

Happy Birthday Emily!

It was so fun to celebrate Emily's birthday this year. I will admit, I was pretty excited to be able to decorate with pink, girly things! I found some cute, bright flowery wrapping paper and plates that coordinated great with all the balloons, crepe paper, flowers, etc. The boys were excited to help me with her cupcakes and cake. I decided to just do a cake with cupcakes rather than a big cake.

The Cupcakes

I'm not a pro, but I thought her cake turned out cute

She seemed to like it too!

The whole spread

Emily's whole birthday outfit complete with the new birthday sandals. Little girl clothes are so much fun! (especially when you find pieces on sale for under $5)

Emily also shared her birthday with BYU's basketball game. She was patient enough to wait for BYU to pull out a win against Gonzaga- taking BYU to the Sweet 16 before we started the party with the Colemans. We enjoyed a yummy dinner, then did presents. Emily knew EXACTLY what she was supposed to do, and had a lot of fun ripping the paper off her presents. I'm sure it's from watching her brothers. It was pretty funny to watch.


She got some fun little things- she didn't need much- but it was fun to pick out some pajamas, sandals, and a couple toys. Jeff really wanted to get her a "My Little Pony" toy and got it himself. I thought that was cute. Emily got some cute outfits, books, and pajamas from grandparents as well. I think she was pretty happy with everything. I loved watching how excited she got over her new sandals- she's definitely a girl! I think the hardest thing was trying to keep Matthew from taking all the new toys- apparently he liked all the new toys too!
The best part of the evening though was definitely watching her with the cake! We've never really had a child dig into their cake, and I was really hoping Emily would! She thought the candle was pretty cool, the boys helped her blow it out. When we first put the cake in front of her, she didn't really know what to do. At first she was just intrigued by the hole left in the top by the candle. She started by sticking her finger in it, then she finally took a little taste and decided she like it. She kept putting her finger back in and just tasting the little bit on the end of her finger, then she'd laugh. Pretty soon she really started to dig into it. She didn't really eat the cake, she just liked playing in it. (I was happy- that would have been a lot of sugar to ingest!) It was so funny to watch her play in the cake- we were all laughing. She didn't seem to like the sticky stuff all over her hands, but she did have fun tearing the cake apart and gave everyone a pretty good show.

It was such a fun birthday to celebrate. We're so grateful for our sweet little princess.

Happy Birthday Emily!

One Year

Look who is one year old! Emily turned a year old on March 19th. I figured it would be a good excuse for a photo shoot a couple days before her birthday. We sure love this sweet little girl and can't believe we've already had her in our family for a whole year.

Emily at one year

19.3 pounds (18th percentile)

28.5 Inches (24th percentile)

- She finally has enough hair to do little piggy tails and I love them! They're so adorable.

-She is definitely showing major girly characteristics. She loves little dolls, and loves to hold and cuddle things like babies. She also loves to put things on her arms like bracelets. One of her favorites it to take shoes with straps, put them on her arms and carry them around like a purse. She also likes to comb her hair and put shoes on. I love it!

- She still loves to tag along with her brothers and tries to do whatever they do.

- She is now a pro at going up and down stairs, which makes it much easier for her & me!

- She loves broccoli. Sometimes I think she could eat a whole pound by herself!

- She is starting to jump. She does pretty well and can sometimes jump getting both feet off the ground. Then she laughs and thinks she's pretty cool. She also loves to climb up and jump on the beds, jump on trampolines, etc.

- She's not quite big enough to turn the carseat around, but we're so excited to be able to turn it around soon! I'm sure it will make car trips more enjoyable.

-She always wants to go outside and play.

-Apparently she loves coconut. She's always trying to break into my cooking bin to get out the package of coconut.

-She loves animals and gets so excited when she sees any!

-She's starting to have a pretty impressive tantrum when she's upset. Sometimes she's got a little attitude!

-She still loves dancing to music. Every night we sing a few songs before bedtime, and she'll usually start to dance and giggle.

-She is such a snuggle bug and loves to be held, loved, and cuddled. I'm so glad and hope that she never grows out of that!

-She loves her brothers almost as much as they all love her. They take such good care of her and love to play with her and make her happy. She is one lucky girl!
- She absolutely loves her blanket. She has two pink, super soft blankets that she loves. She always has to sleep with them and loves to cuddle with them.
-She likes to clap when she's happy or done something she's proud of.

-I love her cute little squinty faces and her darling dimples. She is such a funny little girl. We sure love this little sweetheart!

Grandpa's 80th Birthday

On Saturday, March 12^th, the Haworth family had a birthday party for Grandpa Haworth who was turning 80! Jeff had to stay home to study for his big board certification exam, but I didn’t want to miss it so the kids and I drove down on Thursday afternoon. I only did 4 hours on Thursday (about half the trip), but I hit a blizzard and icy roads, so it was nice to stop for the night at my parents.

Friday morning I got up early and we went the rest of the 4.5 hours. I stopped on the way to see my cousin Michelle and her cute kids at their house for lunch. It was so fun to let the kids get out and play with each other. We both have four kids, and they currently happen to be exact ages (7, 5, 3, baby) until a few of them have birthdays. Michelle was my best friend cousin on the Haworth side. We spent a lot of time together growing up and have a lot of fun memories. Now that we live far away from each other, we don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like so it was fun to be able to spend the afternoon together.

The kids had a blast running, racing, and rolling down the big hill- missing Joseph, and the two babies of course.

From there, I headed to my Grandma and Grandpa Haworths. It was so fun to be back. Once again, growing up we spent a lot of time on their farm. I can’t imagine my childhood without my grandparent’s farm or the Benson Ranch. It just doesn’t seem like a child can grow up right without them!

Friday night was a travel day for most of the family, people came into town from all over. All 7 daughters were able to come! We did miss some of the spouses and cousins, but when the group gets this big, it's hard to find a time that works for everyone. Debbie and Kathy were the master planners and divided people up between grandpa and grandma's house and the Porter's place. It was also exciting because Grandma Hiller was able to come on Saturday and spend the night as well. She doesn't travel around as much, but we all love having her. It was wonderful having her there with everyone.

On Saturday, Debbie had the great idea to reserve the church for the day since we don't all fit comfortably into one house anymore. It was such a blast. We started out by playing basketball and games in the gym. The church worked perfectly- not only was there plenty of space for everyone, the kids were able to run around, the meal situation worked out perfectly, and we were even able to put babies down for naps in quiet, empty classrooms.

Emily loved the basketball- she was so excited

Once she grabbed a hold of a ball, she wouldn't put it down!

Matthew thought Grandma's chair looked like fun- he probably would have take it for a ride if I hadn't been watching him.

I just loved being able to see so many family members again. We've been so far away for so long, and everyone is so spread out that we don't see each other even close to what we'd like. Our family has always been very close Everyone truly loves each other and loves to be together. I'm so grateful to be a part of such a wonderful family. I have so many fun memories as a child, and it's fun to see all our kids playing and getting along so well with each other too. We didn't end up leaving the church until about 8pm Saturday night.

Tiffany, Heidi, Me

We were so lucky to be able to have Rita with us as well! She had come into town to visit Tom & Kristie and was a good sport to join the group. In fact, she shared a room with the boys and I at Grandma's house. She is a blast and I've pretty much adopted her as my 3rd mother!

1. Kathy & Tammi 2. Aubrey, Cole, Michael

3. Kolby, Cole & Tiffany 4. Joseph, Londyn, Matthew

1. Terri, Mom 2. Debbie, Michelle, Allie

3. Grandma, Me 4. Robyn, Heidi, Lauren

We had a blast playing dodgeball, running races, playing baseball, basketball, and other fun activities in the gym.

Emily definitely got spoiled with all the attention from aunts, and cousins. She loved it. She really loves her aunt Tammi

Michelle and I with our babies- Emily and Allie. I'm sure these two will be great little cousin buddies just like their mommies!

Grandpa and Grandma with Grandpa's birthday cake. You'd never know that he turned 80- he's still working the farm and keeping as active as ever. I hope I'm the same way when I hit 80!

Lilah, Tom, Cole, Houston & Becca

Robyn (6), Kathy (2), Sherri (4), Tammi (5), Debbie (1), Heidi (7), Terri (3)

All seven daughters sang a beautiful musical number at our little 'talent show' and in church on Sunday. It was beautiful! Just like all seven daughters!

Sunday morning we had church at 11. It was a beautiful meeting. The highlight was definitely when all seven daughters got up and sang a special musical number- the same on they had done at the talent show the day before. It was a beautiful number that really brought the spirit. I was just amazed at how beautiful, wonderful, spiritual, and close these 7 sisters are. I know why Grandma and Grandpa are so proud of their daughters, and I'm grateful to be related to all of them! I was also glad that Emily chose to wait until after the musical number to bonk her head on the bench and start crying, I missed the rest of the meeting.


After church we gathered back at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a yummy lunch- we did squeeze everyone together for this one, but it was a comfortable cozy. The only sad part was that this was about the time we had to start saying goodbyes. Most people had to leave by about 6pm. Dad had to leave Saturday, but luckily that meant that Mom and Cole got to ride home with me. I wanted to go the whole 9 hours, but by the time we arrived at Mom & Dad's, it was already midnight and I didn't think I could make it. So we spent the night, and left early the next morning. It was a lot of driving time (17+ hours total) but so worth it to be able to spend a couple days with the Haworth family.