Peace in storms

After enjoying a cozy weekend of Conference, it was a little lonely going back to our new-- but we've been here 2 months!--ward.  Maybe because there were visitors for a baby blessing, maybe because people were sitting in different places, but it felt like there were more unfamiliar faces than familiar.  (My achy heart is feeling awful for all the new people I haven't reached out to more!)  I love that healing warmth that accompanies going to church, and as we sat down around so many people I still couldn't name, the warmth was lacking for me.  I realized though, that there HAVE been plenty of wonderful people; that I sometimes have emotional days linked very loosely to actual circumstances; and that I have TONS to be grateful for on the worst of days.  I tried not to be discouraged about how LONG it takes to build those bridges of familiarity and comfort, and then they pulled me out of Sunday School to sit in with the Sunbeams, since one teacher had a last minute emergency.  I walked in for the end of Singing Time, where our amazing Bro. Merrell was directing "Master the Tempest is Raging." This almost retired doctor sat from the front reminding them about the storm, so they sang those first lines upset, " Master, the tempest is raging!

                                      The billows are tossing high!

                                      The sky is o'ershadowed with blackness.

                                      No shelter or help is nigh." 

followed by those sweet voices hushing as they sang with peaceful growing power:

"The winds and the waves shall obey thy will:

  Peace, be still.

 Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea

 Or demons or men or whatever it be,

 No waters can swallow the ship where lies

 The Master of ocean and earth and skies.

 They all shall sweetly obey thy will:

 Peace, be still; peace, be still.

 They all shall sweetly obey thy will:

 Peace, peace, be still."

How ridiculous (and yet how unsurprising for me!) to be in tears just minutes into Primary, but after feeling a bit alone, it was like being ushered by personal angels to hear a message prepared just for my stormy heart.  The Primary skips to the peaceful 3rd verse, but imagine how reading the 2nd verse later made me feel, in regard to the Lord's awareness of, and ability to help, me!

" Master, with anguish of spirit

I bow in my grief today.

The depths of my sad heart are troubled.

Oh, waken and save, I pray!

Torrents of sin and of anguish

Sweep o'er my sinking soul,

And I perish! I perish! dear Master.

Oh, hasten and take control!"

Sometimes it takes those hard things to have more powerful blessings come, I guess (I should KNOW, but I am ever reluctant to admit it!).  I had my purse stolen a couple of weeks ago (out of our car parked in front of the house)--it seemed SO horrific at first, but when every company I called to get new cards issued from asked, "First, are you okay??" and I could answer assuredly, "Yes!" I could start to count my blessings again, and realize how much worse it could've been.  Before I was sure it was stolen, I prayed out loud for assistance, and almost unbidden, the words came out, "And if it is stolen, help me to be sure, so that I can take the right precautions quickly, but PLEASE let it not be stolen." Of all days, Brian had looked in the car the day before and seen it in the backseat, so he was able to positively confirm my suspicions that it had been taken.  Even in that sore spot, I had to acknowledge that I HAD been answered in my prayer!

Spencer and Lucy had a birthday party to go to one Friday, so Anne was feeling a bit left out.  Things seemed unfair at first, but we decided to take her on a date for our date-night, and off we went to Arctic Circle.  She was blown away, thinking Dad was kidding when he asked her (I know, right?--Brian Duncan joke??).  She said she felt like it was her birthday since we kept asking her what SHE wanted to do, or what her pick would be.  :)

She realized that sometimes those hard times CAN become the sweetest.

We've counted our blessings again, as Anne's great school teacher had her (YOUNG!) husband rushed to the hospital in SL after suffering a severe stroke! The parents of her teacher are in our ward (and are teachers as well-the mom is one of Emily's best!).  As the family sat in the hospital the first 48 hours, my heart weighed TONS remembering those moments waiting for Dad in the hospital 2 years ago! I could only think of all the great love we felt from ward members then, and tried sheepishly contacting the RS president in this ward we barely know, about putting together a basket of snacks and goodies to have in the hospital.  Then, as heavy as my heart was for this family, the knocks on my door NEVER stopped for the whole day, as people kept coming and coming to drop off goodies and cards and contributions and love.  It was such a gift to see those best sides of people and see that tangible love for these good people, and how small our concerns of any kind seemed the whole week! Thankfully, he's showing good signs of recovering (slowly), but it has been sweet to see Anne have someone to pray and fast so sincerely for, and a great reason to count our own blessings!

Her ice cream was as tall as her head!!

16 YEARS OF BRENT!!

It's taken me all summer to get used to having heavier footsteps, a deeper voice, and looming height around the house during hours Brian's gone! Brent has indeed been growing, and though he still may not love divulging his deepest loves and desires to his Mom, he has grown ever kinder to his siblings, more helpful in work at home, more thoughtful in his understanding, and even funnier with his dry wit, not to mention being a natural driver!  It is great having a teenage boy in the house, and WE LOVE BRENT!!

He spent the day before his birthday enjoying time with old friends in Syracuse, and though he woke up w/ a bit of a cold on his Sunday birthday, he made it to church to be ordained a priest, and Nathan's family came to join us for the occasion w/ dinner and cake afterwards.  The kids (go Emily!) put together a list of 16 reasons we love Brent, and along w/ a 10 lb bag of candy he begged for, he got a new ball and new shoes for those growing feet!

Settling In

Though our house is in a neighborhood, and the schools, store, library, and church are all within walking distance, this is also right around the corner, making for some pretty beautiful bike rides/runs!

As we get used to our new surroundings, it has been easy to find a lot to be thankful for! The girls have LIVED on the swingset, and it has been serious joy MOVING INTO a beautifully grown garden! Tons of sweet grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, rhubarb, and even pumpkins!--along w/ raspberry bushes, peach and plum trees!! It's kind of like peeking into our own
Garden of Eden, and there have been a few days, when sad or overwhelmed, I've walked out there, and felt like God is saying, "Look at these gifts--you are not forgotten!"

 We've done a little bit of bouncing back and forth to the South, as we make the separation gradual.  We thoroughly enjoyed our tickets (bought back around Father's Day) to Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion live at Red Butte Gardens.  (AND WERE DOUBLY GLAD WHEN WE FOUND OUT IT IS HIS LAST SEASON!) The weather, though stifling hot all day, was perfection from the minute we arrived--just the right amount of cloud and cool and breeze--we enjoyed a picnic of bbq pork, watermelon, and cookies :).  We went w/ super-dear friends Don & Ann Anderton, and just the company was worth the price of admission! Such a fun piece of Americana, and cool to stand with crowds singing patriotic folk hymns during the intermission--just so unique and entertaining!--fabulous musicians & just a fun night!-I could barely believe we were seeing him live after listening to him on the radio since I was little!!

 We also went back one Saturday for Anne's fiddling concert (and last time w/ GREAT teacher Leisha), and were able to meet up there with Dad & Kathy who were in town that day! The 3 oldest visited with old friends while we ran some errands around town, which they've loved being able to do here and there.

We've also enjoyed things here though:  Getting the kitchen situated (which turned out to be a fabulous joy since there is SO MUCH more storage space than we were used to--HEAVEN to be able to organize more easily!!)

 And we enjoyed Family night at the Rodeo during the week of county fair (we are 2 miles from the fairgrounds)--fun time and way to dive into a little of the local culture--a few of our neighbors' kids were mutton busting!

We found a violin teacher for Anne, got Spencer and Emily onto a soccer team together (a neighbor who is coaching invited us)

We have continued to be amazed by the kindness of everyone here--from the little shop that sold soccer shorts, to the workers who have come to fix the dryer, or get the plumbing ready in the basement, EVERYONE is so kind and friendly--as though we're all distant cousins or old school pals--it is amazing--I really had no idea places like this still existed! The teenagers in the neighborhood have come to take our older kids to make s'mores, to do hair, to visit the fair, to walk to firesides--it means the world to have people make such an effort to reach out!

Old friends have stayed connected too, which is such a balm for loneliness! Playgroup friends all came up one Thursday for sweet visiting time and quick lunch; Whitman's stopped by on a Saturday afternoon; Ann Anderton came on her way to Logan for a little visit, and old friend (from GA years!) Kellie Nuss joined us for Sunday dinner while she was in town from Maryland! We've also enjoyed being closer to family, and had a fun dessert time w/ Scott, JoAnn, Matt, Jake & Tressa one Sunday, as well as a visit to Kurt's house one Saturday.

Kellie, Charlotte, Lucy

It has been a bit tricky as we (STILL) wait to finish off the details of the basement bathroom, last bedroom, and carpet! (all the local builders are busy finishing houses before winter sets in), but we managed to get everyone registered for school in time (Brent was laughing between poses, determined not to smile for anything school related!), even straightening out high school schedules, and having the 3 youngest girls in one (not very large) room hasn't robbed them of ALL their sleep.  Some moments are sweet to have them so close, as has been enjoying more time together with everyone upstairs.  (not so sweet that we're wishing not to have this work done, but glad the waiting's not all bad ;) ). 

First day of school!

Lucy's first day of school (a week later)

Anne & Lucy holding hands in sleep

MOVING DA..Z...E

This moving adventure has been a lesson of Opposition in All Things! The minute we see one miracle:  SELLING OUR HOME AND FINDING A NEW ONE IN TIME FOR SCHOOL,
we are then faced w/ frustrating complications:

DELAY OF CLOSING AND A 3RD PARTY SELLER WHOSE POLICY STRICTLY FORBIDS USE OF EVEN A GARAGE BEFORE CLOSING, making us AND all of our things homeless for 7 days.

Still, even that difficulty turned out to be a blessing:  spacing out the HUGE loading up job and the equally HUGE unloading.  We put EVERYthing into storage pods, which we emptied a week later, instead of renting a truck to fill and empty TWICE in 24 hours.


MOVING STINKS!! & IS EXHAUSTING & OVERWHELMING ON EVERY LEVEL!! but SAVING help from SIL Stacey & FAMILY got us ahead of schedule and out by Friday night, instead of Sat at noon!! & our SUPERWARD CLEANING AND LIFTING AND LOADING FOR HOURS MADE IT HAPPEN!!

I had to adjust my plans to include packing suitcases for all of us, but Our dryer kept breaking down the day I was trying to pack up our last clothes!! (love that my ward members got to see the worst corners of my life AND dirty laundry strewn everywhere!!--what chaos!! Life is humbling!!), but I DID manage to reset the thermostat to keep it working, at least temporarily (and throwing my schedule off by even more hours!).  We filled up 12 storage pods (8'x5'x7'), and worked from dawn to dark for days.  Even as we walked out of our garage for the last time, THE GARAGE DOOR GOT STUCK!! (and we didn't even have a chair to climb up to fix it!!, but our neighbor helped, and we got it back to working :).

We drove straight to Idaho that night--arriving around midnight, to stay w/ Brian's parents for the weekend. We were so grateful they let us crash and enjoy sweet Idaho summertime! -esp. when we got a call the first morning that our storage pods had been (minorly) vandalized!!

Grandpa teaching grandkids how to play Sorry

Brian playing on slide at park picnic

We left early Monday morning to drop off Brian at work, and then move our caravan to Nate & Stacey's back in Syracuse.  (What would we do w/o great family?!!?) 

We finally closed on our new house Wed, then were able to get the keys Thursday morning and start unloading the storage units that had already been dropped off.  Later that day, OUR AMAZING NEW WARD started trickling in until there was nearly a mob of men, women, and children unloading all 12 pods in less than 2 hours!!--Then came baskets of fruit, and more plates of chocolate chip cookies than we could count--for days!! 
It is hard to start new, and be a total stranger, especially when we realized the carpets needed to be cleaned before we could move anything in AND our dryer broke for good once we moved in (not a big deal with OVER A WEEK OF 9 PEOPLE'S LAUNDRY!!!)
but we are surrounded by goodness in kind and welcoming people--teenagers inviting ours out often, and children to play with, and nearly everyone expressing genuine joy at having us here, and making us feel SO welcome!