Desire to do some journaling

The world has changed so much since I last posted something. We now use instagram, etc, but for some reason I went back here and really enjoyed reading the little stories about when Madeline and Gigi were little. I don't have nearly enough stories about all that has happened since I stopped blogging. Gigi is now 14 and Madeline is 11 and we have 3 more kids. We have not been nomadic for quite some time, but we will be again in a few months. We have been living in Philadelphia for many, many years and planned to stay here indefinitely, but God had other plans for us. In August we found out that David's company would be sold and that he would likely be out of a job at some point. So he started looking. It felt like my worst fear coming to light. I have always been terrified of joblessness and the consequences it brings wtih it and it was coming. To make matters worse it happened during the covid pandemic so looking and interviewing would be different if harder. David reached out to all of his contacts, including 2 head hunters and no bites. He didn't even get an interview for a few weeks. We knew it would take time, but was so stressful. During a late night search David came across a potential job that seemed like a great fit, but he knew that the likelyhood that he would hear anything would be really slim simply because of the number of applicants etc. He was able to find a different head hunter and reached out. She responded immediately that he did seem like a great fit. She happened to be the only headhunter working with this company and put David's name in the ring. The next day he had an interview and then went onto round 2. Within 2 weeks he was given the offer. This news was such a blessing. All of my worry and prayers had reached God. He not only helped David find another job, but helped him find a perfect fitting job in a city that our entire family has been anxious to move to. We will be moving to DC in a few months, but in the meantime will be traveling around since our home in Philadelphia sold so quickly. It all seems like a wonderfully fantastic dream. Because of the pandemic everything is virtual right now so we are taking advantage of it. We will be moving to Florida for a few months and then hopefully Canada. I have had my testimony strengthened yet again that God hears our prayers. David has searched for a new job endlessly for the past 4 or 5 years and has gotten close to getting a new one, but never did. It seemed like the lord wasn't answering our prayers and we couldn't understand why. WHen we needed the change the lord provided at the perfect time in the perfect way. I am gratefule for this change that not only strengthened my testimony, but I believe my children's as well. We have been united in prayer and desire and can always remember this wonderful time.

Sunday in LA

It's very early California time, but around 9:30 am on the east coast. How ironic that I often have a hard time staying awake in sacrament meeting but when in a different place I can't sleep during it. :)

I'll write about a small miracle that happened last night on my trip to Los Angeles. I came for a week of industry meetings that start on Monday, but I flew in on Saturday. Around 5 pm California time (which was hours later Eastern time), I was hungry for dinner. After I walked the half-mile from my hotel to the nearest place to eat, I had a very slight feeling/thought that I should wait a couple of hours to eat dinner. I couldn't be sure, but it seemed enough like a prompting from the Spirit that I decided it would be better to follow it. It made sense to me that Heavenly Father might want me there to eat dinner when other people from our company finally arrived. (I did quickly get a slice of pizza but planned to come back later for a real meal.)

Several other things came up in the meantime, so I didn't make it back for dinner until it was late. The restaurant in our hotel had already closed (even though the hours sign said they should be open), so I walked the distance to the food court I had found earlier. As I walked in, I noticed all the shops were closing. I panicked because it was almost midnight for me and I still hadn't eaten dinner. Fortunately, there was a small hamburger place in the corner that stayed open. I got my food, sat down at one of the two tables, and was thankful that my choice to delay hadn't become a big problem.

A few minutes later, a man came in to order food, and I was very surprised by who it was. He's the head of one our biggest competitors. He's worked in the industry for a very long time, he's a high profile person at these meetings, and he's always been too busy (or important) to return a call or an email from me over the years when I've tried. He was wearing tennis shoes and a t-shirt and looked tired from traveling. We recognized each other, he sat down, and I moved over to his table. It would have been awkward to not talk since our little tables were so close to each other and we were the only people there. We had a great conversation! It was such a relaxed situation that we talked about each other's families and background and interesting things happening lately. We were just two guys hanging out having a burger. We even stayed to talk a little after we finished and then walked back to our hotels, which were close to each other. I felt like we made a real connection, which was a godsend before heading into a week of stressful, crowded meetings full of debates over complicated issues. It was amazing for me to spend 30 or 40 minutes with a person who I couldn't get 5 minutes with in any other way.

It was a miracle that I was in that place at that time and in those circumstances, which only happened because of a very faint feeling/thought that I had followed with faith hours earlier. The Holy Ghost is real, and He communicates to us small but key droplets of guidance from our Heavenly Father who is trying desperately to bless us in every way in our lives. But He still makes us listen and exercise our faith. I'm learning more and more how important (and great) it is to do that.

Christmas 2011

Here are a couple of videos from Christmas for Grandparents.



Madeline finally discovered her cartoon namesake after Grandma Payne gave her this doll. We listen to the song and read the books too many times a day. But she loves it so much.



Grandpa Parent gave them the perfect gifts, kid-friendly digital cameras. You can hear Gigi is upset about Madeline's because she didn't know she had one coming too.



This is Gigi opening her digital camera and thanking Grandpa. Now she has a toy camera instead of using our camera as a toy.

Grandma Parent was generous as always but we opened her presents with her on the phone. She got the live audio version :)

Madeline turns 2

A few months ago Madeline turned 2! We are so excited for her to be such a big girl. When she turned 2 she was certain that she was 5 and when asked would reply that she was 5, not 2 :) She loves playing whatever game her big sister is playing.

Don't ask me what they are doing here :)

She has quite a serious disposition and loves to observe, but is learning to let loose a little more and is taking up dancing. Usually this involves moving her arms up and down and stomping, but she is really proud of herself. She is speaking in sentences now, but only around people she is extremely comfortable with. Anyone who has watched her thinks that she doesn't say anything, but as soon as she is around us she starts jabbering.

We love our little Madeline! For her birthday Madeline really wanted to have a Dora birthday party. Dora is the only show that she will watch on tv. She will sit down and watch an entire episode, but if anything else is on she has zero interest in it. We had a few friends over (Miles, Simon, Emma and Preslee) and went on a Dora the explorer search for the treasure chest. It was really fun! We went over the river and through the candy forest and found the treasure chest, which had party hats and a birthday cake inside.

She insisted on a dora backpack cake. This was what I came up with.

Madeline and her friends, Simon, Miles and Preslee. Emma didn't want to get in the picture.

Enjoying cake and ice cream. Look at Madeline holding the juice all by herself. She's growing up!

The only picture of her with her presents. She got tons of fun stuff. Thanks everyone. Also, Candy and Tony came out for her party. Thanks guys!


We took a lot of little videos during the party, but in my opinion this was the best one. I love that David will be silly with his kids!

Proof that Madeline loved her party! She is sometimes so serious it's hard to tell if she's enjoying herself. I love this video :)

Job news, but it's not what you think...

Quick update:
So after about 8 months of searching we finally felt like I should look for a job.
The search was actually a little stressful for me because out here in Philly there aren't a lot of nursing jobs. I applied to places all over! In the city and near us in the burbs. We went to the temple and prayed about whether or not I should take a job out here or if we should move, but we felt like I should try to get a job here. When we got back out to our car I had a message waiting for an interview.
I ended with 3 interviews in the same week and got the job that I really wanted. I was really worried that I would have to work in a scary place in the city, but I will be working in a hospital aobut 2-5 minutes from us in a med/surg floor just like the one where I worked before. It's not easy work, but they really need people who care and so I'm excited to work there. I will be working full time nights (which as a nurse is just 3 12(7pm-7am) hour shifts). Even though I don't love the idea of working the lord has provided the best possible job for me and our family!
I will be starting in May right after David finishes classes. On the same day that I was offered the job I also got an offer to teach violin at a music store. It will just be a few hours on Saturday. I am up to about 12 students with the possibility of 3-4 more. I feel so blessed to be able to do what I love, which is teach violin. Helping sick people isn't so bad either :)
We prayed for work and the lord has provided it, just not in the way we expected.
We are still hoping and praying that David gets a job soon, but in the mean time at least we can live comfortably here. Plus now we don't have to leave Philly so soon! It really is an awesome city. Come visit us!!
Hopefully I'll get some posts up soon. Maddie had a really fun 2 year old birthday party and we have a hamster. More to come soon I promise.

Just for fun!

Gigi and Madeline love playing with their friends Ada and Simon. Their mom Jenny and I often switch off running together and so our kids are super close. On a recent visit I captured these sweet shots of them:



Then they became really silly:



I think this one of Simon is my favorite! He still has the cheese cracker evidence in his mouth.

At first Madeline just laughed at me when I asked her to stick her tongue out.

She finally figured it out :)
I guess I got a little silly too:

Just thought you might want to see our awesome tongues :)

Oh I decided to put this one up of Gigi. I love flinging my kids around. Don't worry I don't do it with anyone else's kids I promise!

Gigi violin update

Gigi has been practicing really hard on the violin lately! We usually get in 30-45 minutes a day during Madeline's nap. She has just learned O Come Little Children. Here it is for your listening pleasure :)