I'm trying to think of everything I might want to say to you all. It seems that these days there are truly so many more of us. Seems that there is so much more work for our rightouse men to help our Father in Heaven accomplish. I've been so blessed to have met several of you over the year and have been so impressed by the strength and spirit you carry. I've been beyond THRILLED to see that our Blog has a follower! YAY! You all work so hard and are the most amazing mothers and wives. Not to mention of course amazing examples of love and compassion for me. I've seen myself grow and prosper with your example. You'll NEVER know how much I love and appreciate you..... ALL of you!
Our year as a family was a bit more trying than I expected to say the least. My husband learned Russian which was also fun for me. It's amazing to hear family prayers given in another language. He did all this with a calling in the Young Men's Pres. in our ward. He received a blessing before he started and was told the more time he spent with us as a family and the more he did to full fill his calling the easier the language would come. We also got him a Book Of Mormon and the church magazines in Russian. He loved it all and it helped unlock even more blessings. We truly LOVED every minute of it!
As for my personal journey.... I have learned so much more! So much that at times I still feel myself processing it all. Things were going so well and all the world was right. Till the spring came when I started struggling. I fell extremely ill. The doctors were sure that I had all the signs of Lupus which is an auto immune disease. If it was the right one it would slowly and painfully kill me. THAT about killed me. Two small children and a Husband who needed me more than ever. What would they do without me? So... after millions of tests and several millions of doctors a specialist diagnosed it as Fibromyalgia. Also an auto -immune but non life threatening. (It"s a Chronic Pain and fatigue disorder.) She told me in our very first appointment that if I were to have a more comfortable life my husband would need to quit what he was doing and spend more time at home. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate what he was doing she just thought I needed more attention. I often think of the moment that "I" decided to stand up and fight for myself.... IT WAS THAT VERY MOMENT! We had come so far to only "Give up!" NO WAY! Not here!!! So, I started taking the meds and started taking better care of myself. I went in two weeks ago and I amazed her! I'm NOT the same person she once saw. I'm nearly off my meds. at this point! I have to take things much easier than I once did BUT... I can say that my kids and I still play and have GREAT fun. I can now keep up with them. I know that I would NEVER have been able to do it without the love and full support of my dear sweet husband and the healing power of our Father in Heaven. I was also sent some wonderful friends. I've felt my testimony Grow yet again in leaps and bounds! I LOVE the growth that comes threw those hard times.
As far as where we are... we have moved from our little apartment off base to a three bedroom rambler on post. The Greatest decision we ever made. We don't struggle with money as much as we almost never have to gas up anymore and we have plenty of room. My daughter LOVES her school and our son LOVES having a backyard to play in. We have also been blessed with amazing neighbors ( which I know doesn't always happen) and even better friends than we could have imagined. Our new ward is so AWESOME! Full of Love and support for one another. Always there to lend a helping hand for one another.
I give thanks for all that we have learned and all the fun adventures we have had here. I can only hope that this next year is half as fun as the last. I promise to make sure I update our blog more. Thank you all for your continued love and support it's what drives us. We are honored to give back to those who gave their lives to keep us free and for the many families that support the men and women who continue to keep us free. We remember you ALL as we pray for you daily. God Bless and may the Lord watch over and care for you!
