Happy Valentine's Day

What a great day! We dropped the kids off at my mom's and went out to dinner and to Barnes and Noble (predictable, since this is our all-time favorite place for a date). We drank lattes and read, uninterrupted, for nearly two hours. I know, we are complete nerds, but you have no idea how wonderful that sort of thing is to us! :) Joe's first week of work went splendidly, and this was the icing on the cake. I read a book in its entirety on that date, and laughed out loud on several occasions. This is what I read:



It's the true story of a woman who, ironically, lives here in Utah, so all of her references were amazingly relevant to me, despite the 30-year gap in our ages. She has a younger sister who is mentally retarded and all of the trials and humorous things they go through trying to give this lady a quality and dignified life. I wasn't really ever moved to the point of tears, but I laughed a lot, and it was definitely touching. It was about 175 pages, and I read it in an hour and a half, so it's an easy read.

I'm also reading



and it is also funny. At this time in my life, I guess I am really only drawn to the funny books.

I'll post soon about Brad's, Hannah's, Kaylee's and my birthdays. Joe's is next Monday, and then we have a break till October. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Prepare to be amazed....

Well, the unimaginable, illogical, only-because-of-the-grace-of-God thing happened. (This is true only because the market is so bad, not because Joe isn't 100% qualified for this job!...)

First, last Monday he met with the president and local director and they loved him. They talked immediately of hiring him to start a commercial land development team (a goal they had had for over a year...and were just now starting to entertain again). However, they needed the approval of other board members, so on Thursday he went to lunch with 4 more board members, plus the two that he met with on Monday. They grilled him for 3 hours and he came home exhausted. He of course scrutinized everything he had said and began second guessing himself. I had complete confidence that he had conducted himself well and had presented himself accurately. He's a very even-keeled and level-headed guy, so his answers are always very calm and deliberate. Besides all that, like 50 people were praying for him! :)

So later that afternoon, the director called back and told him they had a written offer for him. He talked to Joe about the offer over the phone, so we knew we would accept it. The money is just a bit more than he is making now, which is exactly what we had expected. We went down and picked up the offer (and Joe signed it) and Joe picked out his office. My head was floating above my shoulders the whole time. It felt so surreal, but once again I learned that God is faithful.

So now he finishes his time with his old job this week and he is taking Monday and Tuesday of next week to relax. I am also taking those days off, so we are looking forward to some quiet days. He'll start his new job on Wednesday.

We are so excited for this new adventure, but we find ourselves mourning some of the changes. We have both loved having him work from home because we've been able to eat lunch together everyday. However, the hours at his new job are 7:30-5:30 M-Th and 7:30-11:30 on Friday so we know for sure that Fridays we'll be able to eat together. Plus, his office is only 12 minutes away so we can always meet halfway. Anyway, those details are so minor compared to the absolutely wonderful gift of this job.

We stand all amazed! Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers!!!!!!!!!!!!