Merry Christmas!

We went to see the Christmas lights on Temple Square this year just in case we move out of state when school is over. It was great! The last time we went to the lights was when Holly was 3 and Sam was just a few months old too young to remember.

So funny

I know I just posted but I had to write this down. In church today Sammy and the other nursery kids that will be coming into primary this January joined us in Sharing Time. The Relief Society invited the primary to come and sing the Wise Man and the Foolish Man (their lesson was on Christ being a sure foundation). This was Sam's first primary experience and he was very enthusiastic. He sang as loud as he could and did all of the actions. On the very last verse they sang "The foolish man built his house upon the sand, the rains came down and the floods came up. The house on the sand washed away" As soon as Sam finished singing "the house on the sand washed away" he shot his hand into the air and made a loud explosion sound. It was the most fitting ending to that song.

Answers to prayers

For the past 6 months or so Rob and I have had what seems like trial after trial of our faith. Our summer seemed to be the real beginning of it all (see "Growing Pains"). Rob did not get an offer from his internship despite all of our praying and all of his hard work. With the economy going so poorly our anxiety has risen with each attempt at finding a job. All of fall Rob has been working to find a job. And then we started looking at Walmart.

Rob really liked what he saw in the company. So he started to pursue a job. Walmart recruits at BYU and so Rob had the opportunity to meet with representatives. Every year Walmart holds a competition at BYU. Teams of students get together and they all work to solve a particular problem that Walmart is having. Rob wanted to compete but didn't have time to work with a group. He knew there wasn't a chance for him to win without the help of a group but he wanted to compete and he worked really hard (and prayed really hard). Rob was at the meeting when they announced his number as the winner of the competition. When he went to the front of the room the Walmart rep. asked where his team was. Answer to prayer number 1.

Rob went through two sets of interviews and was asked to fly back to Walmart for a round of 3 interviews. Answer to prayer number 2. Rob went to Walmart and interviewed. He came home feeling pretty good about how it all went. The next day we spent as a family. Rob said he would hear about a job the next week. So we continued to pray. We unexpectedly got a call from a representative later that day and he told Rob that he was not being considered for a job. Answer to prayer number 3?

We were crushed. After two months of praying and working towards this goal it was all over and once again Rob had to endure a rejection. It seemed that all of our trials were weighing down on us. We started praying that we could cope with the disappointment. It took a ton of praying and we were still hurting. I would pray to feel better, I would feel better and then start thinking about it and the hurt would come back. Finally That night I was able to feel the comfort of the spirit. Rob was still struggling.

The next day I went Visiting Teaching. When I got home Rob asked me to sit down with him. He had been listening to a talk by President Eyring. In the talk President Eyring mentioned being in school and praying to do well on exams. He said that sometimes the answer was "no". Sometimes we are not meant to get an A on a test. Then President Eyring said exactly what Heavenly Father knew Rob needed to hear. He said that the same thing goes for job interviews. We may pray really hard and work really hard and still not get the job we are seeking. He said that maybe Heavenly Father needs us to be somewhere else. Answer to prayers 4 through 1000.

Our goals have been to pray to find where Heavenly Father needs us. We are still in the midst of uncertainty. There are no new recruiters at BYU until January and even then the real push ended this November. But we are being reminded daily that Heavenly Father does have a plan for us even if we don't know what it is.

After all of the pain I can say that I am glad we are going through this. Even if our Heavenly Father intends for us to struggle out the rest of our lives I will be grateful for all that I have learned so far. Rob and I both have felt a need to live more righteously. Not necessarily so that we will gain financial blessings. We have just discovered how much sweeter life is when we are doing our all to live the gospel. Even when life is difficult when we are reading scriptures, praying, attending the temple, teaching the gospel in our home and trying to work as a family life is good.

An unholy sound

Yesterday Sam and I were playing one of his favorite games. We pretend to be asleep and then he "cock-a-doodle-doos" and we wake up. As we started to play Sam looked at me very seriously and said "Don't snore". "O.k." I said no fake snoring sounds. I thought it was a little weird but no problem. Later that day I lay down for a quick nap (being 8 months pregnant I can't function without one). Sam was watching a show and I was with him on the couch. I was hardly even asleep when Sam's face appeared in mine. "Mom, stop snoring". Apparently I was freaking him out. I told Rob when he got home from work and he just laughed. He has been too polite to mention how out of control my snoring is lately. When I am pregnant I turn into a cave troll. A cute Cave Troll Rob assures me but a Cave Troll non-the-less.