We're Moving to the UK!

Yes, you read the title correctly. Read it again if you think it will help. Our family is moving to the United Kingdom next year!
So here's the whole story. Ian was planning to apply to Graudate school at a bunch of different schools in the US. On the list were The University of Texas, BYU, Boise State, and others. We had such a hard time deciding which one was the favorite. One thing we did know is for any of those schools Ian would have to take the GRE. So we bought a book and Ian got to studying.
He took a few practice exams and was doing so well on them. I was pretty proud. I knew he'd be a shoe in for whatever school he applied to if he could only do that well on his actual exam.
He took the test. It didn't go very well which is why in my previous post I didn't even mention his score. That was really hard for us. We prayed SO hard that he would do well on his test and get the score he needed to get into a good school. At the time, it didn't feel like our prayers had been answered at all.
In the next couple days Ian started fall semester. Still we were pretty bummed about the test results and tried to think of a plan. Just after Ian got out of class he said he may have figured it out and we'd talk about it when he got home.
He arrived and I was seriously curious. Then he said "why don't we apply to school abroad?" Immediately I turned him down. I thought he was crazy and there was no way we could afford it. Plus we have two small children and that would be quite the adjustment especially since Atley will be starting school towards his anticipated graduation date. I could not have imagined it working out, but my insightful husband suggested we look into it and then see where we get.
I looked into it. Turns out a masters degree is only 1 year (here's they're typically 2 at least), the US government still issues loans to US citizens who are studying in the UK, and there are no application fees so it was a free try. But, the real kicker for us was THEY DON'T LOOK AT THE GRE!!! We had so many struggles with that silly test. Personally I think it's a terrible way to estimate academic potential, especially after all the tricks he learned about in the study book.
Anyway, my heart was softened and we decided to apply. The other great thing about schools over there is that they respond to your application usually within a month so we'd have plenty of time to get ready to go. So these last few weeks we've been waiting and watching for that special e-mail that says they need Ian at their school and today......it came!

Yes, our first acceptance letter came today from the University of Sheffield in England!

I gotta say, it's a beautiful place!

We aren't sure that we're going to this school in particular because we're still waiting to hear back from the others and to see what kind of scholarships we can find, but now that we have at least one option to choose from, we know that we're moving for sure.
We'll be in Rexburg until our lease expires next summer, but school doesn't start until September or October.
We've still got a lot of things to figure out before we actually move, but this experience has taught me so much about the Lord's love. He taught us little by little that this was the path he wanted us to take and even when we felt like he wasn't answering our prayers, he continued guiding us so we could feel of his love. I know our prayers were answered. Heavenly Father has a plan for everyone and if we look to him to guide us, we can have the experiences we need to become to best people we can be. I will always remember this experience as a time where I followed what the Lord wanted and was guided to something I never thought would happen.
Now we'll just have to make the choice between which school. I'm positive we'll be looking to the Lord for help on that one too! :)

Holly Walks!

Yep, my little girl is a walking MACHINE! She's been taking a few steps here and there for about a month now, but just a few days ago she figured out that she could really go the distance. I was gently reminded this morning that it's way past time for a video post of it. Wanna see the video? Of course you do!

Cute, huh?

He's 2!

My little boy is 2 years old! Can you even believe it? We had a little party. I made a cake. Here are some pictures!

Atley is on a dinosaur kick. He loves dinosaurs and now every animal seems to say "rawr!" I wanted to make him a dinosaur cake so badly. I only say that because it makes more sense that this was the second cake I had to make in order for that to happen. It was very emotional for me, but I completed the dinosaur cake for my little boy! Victory for Mom! Here is the tutorial I used to make it. If you think my cake is awesome, don't look at hers. It'll just make me feel bad. But, then again, after the first cake crumbled I was lucky I got to make the cake I wanted to anyway.

I also made a personal sized cake for Atley so he didn't slobber all over the cake everyone was going to eat when he was trying to blow out his candles.

The following is a sideshow of some pictures of Atley from birth until now. Please enjoy. I hope it brings tears to your eyes like it does to me!

I was just commenting to Ian the other day on how much anxiety came to me with Atley's birthday. I know I can be a Mom to a baby. The quality is yet to be determined, but he hasn't died so that's good enough evidence for now. But the older Atley gets the more growth I have to go through too. I have to relearn how to play. I have to learn how to convince him that brushing his teeth is necessary if he wants to keep them. I have to learn how to share the love of Heavenly Father with him.
I love this challenge! One thing I learned at BYU-Idaho is that if you want to be successful in life in whatever capacity that you choose to pursue, you have to become a lifetime learner. Since graduation, I have found that this is more true as a Mom then I would've ever suspected. I am so glad to have Atley in my life. He is so special. I am grateful to Heavenly Father for trusting me with one of his precious children to watch over and teach. I guess we'll just have to keep growing together because I gotta say, I'm very attached!

Halloween

My kids had a great time this year with Halloween. Their costumes were adorable and how can anyone resist giving candy to a kid like that?

Atley dressed up as a Ghost and had a great time in his costume--at least the first time I made him wear it. We went to our ward party on Tuesday before Halloween. He thought it was great to be a ghost but we didn't bring home any candy.

Then Friday came and we wanted to take him Trick-or-Treating at Ian's work. Well he DID NOT want to wear that costume. I don't think I've ever seen him throw a fit like that one. Of course I was frustrated because I was excited about the Trick-or-Treating. I knew he would love it, but he was being so difficult. Needless to say, I got my way. I'm the Mom. Duh!

And he loved it, like I knew he would. Now he asks me for candy all the time! Silly Atley.

We also went to a Halloween party that our friend Kayleen put together for the kids. It was GREAT! We enjoyed a ghost hunt, a pinata, and some tasty treats.

Our little Holly was a puppy for Halloween. She was so good while I put the make up on I decided to only do it one day. Thanks again to Kayleen for helping me with her ears! She was really good at crawling around and picking up candy. She had trouble letting go of the candy and she didn't get to eat any (at least beyond a taste), but I think she had a great time. And, it's like it said before, I think it was mostly for me anyway, so she was a good sport.

We had a very enjoyable Halloween but it sort of came and went for our family. I think we were more focused on November 1st. (Psst...that's Atley's birthday!)

This one is kind of personal.

A year ago I was really struggling with something. I was 7 months pregnant with Holly and really didn't know how that would turn out. I was seeing a specialist every couple of weeks for ultrasounds. They didn't know what was wrong other than she was small and we still didn't know why. At this point I was given a steroid shot because the doctor was pretty sure she would be born premature. I gotta say, I was terrified. The thought that my baby could come at any time combined with the possibility losing her was one of the most difficult things for me to handle so far in my life. I warned you that it was personal.

I went home that evening after considering everything that the doctors had to say and talked with Ian. I felt pretty strong up until this point but in a moment of weakness I broke down. I cried and cried to my husband about what would happen if we lost our baby. My over active imagination took over as I imagined her funeral. My sweet husband was willing and able to give me a priesthood blessing in which he reminded me to remember the atonement of the Savior. The next morning I spent time in my scriptures studying all about the atonement. I wanted to know everything there was toknow so that Heavenly Father could help me through this hard time.

Later that evening, exactly year ago today, I got a call from my at Mom asking me what was wrong with my friend Andre. We had been trying to get ahold of each other for about a week and kept missing each others phone calls so it had been a few days since we talked. I told her I didn't know what she was talking about and she said people were posting all kinds of messages on his Facebook about "rest in peace" and such. I quickly informed her it was probably nothing and that she was overreacting. Denial! As soon as I hung up with her I called my friend. He didn't answer. No big deal. We'd been missing each other all week. He'll call me back.

As soon as I got home I looked into what my Mom was talking about. Sure enough I found in the news that my friend had passed away earlier that afternoon in a car accident. If you had asked me what my reaction would be hypothetically I'm sure I would have told you initially disbelief followed by extreme grief. Instead, thanks to the tender mercies of a loving Heavenly Father, my thoughts fell on the atonement of Jesus Christ.

I know the situation with my daughter was the Lord preparing me for this experience and I felt that in two very real ways. One is the one I've already described in knowing that because of the sacrifice of the Savior my friend would live again and I knew that I would see him again. The second was that my grief was turned into compassion. I had a small window into what it would be like to lose my baby and felt great empathy for my friend's family--especially his Mother. I feel that when I see my beautiful little girl who is now almost 1 year old.

To Mrs. Reyna:
You and your family have been a part of my life since the 4th grade. I always knew you were a blessing to me, but in this past year you have taught me so much more than I ever anticipated. The love that you have for your children is a model to me as a mother. The strength and faith that you have shown is a model to me as a child of God. I know you are still grieving, but please know that I will always remember you and your family for what you haven shown me during this experience. I know Andre loved you. I know he still loves you. He would be pleased to know of all you are doing in his memory.

To Andre:
I miss you my friend. Though I know I tried many times I could never express what a blessing you were and still are in my life. I could not have asked for a better friend. You made it easy for me to follow the unusual standards that I set for myself. You even encouraged me. We were able to have so much good, clean, fun together. I could always tell you anything. Remember that time my Mom got in a car accident and you drove me to the hospital and stayed with us? Remember that huge pirate pinata you sent me after I moved to Rexburg? Remember when you insisted on throwing me a birthday party? Remember how I would come buy a pack of gum at Publix so I could talk to my favorite checker? I have so many memories like that written in my journals. You even had input on helping me name my kids! My daughter Holly is the best reminder I have of you. She is so special to me because of that and I hope someday you two will meet. To my kids you will always be Tio Andre, just like you wanted. Thank you for everything.