First Day of School and Foreign Exchange Students

Kids have been in school for almost 2 months. Crazy how fast times flies. Since we moved we thought we should add a little more change had added two beautiful, smart and talented foreign exchange students from Shanghai, China. They both are only children so they are experiencing more change than us! The two are easy to love and we feel it is a blessing getting to know them. Holman, Parkin and Adrianna are all learning Mandarin so having caring "tutors" in the house has been most helpful. 

Isabella is in the 10th grade!  She is 15 and attends early morning seminary every morning before school. She is taking 4 AP classes. Mercy that is commitment! Her friends at school who are not LDS think she is amazing for outing more "school" on her plate. We think she is too! After this year she will be over half way through school. Basis senior year is shorter. I am already getting choked up thinking this smiling giggly girl will be moving on to brighten someone else's life....sigh time does fly.

Jiating Tong also known as Cindy, is bright outgoing and funny. She is 16 years old and is a Junior at Basis High School. She jumps right in to new things. She speaks excellent English and is animated with fun stories. She has a heavy coarse load and is also on the Mock Trial team at school. We loved picking her up at the airport the excitement was tangible! She has beautiful long hair that I enjoy braiding, any braid looks good in it!

 Adrianna is 6 years old and is in the 1st grade. Last year she was in half day kindergarten so I was worried how she would handle the longer day, but she has been doing great! Every morning I  am at the church building running while Bella takes seminary classes, so Benjamin is left getting the youngest three ready for school. He does an awesome job on Anna's hair! She loves Mandarin, art and math but not humanities! 

 Wenhui Sui known in America as Beryl. Not a very common American name! Beryl is fun and reserved at the same time, she expresses herself very comfortably and also speak excellent English. She is adventurous and has gone to two church dances and survived! She loves Art and is in the National Honors Art club as well as a Medical club that her and Bella take. Beryl also has a very hard course load, but even in a second language she is doing great!

Holman is now over at the secondary campus so he gets to go to school with his sisters although he arrives earlier and hangs out at the library till they are done. What a great kids he rarely complains about it :)  Holman is 11 years old and in the 6th grade. He has transitioned to middle school quite nicely. He is mart and fun and always has something up his sleeve. He know owns an electric guitar so he will be pretty much unstoppable in a couple of years.

 Parkin is 9 years old and in the 4th grade. He is the oldest at his campus, he is loved by all. He is clever and bright and very huggable. He loves the Chinese culture and would love to live in China some day and have a beautiful Chinese wife :) He wants Beryl and Cindy to hook him up. He is in cub scouts. Between Parkin, Holman and his two boy cousins who are staying in our quest house, they can play in the pool for hours. What makes them stay in there so long? We have a rope that expands the width of the pool and they just hang and hang. It is funny to watch!

 Olivia is last just because she was the last person to take a photo. Olivia is 13 years old and in the 8th grade, I am not sure how that happened?! She will be 14 in December and able to go to the "lame" church dances! Olivia continues to kill school and I love reading her opinion pieces that she rights for archaeology class, she could have a blog with just those writings. Olivia taught her self how to play the ukulele, and has a most beautiful voice and talent. Poor girl, I make her play for me sometimes and find myself getting choked up at her awesomeness.

Thats my kiddos! Now before you think wow what a perfect family, make sure to remind yourself that everyone has struggles! This blog focuses on the things/events that bring me joy with the occasional affliction :)

A birthday to remember. March 18th 2016

A couple of months ago my sisters and I were having a discussion on dreams that we always wanted. One of them asked me what my dream was. I was surprised by how choked up I got and I remember saying "some dreams have experations on them." I think some times its hard to identify what your dream is and for other people they think of their dreams non stop. My dream isn't some unrequited career (I do love my job) it isn't an academic goal ( I got by Bachelors, no small feet from a girl that had learning disabilities). I have 5 wonderful kiddos and a complimentary, compatible and uncannily devoted husband (both dreams that have come true). So my dream that had yet to be achieved was to own a bit of land and have a farm of sorts. Well we tried that dream and it crashed. Bought land, lived on it without electricity and running water for over 10 months. We had an army tent and small travel trailer and a port-a-potty. Then the bank industry crashed and they pulled our loan (even thought we never missed a payment, they just stopped offering us money to finish our house). We then sold our land at a loss and returned to Tucson with a mountain of debt and no land.

Little that I knew a couple weeks after I wrote my last blog post "a red letter day", we would have a new day to remember. I use to search real estate relentlessly. I always searched for properties in Tucson that have 3 acres or larger. I found one that I loved and had to see it. It was way over our price range but  I had to check it out in person because it was in my favorite area. I talked with my fabulous sister in law Robin who is a realtor and showed her the property. She agreed that we should take a look. She called the realtors and it was being shown by appointment only. Robin also told me this was a serious listing and that the owners were only wanting to show the property to serious buyers and that we needed to have the financing approved before looking. So what does a phone call to a bank hurt? I talked to the bank gave them all our info and they ran the numbers. Since we knocked out our debt and like my last post said, saved a good chunk of money our credit scores were excellent. We actually qualified to buy the house! Thus we were able to look at the house. Convincing my husband about looking at this however was a different story. The house was listed on Wednesday March 16th.  I talked to the bank on Thursday March 17th and my birthday was on  Friday March 18th. Benjamin was serving as Bishop and had no intention of releasing himself with a move,  and honestly I didn't either but something in me never wanted to give up on my dream. Since Friday was my birthday Benjamin consented to go look at the house. I loved it from the start from the drive up, to the house, the kitchen, living room, all of it! Benjamin thought is was cool looking but wasn't feeling it. Then we walked out to the back pasture and that is when I got him. He was like Lesley we can't afford this, right? I told him how I ran the numbers talked to the bank and we actually could. That is when the wheels started to turn and my dream became our dream.

We wrote our offer and a personal letter on Saturday and submitted it that Saturday evening March 19th. My brother John helped us write the personal letter and we hoped that by knowing us a little that they might see how much we would cherish their property We gave a full price offer but needed help with closing costs and also asked for time to sell our current house. They came back with not helping with closing or helping with closing but increasing the sale price and not making the sale of our home conditional on us buying theirs. We couldn't do any of their scenarios. So we didn't counter, The realtor called Robin and asked why we didn't counter she told them we gave the best offer we could from the very beginning because we loved the house. Their realtor suggested the owners hold an open house on Easter Sunday of all days March 27th and see what other offers they might receive.We prayed for it to work out but also wanted what God wanted for us so we were at total peace and believed if it was meant to be it would be.

The very next week Easter Sunday March 27th we got a call from Robin who said is Benjamin with you ? I said yes she said put the phone on speaker. Robin told us that the open house had over 30 families come and view it. But before they even opened the open house the owners met with the realtors and told them they didn't want to have the open house because they wanted to sell to the Howe family. They told the realtors that they are a prayerful family and feel like God wanted the Howe's to have the property and that there was no reason to have the open house. Are you kidding me?! We felt that God wanted us to have the house too! They took our original offer! The husband was nervous about waiting for us to sell our house but the wife insisted that it would all work out. And it did!

According to our contract we had one week to get our house up and listed. We had to have it listed by April 1st  and we had to have it sold by May 31st. We were right in the middle of a kitchen remodel so we had to get the kitchen ready, paint all the rooms and bathrooms and replace carpet in the master bedroom all in a week! By another miracle we were able to do it! In large part due to Robin(the realtor who also paints) , John, Hillary and Barbara, Peter, Dan, Melissa, my Mom and Dad (my dad helped us bang out the kitchen his expertise was invaluable!). The house was ready but would it sell? And in sell in time of the May 31st due date?

Further proof that it was all meant to be is that a friend heard on Facebook that we were moving and called to talk to Benjamin about coming to see the house because his family was looking for a new place. This friend came and saw the place before it was listed and put an offer on our house just days after it was listed. We had one person look at the house! We had others call to come view it but it only takes one and Heavenly Father helped put that one early on in our count down. The best part was that this family would join our old ward. Benjamin as bishop would always joke, families can move out of the ward but please replace your family with others members so that the ward won't get smaller.

Appraisals of both places came in exactly where we needed them and we closed on May 31st! These are pictures of our dream house, better than we originally imagined. We have a pool, stables, a guest house and its even in Tucson not on the outskirts of town...Our dream come true. My daughter Olivia thinks I am bragging with this post, but I just never want to forget the miracles we have received. These pictures are the listing pictures so just picture our current house with not as cool of furniture :)

 

                                                   
                                                    The main house has four bedrooms

                                                 Pictures of the guest house

A Red Letter Day

This week has been a week. I had the privilege of teaching 33 of the best preschool kids in the city. I had a YCL meeting on Tuesday at my house, an Activity Day meeting at my house on Wednesday, Thursday night I had a Relief Society meeting where I played a part in a play and interpreted (rather poorly) for a deaf sister. Poor Benjamin has been putting long hours in at work racing to get a program done which his team has been under the gun for. Friday night I get the honor of babysitting overnight four cute kiddos and feed four Elders dinner. On Sunday we have a Sunday Evening Discussion for the youth of our ward at our house....Its been a week.

Its also been a week because 16 months after we paid our last payment to the bank that shall never be mentioned... We have managed to save 6 months worth of monthly expenses. This is a day that I thought was near impossible. We had of course unexpected things come up, the biggest being the need to replace our roof, ouch that one hurt. But we have learned AGAIN "with God all things are possible."

I started this post off with marking all the things we had to do this week because I don't want to forget the sacrifice needed for great things to happen. I want to remember years from now that anything worth achieving takes time, sacrifice and hard work. Life is hard it does take work, but miracles happen along the way especially when you help and serve as much as possible. Its been a week.

Its great to be 8, especially when you're Parkin!

Parkin is a love. He is so good at showing affection and sharing it. I hope as he matures that he still can be so honest with his feelings. Right now he does not get embarrassed or hold back. He is genuine and full of love. Parkin's birthday in May 3rd the baptism for our stake were held on May 2nd, he missed it by a day! So he had to wait a month, that was very hard for him. June 5th was when he got baptized, luckily it  took place in the morning so he didn't have to wait too long that day.His baptism was surrounded by friends and family who came to support him. We were able to hold a celebration in the church gym so that everyone who came could enjoy a cinnamon roll and light brunch.

Parkin I love you and am so glad you are in our family. You have been known to ask real deep questions about the gospel and you want to make sure that your beliefs are sincere. You have walked by faith, don't forget to keep doing that! Parkin share his growing testimony often in church what a great example you are to me and your siblings. One of the best examples you are to me, is in your diligence in prayer. You cannot go to bed without saying your personal prayers. That is an act of faith and diligence. We love you, we love how you love and I look forward to seeing you grownup into a compassionate, strong, faithful and intelligent man. You are doing great and are more than good enough!

Mormitzvah March 2015

When Bella was in 7th grade she had the privilege of going to several Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah's.  It is a wonderful Jewish tradition of boys and girls becoming accountable for themselves and to becoming full fledged members in their faith. They partake in beautiful ceremonies and then have amazing parties! These parties are like wedding receptions, fancy and expensive. We told Bella that when she is in the 8th grade and turning 14 we would throw her a Morm-itzvah. When a young man or young woman turns 14 in the Mormon church they can start attending church dances. This goes right along with other coming of age events in the Mormon church. When a child turns 18 months they can attend nursery, 3 year olds can go to primary, 8 years olds can get baptized, 12 years olds can attend young mens and young womens activities and lessons and the 14 year olds can attend dances!  The church provides a DJ and refreshments. This is all put on by the church!  It is like a wedding reception that we don't pay for and it is not nearly as nice :) but a party non the less! So Bella got to choose a couple of friends to take to a beauty parlor to do their hair, then we had pizza and pie because Bella prefers pie to cake.  Then we took them all to the dance. I think they all had fun, they all looked great that's what matters right?!

This is the picture of the girls before they got all beautified (even though they all are gorgeous to begin with!)

Bella we love you, you are our jewel. You are intelligent, beautiful and oh so kind. You truly are like Belle the princess. Thank you for being a fantastic oldest child, a great exapmle of hard work and love. Next mile stone....driving!!!

I'm not ready yet

For 14 1/2 years I have had the privilege of having a little one at home, for most of those years at least 2 home and for a couple of years even 3. With school starting on August 5th, my most important job to date, shifted. No longer do I have a little sidekick by my side. Adrianna started kindergarten. Anna has been "attending" my preschool since before she was one.  Unlike all of he classmates she never went away to school, she has been home schooled with a lot of friends. She was not really looking forward to kindergarten but the family has been trying to talk up all the fun things that she will learn. So a week before school she started to express some excitement. The night before the first day Benjamin asked me how I thought I would do, I said I would kiss her good by and say see ya with a peace sign.  we hung out in the kindergarten playground until they told us to go into the gym to meet the teachers and separate into classes. I found her teacher introduced her and lead her to where her class was sitting. I introduced her to a little girl sitting down and gave her a hug and told her she would love it. She looked up at me not crying but clearly afraid and said, "mom, I'm not ready yet."  I hugged her and said sure you are Anna, you got this you will do great! The tears were filling my eyes. Was I ready, ready to say goodbye to this wonderful, terribly hard  and trying at times phase in my life? I got in my car alone. drove home alone. to a house all alone. I called Benjamin and told him, "so much for my peace out goodbye." He lovingly reminded me that in an hour my house would be full of little ones eager to start their preschool day.  I wept again and vowed to love those little people like I was their mother, I wanted to greet them like I wanted my daughter to be greeted. Thank goodness I teach preschool! I was not prepared with how hard this transition would be for me. "I'm not ready yet" But ready or not here we go. This is a phase in life that carries so much joy and physical stress, and I know I will look back with rose colored glasses and hope my children will too :)

Olivia turns 12 (ok over two months ago!)

Celebrating a December birthday is never challenging, we always have loads of family near by and time off to plan something fun. Writing about a December birthday however has proven to be harder :) All I can say bout this daughter of mine is that she is just plain amazing from head to two. She is wicked smart and beautiful too! To quote her dad, "I always forget how old Olivia is because she is so bright." It is also hard because she is almost as tall as me and we wear (or rather she wears) my clothes.

Olivia shares a room with her younger sister Adrianna and is so good to her. She reads to her helps get her ready for things and beyond that she has bedroom rules to help each of them respect themselves and others. Liv is the kind of girl that is a self motivator she sees goals and makes the happen. She doesn't let defeat get her down she just tries harder. That is one of her best qualities.

For her birthday she wanted to go the the temple with her cousins. We were so excited that Emma lives close now and that the Clark cousins Lilly and Morgan could join us. Of course Nana and Papa came as well as Grandma Babs (Grandpa Ronnie was working in the temple so he was with us in spirit) we also had my fab sister Hillary with us too. What a great birthday party! We went out to eat afterwards and Olivia was so happy all could make the trip up to Mesa to celebrate eternal families. Birthday cake consisted of about 4 root beer floats each, yum!

I love you Liv! Next year you are going to be a teenager and I couldn't be more thrilled to experience these years with you, you are a joy, a laugh and a rock. All my love Liv.