The boys making pumpkin pie!

All of us breaking the bread for our incredible stuffing for Thanksgiving.

The only Thanksgiving pictures I got this year!

We are still here! I promise! I just heard the cutest thing!!!! Rebekah asked Sean, "Do you love my hair?" He said "Yes, you know what I love more...YOU!" Always so tender to her! That was said just as I started typing! The real reason I got on to blog was to give everyone an update! We feel as if we have been through the muck and back and then again and back! It truly has been a roller coaster ride. JEf was laid off in October. He has had a difficult time dealing with the rejection. Here he has been giving his life to the building of a rock plant...he was the only one on the project for 4 years and then the last two he was finally given a team...however, it has his fingerprints all over it. It really was not a nice way to say thank you...well we don't need you anymore. However, I am convinced that the Lord did not want him there anymore. For the past 2 months he has found some consulting business! He has been going to a few places helping them find holes in there processes. Fascinating! He is great at seeing how things work and simplifying it so that others can learn. This has come with some ups and downs. He loves going into the plants but hates not knowing where the next pay check is going to come from. (For that matter where any pay check is coming from...we have not received anything yet!) He is learning to depend on the One who feeds the birds and clothes the lillies! Hard to do but we experienced His goodness with Rebekah...we can experience it again! The jobs are few right now. He has been working with a few recruiters but they are not encouraging so for now, we get to have Jeff home with us in what used to be the schoolroom (with painted bugs on the wall and a card table as a desk). I actually love having him home. He adds a lot to our studies during the day. Needless to say, no Christmas cards will be sent out this year. Sorry! We have been thinking about everyone and hope that you have a terrific Christmas. Next year you might get 2 cards from us!!! For now we are trying to pinch a few pennies to make dollars. That is a benefit of not having a job...we just can't do all of what is expected to do during this season therefore we are getting to enjoy our decorations a little more!

Happy Birthday to the boy who made me a mom!

November 12, 1997 Jeff and I checked me into the hospital so I could birth the baby I had been carrying for 9 months! Oh how excited and nervous we were! We had the baby's room all set up, the toys ready to be played with, the blankets and clothes all washed, and of course the house spotless! Now all we needed was the baby! After a day of induced labor, Jeremy Mikael Otto was born at 8:11 pm. Oh how he has added to our life. Jeremy, you have become such a young man of integrity, kindness, thoughtfulness and add so much joy to our life! Thank you for the many acts of selflessness you do. I am really looking forward to watching you and guiding you into adulthood over the next 12 years! May the Lord bless these next ones, keep you healthy, and give us wisdom to grow you into all that He created you to be! Happy 12th birthday, Have fun camping!

Our Country song

I think we have the makings of country songwriters; "Lost my job, Lost my truck, Lost my dog, Roof is falling down...but I still got my girl!!!" Don't you think it will be on the top of the charts? Jeff lost his job 2 Thurs. ago. His truck was a company truck so that was gone as well! We had to put our beloved Dusty down...she was our first born...but the furry kind! Then this past Monday we had a huge storm and our ceiling starting leaking! Believe it or not...we are still smiling! Our mountain moving, gasp giving, awe inspiring (to steal a phrase from a bloggy friend) God has given us a lot to smile about. Jeff has started consulting! My dad is helping him break into the food plants (processing rocks or processing fertilizer, the machines are the same!) and help teach these guys to better run their plants! He has one paying customer already and 2 possibilities next week! This will allow him to work from home and be MUCH more involved with us! He taught one of our art lessons the other day! He is home for our morning walk/ bike ride and devotions! Granite gave us a nice severence package so if Jeff gets this business up and running soon then we might be better off than before all this happened. These last few months have been very stress filled, knowing that Granite would have to condense some jobs together. The cuts went %40 deep. He went back yesterday for lunch with a few friends and was really relieved that he did not have to play the political game anymore!

Drum roll please for the best news yet! Rebekah has not had a potty accident in one 5 days!!!! Maybe she just needed her daddy home!

If the Lord puts us on your mind...say a prayer. This is scary time to be unemployed and starting something new does not come easy to Jeff!

My Little 3 year old!

What a joy it has been to be this little darling's mom! She is funny, witty, a tad bit shy, adores her big "brovers" and "siser", and is my "little bit of heaven". We celebrated her special day with presents and rice! (That is all she wanted...rice and a balloon! Being the mom of 4 I noticed a deal!!! That is what the little angel got!) Happy Birthday my sweet girl!

Weekend Fun

Like father like son. Jeff usually spills his last drop of ice cream on his shirt. This time it was Sean's turn to do that!

All of us plus Reese, Jeremy's friend, at Sam's...a favorite restaurant of both Jeff's family and mine!

At Grandma Lorraine's

This weekend we went to Sacramento for some train fun! Jeff came home on Friday night and said he had a great idea for Saturday, to go to Sacramento and ride on a mini steam train. My first reaction was to say no but I have been trying to encourage Jeff to make plans for our family so I went along with the idea. I thought the older kids would think this was a "kiddy" thing to do, but to my surprise, they loved the idea! The trains ran on only a lawn mowere engine. The real steam engines were not runnin. We still had a blast and rode on them twice! We had a fabulous time and even got to stop by and see Jeff's grandma, Lorraine Otto. This grandma has never even met Rebekah. It was a sweet surprise!

Before we left for Sacramento, Jeremy tested for his green belt! He passed!!!! Now he gets to spar! This is Sean and Jeremy sparring!

Day at the Tide pools

Whoops! Did you get a little wet?

Jeremy made a new friend!

These 2 seals jumped up to say hi!

Maggie adores all things that swim in the ocean.

This one was the brave one!

A "gift from a seagull! And what is that? Might that be a fingerprint?

Mommy, look it is sticky?

Sean holding up the world!

What do you do when your oldest needs to be picked up at camp 2 and a half hours away? Spend the day at the tide pools! After reuniting with Jeremy, (what sweet stuff to a mommy's heart) we spent a few hours at Natural Bridges. I am always so stunned at the power of the Lord when we get to go to the ocean. The Bridges used to be two but the water has shaved them down to one! Power in water, water made by our Lord, Power in God our creator! It is a nice reminder as I struggle with being overwhelmed with today's economy, friends that have cancer (check out Aimee's blog on the sidebar...better picture is coming), and teaching 4 children that will have a bigger job to do in helping to reconstruct this world that we are giving them. I was reminded last week during our Truth study how the Lord has never given up and throughout history he has given His Church a job to do, and the honor of doing it! Ultimately, He is the one in charge and He never makes a mistake. Catherine Dang said during one of her training classes, "The Lord will always use evil to accomplish His good!" I am waiting and watching and working with hope! I hope you are too!

Garrett was here!

Garrett and his buddy Joey with my 4 kids!

Extremes!

Garrett, my cousin visited us last week! What an incredible man he has become! He joined the military last year and has been stationed in San Diego. He drove through our town and stopped by on his way back home to Washington. After a month of rest...he will go to Virginia to train and then off to somewhere in the world to guard one of our embassies. What a joy it is to know him and an honor to call my cousin. He lived with my folks for the last 2 years of his High School career so sometimes it feels as if I have a little brother! He is 6 foot something...taller than my husband by a few inches! It was very cute to see my smallest daughter who will probably never pass 5 feet look up to her 2nd cousin who probably was never that small!!! Garrett, you be very careful wherever they place you. I will be praying for you and counting the days till we see you again! Thank you for being an incredible role model for my kids to "look up to"! Most of all, thank you for protecting the freedom that we still have in America.