I realize that in the previous post that Emma's sunburn looks like the worse of the two. It's all an illusion. Josh is sunburned on his entire back (including the top two inches or so of his bum) and his entire chest. That's what happens when you are the child of two albinos who burn easily and you are outside in the water for hours without a bit of sunblock.

Josh got sunburned so badly that he has blisters on his shoulders and he has been in major pain since Friday evening. Last night the pain and itch associated with the burn were so bad that he was in tears. Mike had a neighbor come over and they gave Josh a blessing. He didn't get to sleep until well past midnight, but when he woke up this morning, he said the itch was gone and the pain was manageable. He still has a ways to go until he's done with this challenge in his life, but I think he's learned how important it is to follow the rules and listen to your mom when she says to put on sunblock. He's also had his testimony of priesthood blessings strengthened. Sometimes the most important lessons you have to learn in this life come because of major physical or emotional pain. I wish it wasn't that way, but it is. It's hard to see your children in pain or need and not be able to help them.

I imagine that that's what our Heavenly Father goes through every day.

This is what we're dealing with around here-

Lots of ibuprofen, aloe vera, and whining.

Yay for us.

Yesterday was our 18th wedding anniversary.

We got this card from our two oldest boys-

They thought it was the most hilarious thing they had ever seen. (It is kindof clever.)

Have a super day!

Something wonderful happened eighteen years ago today.

Guess what it was?

Do you need a hint?

We started our happily ever after!

I'm not saying that it's all been peaches and roses. We've had some trying times, some frustrating times, some not so happy times along with the blissful, wonderful, and amazing times. But I've got to say, it's been worth it - every single minute of it.

Happy Anniversary to us!

So.....

Here's how it went down -

Last week, as we were leaving Church, we were stopped by Brother Ward. He's the first counselor in our bishopric. He said, "Mike, I want to give you some blessings." He then asked Mike if he would speak in Church the next Sunday on the Conference talk by Gregory A. Schwitzer - Developing Good Judgment and Not Judging Others. I was wrestling kids and a huge Church bag so I went out to the car and promptly forgot about that conversation.

Fast forward to yesterday.

We walk into the Chapel and I see Brother Ward standing there. I turned to Mike and said, "You're speaking in Sacrament Meeting today." Mike turned white, looked like he was going to throw up and said, "Are you freaking kidding me?" Brother Ward overheard this whole conversation and said, "Really? Are you kidding?" And since I was once again wrestling kids and a huge Church bag I didn't hear what else went on. All I know is that Mike disappeared, came into Sacrament Meeting late with his scriptures and some books, and then gave an awesome talk that many people complimented him on.

I have the coolest husband!

(and may I say, it's about time he was asked to speak. We've lived here for almost 3 1/2 years and I've spoken 3 times. This was Mike's first time to speak in this ward.)

My kids found this the other day-

That brings the grand total of snakes found by my kids to three in the past few weeks.

I'm not surprised. This is what our backyard currently looks like-

Do you see those weeds? They literally come up to my chest. We are currently in the process of reclaiming our yard by mowing down those weeds. I hope we aren't committing mass snake-icide in the process. That'd be a bummer.

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In other news...

Our ward had a scout court of honor last night. Josh earned both his First Class and his Second Class and was awarded them both last night. I would post pictures, but frankly I don't feel like wrestling with blogger any more this morning. It has already deleted my post twice, and I just can't deal with it anymore.

Welcome to June!

The last post took me almost 2 hours. Sometimes I really do not like blogger. This picture is from that post, but for some reason blogger just deleted it. So here it is-

Emma found a snake in our yard a few weeks ago. She found one last summer that she named Edward, and she thinks that this is the same one. Who knows, maybe it is.

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Yesterday Mike quit his job. He's been waiting (and wanting) to do that for a long time, at least two years. He finally found another job. And we don't have to move, it's more money, and the benefits (insurance) are better and less expensive. The drawback - he'll be working all over the U.S. and maybe even out of the country (they told him that he would need a passport). He may be gone for over a week at a time. We'll see. It will be an adjustment, but he's excited and it will be something that will challenge him and allow for growth, for both of us.

He'll be working for AlphaGraphics helping to open new stores across the country.

I'm sure there will be more to tell when we get more information. Right now about all we know is that he's supposed to start on June 15.

Have a superb day. I plan to.