Dress

Nothing new to report in the way of jobs. We are still getting plenty of interviews, which is great. Just keep us in your prayers.

I did a lot of cleaning this week. I went through all of Clara's old clothes and organized them. I also went through both Clara's closet and our closet and was able to get rid of a lot of things. We actually have room now and it looks GREAT. More organizing to come! I love how willing Jeremy is to help me too. I know I wouldn't do all of this spring cleaning if he were gone all day working.

I made Clara a new Easter dress this week. Clara has gotten to where she LOVES dresses. She would wear one everyday if we had that many dresses for her. She was very excited to wear her new dress to church yesterday.

Clara says the funniest things. Here are some from this week.

Clara and I were getting ready to go play outside. As were were walking out the door she said, "Goodbye Daddy." I then said, "Bye babe." Clara then said, "Bye babe, bye Jeremy, bye Clara's Daddy." It made me laugh that she knew so many names for him.

During Sacrament meeting yesterday, Clara was playing with a small Magna Doodle. I overheard this conversation that she had with herself: "Draw a snake." She then drew an outline of the square board. "This a snake? No, this a house. Try again." She then erased her "house" and kept on drawing.

Logan

We took a trip to Logan this week. Jeremy applied for a job at the Space Dynamics Lab. He has a cousin that works there and offered to give us a tour. Jeremy figured that it would be a good idea to take a tour so that he would have things to talk about if he got an interview. As soon as we got back from Logan, Jeremy had an email saying that the position was already filled. The trip wasn't a loss though. We did enjoy our tour and even got to see things that have been in space. It was a great tour and would like to take it again someday without a 2 year old whose attention span is 2 seconds.

We also got to see some good friends of ours. We visited with the Brumbaughs who have a very nice playground. Clara enjoyed opening and shutting the gate to the playground more than she enjoyed playing on the equipment. But she did find a blue "truck" that she loved to go up and down on.

We also got to eat lunch with the Peterson's. They treated us to an authentic Chilean restaurant. Jeremy loved being able to eat the food he loved while he was in his mission. Afterwards, the kids played on the hood of the car while we visited. Clara loved her new friends and didn't want to leave them to come home.On Saturday, we were invited over to the Emery's for the BYU basketball game. Although Clara and their son Cole fought a lot, they also became great friends. As we were getting ready to leave, they kept giving each other hugs and kisses. It was adorable.Here are some cute stories of Clara that I've been meaning to record. They didn't necessarily happen this week though.

A few weeks ago, Clara and I were out for a walk. Her hands were cold, so she said, "Mommy blow hands." I did my usual cupping my hands around hers and blowing so that her hands could warm up. After I was done, Clara announced: "Mommy blowed hands." I was impressed with her understanding of needing to make it past tense, even if she did get it wrong.

I gave Jeremy a hug and a kiss while Clara was in the room. When I had pulled away, Clara said, "Mommy loves Daddy."

As we were walking up the church steps Clara announced, "Clara wear pretty green dress and pretty white shoes." I'm so glad she has such a healthy self-esteem.

New Computer!

The best part about this week is our new computer. We got it last Monday night, and have spent the better part of the week reloading programs and things due to our Windows 7 upgrade. We are so happy to have a computer of our own again after borrowing ones for over a month now! Our new computer works great and has all our old files loaded and ready to go! Thanks again Brian for all your hard work in helping us. And thanks Michael and Genevieve for letting us borrow your laptop!

Jeremy had quite a few interviews this week. And we are looking forward to a few more already scheduled. We feel so blessed that he's getting so many interviews. But we would feel more blessed if we actually landed a job! :)

Clara got a new toy this week. She must play "fishing" in nursery or something because I've never played fishing with her before. But the last few weeks, she's been pretending to "fish" with anything that has a string on it. So when she got a new "fishing rod" this week, it didn't leave her side for days. It's pretty cute to listen to her fish all day. She says the funniest things to herself. For example, she caught the dolphin (which she insists on calling a whale) and said, "I got you whale." Which doesn't sound that funny in typed up words, but it sure is funny listening to a 2 year old talk to her little fish.We were also able to go to Chuck E Cheese this week. Jeremy's cousin, Jason, and his wife, Melody, invited us to go with them. They have a little girl who is just a few days younger than Clara. Both little girls wandered from ride to ride. Clara got to be an expert at putting tokens in the rides. As soon as the ride would stop, she would say, "One coin please." Jeremy would hand her a coin and she would put it in. It was cute to watch. Thanks for inviting us to go with you guys! We had a blast.

Still Here

I'm still tutoring and babysitting. Jeremy is still looking for a job. Jeremy did have a 2nd interview at a hopeful company this week, but he didn't get the job. Life goes on though.

We've been able to get a lot of cleaning done this week. I love being able to tackle big projects that I've been meaning to get to for a long time. Since Jeremy has been home, he's been able to entertain Clara while I spend hours cleaning. It's been nice to get so organized!

What is it about a pony tail that makes my little girl look so grown up?

Better Week

This week has been a much better week. It was filled with wonderfully fun things. We have received quite a few job leads again this week. People are coming out of the woodwork to help us. We have gotten leads in some of the most unlikely places. Jeremy has quickly followed up with every lead too, so thanks to all of you for helping out so much. Your efforts weren't wasted. Jeremy also had quite a few job interviews last week and already has some lined up for this coming week.

Clara is feeling much better. She still has a cough, but has her energy and personality back. It was a rough few weeks filled with tantrums and being clingy. But she is finally starting to play by herself again and letting me get things done that I've been putting off.

I've been working like crazy this last week too. Ok, so maybe not "crazy" but a lot more than usual. In addition to tutoring more, people have also been paying me to do some sewing. One friend has been paying me for sewing lessons and another friend has paid me to do some mending for her. So we do have an income, even though it's a lot smaller than usual.

My grandfather turned 80 this week! For those of you who know, my grandfather wasn't supposed to make it to his 75th birthday. A little over 5 years ago, he was diagnosed with a kidney disease and was given 6 months to live at best. Instead of getting worse, his kidneys got better and ended up feeling better than he has in decades! He is my hero in so many ways and I'm so grateful I know such an amazing man. Here is the most recent picture I have of him. It was taken when we went to go visit them in September.We were also able to pick my cousin up form the airport on Wednesday and took him to the MTC. He is going to the Ogden, UT mission, so it will be nice to know he isn't that far away! My mom came down from Rexburg to be there for him as well. It was so fun to have family in town for a few days.On Saturday, we attended a birthday party for a friend of ours. He willingly gave Clara his balloons, which she was ecstatic about. She has carried those balloons around with her everywhere. Also on Saturday, we attended a wedding reception for a friend of Jeremy's from High School. We are so happy for Kent and Ashley. They looked so happy, and both of them deserve to be so blissful. Thanks for inviting us to share your special day with you! While we were at the reception, Jeremy was able to visit with other friends from High School that we haven't seen in a while. It was a great little visit.

On Sunday, we had the opportunity to attend the farewell talk of a good friend of ours. We are actually friends with his parents, but know him pretty well. As I was sitting in Sacrament meeting, I was remembering the time that I thought missionaries were so old. As years passed, I remember thinking that missionaries were young, but that their parents were old. The past few weeks have brought a few mission calls to the sons of some good friends. Our friends aren't old, so the parents of missionaries are no longer old, they are so young! I wonder if I'll ever stop changing my perception of "old." Probably not.

We also had a family gathering on Sunday. I love watching Clara interact with her cousins. She really does play by herself, but gets so excited to see her cousins. She was having such a good time at the farewell, that I was afraid we wouldn't be able to get her in the car without throwing a tantrum. However, when I told her that we were going to Bradley's house (her cousin) she said, "Yay Bradley's house," and ran right to the car. She didn't want us to say good-bye to our hosts. She kept pulling on my arm as we were trying to say good bye and finally just ran out the door by herself. During the drive there, she kept saying, "Going to Bradley's house." It makes me laugh how excited she gets to see her cousins, can't wait to get to their house, and then doesn't play with them the whole time we are at their house.

Clara thought it was a blast to sit on my head. In the pictures that follow, you can see how excited she is to climb up to my head, and then how much fun she has just sitting on my head! Silly girl.