Big Changes!

        When we first moved to Canyon 5 1/2 years ago, our plan was to stay here until Brock got tenure, which would be at least 5 years.  At that point, we would decide if we liked it enough to stay longer, or if we were going to move somewhere else and find a different job.  It's no secret to anyone who knows us, that we had a pretty hard time adjusting to life in the Panhandle.  I won't go into the details of why, but suffice it to say that if it wasn't for the fact that Brock LOVED his job and we all LOVED our ward, we would have been out of here a long time ago!
        About 2 years ago though, things started to change, and we really grew to love our whole area.  We started to feel like this really could be where we would raise our family, except for one thing: the location of our home is in between Canyon and Amarillo, which means it is at least a 10 minute drive to get anywhere.  Usually, it's more like 20-30 minutes.  We split our time a lot between Canyon and Amarillo, though other than school, church, and work, just about everything else is in Amarillo.  Our doctors are there, we shop there, the kids do sports there, the gym I workout at is there, and Brock and I go on dates there.  Needless to say, we spend a LOT of time and gas money driving.  The other morning, I took the kids to school in Canyon, then drove to Amarillo to grab one thing from a store there, and then drove back home.  That's all I did, but it took me an hour and a half, most of that time being spent driving. While we have grown to love where we live, we decided a year ago that IF we for sure stayed in our area, we would at least move to Amarillo to be closer to the things that make up our life.
        A few months ago, Brock had the opportunity to apply for his dream job at BYU-Idaho.  His dad and grandpa both taught there, and Brock grew up wanting to follow in their footsteps.  However, the ag program at BYU-Idaho has changed DRASTICALLY since Brock was there as a student, and they are putting their focus on growing the horticulture program while scaling back considerably the agriculture side of it.  Brock was very concerned about these changes, but still felt the need to apply, just so he could for sure "weed" it out as an option (HAHA!  Great pun, if I do say so myself!).  As he went through the interview process, it quickly became apparent to Brock and I that he already had his dream job here at WT, and that he had no desire to work at BYU-Idaho at this point in his life.  This all happened in February, and at this point we came to the firm decision that we would stay in this area, but that we would eventually move to Amarillo.
        We would have moved to Amarillo right away, because I feel like the younger the kids are when we move, the easier it will be on them.  However, Brock has been serving as the Bishop of our Canyon ward, and in our church, everything is based on where you live.  Just like a school, you go to the church congregation assigned to your area.  If we moved to Amarillo right away, Brock would have been released and we didn't feel good about short-changing the Lord on this assignment.  Therefore, our plan was to move sometime next summer, because that would be around the time period when he would probably be released.  I began looking at houses off-and-on, just to get a feel for what was available.  Unfortunately, there wasn't much!  We needed something with 5 bedrooms and 2 living areas that was on the south side of Amarillo so Brock could still get to work easily.  This was about impossible to find in our price range!  If there were some available, they were in really bad condition and super old.  It was a little depressing, but we just trusted that when the time came in a year, we'd be able to find something.
        That was our plan, but you know what they say about plans!  All this flew out the window when this happened:

        Over the weekend, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited for our stake conference, which was an AMAZING experience.  While he was here, our stake president called 2 new counselors to be in his stake presidency, and one of those is Brock.  The stake presidency presides over 14 different congregations throughout the north part of the Texas panhandle and into New Mexico.  Among his many new responsibilities, this assignment also means that Brock will be released as the Bishop of the Canyon Ward.  While this assignment became official last weekend, we have known about it for a month now.  When this call was issued to Brock, we realized  that if the right situation presented itself, we could move much sooner than we had originally anticipated.
        Last week, during one of my non-serious house searches on the internet, a house suddenly showed up that met ALL of our requirements.  It was in the perfect location and was only a few years old.  I had looked for houses for a long time but had never seen this one, even though we found out it has been on the market for several months.  I requested a showing, mainly because I was curious about what it really looked like.  I wanted to see if we'd actually be able to buy a house that was big enough for us, but still in our price range.  My in-laws were here visiting for stake conference, so they went with me to check out the house.
        I walked into this house and absolutely fell in love with it!  There's plenty of room for us and there's LOTS of storage space (a necessity in my book, but so hard to find in houses these days).  It's at the end of a cul-de-sac, walking distance from parks and schools, close to all the stuff we do in Amarillo, and the drive time for Brock is about the same as it is from our house now.  It was PERFECT!
        While my in-laws and I we were looking at the house, Brock was at work turning in his promotion and tenure packet.  He's been here 5 years now, which means that he is up for tenure.  He had just turned everything in (I don't think the timing is a coincidence) when I called him and asked him to come look at the house.  He thought it was great too, and after a trip to the temple that night and a second visit to the house the next morning before Brock's meetings for stake conference, we decided to put an offer on the house, contingent upon us selling ours.
        Obviously, our house was not ready to be put on the market, so we spent the next several days working non-stop to get everything squared away.  Now this is what our house looks like this morning:

        It is crazy the way this is all happening, but I just can't help but feel that the Lord is orchestrating all of this.  There are just too many "coincidences" happening here, and I feel like the Lord just plopped this house in our laps!  There are still so many things up in the air (we're still negotiating with the seller, but feel good about how that's progressing, and obviously we have to sell our house), but I really feel like this is going to fall into place so nicely.  Only time will tell, but I am extremely hopeful that things will be resolved soon.
        Our only regret in all this, is that we are going to have to say goodbye to our dear Canyon Ward.  We love those people so much and have grown close to them as we have served alongside them.  They are humble, strong, salt-of-the-earth kind of people and they have been so good to us through the years.  I'm glad that we are only a couple of minutes away from them, and that we will see them at stake events, but it is still hard to think of telling them goodbye.
        At this point, we are just watching and waiting, while we try to keep our house clean enough to show (not an easy task with 5 kids).  Only time will tell where this will all end, but for now, we are happy to know that the Lord is guiding us, and seems to be leading us in a direction a little different than we had planned.  That is a good thing, because if having Flint taught me anything, it's that the Lord's plans are always better than ours!  We shall wait and see how everything unfolds!
         
         

Flint's 1st Birthday!!!

        Flint began his birthday celebration with a wonderful MRI check-up in Dallas.  Since he's older and isn't content to be bundled up, the MRI experience itself was a lot harder on him than the previous times.  I'm pretty sure that this process is going to get worse before it gets better, but once he's old enough to remember that it doesn't hurt him, hopefully it will be smooth sailing!  We met with Dr. Weprin, who only had good things to say about Flint's progress, and then he cleared us for yearly check-ups now, instead of every 6 months.  WOO-HOO!  We spent the rest of the day celebrating my sister, Katie's birthday, and then her mother-in-law, Gena, came and took some darling 1 year pictures of Flint.  I think she did an amazing job!

 

         If you look closely in the pictures, especially the one above, you'll be able to see one of my favorite things about Flint - his long tuft of hair that grows where his scar is.  He doesn't have much hair on the rest of his head, but growing out of his scar is a line of long hair!  The doctors have all commented on how strange that is, because usually, no hair ever grows in the scar tissue.  To me, this little tuft of hair is Flint's symbol of strength.  It's like he's saying, "You say I'm not going to grow hair in my scar? Well, not only am I going to grow hair there, but I'm going to grow it EXTRA long just to show you I can!"  I think it really kind of epitomizes him, so that tuft of hair isn't going anywhere for our little Samson!      
      We had a great, short visit in Dallas, and then flew home on Friday.  We had an amazing experience on the flight home!  One of the flight attendants had been watching Flint throughout the flight and started talking to me about how alert and happy he seemed to be.  I was able to tell her a little of his story and she was swept up in the details of all that has happened over the last year.  She asked how old he was and when I told her his birthday was the next day, she asked if she could take him to the front of the plane with her. I said yes, and the next thing I knew, she had carried him to the front of the plane and was telling his story over the loud-speaker to the whole plane.  She asked everyone to sing to him, and he just sat there in her arms while the whole plane erupted into a chorus of "Happy Birthday."  Even after all this, she still kept him at the front of the plane with her, and I was curious what was going on.  Finally, I saw that the other flight attendant was making him a crown to wear.  A few minutes later, Flint was returned to me looking like this:

 

         Isn't that the cutest thing ever?  I thought those flight attendants were so sweet to do that for him (and really for me, since he had no clue what was going on)!  The best part was that he kept the crown on the rest of the flight and all through the airport.  He never seemed bothered by it at all!  We got home in time for dinner, and then my parents arrived late that night, ready to celebrate with us.
        We spaced out Flint's celebration throughout the day, so he didn't get too tired and we could all enjoy the festivities.  He got a pancake breakfast and had lots of help opening presents.

                                              

                                              

                                              

      He was obsessed with the birthday cake his sister and brothers decorated for him, and he dove right in more than any of my other kids ever did. I love this series of pictures, as he goes from one hand, to both hands, to all the frosting eaten off the top of the cake.  He was one happy boy!

                                               

                                               

                                               

                                               

                                               

                                               

                                               

                                               

        My favorite part of the day though, was when we took brownies and a thank you card to the NICU at BSA.  This is the hospital where Flint was born and where he spent the first 6 weeks of his life, other than the week we were in Dallas.  We had planned to go earlier in the day, but our plans changed and we ended up going around 4:00.

We forgot to take a picture by the NICU, but got one in the front drive of the hospital

      As we pulled into the parking lot at the hospital, we noticed a life-flight helicopter coming in for a landing.  I made the comment, "Someone's life is about the change," and we continued into the hospital and up to the 3rd floor.
       There was quite a crowd in the waiting room of the 3rd floor, and then as we turned into the hallway where the NICU is, we saw a small cluster of people standing right outside the door to the NICU.  You can't just walk into the NICU.  There's a phone in the hall that you use to call inside, and then if you're already on their list of patients, they let you in.  Since we no longer had a patient inside, we explained that we were there to deliver a thank you gift, and wondered if they could send someone out to get it.
     While we waited for someone to come out, we heard the other people commenting about how, "They just landed.  They're bringing him up." I asked them if the life-flight was for someone in their family, and they said it was for their new grandson who had been born in Childress but was having problems with his platelet counts. We recognized the strain and fear in their faces, and we tried to reassure them.  Right about that time though, the door to the NICU opened and out came a couple of nurses and our favorite nurse practitioner.  In addition to the brownies, we had brought them some cards the kids had made, and a picture of Flint on the day he was born with a picture of Flint that had just been taken.  They remembered him and the drama with getting him to Dallas and back, and were so excited to see how well he was doing.  Flint turned on the charm and grinned all over the place at them and did his best to show his gratitude for the care they had given him.  They thanked us for coming and then they went back to work.
       This whole interaction was being watched carefully by the little gathering of people, waiting for their new grandson to arrive.  As the nurses left, we turned to this family and said we wished them well.  They told us it was perfect timing that we showed up when we did; that they needed to see that and feel some hope.  We just showed them Flint again and said that there were so many miracles that could happen with God, faith, and medical science.  It touched my heart that even in that small moment, Flint was able to bring a measure of peace and hope to a family who desperately needed it.  Seeing them waiting outside the NICU, with the strain on their faces, was just so close to home, especially given the fact that it was exactly one year after we were going through the same thing!
        It is impossible to sum up my feelings about celebrating Flint's first birthday!  He has come so far this year and taught me so much.  I have learned again and again that with God, all things are possible, if only I do not limit Him.
        I asked my brother to put together a music video of Flint's life, showing where he started and where he is today.  Actually, the video is already a little outdated, because Flint is now crawling (when he decides he wants to), but I think it's the most awesome video ever!  I'm so grateful for this happy little boy and the sweet spirit of joy that he shares with everyone he comes in contact with.  He is my little "tough as Flint" boy, and I am SO proud to be his mom!  Happy birthday Flint!


Flint from Derek Williams on Vimeo.