Momma Always Said . . .

This weekend was a wonderful getaway. We spent Thursday evening and Saturday helping my sister Esther, get accustomed to BYU. It was so fun to be on campus again. But I have to admit that it was a little wierd too. We walked on campus for the first time in three years with two strollers and it felt very different from when we were students. Different even from when we just had Rebekah. Odd how things like that can help someone gain a little perspective. I did realize just how many things had happened there in Provo and how important yet small all those things were.

We spent Friday with my aunt and uncle in Orem. They were kind enough to let us stay with them for the duration of the trip. Then on top of that, they took us to Swiss Days in Midway that night for some fun. It was a typical fair - just without as many toys and rides. They did have a bunch of blow-up slides and such though. I think Rebekah was intimidated by them at first. But once we got her on, we had to pull teeth to get her off when the time came. Her favorite was the Princess Castle. Patrick on the other hand, despite being very clingy for the last few weeks, got right on and stayed there playing happily for the next 15 minutes. It was a giant trampoline to him. He'd jump and bounce for a while, stick his head out the entrance to grin at us and go back to playing.

The hardest part of our vacation dealt with our house. Our current renters were moving out this weekend and we needed to find another renter. Stressful stuff. When a financial burden that big is hanging over your head you tend to be on edge. We'd had many calls about it, several bites, but no takers yet in the end. Then our former neighbors called (Family A) and asked if we would consider them for the job. They wanted to get out of their rental and they needed more space. Generally we don't do business with family and friends, but we didn't feel like we had any other options. So we went to talk to them. Long story short - we signed a paper containing the financial basics (that was it) but Michael was still very uneasy about it. We've always been on the same page before, so this was a new experience for me. Another family (Family B) called that night wanting the house and suddenly we were stuck in an awkward position. Should we honor our "agreement" that half of us feels wrong about? or should we stick with the bottom line of not doing business with friends/family and back out to give the house to Family B? (Who coincidentally was offering more money . . .) We talked and (I) cried over it for the next 24 hrs. We decided to meet with Family B and we prayed a lot during this time to do what was right. Turns out that we went with Family B and backed out on Family A. It was a hard decision for us and an even harder outcome for Family A. So in the end, life is not fair. Life is hard. And just because we make the right choice, does not mean that it will be easy. We hope we made the right choice. We felt good about it and we prayed over it. At this point, all we can do is move forward with the faith that Heavenly Father will make things right in the end.