January Letter

January 3, 2013

Dear Children,

This past month has been a little busy. Not only did we make it through Christmas, New Year’s, and the Mayan Apocalypse, we also had our apartment flood. The first day of Christmas break, we were sitting at home when water started dripping down from the ceiling. We hurried to get buckets and towels and plastic bags underneath everything. We ended up catching about fifteen gallons of water, but quite a bit more came down through the walls and seeped out into the carpet.

As it turns out, our neighbors upstairs forgot to turn off their swamp cooler and it froze and then started leaking when it warmed up. Not only did the owners end up having to pay for repairs for their own apartment, but they also had to foot the bill for flood repairs to our apartment as well. I’m sure they probably aren’t too happy about the whole situation. Luckily we didn’t have any personal property damage.

The one thing we were very grateful for was the timing of the flood. The apartment above us is actually empty right now. If it had happened one day sooner, the water would have continued running until we got home from work and the damage would have been much worse. If it had happened just two days later, we would have already left to visit our parents for Christmas and the water may have continued running for a full week before we came home and found it. I know it may seem strange to say that a flood is a blessing, but we were really blessed by the timing of the flood. Heavenly Father was really looking out for us.

The past year has been filled with many blessings. Your mom found her first teaching job at a school she really likes. I graduated from Brigham Young University. I found my first post-college job. We found an apartment within our price range that was much bigger than our previous apartment. Our apartment didn’t suffer any lasting damage from flooding. And the trains stopped honking during the night while we were trying to sleep. I am grateful for the blessings Heavenly Father has granted us this year.

Your mother and I love you.

Love,

Dad

John's October Letter

October 8, 2012

Dear Children,

It almost seems like it has been a non-stop race since the start of the school year.  I always thought that going to college while working part-time would be more stressful than having a full-time job.  I’m not so sure anymore.  Regardless of how busy we’ve been, it has still been good.  Our worries over financial stability have been greatly decreased and we both enjoy our jobs.  That’s enough for now.

Aside from the daily things, there hasn’t been much exciting happen.  We’re still trying to see how we fit into our new community.  Some of the people are really nice and a few are kind of weird.  We mostly end up just keeping to ourselves.

We’re both excited about fall break coming up this week.  It will mean a much needed five day weekend.  As it is, we struggle to keep up with things during the week so that Saturday doesn’t fill up completely.  Sometimes we’re more successful than others.  We’re going to take one day of our break to go see the Utah Shakespeare’s production of Les Miserables.  We’ve heard really good things about it and are excited to see it ourselves.  I look forward to getting to take you to plays and sharing some of my interests with you.

After that, I guess we’re going to have to start thinking about Halloween.  I’m not sure, but I think there are probably a good number of people at both of our workplaces that will be dressing up for Halloween.  I haven’t even considered a costume yet.  I guess I still have a few weeks to figure it out.  We’ll have to figure out how we’re going to carve our pumpkin as well.  There’s two more things I’m looking forward to sharing with you.  I love you.

Love,
Dad

John's August Letter

August 22, 2012

Dear Children,

     The past few months have been a little crazy. July started out with a family reunion. Your Aunt Rachel wasn’t able to make it with her family, but the rest of us where there. We stayed in cabins at a campground and spent most of the time just hanging out with each other. It was nice to get to see all your aunts and uncles and your cousins. It was the first time that many of us had been together at the same time since your mother and I got married. It was also nice to get out of town and have a break from the stress of looking for a job. The hardest part was coming back home afterwards. Our apartment felt really empty after spending that much time with family.

     Once we got back we had to switch over to moving mode. Since I graduated from BYU, we couldn’t stay in on-campus housing any more. We found a nice condo that costs a little more than we were paying before, but it’s also quite a bit bigger. The landlord also allows us to have pets. That means that as soon as we had the essentials unpacked we headed to a shelter to pick out a kitty. We named his Reeses because he is orange. When he’s not playing us to death, he’s loving us to death. He really loves his people. I know you didn’t get to help pick him out, but I bet you’re still going to enjoy having him as part of the family.

     Then, a week into August, we had an adoption conference sponsored by Families Supporting Adoption that we attended. We had wanted to go last year, but it was too far away and we didn’t want to spend money on a hotel unless we had to. We ended up leaving the conference with some mixed feelings. Some of the presentations and classes were really good and gave us some ideas of how to talk about adoption more openly. On the other hand, it was hard hearing everyone else tell stories about quickly their adoption went or how easily they found their children, or how many children they have adopted. I know we will get to the point where we have stories like that to share about you, but it can be hard to see that from where we are at right now.

     I’d still been applying for jobs like crazy and getting interviewed at least three or four times each week. Unfortunately, I seemed to be everyone’s second choice. Principals wanted teachers with more experience that I currently have and everywhere else I applied didn’t want to hire someone who was likely to leave for a teaching position in the next few years. I finally got a call from one of the assistant principals I had interviewed with. She offered me a job for a position that had come up last minute and she thought would be a better fit for me than the position I had applied for. So now I’m working as a facilitator for high school distance learning classes. I get to sit in the classroom with the students and try to figure out how to operate the technology. As luck would have it, the entire system went down my first day and I ended up sitting in a room with three students and no way to connect to the instructor. I know they were bored, but there wasn’t much to do about it.

     I want to apologize for not writing a letter last month. Things were busy, but I still should have made the time. One thing I can promise you is that I will always make time for you. No matter how busy things get, my family will always be my first priority. I love you.

Love,

Dad

Cassy's August Letter

Dear Children,

Sorry there was a break in our letters. We got really busy with all that has happened within the last month, so I have lots to tell you.

First off, we moved! We are living in a condo right next to the train tracks in Provo. You will love the trains. They are super loud, but at the same time really fun to watch and hear. Luckily, you get used to them really fast. Your dad and I were really worried that they would be a problem, but now their a part of home. Our new home also has some new features that we are incredibly excited for. We have a dishwasher, a jet tub, and a washer and dryer. Doing laundry has never been so much fun!

I have been working non stop on school. I am excited for the new school year and can't wait to get started. On top of all the excitement comes a lot of fears. Its scary to know that my students all depend on me to teach them what they will need to know for the rest of their lives. Wish me luck as I embark on this new journey.

This last month we also added a new family member. He is a 2 month old little kitty. He is so cute. We named him Reeses. He is a little ball of energy. We love him to death.

Lastly, I wanted to tell you about the adoption conference we attended. It was fun and hard, at the same time, to hear all the stories that were told. It got us excited and motivated to get our profile back online and to continue searching for you. We learned some really valuable things about updating our profile and getting the word out that we are adopting.

We hope that we will get to meet you soon. Your dad and I love you very much and can't wait to share our lives with you.

Love,

Mom

John's June Letter

May 18, 2012

Dear Children,

     If April was busy and hectic, May was pretty empty and slow. There have been more applications filled out, and more interviews gone to, and more rejections. It hasn't all been bad though. Your mom was asked by her principal to teach a lesson for him to observe. The result was him offering her a part-time job as a teacher next fall. She's already started attending training classes with the other teachers. She's getting excited about the opportunity to be designing new curriculum for the sixth graders.

     I got an interview with Washington County School District for a drama teacher opening at Pineview High School. I drove down to St. George and back the same day. It made for a long day, but the interview went well. I was supposed to hear back from them the first part of this week. I haven't heard anything yet, so I'm not sure what to think. I also have an interview tomorrow at Taylorsville High School. I'm really excited about that one. The school is pretty big and the drama program is very well established.

     It's interesting to think how much the decisions we're facing right now will affect you growing up. Where we end up working and, consequently, where we end up living will likely be the place you come to think of as home. Of course, we may end up moving around a little bit before settling down somewhere. I feel like we're coming up on the point where we will know what we're going to be doing in the fall. I'm glad.

     Your mom and I went for a hike on Memorial Day. We looked up some information on-line and found out that there is a hot-spring just under an hour's drive from here. We decided to hike out to it. We found the trailhead just fine, but then we took the wrong trail and ended up hiking down the wrong canyon. It was still a fun hike, but it ended up being twice as long as we expected and we didn't get to see any hot-springs or waterfalls. We decided to go back down this week and see if we can find the right trail this time. We forgot a camera the first time anyways, so now we'll be able to take pictures.

     We love you and pray for you.

Love,

Dad

Cassy's May Letter

Dear Children,

This month has been very long, short, and everything in between. Your father and I have done many things this month, so it is hard to know where to begin, but I will try to make this letter as organized as I can.

To start off, this month has given us a lot to think about. We made a quick trip down to Mancos to do an interview in Blanding. We didn't get it, but we got to spend a lot of time with family and that was well worth the trip.

When we returned we found out something that was very hard to deal with. One of our friends in our ward was very ill after giving birth to a beautiful baby girl. We prayed for her and her family. The Lord took her home a little while after that. It has been such a blessing to be in this ward and to be around so many people who love us and who we love very much. The support that the family has received has been amazing to watch and a real testimony builder. The whole thing has strengthened my testimony of The Plan of Salvation. I know this young mother will get to raise her three beautiful children and that she is in a wonderful place.

Your father has an interview this week. We are praying and fasting that we find the jobs that will be the best for us and that the Lord will send us to the best place to raise our family. We are so excited for this interview and can't wait to find out what the result will be. I also had an observation last week for a fifth grade part time position at the school I am at now. It was exhilarating to teach a lesson. It reminded me of why I went into education and why I love it so much.

We went on a hike today. I am so sore! It was only supposed to be a 4.5 mile hike, but we missed the trail and ended up going on a 10 mile hike. We saw lots of wild flowers, lizards, snake, squirrels, and butterflies. It was a beautiful hike and it makes me very grateful for many things. I am grateful for the beauty that the Lord has placed here on the Earth. I am grateful for a body that can hike 10 miles and only be sore. I am grateful for the food and water that we took with us. I am grateful for the opportunity to go hiking with your father. I am grateful for everything that the Lord has given us.

Lastly, I am grateful for you. I know that you are not in our home yet, but I am grateful for the knowledge that someday you will be here. We look forward to all the things we will be able to do with you, like 10 mile oops hikes. We love you so very much.

Love,
Mom

John's May Letter

May 18, 2012

Dear Children,

     This past month has been pretty busy, but in a good way. I finished up my student teaching. That was exciting and hectic at the same time. I got to go with the students to the state drama competition at Taylorsville High School. Incidentally, Taylorsville is looking for a new drama teacher and I applied for that position. Anyways, the students did really well for the most part. Our school took third place overall and a few people medaled in their events. The greatest thing for me was getting to see the look on the students faces when it was announced they had won. Two of the students sang a song from Parade and managed to take first place in musical theatre. Watching their faces I got to see a mixture of surprise, excitement, and wonder all at once. It was a great experience. I hope I can have that experience again but as a parent watching you achieve great things.

     We also finished up the last play of the season at the high school. The kids did a great job with it. It was a great experience for them and anyone who came to see it.

With that over with, I finally graduated. It was a relief to be done, but a little scary at the same time. Since then, your mom and I have been filling out job applications like crazy. It's time to start making plans for where we're going to be living and working for the next year at least. We can't stay in student housing anymore and we need to find a way to start building experience teaching.

     We've both been called up for a few interviews, but there haven't been any job offers yet. I'm hoping to get hired as a drama teacher at a high school, but I'd be okay working with younger students or even doing math. We've been praying that the Lord would guide us to find the opportunity that will be best for us. We're both hoping it doesn't take too long, but knowing that we have to be patient all the same.

     We're looking forward to finding somewhere to live where we can start building our family. Right now it's just the two of us, but we know you will be coming to join us when the time is right. We love you and pray for you.

Love,

Dad