Mixed Emotions

Last week was full of a variety of emotions. Emotions of sadness

Sadness for leaving my good friends behind, for leaving a house that we loved and had so many good memories in, for leaving Spanish Vista ward were we felt so loved and taken care of, moving further away from were Josh and I work, not being able to say goodbye the way I would have wanted to to everyone who has been in our lives the last 2 1/2 years(because of the rush to get out in 3 days).

All the sadness came from leaving the place we called "HOME."

Emotions of relief

We felt relieved 2 days before we had to move out. That was the day we signed the papers and the new owners bought our home. We have had our home up for sale since January and kept on hoping and praying it would sale. Finally, it happened and we are out of our large financial burden.

Emotions of gratitude

We know without a doubt that it was God who took care of this situation. We feel so grateful for so much as of right now.We feel grateful for family and their hospitality and kindness to share and help us out during these hard times. Gratitude for the health of Baby James is huge as he has been such a happy, on the move little budz, who creates our recreational enjoyment and moments of great laughter and smiles. We feel blessed to have a roof over our head, food on the table, clothes on our back, friends who we love and they love us, the ability to work, the opportunities to grow spiritually and mentally and for the love that we feel from one another as a small little family. Moreover, we feel so grateful to know what we know- and that is that our Father in Heaven has a plan for us and even through the thick and the thin he is there for us. There are many times where I feel weak and know that I would not be able to be where I am today without his love and support that I feel when I get on my knees and talk to him. I feel blessed to know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will always make us feel at peace. They are the ones who keep me going. I am so glad I have the opportunity to go to the temple and renew the promises we make. I love going and forgetting the world and being in a place so pure and out of the world. I always leave wanting to be a better person.

Emotions of being humbled

This situation in our life has defiantly welcomed humility. I have found it so easy to give and help others, yet I have found it hard to allow others to help me. I think the Savior works in mysterious ways as he allows us to go through experiences that we never would imagine. All in all I have really become humbled and have been given the ability to really see with different eyes trials that others must face as well. I think humility is something that is hard, yet a blessing at the same time. It has really made me think in greater depth of how the Savior places others in our lives to help us and be there for us, when he can not visually be there for us. I have been humbled now that we have had to downsize and are very appreciative with those who have helped us out during these tough times.

Time of learning

I have learned a great lesson through this big change of life ( leaving friends, a ward and a place we called home) and that is that God will never leave your side. I had one of those days where you feel alone, worthless and like you just want to give up. I burst into tears and let everything out. As I was driving, I stopped on the side of the road and at that moment all I wanted to do was to sit on Gods lap, be hugged and told that everything was okay and that he loved me. As I sat there sobbing, I prayed to feel that and to have him wrap his arms around me. Seconds later I felt at peace and knew he heard me. It is these moments in our lives, where we don't know what to do or where to turn that God will always give us what we desire if our hearts are in the right place. I have learned a meaningful lesson of what is really important in life- and that is my sweet baby James and my husband, who mean the world to me. It is not the material things that bring great joy and memories, but it is the people I love and am surrounded by. I can deal with the moving and leaving temporary things behind, yet I really do not think I could deal with sickness or death of my 2 babes. Thus, I say thank you for letting me realize what is really important and to treasure health everyday.

So here begins a new chapter in our lives....................

Leavitt Family Adventures in British Columbia

Every single year my family goes on a family summer trip together. This year everyone, except Stacy and here family, were able go to British Columbia, Canada. We estimated that Josh, James and I traveled 4,000 miles in all this trip. Lets just say, we are not very fond of driving in the car anymore. Our first stop was in Penticton. We were able to stay at Brad's (my brother in laws)parents cabin right off the lake.

We were able to go to the beach. James probably downed a few tablespoons of sand. It was almost impossible stopping that boy, while still letting him enjoy himself. Yum.....Yum We were able to work on our tan, swim a bit, walk around, talk and just relax with the ones we love. My poor little fare skinned son, I had to plaster him with sunscreen. Since we weren't all together for my my birthday or my dad's we all went out to eat to celebrate. We ate at one of the well known restaurants- Salty's (seafood). This is me and my fabulous family, that I love so much.

Josh, James(sleeping) and Me( AKA Birthday Girl)

Lindsey and Mom

Me, Brad and Amber

Dad (AKA birthday boy) and Mike

This is all of us stuffed and full, just chilling in the cabin. This is the place for the best cherries ever. We went to Brad's brothers house and were able to pick as many cherries as we wanted to. They had like 5 different kinds and they were deliciously tasty. Dad bought 10 for later and they were gone in less than 2 days. That just shows you how much we love eating them. They are like candy, you just can't stop.

We also got to take this baby for a drive. Dad drove and he had a ton of fun racing. I have never seen dad drive so fast and crazy in my life. It was a super fast car and it was dang good looking too.

James even got his turn. Doesn't he look like a total stud behind the wheel?

A special shout out to my Mother and Father: THANKS SO MUCH FOR MAKING IT A PRIORITY TO GET OUR FAMILY TOGETHER TO GO ON BIG TRIPS EVERY SINGLE YEAR.

THANKS FOR SPENDING SO MUCH MONEY ON US, LOVING US, BEING THE GREATEST GRANDPARENTS TO BABY JAMES, FOR FEEDING US, DRIVING US, LISTENING TO US, LAUGHING WITH US, FINDING INTEREST IN US, SUPPORTING US and just for always making us feel like we are your biggest PRIORITY in life.

WE LOVE YOU AND ARE FOREVER IN YOUR DEBT.

THANKS, these memories are always with us and so are you!

XOXOXOOX

Boating, Wake boarding and Tubing

In Pentictin, B.C the cabin we stayed in overlooked the lake, so for the whole week we got to go boating whenever we wanted to. Our Incredible Hulk was ready and rearing to go on his first boat ride. While daddy, AKA Superman, was able to hold on for dear life on the tube, while being driven by my crazy dad who had no mercy. As for myself, I got up on the wake board the first time I tried and was able to even go over a wave. We all had a blast out on the lake with the fam.

James loves his Auntie Amber because she spends so much time with him. The whole time he was in the water, he had a huge smile from ear to ear. Me and my beautiful sisters- Amby and Linz just enjoying the sun and each other.

James loved boating, it was a total soothing thing to him. He would zonk off as soon as he got on the boat, yet when the boat stopped he would start crying because he didn't want to stop. I loved it too, because it allowed me to cuddle with him- which is sadly not a regular occurrence with him.

Yet, James, his Uncle Mike and Uncle Brad were rearing to go again the next day and the next....

Thanks to Brad and his parents for letting us use their awesome cabin. There is nothing like waking up at 7:00 AM and going boating all day long.

Thanks again, a million times over!!

Ferry Ride

While in B. C we wanted to go see some of Lindsey's members and converts so we travelled from Vancouver to Victoria via ferry.

James was the #1 driver for the ferry ride from Vancouver to Victoria. He loved every minute. He especially loved this part of the boat, where there was lots to touch and pull on. He stayed very busy the whole time and would not take his nap because there was so much going on.

I was amazed that so many people take this 1 and 1/2 hour ferry ride just for work or to commute between Vancouver and Victoria. It reminded me of a cruise ship, as it had so many different decks (6) and rooms. They had an arcade, large cafeteria, sports watching room, one of the decks were for all the vehicles, shops, 2 kid play areas, patios outside and much more. We stayed very busy the majority of the time. It cost each car $42 and each passenger around $13 each. It was really cute, there was a play area just for kids and James felt honored to sail. He also loved sitting on deck and we all loved the beautiful view. We ate up in the cafeteria and James had his first french fry and loved it of course. He loves any big person food that has flavors of good taste.

James and Auntie Lindz hanging out together.

Victoria Island

On the night we arrived in Victoria, we went for a long walk across town to see the sites. It was beautiful and full of variety. Some places were quite slummy, while there were classy other areas. While there, we went through China Town and ate at a yummy Chinese Restaurant (I was so excited they had ginger beef- my favorite). Then we went by the Government building, which was decorated with lots of lights. James went prepared in his pj's and by the end of the night he was cuddling close to daddy and zonked. This wrap is our new love, it frees us of our hands and lets us be close to our baby boy. After about 2 days of swimming, hanging out, driving and walking around and seeing Lindsey's peeps and areas we headed back on the ferry for another fun ride. James loves being with his Uncle Mike, yet Mike was the one that gave him the name of the Incredible Hulk. Mike kept on saying how intense and strong he was. Mike stated,"He's beating me up!" We had so much fun together and apart, as we explored and saw another of God's wonderful creations. All I have to say is God blessed us with lots of varieties of enjoyment and a lot of places to see.

Ocean, Beach, Water and Sun

My brother, Mike and I holding jelly-fish.

FYI they didn't have their stingers.

Right when we saw them we started freaking out,

then out of the corner of our eyes we saw little girls gathering

them up with their hands into a bucket.

I tried scaring Josh and Dad with them too.

Josh went exploring and found this, if only it had a pearl in it. It was really neat though, as it was connected to a rock and the shells were still connected to each other.

Our little budz loved the sun and water, even though the water was a lot colder than what he was used to. We all went for a dip, dad even went snorkeling- yet all he saw was jelly-fish and some small little fish too. James could sit in the water for hours. He must have had a great taste of the water, rocks, sand and everything else. So much joy is in his little soul. I love mommy and baby bonding.

All of us- at least those who came for the long drive and adventure to visit the sites and people of my sister, Lindsey's mission in Vancouver and Victoria.

Vancouver Aquarium

On our way home we stopped off in Vancouver at The Aquarium. It was a sight to see. There were fish's of every kind and all sorts of mammals that we got to see close up. Since it was James' first time seeing these animals he just stared and drooled the whole time. We got to see a complete whale show that was quite impressive. I think this was our little budz favorite, he loved it when they dove out of the water and into the air. Here are just a few more of our favorites that we saw that day. The Slow Sloth The Beautiful Butterfly The Content Crocodile (that didn't flinch a bit)

The Shrill Shark

The Slimmy Star Fish

The Outgoing On the Move Otters

The Jelly-Fish were one of my favorites. I found them to be so incredibly interesting. They move so beautifully and it was weird to think that they are a fish, yet with no heart. The ones below were of most interest, they were the ones that can kill (like in the movie 7 Pounds).

We had a very busy, sun and fun filled day. James was pooped by the end of the day. He was so interested in all that was going on around him that he missed both of his naps, so that evening he crashed hard.