Dear Blog,

I miss you!  I miss the days when I am not consumed in thought about moving..selling...buying...making, goodbyes, hellos, and KEEPING MY HOUSE SPOTLESSLY CLEAN!  I miss calm.  I miss reading and writing and calm!  But today is the Sabbath and I will enjoy every unhurried minute of it!

Today Jared spoke in Stake Conference and he did a great job.  He spoke about how important daily personal scripture study is.  And I don't think it will offend him when I say, that his habit of study is what I attribute most of his brilliance and all of his goodness to.  And the entire thing just got me thinking of how the Lord leads and guides us in this life.  Never alone are we!  Let me elaborate.

We are moving to Payson, UT.  We did not ask to move!  However, we knew when Jared took his job, that that would not always be in our hands.

We love MOAPA VALLEY!  It is stamped on our hearts!  We love the PEOPLE, the Lemon Trees, the pomegranates, the quirky way that everybody avoids the color green, figs, hikes to the mesa, the Pirates, our NEIGHBORHOOD, the QUAIL, the lizards (the small ones), our very old and sometimes warm church building, the local swimming pool, OUR WARD, our awesome garden, 2 feet long cucumbers, perfect THANKSGIVINGS, and did I mention the PEOPLE!  

And thinking about the end, just reminds me of the beginning.  We drove into this valley with a large OVER-HEATING U-haul, and a small green Oldsmobile.  Our family consisting at the time of Jared, Me, and Ally, age one.  Pulling into the apartment parking lot in 100 degree weather in the dark of night, only to greeted by my FIRST ever COCKROACH in the form of death, I sucked in my tears, and quickly gave myself the "Buck Up" pep talk.  Each time I drove into the valley during those first couple of years, I would see a palm tree and have an unmistakable feeling of nausea and home-sickness wash over me.  Every time I checked the clock, I would note the time, then in denial say what time it was in Idaho, dreaming of being at the family barbecue with everyone else!

But, the story does not end there. I remember desperately pleading with Heavenly Father before our first Sunday in Overton, "Please, Please, just let me find someone that I can trust with Ally.  A babysitter, a family, someone, so that we can go to the temple, and have help if we need it!"  

Looking back, I could not have ever DREAMED how He would answer that prayer that would BLESS our lives forever.  I remember walking into Sacrament meeting and seeing a family with a million kids, four of them being girls, darling babysitting little girls!  That is the family I thought!  I approached them, and that week, with absolutely no hesitation on our part, they babysat Ally.  10 years later, we love every member of the Rust family like our own.  We want our kids to grow up like their kids, we have been counseled by them, served by them, loved by them.  And the thought of driving away from this valley and the FAMILY that has taken us in here, well.......

The Rusts have been compounded by dozens of others, with very similar stories.  I am not very good at goodbyes.  In fact, I hate them.  We will be quietly be driving away, to the tune of, "See you in Payson!  There will always be a bed for you there.  We will feed you, laugh with you, and carry on!"  

We will be leaving behind much!  However, we will be taking the ABSOLUTE KNOWLEDGE that "God will guide the future as He has the past"!