A much needed update

I don't feel like I can do a complete update, but since it has been 2 months since writing on here, a brief overview is definitely in order. So here is what's happening in our neck of the woods:

-Cowboy is POTTY-TRAINED!!! I am soo grateful he was so easy and he rarely has any accidents and I rarely have to remind him to go - just when we are out and about. IT is AWESOME and after my last round of potty training, I am so grateful and relieved - I was dreading this day and now that it has come and gone - I can't believe I didn't do it sooner! :)

-Princess starts school next week and it is hard to believe. She is extremely excited, and I have to admit, I am getting excited too. She is so ready for this next step, but it is hard for me to know I am no longer going to be in control of everything she is exposed to. It makes me more determined to be less critical and more encouraging, and on top of our family home evenings to combat everything she will be getting thrown at her the next several years. My baby - she said that it was "ok" if I took her to her classroom the first day of school, but NOT after that "Only one time Mom! Then I ride the bus." *sigh* I'm glad Zane will be home then because I get a little teary just thinking about it.

- Brother Bear is a whole new child. The last month he has seriously blossomed! It is so fun to see him getting involved and trying to make people laugh and jabbering. He is such a sweetheart and still a mama's boy with not a lot of affinity toward other women, but he took to his grandpa and uncles for sure! He's a "man's man" kind of boy - I love to watch him learn and grow. He has his own language right now that is getting a little easier to decipher, but I have a feeling I will be needing to translate anything he doesn't sign for other people for quite a while...what a cutie.

- Zane is enjoying his time right now in Georgia learning about helicopters and is getting excited to jump/slide/whatever out of them and will be home from all training/internship etc on Saturday. Yay for us! We haven't seen too much of him this year it seems like. He starts in on his final semester of school in September! There is an end to all of this - I'm so grateful! Where we will be and what we will be doing is still in the air a bit, and he still has more training after he commissions, so all that is still to be determined, but hey - he's commissioning and getting his diploma in December - HOOAH!!

- I've had a rough month myself, but am so grateful for supportive and loving parents (on both sides!) I'm not sure I would have made it this last week without my mom here to listen to me and just provide me some companionship. It was fun to go out to VA for so long and see my parents and sister. We didn't really do a whole lot, but it was nice to be out of our apartment for a while. Zane was able to fly out and join us and a day after he got there my cousin died, we had the funeral the following week in Pennsylvania (which there are definitely some BEAUTIFUL areas there!!! We fell in love with the dutch country) and a couple of days after the funeral we found out Zane had to be home 3 days earlier than expected to go to GA and right after we arranged to go back sooner, my grandpa (dad's dad) died in Utah. So we flew in LATE friday, drove home Sat, Zane got on a flight Sun, and I drove back down to UT for the funeral Monday. It's been a little exhausting so I was so glad when my mom told me she was coming up to my house for a week and would be leaving just a couple days before Zane got home. What a blessing!

On that note, I need to get some things done, but I just want to say I am so blessed. I have a wonderful and supportive family, good friends, much to be grateful for, but most of all, I am SO blessed to have the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It sustains me, strengthens me, lifts me, and touches my life in every way. In so much chaos in the world and even in my own life at times, just knowing who I am, why I am here, where I am going, and WHO is in charge gives me so much peace, comfort, and HOPE. There is life after death, we can be with our loved ones forever, and no matter what life may throw at us, the Lord will carry us through. I am truly BLESSED.