We're Having a Jan!

Well, technically we don't know if it will be a Jan or a Mark.  But we are having a Jan!  

And only a month after Jan has a Katie!

Leaky Faucet

Have a leaky faucet? Why repair your two-knob model when you can replace and upgrade to a single-lever model that's easier to turn on when your hands are slimy from raw chicken? 

Kitchen sink before (This photo should really be in black and white, like on the infomercials!)

For a hundred-something dollars and a few hours of your husband's evening, you, too can have a beautiful new faucet with included soap dispenser. (Water lines, wrenches, and a hack saw to literally cut the old faucet off are not included.) 

Kitchen sink after

 But, what can be done with the old faucet? After all, those two knobs are still in good shape. Why not put them on your bathroom faucet? They look so much nicer than those crystal-looking jobbies.

Bathroom sink before

Two upgrades for the price of one!

Bathroom sink after

 Never mind the fact that both knobs turn counter-clockwise. So, to turn on the cold, you turn the handle to the back. Dad suggested a way to change that, so, with a few hours of my (or my husband's) evening. . . 

Temples in Utah

These "Temple" jokes never get old.

So this is it folks.  If you really wanna visit us in American Samoa, you better come before June 19, cause the time has come for us to move on!

 For our midlife crises this year, we're doing the grown-up thing and moving into our parents' basement.

You probably already heard the news from mom, but I'll fill in the details:

we're moving to utah in june.  ephraim's been pondering what to do for about a year now.  we finally have an answer that feels right.  he's going back to school to be a Physicians Assistant.  he needs 3 prerequisite classes and experience hours before we apply.  so that's why we'll be in utah.  we can stay with mom and dad, and there are lots of opportunities.  we'll apply for PA school next year, and then start in 2015 for two years.  the schools he's looking at are in the east.  after that we'll be able to go wherever there are openings.  so we won't be in utah forever.  it's just a pitstop.

things have been tumbling into place, as we get more information.  the idea was planted around christmas time by a PA friend of ours.  since then it has simmered.  in february he interviewed for a sea grant extension job in hawaii on the big island, but we didn't hear back, so we assumed it was a no.  he just found out last week that he was their #2 pick.  they went with a lady who's already there and is part of the network.  it was a pretty obvious pick.  but that was the position that he's been waiting for ever since we got here.  he had applied in other places for similar positions, but we really wanted to go to hawaii.  it just didn't happen.  and now we're really okay with it because the fun has been pushed out of his job by the reports he must write and meetings he must attend, and to succeed in this field, he'd have to write grants to keep a job.  which he hates doing.  he's always been interested in medicine, and has the science background, so voila.  

i went to the temple in apia two weekends ago and when i got back, we started to consider and research the PA option more seriously.  as we did we felt more excited and eager about it.  we thought that our new path would fall into our laps like it has in the past.  but this time, we've had to think out of the box a bit more, and search more for the right path.  but now that we're headed in this direction, we feel peace, joy, and faith.  "one step enough for me."

We're really excited to put the kids in an American school, to see snow, and to be close to family.  This is an answer to many years of prayer, and we're praying that all will go well with our new plans.

Here's what we looked like when we came in 2007.

And what we look like nowadays in 2013.

Praise's Two Teeth

I had two wiggley teeth.  They were the two bottom teeth underneath my two front teeth.  I was happy because my two adult teeth had come in behind the two baby teeth.

My dad would think that it was so gross when I wiggled my teeth.  He would say, "Eeewww!"  I sent a picture to my dad at work one day.

Once, when I was wiggling my teeth, I felt one tooth pop.  When I felt underneath, I felt a little bump.  When my mom looked at my finger, she said, "You have blood on your finger!  You have to wipe that off before you touch anything."  I didn't know that I had blood on my finger.

Early Sunday morning, I was in my bed, and I felt thirsty, so I decided to take a drink.  After I took a drink, I thought, "I haven't played with my teeth very much today.  I want to wiggle them."  So I wiggled the one that wasn't so wiggley.  Then I felt it pop.  I looked in my hand, and I saw my tooth!  I went to my mom and dad's room and said, "Mommy, I lost my tooth!"  She said, "Good job, Praise!"  Then my dad woke up and said, "Good job!"  I went into my room and looked at my tooth.  Then I dropped my tooth.  I was sad.  I decided to go tell Mom and Dad.  I said sadly to Mom, "Mommy, I lost my tooth."  My dad said, "I'll come with you, Praise, right now."  So he went into my room and found my tooth.

When I was at Church in sacrament meeting, I was playing with my other loose tooth.  My dad said, "You can do it; you can just pull it out!" Before sacrament meeting ended, I pulled really hard on my tooth, and I felt my tooth pop.  And there was my other tooth in my hand!  I had lost two teeth in one day!  I don't have a big space in my mouth because my adult teeth are right there!

The tooth fairy came Sunday night, and she gave me two quarters instead of one.  On Monday morning, I told my dad, "The tooth fairy gave two quarters instead of one!"

The End

Praise xD