Joseph

I have been feeling the need to write down my feelings for days. My blog has become a journal of sorts and I have felt the Spirit strongly. Telling me to document this wonderful miracle that has occurred so that one day Joseph may read of the AMAZING love that our Savior has for him and the beautiful tender mercies that he has blessed us with in bringing Joseph to the United States and into our family.

Since the day I met Ben he has carried with him a heavy burden. The joy of having a son but not being able to be an active part of his life. Separated by the miles of living in a different country and speaking a different language all Ben could do was pray and think of his son everyday. From the day Ben and I married till this very day we have prayed for Joseph. We prayed that he would happy. That he would know we loved him. That we would one day see him soon. Most importantly we prayed that he would know he has not only an earthly father but a father in Heaven who loves him very much. Almost 5 years we have prayed and had faith. I will admit sometimes we wondered if we would ever get a chance to know Joseph. If Ben would ever be able to reunite and hold his son and tell him how much he loves him. To tell him there has not been one day in his entire 13 years of life that Ben has not thought of him and missed him.

Last Monday Ben and I were blindsides with an email from Tomoyo letting us know that Joseph desired to come and live with Ben and I as soon as possible. She asked us to love and support him in this decision and of course that was not a problem. Next week Joseph will come and join our family here in El Paso. He will be living with us indefinitely. I have never received a greater Christmas present. I am so grateful to this gift that his mother has given us. I know she loves Joesph very much. I know this is the hardest thing she has ever done and I feel so honored to have the opportunity to get to know Joseph. To love him, help raise him and have him be part of our life, part of our family. Oh Lord, How Great Thou Art.

As we have prepared the last week for Joseph to come it has been apparent that the Lords hand has been there. When I called to register Joseph for school they were so excited to have another Japanese student in the 7th grade. There is a Japanese girl that is really struggling because she is having a hard time picking up on English and has no one to speak Japanese with. I am sure it is no surprise to anyone that here in a town that borders Mexico most students in the English as a second language program speak Spanish. It is not often they have 1 student let alone 2 that speak Japanese and are in the same grade. What a tender mercy. We also have found that we have 4 families that speak Japanese in our ward. Including our Bishop. Again, tender mercy. Then as Ben and I were at tithing settlement with our Bishop we found that not only did our Bishop serve in the area that Josephs family lives in. Josephs grandfather was his Bishop when he was a missionary in Japan. Again, tender mercy.

I am so grateful for the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel so blessed to have a Heavenly Father that knows us and knows what is best for us. A Heavenly Father that loves us and blesses us even when we grow impatient. A Heavenly Father that knows the deepest desires of our hearts and prepares us to receive them. My heart is so full of joy and love that my cup runneth over.

Especially at this time of year my mind turns to our Heavenly Father who gave his only Begotton Son so that we could live and have Eternal Life.

My testimony of my Savior has grown as I have seen his hand personally in our life. I know that I may not always receive blessings in the way I want or the way that I think I should but that the Lord blesses me with what is best for me. I know that God lives. I testify of his love. His Infinite Love.

Oh Lord, How Great Thou Art.

Miss Me?

Anyone miss me? I sure hope so. I have missed keeping in touch with all of you. As many of you may or may not know. El Paso has been the dark Abyss for me. The good news is the light is starting to shine on through.

It is no secret that I have had a hard time adjusting to life next to the border but I feel like after 10 months I am finally getting my barrings. That has also included having a bit of an attitude adjustment and then just making the decision to be happy. After all, I have my health, my hubby and the Lord. Right? I also have to give the people here in the Lone Star State some credit. I really have never met kinder people than we have here.

So let's bring you up to date in Life with the Lawyers the past few months....

October, Ben and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary. He surprised me with a weekend away in Reidoso, New Mexico. It was beautiful there and we loved seeing the fall foliage and the beautiful fall colors. He took me to a romantic cabin and we had a great time. It is always nice to get away.

Here are some of our favorite pictures.

Can you believe I was able to get this close to a deer? I must admit I was a little scared.

The picture above is my FAVORITE!

The end of summer beginning of fall is all about football here in El Paso. These people are CRAZY! After school starts everyone attends the high school football games even if they don't have kids attending there. Even the little kids get in on the action and let me tell you they take this stuff way serious. Some of our good friends have their kids involved. It is a family affair. Dad coaches, son plays, mom is the cheer coach and both daughters are cheerleaders. We went to a lot of the games and I had a great time watching the fans. It was CRAZY!

They have the kids do this before every game. I am serious. It is insane.

My good friend Anne and one of our YW from church. Erika.

A few weeks ago Ben and I had a great time taking the Laurels from our ward down to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the BYU game. Our bishop, tons of ward members and the Mia Maids and Laurels all went to the game. I have to say it was the BEST time. We took the girls to the tailgating party and then to Deseret Book after the game. We have AMAZING youth in our ward. Ben and I completely enjoyed ourselves.

I just love this picture of Ben. He is such a nerd. But he is my nerd and I would have it no other way.

Aren't we so cute?

I recently enrolled in a cake decorating class with a couple of friends from the ward. Let me just say that decorating a cake is much harder than it looks. Me and roses. We don't really get along but I am determined to conquer the rose. I am confident that with continual practice you will soon be able to tell that it is a rose I actually made. For some reason they look more like carnations.

This was my first cake. Don't look to close and it doesn't look half bad.

My second cake is below. Stay tuned for more to come.

Thanksgiving was low key and wonderful. Ben marched in the parade that morning while I stayed home and got dinner ready. We had our friend Sharon and her kids over. Her husband was just deployed to Iraq last week so we were glad to be able to spend the holidays with them. She has become my dear friend.

We had all the trimmings and were way full by the end of the day.

The kids had fun playing dress up and playing with the dog.

Even Hero got lucky and got to lick all the pan from the turkey. Yummy!

It has been strange getting ready for Christmas with no snow. I have been looking at peoples blogs. Seeing them in coats and wondering to myself....why is everyone bundled up. It is so warm outside. I have been in capris and tee shirts till this week.....

Then came the STORM!

This was the record breaking snowfall that we had earlier this week. They haven't had snow like this since 1931. We have another cold night tonight but by next week we should be back in the 60's. I must say. I do love the sunshine but it was nice to have some snow just in time for the Christmas Season!

Well that about sums it up. Nothing too exciting but I can't wait to get caught up with everyone and their blogs. I hope everyone has a great Christmas season. Make it count.