College Bound

Our household was up and going at 4:00 this morning.  Not a common sight, but necessary for the adventures of the day.  I have such mixed emotions about the day - I am so pleased that Connor and BrittanyJo will have wonderful opportunities and experiences this fall, but I will truly miss them.

a truck load - ready to head out

Not only will we miss their presence, but we will miss their contribution to the family and farm.

Connor's work on the farm has been much of a learning experience this past year, but has been so appreciated, and will be missed.  He has a love for farming that I didn't know he had till this year.  He was also our media-man, so our facebook page won't get the attention it once had.  We'll all have to be patient and wait for later next spring to see more farm work posted there.

BrittanyJo's help in the house has spoiled me.  She has done the majority of the cooking and dish washing since she's been home.  Now that she will be gone I think I should find a maid.  ;)  It wouldn't be the same though, so I won't waste any effort on that.


Whether we are coming from or going to Rexburg, we always feel grateful when we reach Missoula. Missoula is our half way point (even though it's not exactly half way - it's the biggest city, the closest we can come to half way).  

BJo sent me a photo (at my request), to document their safe travels, and that they were in Missoula.  :)  


We are down to two in our house now, just Anthony and I, which is a strange feeling today.  And when we think into the future just a bit, we realize that he could be out of the house as early as June next year.  His May birthday makes it possible for a mission right after graduation.  WOW!    Is he ready?  Am I ready?   I guess we will just do our best to become ready!


There is a lot of "becoming" taking place in our family.

"Becoming" is what life is all about.  I know we are each always "becoming", always have been and always will be, but I have had a few new experiences of late that have made me have to become something and/or someone different than I originally thought about, and it's really overwhelming at times.   Changing conditions and circumstances always create a need to adapt to the newness, but it seems that, in my experience, there hasn't been anything take place in my life to this point that has created more of a focus on becoming, and for such a long period of time, as has done the loss of my spouse (who I might add, was also my best friend and "constant" companion).   Truly, my every minute was focused on him.  It has been very difficult trying to figure out how to live joyfully without him.  I don't know if I'll every really figure it out completely.


Becoming is an interesting word - one I hadn't really thought a lot about before, but it has been on my mind often times over the past few months.

be·com·ing

bəˈkəmiNG/

the process of coming to be something or of passing into a state.

any change from the lower level of potentiality to the higher level of actuality.



We are each in the process of coming to be something better than what we are ..., taking the experiences that are presented to us and making them work for our good.   Sometimes it is a very difficult thing - I hope we can each find some success in our becoming.


One thing I am quite confident in is the Lord will help us become what He knows we can become - better than we now are, to a "higher level of actuality".    I need Him every hour, and I know He blesses me every hour.  

Back to School +

We took BrittanyJo to Rexburg to start this next semester of college.  The roads were really good for us on the way there but there was compact snow on the roads at least half of the way home (but they didn't slow us down too much and we didn't have any problems).  The trees were lovely to see.

We left BrittanyJo feeling kinda sick.  She was alone in her apartment with no one to require her attention so she could rest or organize as she desired.  We can see with this next picture that she did some organizing (though if she is at all like her mother, things might still change after she lives there for awhile).  This is her side of the room, then her side of the walk in closet, then the bathroom - all inside her room - it's really a nice place.

apartment exterior has such a fun look and the inside is pretty cool too

While we were gone Chase headed back to Wenatchee for his new semester.  He had a project to work on before school started and some friends to visit before he left.

Monday (5th) will be the first day back to school for BJo, Chase, and Anthony.  Big Day!  

Connor will be looking for work and trying to settle in to a new routine, which is what I will be trying to do too (I guess I already have my new job, but will need to settle in to that new routine).

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the thought of it all, but it's just because I haven't had to worry about those types of things before and I don't understand the mail I'm getting and the work that is required.  I am so glad that Thomas knows some of it, but there is some that he hasn't worked with yet too.  I'll be setting up some meetings with a few people who can help us learn about whatever we need to learn about.  I think it will just keep going with a domino effect from there.

I will try to remember Terry's encouraging words -

"It will turn out better than you think!" 

as I continue on this journey.   Day to day life is just different than it ever has been before and it is just going to keep changing for awhile.

Through the last week some of the kids have mentioned how I've changed and I just tell them that I will never be the same again.  No matter how hard I try I cannot be the same.  Not much in my day to day life is the same as it used to be so there is no way I can remain the same.  Some change will be indifferent - not necessarily better, but not really worse either - just different.  However, because we are constantly striving to be and do better I do hope to change for the better in many ways.   With the help of the Lord I know I can do it.


I'll end this post with a puzzle we did over the holiday.  You may remember that puzzles have been a big part of our lives the last few years and especially last year, so it felt right to keep that tradition going.  It was a little hard for me the first several minutes but I didn't want that part of me to change so I kept going and it soon became relaxing and therapeutic.  

That is how I hope to make things work for me in the future - I will persevere ... until it becomes easier.  Not that the thing has changed, but that my ability to do so has.

(image from here)

When I tried to find that quote above I found these too.  They are all good, so I'm adding them as a gentle reminder.

(image from pinterest, but complete article from Elder Scott can be found here)

(image found here)

Well, here I "grow"  ...

Medical Week & BJo Address

Monday (15th) thru Friday (19th) Terry had Dacogen chemo infusions and each went well.

In addition to chemo, Tuesday (16th) and Friday (19th) were transfusions - each day with 2 units of red blood cells and 1 platelets.   Each of those went well too.

Terry has been hurting a lot lately and we hope that means something is working inside, but the blood work doesn't seem to give us that hope.  His labs actually show that things are worse (the Blasts are too high - but we don't really understand what a Blast count is enough to explain it to anyone), but they are not necessarily going to stay that way.  Dacogen is supposed to help bring the Blast count down (and help some of the other counts too) so we may still see some improvement.  So we hope and pray on ....

Even though the appointments went well, it has been a long and busy week for us, actually a long and busy couple of weeks.  Life is definitely happening around here.

When I left to do some shopping Friday afternoon I found that our left rear car tire was flat.  Oh Bother!  What was I to do?   I have never changed a flat tire before. Every once in awhile I wonder if I should learn, but I decide that I've lived this long without it then there may not be a need. 

Surprisingly I didn't feel too frantic, but I knew I couldn't change it.  I called up to Terry (still in the hospital room receiving his transfusions) and he suggested I get the Curby people to help me if they could.  Well, the Curby lady didn't know how to change a tire either so she got me the phone book and I called Les Schwab.  I had to wait almost an hour but they came and aired up my tire, then I drove a mile or so to their shop to have them fix it.  It all turned out just fine, except that I did not get all of my shopping done.  I'll have to do it next week. 

We've enjoyed hearing from BJo and she is enjoying her first week at school, though she is feeling like it's been a long and busy week too.   She has made some friends and enjoyed some classes and looks forward to more good times.  I'm sure she would love to hear from you if you'd like to write her:

BrittanyJo Hebdon
246 S. 1st W. Apt #203
Rexburg, ID 83440

As I was wondering what photo or image I could add to todays post I found this one from June.



BJo and Akleigh fun with glasses

Then I remembered I had one on my camera that I should add.  This was just a couple days ago when I was watching these two little guys for a couple minutes.

Sweet Stuff!

BYU-I

We did it ... we took BrittanyJo to Rexburg this week!  And, we left her!  Oh Bother!  ;0  We miss her already, but we know she is where she should be, so we will survive! 

We left Wednesday afternoon and traveled to Missoula.  We tried 8 or 10 motels until we finally found one that had a room for us.  

This is the view we found when we looked out the window from our motel ...

It was a lovely quiet place ..., then we noticed a few friends taking advantage of this little area of peace on earth.

There were at least three that we saw and they were running around all of those trees and limbs with vigor and vim. It was fun to watch for a few minutes.

We had a great breakfast and some hot chocolate to go and continued on our way.  We got to Rexburg and drove around, walked some of campus to get BJo's books and check things out, had lunch together, and took a peek at her apartment.  Then we went to Sherri and Bryan's place in Idaho Falls for the evening.  We had a great visit and a great night before heading back for a busy day of unloading, unpacking, shopping, and more shopping.

Here is BrittanyJo taking her first load up to her room at Carriage House Apts.

She lives in room 203.  Just inside this door ...

We drove up to the temple and sat there on that lot to give BrittanyJo a fathers blessing before her new school year.  It was such a peaceful place and seemed perfect for the occasion.

We love to see the temple there in Rexburg.  It is up on a hill, sitting as a beacon or "North Star" (or maybe guiding star would be a better term).   Look to the temple!   The temple helps us find our focus and guides us in the right direction.  The Rexburg temple will help that way in mapping out the city and every temple helps that way in mapping out our lives.  Look to the temple and partake of it's blessings.   (By the way - Brandon helped with the building of this temple, so it holds a special place in our hearts.)

Our little girl, all grown up, is now out on her own and enjoying life.   She isn't really alone ..., she has the Lord on her side because she is on the Lord's side.  He will help her through everything that comes her way.  That is true for each of us - if we invite Him into our lives He will be there for us, and that makes life beautiful.   We are so lucky ..., so blessed!

We left BJo in her apartment after 6:00pm Friday and got to Dillon a couple hours later that night.  She was worried that we were leaving so late and that our drive would be hard on us.  I sent her a message after we got into our room (which happened to be the last room left in that hotel, the first hotel we checked that night) and told her that we were settled and doing fine.  My message wasn't delivered immediately and I set it aside to get ready for bed.  We heard the ding of her message to us coming in after we'd been in bed a while - it was after 11:00pm, but it was a wonderful noise!  ;)   We knew this message would be from BJo and I immediately got up to see her message and learn that she had been out for some fun with her "Get Connected" group.  She was having a great time and Terry and I were pleased to hear that all was well.  We knew it would be, but hearing it makes things even better.  I got back in bed with a smile!  My heart was happy!

It's a new and exciting, tricky, but great time of life for her and she will love it!  Classes start Monday (15th).   Ready, Set, GO!