Hanging in there.

Daniel Tiger I tell ya. I wouldn't survive in a world without it. I mean, I get it. Billions of people do manage to go on living their meaningful lives everyday without it, but as for me...I wouldn't make it. I'd be a nutcase of a mother. If there's two things that bring these two together in the worst of times, it's food and that little tiger. And it usually buys me about twenty-three minutes of peace. 

And right now, I'd do just about anything for some peace. 

Things have been pretty quiet on the blogging front, and for a good reason. In the past few months, our lives have been turned upside down. I feel like I was inside a Christmas snow globe, and an over-zealous toddler just shook us up. And shook and shook and shook. In a span of two months-ish, we traveled across the world, came back, packed up our entire house, and drove across the country.

To be honest, I don't know how I held it together. I think I came pretty close to just throwing all our things in the trash and never looking back. But, with the help of my mother-in-law, and friends who feel like family, we got it all done. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how. 

Now, I'm sitting here battling our two that don't want to go to sleep because I swear it doesn't get dark till like midnight here. I feel for them. I really do. Both were so heartbroken to see all their belongings packed into boxes and out of their rooms. We are trying so hard to make our temporary Utah house feel like home to them, but I know they miss Virginia. I miss it, too. 

Well, not the heat. Certainly never that. The temperatures have been simply glorious here. That eases the pain a bit. 

But, I'm so proud of our two monkeys. I know they are trying hard to keep it together as well, and sometimes when I see them just cry and cry over one thing or another, I wonder if it feels good to just release all those feelings. Those "mom-and-dad-took-all-my-stuff-and-strapped-me-to-my-car seat-for-five-days" blues. And the "my-toys-are-gone" blues. And the "our-little-best-friends-live-so-far-away" blues. 

And Sof! Bless her heart. Bless that little girl's heart. Everywhere we go she gives herself a little pep talk. She says she will be brave and make new friends. And so far, she HAS been so brave. Just in primary last Sunday I watched her shyly, but also confidently say, "I'm Sofia Jones, and I'm from Virginia." And after church she couldn't wait to tell us about how she wasn't scared and that she had made new friends. Sigh. 

Oh, Virginia, we just weren't quite ready to quit you.