And The Craziness Ends

Keith is finally back home after almost two months of working jobs out of town. He first was in Sequim for almost a month, and we only got to see him on the weekends. Then he was on to Gig Harbor, which is about an hour and a half drive from our house. He was getting home usually around 10 p.m., so I got to see him but the kids didn't. He's been gone away from home at least 80 hours each week, which means I have pretty much been a single parent as of late. Also during all this craziness, I had a miscarriage in May, on Mother's Day weekend. That was a rough time, since I was feeling happy about the pregnancy and felt that was one "bright spot" I could focus on, and then it wasn't meant to be.

As we all know, the housing market is kind of in the dumps right now, and even though Seattle's economy is pretty steady still (thank goodness), there is not nearly as much building going on as there has been in years previous. Keith knows guys who have been in business for themselves around here for years and are going out of business. My cousin, Darren, also a framer, has done really well for here for years and last month decided to go back to work for Boeing. Also, Keith's friend Jonny, has decided to sell his business, Seattle City Plumbing and Heating and go back to work for the union working at a large commercial firm. So, we have been happy to take what work we can get, and yes that means working out of town. Things all started back around the first of the year when a home Keith was building in Mukilteo for homeowners suddenly "ran out of money" half way through the project, leaving us with "Surprise, you're out of work right now." It has kind of been a struggle since then, but we have been blessed to "get by." Needless to say, it has been a pretty stressful six months for us. I know Keith has had regrets at times about moving out here, since even if the building in Rochester has slowed down as well, he at least had his snowplow business that did well, and not to mention it's so much more affordable to live there. We have just had to have faith that we did make the right choice, since it was something we were prayerful about, as with any big decision we make in life.

On a more positive note, Keith did accept a supervisor position with NW Regency Construction last week. Their business office is located in Redmond, and they do all public works projects (schools, hospitals, etc.) all over the greater Seattle area. The pay is prevailing wage (good pay) since they only do public works. We felt it was an offer we couldn't refuse, considering how stressful it's been trying to run our business lately. Keith's first day will be tomorrow, so it is a new adventure for us! His first project will be supervising some remodeling projects on schools in the Everett school district (close to home)! He is a little nervous about entering the commercial field, since most of his experience is residential, but they were impressed with his framing experience and management experience, and that is a good foundation he already has. I think gaining some commercial experience at this time will be a wise career choice.

This quote was posted on my cousin Rachel's blog, right around the time I really needed to hear it (I haven't told you this yet, Rachel, but THANK YOU). It is perfect for our family right now:

From Richard L Evans, member of the Quorum of the Twelve (1953-1971): "Life moves in one direction only and each day we are faced with an actual set of circumstances. Not with what might have been, not with what we might have done, but with what is, and where we are now. And from this point we must proceed; not from where we were, not from where we wish we were, but from where we are."

With dad finally home, we spent some time just chillin' out this weekend since it was FINALLY SUNNY!! We took Papa's boat out on Lake Washington...

We drove down to Lake Union and had dinner at Ivar's.

View of downtown Seattle

Montlake Bridge

Austin was a good helper when it was time to take the boat out of the water.