Goodbye to Arizona. :(

Something had to change. I longed to be home with my babies. Though I had a rewarding career with a fantastic company I chose to leave it all behind.

In his field, James could not make a decent living in Arizona. Wages were not as depressed in Kansas, so back we went. It was very hard for me to leave the desert and our friends and the lifestyle we enjoyed in Arizona. I was lonely and sad until one of the mom's in Richard's kindergarten class invited me to visit her church.

The children and I started going to Sunday school and loved it. I've always been seeking God and knew I finally found him. The teaching was straight out of the Bible and Truthseekers was even the name of the class. I invited James to come. He must have seen some changes in us because he agreed! Together we began our faith journey and were baptized together on Pentecost Sunday in 1999.

Later that year Thomas was born, making us a family of 6. He was born at home, on purpose! After three unsatisfactory hospital births, I was hooked on giving birth at home. I never asked for pain meds because it just wasn't an option. I was able to eat and drink when I needed, walk and rest when I needed, and push out a ten pound four ounce baby boy with no trouble at all! Best part? Daddy's hands were the first hands to hold him.

These were good times. We enjoyed each other and our new friends at church. We bought our first minivan. Jordan, boy number five, was born two years later. Eighteen months later we hit the jackpot! Rose, our first little girl was born.

You never saw such a happy mommy as me! Our dining table was so loaded with baby girl gifts that you could not see it. With six children, and finally, our girl, I'm sure that most people thought we were done having children. Most people thought wrong!