Wow! It's been a long time!!!!

I can't even believe it has been a year since I posted anything. I started a project life scrapbook where you take a picture every day for a year and write about it and it has replaced my blog. I think along with Facebook and instagram, blogs are kind of a thing of the past. Does anyone even read these anymore? I look at some every once in awhile but not like I used to. So let me see if I can catch you up with the Elwell's. We had a great year to begin with. Sean and I took a trip to Hawaii in May, which was so amazing! My parents watched the kids which we were so grateful for. In August we took a family vacation to Disneyland which was a different kind of fun!:)
This is where I brag a little bit about my kids, so if you don't care you can skip this part!
Kaylee-What can I say? She is perfect in every way. She really is. I wouldn't say that about anyone but her. She is the most sweet, kind hearted girl I know. She recently turned 16 and because of the high price in insurance and Sean not having a job(I'll get to that later) she still is not driving. She has a car, she has her license but no insurance yet. Has she complained about it once? Nope! Love that girl. She is keeping very busy with school, seminary, FCCLA (after school club), babysitting job, and spending time with friends and family. Connor- He's a boy that doesn't need much. He is so casual about everything. He has a kind and sensitive heart and just goes with the flow of having 3 sisters. I recently asked him what he wanted for Christmas and he said, "It's ok mom, I really don't need anything!" He wears shorts everyday to school, including today even though it was snowing. Cierra- she is my feisty one.(you have to have one, right?) She has really taken a liking to running and crossfit. A girl after my own heart! She does run club once a week and is following a training program and then does crossfit 2-3 times a week. She has been off sweets for almost a year except one special treat a month.  She loves school and playing the flute as well. You will often catch her snap chatting her friends! Brooke- the baby of the family! How we love her! She is exceling in 3rd grade and loving to read. Her favorite thing to do right now is play with her best friend Baylie and a few other kids in the neighborhood.
So back to the part about Sean losing his job. It was the day after we got back from Disneyland. I was getting ready to hike Mt. Si with some good friends. Sean gets an email saying there is going to be some lay offs  and not 10 minutes later our phone rings. The dreaded call!!! Yep, after 10 years at Heinz they were laying Sean off along with 600 other employees. We were shocked, scared and really not sure what we were going to do. I ended up still going on the hike since it was for my birthday but had a hard day! Sean was dealing with it all pretty well and it really only took us a day or so to know that we would be just fine. We had faith that our Heavenly Father was going to take care of us! And that he did! We got a great severance package from the company along with 6 months paid insurance. Sean then started the job hunt! In 3 months time, Sean applied for 37 jobs. He had several interviews and even had a job offer or two. Nothing that we could even come close to living on though. So, about 6 weeks ago after much thought and prayer Sean and I  decided to expand our job search to Utah. He applied for ONE job and I really thought nothing would come of it but was prepared just in case. A company called Greencore called him almost immediately. They did an interview through Skype and then bought him a plane ticket to come out a few days later. Before he even got home from Salt Lake they had called him to have another Skype interview with the president of the company. That took place a few days later and then a day later on 11-11-13(there is some significance to that number-I'll explain in a few) a jog offer came through. They offered him everything he could have wanted along with a pretty good moving package. So after much prayer and discussion we knew this is where we needed to be. It was the hardest decision we have ever had to make but when things like that line up like they do, you know there is a reason. We really aren't sure why we need to be in Utah, but we trust our Heavenly Father to put us where we need to be. So then it was the dreaded visit to tell my family. It still pains me to think about that day a month later. There was so much hurt and sadness. I really didn't know if I would be able to get through it. But, we did and we are adjusting. I already feel homesick and I haven't even left yet. Sean ended up having to leave that next week and has been gone for a little over 3 weeks now. I miss him like crazy! I went down the first week and found a beautiful home. Unfortunately Sean found a different beautiful home. After days of trying to decide Sean said that I have been through enough already and that I could chose whichever one I wanted. I really liked his too but his was on a year round school and mine wasn't. That was the deciding factor so we put an offer on mine! They accepted and now it is contingent on the sale of our house. Our's has been up for sale for 2 weeks and nothing yet besides a few lookers. This is not the best time of year to sell a house so we are hopeful after the first of the year, we can sell and then we will move to Syracuse Utah where we can be a whole family again. I want to get there and be with Sean and be settled but I am also not ready to leave. I will miss my mom and dad, sister and her family and my friends more than anything. But I will be visiting often and we know we will see a lot of visitors there too. Who doesn't come to Utah at least once a year??  This last 4 months, I have had to rely a lot on faith and prayer. It has truly gotten me through so much. My testimony has grown so much and I feel closer to Sean than I ever have. The kids are adjusting. I worry the most about Kaylee, but I think she will be ok once she gets there. Moving is a hard thing and its not going to be easy but it's what we need to do.

Back to the 11-11 date. So, for the last several months I had been seeing 11:11 on the clock. I was almost seeing it daily. It was really weird, and then I was talking to my sister about it and so had she. Then one day my mom mentioned it and had no idea we had been seeing it all the time too. We thought maybe the world was going to end (which it kind of did) or something really crazy would happen on November 11th. Wouldn't you know that was the day Sean got the job offer? Chalk it up to a coincidence, but I know better. I was being warned.....;)
Sean is coming to visit on December 20th and we are anxiously waiting. We will have one last Christmas living in Washington. We will do all of our traditions with my family because next year will not be the same. We will be Utah and my nephew Chance will be serving a mission for our church. We will come back for Christmas or my family will come to Utah but either way, I feel like I really need to soak it all up this year.
I know with all we have been through, I am truly blessed. I am watched over every day along with my family. I know that God listens and answers my prayers and I am forever grateful.
Thanks to a good friend (Kathryn Briggs) asking me if I would keep up my blog after we move, I am more than happy to make that happen! I would really like to post at least once a week. Hope you will comment here and there so I know you are all out there!
Much Love Jodi