we are blessed

After all my ranting about being burnt out, I feel like I should share how blessed we've been this past month. Geez...where to begin....

Last time Brian was in town (Brian is my palagi brutha from another mother) he recommended we see a vascular specialist for mom's back and leg pains. It took a good 2 months to get an appt, but we finally went in for some testing. We were happy to find out that she does NOT have any vascular issues, but the pain may be due to pinched nerves in the back that come from old age, etc. We are going to see a back specialist in 2 weeks for an MRI and hopefully a miracle shot to help her stand straight and relieve some of the pain.

About two weeks ago I decided that it was time to see an OBGYN to see if we can get Sina a little brother or sister. Anthony and I are due to see Dr. Irian on Sept 25th. I'm nervous of any bad news, but excited to see what we can do to "get this party started". haha...hopefully its nothing too drastic. Anthony is praying for his son and I wouldn't mind that too much.

August is coming to a close and with it all of the summer activities we had with the youth in our ward. Starting with youth conference, stake girls camp, Raging Waters, mutuals, YW medallions, the banquet to honor the medallion recipients, and the back to school fireside, not to mention the sleepovers, new presidencies and trainings - the summer was a tad busy! It will be nice to mellow out for a while. Though it has been stressful at times, I feel extremely blessed for the time we spend and the sacrifices that are made for our callings in the church. I know the blessings far surpass the hardships and trials, though sometimes I only realize it when I sit and think about what all the Lord has done for us...we could never repay Him really, but we try by magnifying our callings and helping to build His church here.

About 3 weeks ago we received a surprise in the mail. To make a long story short, about a year and a half ago I submitted all of Anthony's paperwork to the Immigration to adjust his status to a permanent resident. In a nutshell, he was approved to stay in the US, but denied the permanent residence until I changed my status from US national to US citizen. We were devastated at the time because of all the money that was spent and how much money was to be spent on more paperwork. I even did all of the research myself and filed all of the papers myself to save money by not having to hire a lawyer. Well, about 2 months ago I finally submitted my citizenship papers. When the immigration received them, they overturned their decision on Anthony's permanent residence and granted it to him. We didn't have to spend more money, we didn't have to do another interview or anything. He got his card in the mail last Thursday. It was an amazing feeling to finally have that past us. What a relief! In addition to that, when Anthony told Chris (the boss) that he got his PR card to replace his work permit that just expired, he got a raise....not sure if it was a gesture of congratulations or if it was a desperate plea to stay with the company...whatever it was...we are happy!

Finally, my brother Mani was with us this past weekend. He flew in on Saturday, helped me with my YW banquet and sang at our youth fireside. We stayed up all night Saturday playing games and then again on Sunday night jamming with the uke and guitar just like old times. We went to Raging Waters on Monday and had FHE at Crazy Buffet. He flew back yesterday after one last game of Mexican Train. It was sad to say goodbye. Its so nice to have my brothers visit, but hard when its time to for them to leave.

Just had to take a moment to name a FEW of the many blessings we have received this year. I don't have time to update the blog as often as I would like to so I think I will start a generic post entitled "Sina update" so that I can post things new about Sina.....