introduction

Many of you know how the Todd Family feels about journeys. We try to keep an eternal destination always in view, while focusing on finding joy in the way we choose to get there. We are so grateful for the knowledge we have about where we want to ultimately be... in the presence of a loving Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, who made it possible for us to achieve that destination. We have been sent to this earth to see if we can reach our potential, becoming all that Heavenly Father wants us to be. Sometimes the journey back to our Heavenly home takes us through wide, gentle paths and sometimes the road is treacherous and unknown. Regardless, we feel that with every step we take, we should be looking for the beauty around us... learning from our fellow sojourners and relying on the maps that were provided to us to get through. Sometimes it is easy to happily skip along, but often we struggle, wondering if we will make it, and recognizing in the end that we can do hard things that we would have not previously thought possible. These are often the stretches of road that bring the most joy... the difficult ones. We have recently found ourselves on “a road less traveled” and, since we can’t turn around, we have decided to find joy in the opportunity to go there... to become better for having trod this new path. We hope that none of you will have to take this route, and can instead experience the vistas through us as you follow this blog. Here we go... Remember to enjoy the journey!


Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Milestones

There are a lot of fun things happening at the Todd home these days. First of all, the oldest Todd will be graduating from high school this week! While we are not surprised or even overly impressed that he has reached that milestone, we recognize it as the end of an era and the beginning of a new adventure for him. He is hoping to find a good full time job for the next few months before leaving for South Africa, where he will serve an LDS mission for two years. He is excited. We are excited. From this moment on, however, we will be losing children from our home and we like having them here! (Sigh) It will be awesome, though, to have a son on a mission... for us and for him and we have been looking forward to it for a long time.

Todd #2 is also looking for good summer employment. He will continue training for his senior cross country season by running some local 5K races and Half Marathons. He won first overall in his most recent local run, so that was exciting. Hopefully doing an Eagle Scout service project is on his agenda for the summer, because then he will have earned his Eagle Scout Award. We are also cheering for him to get his drivers license before his little sister... he's going to have to hurry!:)

Todd #3 has everything in order to receive her drivers license in 3 weeks. She is anxious, excited, and prepared for that moment. We've already heard from potential suitors, who are counting down the day to her 16th birthday, and we are assuming the boy who put his date with her on my calendar a year ago still wants to take her out? Currently she is skipping the last week of school to participate in a youth camp at BYU with her good friend from Colorado... I am certain she is having a blast. Her relief at finishing a difficult year of school has been abundant and she is looking forward to a nice summer break where she can work at her job without having to worry about homework!

Todd #4 continues to be a bit of an enigma:) He recently had a little solo in his final band concert... it was the first time we've heard that trumpet in a long, long time! He and his friend are doing yard work for neighbors and are looking forward to hours of fishing in nearby lakes and rivers this summer. He is excited about his first church youth conference, held at a local university and will return just in time to go on a fun high adventure trip with the Varsity Scouts. He still maintains that he is the dictator of a far-off land and that he should be treated with more respect... we are working on that!

Todds 5 and 6 have started taking voice lessons. It is so fun to hear them singing together around the house. They are the only ones who haven't been counting down to the end of the school year because they have loved 5th grade and aren't sure they are ready for 6th. I know they are ready... they are stellar students! They are hoping to make a trip to Colorado this summer to see their friends there and I am certain they will be wanting to spend lots of time at the swimming pools here, as well as trampolining, scootering, and cycling.

The Todd parents have been focused on phase 2 of the yard project... planting more flowers, trees, and bushes, finishing the deck and shed, and preparing to do a patio. Amidst all the excitement and all the fun that is happening at our home, the biggest and strongest of the parents will now be receiving radiation therapy for some rogue cancer cells growing in the lymph nodes near his kidneys. The timing is horrible, but the doctors were very optimistic and hopeful that with this new treatment they can get rid of the recent cancer growth in about 5 weeks and he won't have any more growth. That is a bold goal, considering his terminal cancer diagnosis over 2 years ago, but we are going to move forward with faith that that can happen. We have seen so many miracles already and will continue to be grateful for any more that are sent our way. Thanks for your continued prayers on his behalf! It will be a rough couple of months for him, but hopefully the long term picture will look better when he's done.

Through all the excitement and milestones, the goal is still progression, right?... moving forward and finding joy along the way. I feel like we are doing that, here at the Todd home... one small step at a time! Love you all!:)
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