Fair warning, skip this post if you don't want to read about my list of trials that seem to have come all at once, and I've said it before, since my missionary has been home.
I am listing all of these things not to have anyone feel sorry for us, or to complain, (maybe I am just a little) but to hopefully one day look back at this, and laugh, and be able to pat ourselves on the back for enduring, and with faith and courage.
Let me begin my list of rotten things that seem to be never ending since September.
1st Our Roll Off truck (good one) but we have had problems with it since day one, putting about $30,000 dollars into the things since we bought it a year and a half ago. We lost the engine in the dang thing. We had to frantically search for an engine to replace the bad one. Luckily we found one the next day and had some local mechanics go to work fixing it. The day that Cole got home, which was 4 days after the engine was down, we were told there was not a major part available for this engine. We had just spent $10,000 on the new one, only to be told it wasn't going to work, and we might have to start all over. Story short we have put about $25,000 into it at this point and it still is not working right.
Our roll off boxes because of the really slow economy are just sitting in our yard collecting dust. Last year at this time, we had waiting list for our boxes, and were so busy, running about 5 and 6 boxes a day. Now we are lucky to have about 5 a week.
We were so excited to purchase a little truck for Cole to have to drive when he got home, after a lot of research and checking into this truck, and test driving it, we felt like it was the right one. We purchased it in Phx, on the way home outside of Camp Verde we lost a belt on the thing, Scott was afraid there was some damage to the engine because of some other problems. Anyway we had to put more money into that thing to get it in running condition.
We have had problems another one of our front load trucks almost on a daily occasion, putting more money into it each day, and wondering if we were going to get garbage routes done.
The Container delivery truck lost a starter, which we could not find another one for this type of truck. It was down for about 3 days until our old starter was rebuilt (luckily we were able to do that)
Jentry was headed back to Mesa after being home for the weekend, just outside of Camp Verde she had a flat tire, limped it into Camp Verde, the tire shop there called Scott to tell him the whole tire and custom rim was split and would have to be replaced. They put the spare on to get her back to the Valley. In the mean time those just our luck those custom rims had been discontinued, the company we bought them from searched for a week and finally found one for us. Then last sunday Jen called from Mesa to tell us she had another flat tire, she took it in to a tire shop and that tire was also bad and we had to buy another tire. Finally after 3 weeks yesterday we got her tires all back on and in shape for now!!
I have been having problems with our computer that we just purchased in February. About 2 weeks ago I lost the hard drive. I use my computer for all of our quick books for our business and to run our business with the program for our company. This was devastating! Dell computer company said they could have a new one to us in about 5 to 7 business days. I was so upset, not having our computer for that long would almost be impossible to run our business. They said they would put a rush on it. A blessing did come, the part came to us the next day and the Dell technician was able to put it in on Saturday. But that is not the worst of it..... I do a back up of all our quick books and our business program with an online company everyday. So after losing the hard drive I though I would be okay, I would just restore everything from our online back up company. When I went to do this, I was able to restore our company program, but there were no Quick book files to be found. I was DEVASTATED!!! to say the least. What would I do with no record of our books, payroll, accounts payable, and receivables, for almost 1 year?
I was on my knees in prayer, and with a constant prayer in my heart, hopefull that the Dell Technician would be able to recover my quick books from our old hard drive. He told me not to get my hopes up there was about a 50% chance this could be done. The Lord did answer our prayers, we were able to get these files back. Such a blessing through the trial!!
Our old computer got another virus on it after having it back only about 10 days from having the same virus taken off by the computer techs.
Found out the sleep studies for sleep apnea that Scott's Dr's wanted him to have (they think this is the reason for his atrial fibrillation) Our insurancy company will not pay for it. It is actually written directly into the policy that it will not cover sleep studies. We can't pay for this, so now what?
Crue was at football practice, when we got there to pick him up, his coach was looking at his arm, Crue was crying and in a lot of pain. We ended up in the emergency room, and Crue has a broken elbow, and will not be finishing Football season. He was so devastated by this. One of the games he will miss will be against his cousin and best buddies team. That was so sad, he cried and cried about not getting to play! He did go to all of the rest of the games and cheered from the side lines. What a trooper!!
After getting back from the Emergency room
Our business is really struggling to make ends meet with the horrible economy, and we continue to have problems with our trucks breaking down on almost a daily basis. I wonder if this is our trial in life. These are just some of the things our family is going through right now. Hopefully we will see some light in our future. Before all of this stuff starting happening in our lives, I had just mentioned to Scott how truly blessed we have been. We have really not had any major trials in our lives, and we needed to be so grateful for the blessings that we receive daily. We both agreed that we have truly been lucky.
I would caution all of you to never say anything like this outload!! It might all just come crashing down around you like we are feeling is happening in our lives now. I am sure many of you feel the same, as things are not so good in our world at this time, lots of scary things are going on, and we have been hearing warnings from our church leaders about being prepared, that there is going to be some major things coming our way. I do recognize the blessings that my family receives each and every day. I know that these trials are for our good, and that if we endure them with faith, courage and hope, that we will one day look back and be grateful for each of them. When your going thru the fire, it doesn't feel so good, but we know we must endure with a positive attitude and continue to rely on our Savior for strength and courage to get through.
Thanks for letting me vent and record all of this .
Hope everyone else is having some great and wonderful things happen in their lives at this time!
This is Cole with the dogs the day he returned home from his mission.
Okay you can chalk up another 5 or 6 trials to add to my list. It seems like everyday something hits our family like a brick, and today was no exception. We have 2 dogs, Ruger who is a brittney spaniel and Keesha who is a Akita. Ruger is the oldest, we got him when he was only 6 weeks old, Scott actually saved his life when he was born, he is now 14 years old. We got Keesha at about 8 weeks old, and have had her for over 13 years. Both of these dogs are great, they are a part of the family. The last few years Ruger's health hasn't been that great, he is deaf and has arthritis, and he has mini seizures once in a while, so Cole really thought he might not be here when he got home from his mission. They both were doing good, but this morning when Scott got up, he looked out our window and saw Keesha laying on the ground out by her kennel, he could tell immediatley that she was gone. He went out to check on her, and yes she had passed away sometime in the night. There were no signs as to why she died, so this made it so very hard. The kids had a really hard time going to school, and we all shed many tears today. Cole and Jen and been here for the weekend, so Scott had Trent and Cole go dig a grave for her on our property. This was very hard on Cole, he is so passionate about those dogs, and gives them the most attention out of all of us. He worries too, as we all do about Ruger, and how he will handle her being gone. After they buried her, Cole had to head back to Mesa to work. He had a hard time leaving Ruger, and just kept telling us to keep an eye on him, to make sure he was eating and drinking. We all wonder if Ruger will be around much longer now that his best friend is gone. He has been whining and crying all day, it is the saddest thing to watch him wonder around sniffing the air and looking for her. I don't think I can stand to watch him be so sad. We really thought he would be the first to go because he was the one who has been in bad health. We still don't know what really happened to Keesha, but this family will really miss her. She was the most loving, sweet, funny dog. She will always have a special place in our family! 
