During third year of medical school, Bryan has been on rotations at a different hospital or clinic each month. Some months have required him to be away for the week and then he usually travels home on the weekend. The month of April though was different, he rotated in general surgery at the army base in Tacoma Washington.

The difference with this month than the other away rotations was that he couldn't come home on the weekends.
I was nervous how this month was going to pan out. My goal was just to stay sane and keep the kids alive!

I was grateful for the priesthood blessing I got from Bryan before he left which calmed a lot of my nerves. By far the hardest days were on Saturday and Sunday when Bryan is normally home.
I'm also so grateful for awesome friends who stepped in and helped watch my kids or brought me a meal. It made the month so much more enjoyable.

The month went pretty smoothly considering no visit to the ER or to the car shop. So I really can't complain. I felt like I was blessed with so many tender mercies along the way. Some in particular.....

-On the flight up to Portland, Bryan was bumped not only once but TWICE! Even though he spent 24 hours in the airport, we were rewarded money for future flights along with his flight paid for which helped cover that expensive cost

-The second night Bryan was gone I realized that I had lost my set of house keys. Scared that I had left them outside somewhere, I frantically searched my whole house and porch at 10:30 at night. I laid in bed sick to my stomach that I had lost them and how was I going to lock the door the next morning when I leave etc, etc.......I prayed a ton that night and then I got up to get a drink of water and remembered that Hudson was playing with my pots and pans that night and so I opened up the cabinet to find the keys laying in one of my pans. It was the best feeling ever!

-A few days later the kids and I were at the pool when Christian and his friend took the keys from my stroller and thought it would be fun to bury them in the sand. (I've had lots of terrifying experiences with my keys ;)
Of course I don't realize it until I'm leaving (which I'm so glad I left BEFORE sunset) and so the kids and I along with my friend spend the next 20 minutes digging through the sand at the pool for my keys! After a few prayers and intense searching we found them!! Another tender mercy

-It just so happened that my parents were going to be gone most of the month of April so Bryan was able to borrow their car without renting a car for 30 days. And a very nice couple whose doing his residency at the hospital was going to be gone that month too (along with his wife) and allowed him to stay at their house. Seriously, we had tender mercy after tender mercy!

-One night it was an extra crazy night with cranky kids and dinner still not put together. Right then, my friend texted me saying they had extras from their dinner they just ate and they were going to bring the leftovers! (THE BEST!!) :)

-The last week of the month was super challenging for me since most of my kids got sick. One night in particular was really hard. Evelyn could tell my patience was running thin and that I was exhausted. I was saying a lot of silent prayers just to get through the bedtime hour! After I got the boys to bed, Evelyn told me to sit on the couch and not move until she said I could. I then heard her drag a kitchen chair to the sink and began to wash and load the dishes! I cried! My prayers had been answered that night but in a much different way than I had expected! I was so grateful for Evelyn that night and stepping in to help me in such a HUGE way!

These were just a few of all the tender mercies that month. I had to write them down before I ever forgot them!

Favorite pictures from the month of April: (most of these are things we documented to send to Bryan)