Over 2 years in Canada!

Well, as of Aug. 31st, we have been living in Canada for 2 years now, and Neil has been working for Sobeys for 2 years! Kind of funny how time is... In some ways those 2 years have FLOWN by, & it seems like we just moved here. And in other ways, it seems like we've been here much longer than 2 years.

Neil's job is going well. He started out as the Vice President of National Food Safety for Sobeys, covering all of Canada. Then after a year, his boss was promoted to a different position, and Neil was promoted to her position as Vice President of Food Safety, Quality Assurance, & Regulatory Affairs (still covering all of Canada). He now reports directly to the CEO of Sobeys. We feel very blessed that Neil has such a great job & that Sobeys treats him (and us) so well. It was definitely a great move for his career, and for our family.

People ask us how long we will be staying in Canada. THAT is a good question, and we have realized that we just can't predict how long we will ever stay ANYWHERE! Sometimes the plans we have in our mind aren't the same plans that Heavenly Father has for us. We have been in some places that we absolutely LOVED and figured that we would be there a very long time (Saratoga Springs, UT), but less than 2 years after moving to our dream home there, Neil got a new job offer (which was a great move for his career), and so we took the opportunity, knowing it was the right decision, even though we were so sad to leave. And then when we moved to Bentonville, Arkansas, we figured we'd only be there a couple of years and then move back out west, closer to family. But... again our plans changed, Neil continued to move up in his career with Corporate Walmart, and we ended up staying for 6 years (the longest we have stayed anywhere!) At several points we thought we would end up staying in Bentonville forever & really grew to love it there (the people, the ward, the schools, the community, etc.). But then some things changed & we felt that it was time to move on, and Neil got another incredible offer here in Canada with Sobeys (the 2nd largest food retailer in Canada).

Again, it was hard to leave & start over, for the kids to move to new schools & a new ward (one that is much smaller & not a lot of youth & primary kids), especially after being in Bentonville for 6 years, but we knew it was the right thing for Neil's career again, and for our family. There have been some challenges about being here, but overall it's a great community, friendly, safe, and good people. The schools are fine & the teachers have been good.... But I admit, sometimes it's still hard. But we feel very blessed with so much & are grateful to be here.

Neil's work permit was for 3 years, and now that we have been here 2 years, we are starting to work on getting permanent residency (with the help of Sobeys attorneys). It's quite a huge, long, crazy process, but hopefully it will all be done by next year! They say the average time to complete it all is about 13 months! After that, we won't have to worry about renewing a work permit every few years, so that will be nice. And, if, after a few more years, it looks like we'll be staying even longer, then we might look at getting dual citizenship (we can keep our US citizenship, and get our Canadian citizenship as well). That would be a benefit for us down the road, for us AND our kids, if we do end up staying a long time. So....we will see...