Family Update

Mike has been attending UVU for 2 years now. He has mostly A's. I need to look up his grade point average. We enrolled him for all online classes next term. I am super excited because I hate him being gone in the evenings. He is still working at the same place.  It has been a convenient job to have while he is attending school. We are grateful he has a job. :)

Nicole: I am almost at my year mark for having an official Photography "Business." I have learned a lot this year and have had some awesome experiences. My photography arsenal continues to grow and so does my wish list. It has been so fun to spend time with some adorable little babies and amazing families. I have some photography workshops on my wish list too. Hopefully I will be able to do those soon. I feel like our little family keeps me super busy. With school and extra activities I feel like we always have something to do. It has been hard to keep up with the messes in the house. Elsie and Nicholas have taken to trashing the place while the older boys (Mike included) leave things lying around. We have a super lived-in home if you want to put it a nice way. :) We are reaching max capacity for our little home. Every room and closet are full. Same goes for the garage and the shed outside. We love our house, but it has become quite the challenge making it look picked up.

Zeke  (9) is in 3rd grade now. He loves to read and learn and draw. Comic books are one of his favorite things. He loves to make them and read them. Legos are another favorite. He has been taking Karate since October and has already earned his first belt. He really loves it. He doesn't really like the other sports he has tried and I am glad he found something fun for him. He LOVES scouts too. I haven't been very good the last few months about staying on top of it. He earned his Wolf on his 9th birthday and is in a new den. I am grateful for awesome leaders. It has been fun having Zeke home for Christmas break because he is so helpful.

Jackson (6) is in 1st grade. He is super spunky and full of energy at all times. He learns by touching and running and doing. He works really hard at school, but you can tell when he gets home that he is ready for some down time. 6 hours is a long time for him to be concentrating. :) He runs fast, hits hard, and barrels through life at full tilt. He hears everything and sees everything too. He gets that from me. We are both really sensitive and observant. He started Karate when Zeke did. It stinks that they can't be in the same class, but I'm sure they will be when they get a little older. Jackson loves being outside. Now that there is snow on the ground he has been riding the 4 wheeler around the back yard. I have a huge pile of wet stuff in my kitchen from all the trips in and out. He ended up with strep throat the day before school got out and had to miss pajama day. He was really bummed. His teacher sent a nice note home with all his Christmas things. She said that he is a really hard worker and a great student. He is always so good for his teachers, aunts, uncles, and Grandparents. He is kind of a stinker for me. :) I know he is absorbing the things that I say though or he wouldn't be so good for everyone else.

Elsie (4) is still 2 years away from kindergarten. She seems so old. She likes to read books with me and has some memorized. She can write her name on her own and sing all sorts of songs. She loves to play make-believe and we pretend most of the day away while the boys are at school. She has a hard time when they come home because they want my attention too. She loves all things pink and requested that whatever her presents were that they were pink. She loves to play dress-up and now has taken to carrying Lady around most of the day. She and Nicholas only get along when they are making a mess together. I'm surprised at the magnitude of some of these messes. I am right here and am shocked that the mess just sort of springs up in the same room. It must be very subtle and resemble playing for me not to notice until the damage is done. ;) Elsie is our non-sleeper. Jackson had a hard time going to bed at night when he was her age, but he stayed in bed once he was asleep. Elsie has NEVER napped. Not even when she was a baby and now she comes downstairs a million times a night. Then she comes into our room once we are in bed. She always wants crazy things at night too instead of just falling back to sleep. It has been a challenge trying to reason with her. She says some really sweet things during the day. Every once in a while she gives me a hug and tells me she loves me and daddy. The boys have never done anything like that. She likes to make up names for me and her when we are playing pretend. They are really different like Calissa and things like that. Names she has never heard before. It sure is fun having a girl in the house.

Nicholas (21 months) is at such a fun stage. He is talking a lot and responding to questions that I ask him. He knew quite a bit of sign language, but has just started using mostly words. He only signs "please" and "more" now. It is so weird to have me say, "Nicholas?", and he responds, "Yeah." He looks more like Zeke, but has Jackson's personality. He makes some spectacular messes and gets into lots of things. He thinks he is super funny and laughs at himself often. It is nice to have him old enough to do things with and not worry about so many accessories. He is totally addicted to his plug. I tried to switch it to a more orthodontic one because those soothies are terrible for their teeth. He wouldn't go for it. If I take it away completely then he will stop napping.( Lesson learned from the previous boys.) I am not ready for that yet, and I will revisit the problem after he turns 2 in March. He is such an amazing sleeper and I would hate to mess that up. I love having this fun, happy little guy in our family.

We are so very blessed. I am grateful for a happy, healthy family. I am grateful for our warm, stable home. I am grateful for our extended family, near and far. It has been so fun for Mike and I to raise our family together. We are approaching our 10 year anniversary. I can't believe how time has flown.