We're Back to Our Blog!

It has been a long time but we are finally back to designating some time for blogging about our life.  So much has happened over the last year or so that I couldn't even begin to sum it all up in one post so little by little we will work backwards over the big events and hopefully fill in some of the fun details along the way.  I realize that other than my mom, I'm probably the only one who reads this blog anyway but it is such a great way for me to track our family's progress; our highs and lows, our trials and blessings and all of the mini miracles in between.

So... I am going to start by attempting a summary of where each of us is individually as much as possible.  Over the last month we have been able to visit with lots of family and continue to keep busy with school, church, volunteering, Spencer's work and the kids' activities.
Shayla was just moved up in gymnastics to level 2 and is really excited to be able to play with the "big girls" now.  She can still climb to the top of the rope and is the only one I've seen at the gym that can do it.  She just lost her 4th tooth and amazes us all by pulling each one out by herself.  She will be turning 6 soon and was excited to have a mini party with grandparents last week and to pick out her gift with her other grandparents yesterday.  She is doing great in kindergarten and loves to read and write and do crafts and her favorite subject in school is PE.  She's also involved in music class after school and loves to ride her bike and play with barbies, dolls, my little ponies, dress up, jump rope....

Gavin is in preschool and doing fantastic!  He loves to have his little friends over to play.  Most of his friends are little boys but he also has a little friend who's a girl that he consistently has over.  They play so well together and even though he's SpiderMan and she's a princess, somehow it all works out.  He even walks her to the door when we take her home.  Way to teach them young Spence!  Gavin loves superheroes and just learned how to ride his big boy bike.  He is somewhat accident prone and has already received his 3rd set of stitches of his life.  The poor little guy pulled the church microphone/podium down on himself resulting in a whopping 25 stitches.  Luckily he's tough and we had lots of help and support getting him taken care of.
And Eris is growing like a weed and turning into a beautiful young lady.  She was involved in school choir which just ended in December and is turning into quite a little musician.  She has been taking violin for the past 5 months and is soaring with it.  Unfortunately she is struggling with reading the notes since she is so good at playing by ear but she's working on it and progressing beautifully.  She loves to read and finished the Harry Potter books last summer so has been working on the Fablehaven books recently.  She also takes piano lessons and dance lessons and does a great job!  She is doing great in school and enjoys math and science the most.

Spencer is working a lot to provide but we are so proud of all he is accomplishing and the amazing husband and daddy that he is.  We are hoping for all of this hard work to pay off and are crossing our fingers for a promotion soon which will allow him to lighten his work load drastically.  When he is not busy with work, he does a great job spending time with us.  We love it when daddy can take us climbing or bike riding or when he lets the kids help him with fun projects.  He's fantastic in the kitchen and seems to be the head cook when he's home while juggling all of the other honey-do's that add up while he's gone without complaint.  What a good sport!

I have been so blessed to be able to return home to be a full-time wife/mom but still keep busy with housework, volunteering in Shayla's class most mornings, my new YW church calling, inviting Gavin's friends over for play dates, attending library story times and park activities, driving the kids to their various lessons and spending the quality and quantity time with my kids that they deserve and love.  I have also recently taken a family history class and have enjoyed spending time indexing.  My most recent endeavor is donating plasma which has been fun and rewarding to be a part of.

We are all doing great and look forward to all of the fun family time to come.  Until next time... :)