1/27/2021- Updates on the boys

Brooks is growing bigger. He is starting to babble a ton and it is so fun to hear his sweet little voice.  And every once in a while he shock us and say something.  The other night I was putting him to bed and I said, "Tell Dadda night, night."  Then to our surprise, he busted out, "Ni, Ni" while waving.  Tonight at dinner he asked for cheese and the other day David is positive that he said chicken.  Either way, we are both waiting for him to consistently start talking to us.  With his little babbling, I wonder what he is trying to tell us.  The only thing he regularly says is, "Up!".  And when he says it he pretty much yells it.  He also periodically yells, "MOM!"  He did this one Sunday during church :).  Brooks has also started giving hugs.  Like, a real hug.  Not just the lean his head in or back into you so you can hug him.  He mostly gives these hugs to Mason, Jonas and a cute little girl, Avery, that is a month younger than him.  He loves to give her hugs and church and it's about the cutest thing.  They both give each other the biggest full body hug.  Their first hug ended with them both on the ground on top of each other.  There was a lot of love in that hug. 

Jonas had his 6 year check up on 1/4/2021.

Ht 44.8" (113.8 cm) | Wt 19.4 kg (42 lb 12.8 oz) | BMI 14.99 kg/m²

Mason had his 4 year check up on 1/4/2021.

Ht 41.6" (105.7 cm) | Wt 16.3 kg (35 lb 14.4 oz) | BMI 14.59 kg/m²

During Mason's appt he was sobbing. He did not want Dr. Smith to examine him at all and then he cried a ton before he got his shots. I had to hold him down which is the worst, but I always know it's going to be fast and then he won't have to get shots again for a while.

David has been taking the boys skiing these past two weeks. Mason has gone twice and it's his first time ever going. He has loved it. His personality is pretty easy going as long as he doesn't get upset. Then watch out, fiery pants will bust out.

Jonas was able to ski without David's help today for the first time. He was nervous, but he did it! I'm so excited for him. He just needs to gain a little more confidence and he'll be great. I wish I could watch them all ski. David is better for when they are learning because I am not great at all and I haven't been up in a few years.

David and I have been seeing a therapist, Natalie to help us parent Porter and to help Porter figure out some healthy coping skills and to manage his big emotions. It originally started as appoints for Porter, but the therapist has been so helpful for David and I. Today we saw a child psychologist for Porter and I think he's going to be fantastic. He definitely understands working with gifted children, so I have great hopes for him to help Porter. It was great to talk with someone that understands the difficulty with parenting a child like Porter. Porter is a gem of a kid. He's definitely one of a kind and figuring out how to parent him without getting frustrated myself or constantly feeling like we're in a battle has been challenging. But, I'm not going to give up. There is a lot I need to work on with developing appropriate boundaries. I hope I can do it.

Family History 1/17/21

During church today, Ray Wagstaff gave a talk on family history work.  I wish I had written down my thoughts while listening because I was really inspired.  There was no guilt trip about how much you've done or not done, it was a beautiful talk of encouragement and excitement for the work.  I realize that I waste a lot of time doing things that are not productive.  My time could be filled with work like this that is meaningful and necessary.  So here's to trying harder to work on family history.  And, some of this family history work begins with me working on my own journal.  He spoke about his family and their experience during the Influenza outbreak in the early 1900's.  He said there were no records of their experiences and he wished there were.  

We are currently going through a pandemic and I hope that my children and future generations will be able to look back and understand or see a picture of our experience.

To be honest, I have not hated the pandemic the same way that others have.  Has it been a long and I hope for no more mask wearing and a little more freedom to move about, return to gathering both in our home and at church.  Of course.  But, overall I have loved not feeling the need to fill up my day going places.  I am a homebody.  I like to go out and see things and try new things, but sometimes taking all 4 of the boys is overwhelming, especially if there is a meltdown, so staying home has been nice.  I prefer a slower pace of life.  I like to enjoy sitting outside, talking with neighbors or friends that pass by, playing with the boys or listening to the sounds of the boys playing together or with friends outside.  I enjoy having David home a lot more and so do the boys.  Playing a more active role in the boys education has been challenging at times, but overall I love that I get to see what they are learning and help with projects or assignments that might have normally been done in class. I love that during all this we got chickens and we are learning so much about chickens and caring for them.  I loved that we are prepared to worship at home together as a family.

The biggest thing I have not enjoyed about the pandemic is how it has divided people and there is suffering whether it be financially, emotionally or physically.  Personally we have been blessed to not have personal suffering specifically related to the pandemic, but I know there are many that do.  I wish that myself and others could be better and respecting one another and our personal views about the pandemic and how we are handling things.  It has been interesting to see how Satan has used so many things this past year to divide and anger us against each other.  We've seen it was we watch varying opinions about the pandemic and the handling of issues related to it.  We've seen it through the rioting.  We've seen it through the election.  I hope for a more concerted effort to be peacemakers and unifiers.  

Happy 45th Birthday David! (1/17/21)

We celebrated David turning 45 on Friday (1/15/21).  It is incredible to watch how much our boys adore their dad. He is their hero, best friend, teacher and greatest cheerleader.  So, celebrating him was so exciting for them.  When I asked Mason what he wanted to give David as a gift, without hesitation, he replied, "I want to wrap up myself because Dad always says I'm his greatest gift." How special that a sweet little 4 year old boy knows that his dad loves him that much.  So, I wrapped up Mason and Jonas so that David could open them first.  We are blessed to have David in our lives.  Our entire house is blessed by the person that he strives to become each day.  He is patient with me and always encouraging me to grow.  His ability to connect and teach our boys in deep, yet understandable ways for their young minds is truly a gift.  There are things that I did not fully understand or appreciate, especially in relationship to the gospel that he will teach and it becomes clear to me.  I'm not sure how he does it, but there is always time carved out to be present.  And I mean really present.  I feel like I am constantly think of the next little task I need to do and I know David has a million next little tasks, but you don't feel that when are playing as a family.  We love you Dad!

Lots of Changes: December 6, 2020

 Over the past several months we have been looking at homes again.  We've found neighborhoods we liked, but never a home we liked in the neighborhood.  We've found homes we liked okay, but nothing that would be worth moving for, especially moving further away from David's work.  Then on October 8th I received a text from a friend telling me about a home that had come on the market two houses down from another person we know.  In our same ward, 3 streets north of our current house, so still our same school district and about the same distance to David's work.  I immediately reached out to the agent and David and I walked through the same day it was listed.  The yard was great, much larger than ours, vegetable garden, large basketball court, and trees.  At the end of a cul-de-sac.  The home inside was also much larger than ours, but it needed to be updated.  It checked all of our must haves and there was potential to make it great.  The next day we walked through with Dan Murdock (and Adrianne), a contractor and friend of ours.  He talked about all the potential in the home and how it could be great.  So, with not much time to think about it because of the crazy real estate market and other offers already coming in, we made an offer.  Our agent kindly took 1% off her commission so the offer was more appealing to the seller's and dear friends, Julie and Matt Hall, wrote a kind letter to the seller's (since they knew them) and we wrote a letter including a picture of our family.  And, somehow we ended up with the house.  When we found out, we knelt down as a family to pray, and I sobbed through the entire prayer.  I really love our little house at 2441 E Wilson Ave.  I love all our neighbors there.  

We scheduled a close date of 11/6/2020.  So, the first two weeks I went through the motions of getting financing in order to purchase the house, but I was in denial that we would really be moving.  I kept thinking we could back out at anytime.  And, Jonas was not excited to move either.  

On moving day, Jonas stopped me in the hallway and just cried in my arms.  I love his sweet, tender heart.  He said our home was the only home he liked, it was the best home.  And he was super sad to move and not have Ollie right across the street.  Porter was fine to move when he realized he could still play with Tanner, who only lives 3 streets away.  And Mason is always willing to just go with the flow.  He is pretty adaptable.

Since moving, it has been fantastic.  The yard is great.  We've played volleyball, basketball, put up the trampoline and the cul-de-sac has been fantastic.  The boys have made friends here and they all run around together outside with their masks on.  We have a beautiful view of the mountains out our front window and we can see city lights off our deck and from our dining room.

Change is always hard.  It stretches us and is not always comfortable.  But, it has been amazing to see how when we allow change to happen, there are always blessings that come.  

We have been settled into our house and have seen the hand of God.  We are not sure why this is the place we should be now, but I am pretty sure that over the coming months and years it will become apparent.  My heart tells me there are neighbors here that we will connect with and share our love of the Savior.