Tristan turned 12 this year. He began Jr High (Ahhhh!!!), and is actually enjoying school (for the most part) for the first time in years. He is involved in band and art and home economics (that's his favorite so far... he loves sewing - who knew??) as well as the regular subjects. He really enjoys English and Science. He says his English teacher is his favorite teacher because he’s fun and he doesn’t believe in homework. He still travels back and forth between his mom’s house and ours, but we all love having him around a little more since the school year started. School starts at 7:45 in the morning this year, so that’s been an interesting challenge, but he’s learning a lot and having fun, so I think that makes up for it a little bit. Tristan also participated in football again this year, and enjoyed it a bit more than last year (I think partially because they won a couple of games this year). He played as a defensive lineman part of the time and an offensive lineman part of the time, but his favorite position is defensive end. He is a human wall - not many of the kids could move him, much less get past him. Now if we could just get him to watch football so he’ll understand the game a little better… He now says he wants to go all the way to the NFL and then use the money he makes there to invest (to make more money) and become a video game developer/artist. Tyler and I really think he'll make a great animator. He has so much patience with that kind of thing. He has this program on his computer that is a stick figure animation thing... Tristan will sit there for the longest time and do frame after frame - sometimes hundreds of them to make a little 5 minute movie. His little movies are always funny and very entertaining, just like him. He’s a deacon now, and he passed the sacrament for the first time the Sunday before Christmas, and we’re looking forward to the next milestones and more learning with him. We love him so much and we’re so proud of the choices that he’s made.
Nathan is 6 and began kindergarten this year, and was off to kind of a rocky start. First there was some confusion about the bus, and it still hasn't been completely settled. Then, Nathan wasn't doing the work that he was assigned - partially due to illness (it seemed like we were sick with some sort of flu or cold for about 2 months off and on) and partially due to Nathan's anxiety and emotional instability at school. Then, we finally were able to help him move past that and we had a meeting with his teacher, which helped a TON! She told us that he was doing fine, but he needed to be better at reading the basic words that they were working on. We explained to her that he's been reading at a 2nd or 3rd grade level for almost a year, and that he knows all of those words (words like “who”, “we”, “go”, “like”, “the”, “and”, “a”, & “you”). Once she was aware of it, she pushed him a little harder, and he finished all of his words in a day. He is now in the accelerated reading program and loving it, since he can read the words he knows and is challenged by (although I don't think Nathan will ever be challenged by a word... he reads scriptures with us and rarely needs help). His reading scores came back at a 2.4, which means he’s reading the same as a “normal” child that is in 2nd grade after the 4th month of school. He has been bringing 2nd and 3rd grade books home from the library to read now, and has really been enjoying them. He’s also started reading chapter books for fun - things like “Tales of Beetle the Bard” and “The Boxcar Children”, among others. Nathan also received an award just before the Christmas break for excellence in math. :) We have a little genius on our hands, and the school he’s attending is working really hard on making sure that he’s challenged and not bored, which makes me feel very relieved. Nathan also got glasses this fall to help with his reading and his headaches, and they do help a lot! He really likes his glasses, and (when he remembers) he wears them all day. We love Nathan and the loving nature that he has. His smile is so big and his hugs and kisses have no end (which is great when you’re having a bad day). He has such a sweet spirit and a loving personality. We really love having him in our family!
Logan just turned 5. He’s enjoying pre-school this year. He really likes his new school and his new teacher. He also really likes his new bus driver. Her name is Betty, but Logan insists that it's Benny. We all laugh about that. Logan's fine motor skills are improving a ton this year! He's actually writing his name and it's almost legible. We’re so excited! His teacher reports that she thinks he'll be ready for kindergarten next year no problem. This was a huge relief for us to hear. We've always known he was smart, but he just had such a hard time with writing/coloring and all of that stuff. He quickly got the puzzles and blocks and things like that down, but the coloring and writing was so hard for him. But, he's always happy and never complains about it, so that's good. He's almost always happy and smiling, which rubs off on everyone around him. He also knows all of his colors, numbers, and letters, which actually puts him ahead of most kids going into kindergarten, so he's ahead of the kids Nathan's age, even though he's almost a year and a half younger. Logan has a huge heart, kind eyes, and a contagious smile. Add in his kind and loving personality and a great sense of humor, and you’ve got an amazing kid! We love him so much and we’re so grateful to have him in our family! 
Lydia is 20 months old now, and is really enjoying nursery. It's kind of funny to watch her in there. She seems like such a social person, even though she has a shy streak, but in nursery she sits and plays with a toy by herself. She doesn't try to interact with the other kids at all. It seems like her favorite part of nursery is singing time, right next to snack time. :) She loves to eat (kind of like her mom...) as long as it's baby cereal (rice is her favorite, but she'll eat the mixed grain too), chicken nuggets, lasagna, or an apple. She has grown so much in the last 2 months that I've had to completely switch out her shoes and a lot of her clothes. She's gone from a size 3 to a size 5... in baby shoe sizes that's equivalent to someone going from a womens size 5 to a size 8 or 9. She's also eating like crazy, so I know there's more growing coming. Maybe she'll actually catch up to the other kids her age as far as size goes. She's still so little. Lydia loves to read/look at books, play with her toys (especially her baby doll), play the piano (“na-no”), and color. She is so good at coloring! I have never had a child that would stay with us in sacrament meeting before, but all I have to do is give her a coloring book and 2 or 3 crayons and she will sit and color the whole hour! It’s so nice! Sleeping through the night is still an issue with her. I’m not sure if it’s her teeth or her stomach or her dreams or all of the above. I just know that she will not sleep alone for more than an hour and a half usually, so we’ve made her bed a temporary part of ours until she can sleep on her own for a little longer. That way we can sleep too! She's starting to talk too! Finally... She says "mama" = grandma/mom "mom" = mom, "Dada or Daddy" = daddy, "bapple" = apple, "baby" = baby (this one is super clear!!), "beby buh buh" = belly button, "eye" = eye/eyes, "noooooh" = nose, "no" = no, "mow" = mouth, "yeah, mm-hmm" = yeah, mm-hmm - this is the only way she will say yes (she even nods her head while saying it - so cute!), "ai-ew = hair (she'll run her fingers through my hair when she says that one), and she will say other things, but mostly it's a "ba" sound over and over in the pattern of the word. For example, Buzz Lightyear is "ba ba ba" in Lydia-speak... It's still cute though. Everyone keeps telling me to relax, but I'm starting to get a little concerned about her speech, just because she has said several words consistently and then not said them again (just like Nathan did) and she also will only use the "ba" sound over and over again like I mentioned before (just like Nathan did) and she also has a limited vocabulary for her age (just like Nathan did), and she’ll use a sound over and over again in the place of saying words (just like Nathan did), and she’ll get really frustrated when you can’t understand her to the point that now she’s just trying to do things by herself without asking for help (just like Nathan did)... Notice a pattern? I really think we should have her tested, but Tyler seems reluctant. He says I'm worrying too much. Anyway... She's doing well otherwise. She keeps us on our toes and is super happy most of the time. The other part of the time, she's usually screaming - literally. And her scream is a loud, ear drum rattling, high-pitched scream! She’s all girl, with the exception of sports. She LOVES to watch football, basketball, soccer, and baseball. She even enjoys an occasional swim meet or something like that. She will cheer for everyone on the screen, and she’ll yell at the TV screen - “Go go go go go go go!!” - so cute! All of this while wearing a pink, frilly dress with bracelets, a necklace, and some of mommy’s earrings hung over her ears, and sparkly shoes. She loves shoes and clothes and purses and pretty, sparkly things. She's definitely our little princess, and we love her so much!(In this picture, she’s wearing the
companion dress to the doll dress
that she wore when she was a baby.
The doll dress is in my hand.)
Tyler is still working as a chemist for Micron, and we’re all very grateful for his job and his boss and co-workers. They’ve all been super flexible and understanding when Tyler has needed to take off time from work or go in late so he can help me. He has been an amazing anchor for me to hang on to this past year (emotionally, physically, and spiritually), and I am so grateful for him. Tyler is an amazing father. The kids adore him, and he is (Tyler and the kids at with something. Tyler had his tonsils out in
one of Tristan’s football games)
Anna - I’m still battling my mystery illness, but I try to keep my attitude and my thoughts positive. If I don’t, things spiral out of control pretty quickly. I’m able to handle my day-to-day activities, but my expectations of myself have been lowered quite a bit. I now don’t expect myself to be able to keep my house in perfect shape, or even picked up for that matter. I count myself lucky if I do a load of dishes and a load of laundry each day. The rest of the time I spend with my kids - coloring with them, playing with them, singing songs and playing the piano with them, playing video games with them, or reading to them. Things like that. We moved in July to a house that is a single story so I can get around easier when I have to be in my wheelchair. We really like it. I also am resuming my piano lessons. I’m open to students now, and I’m also arranging to take piano lessons again with my grandmother. I have found that I have a lot more time on my hands since I can’t do active things a lot, so I have read several books (the Elminster series by Ed Greenwood, the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, the Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series by Brandon Sanderson, the Adventurer’s Wanted series by M.L. Forman, and the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull just to name a few). I have also been gathering all of my notes and old short stories together and I’m going to be writing a novel or two in the next year or so. I’ve decided that that’s something I can do that’s creative, productive, and positive, and it can possibly earn me some money. I’m pretty excited by the idea! I just had a muscle biopsy performed on my leg so that (hopefully) the doctors and I will have some answers to the question of what’s happening with me and my health (which will lead to me being “normal” again and hopefully being able to have another baby, dancing again, keeping my house clean again, etc.) and so I am having a hard time using that leg right now. I am using this time to work on my book(s) and my notes and such, so I’m hoping to make some good progress before Valentine’s Day.
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