long time

Yep, it's been awhile since I last blogged. The totally lame reason being that I had lots of pictures that I wanted to post. But they're all on the new digital camera, and I haven't figured out how to download them to the computer, and I haven't bothered to go find the instruction book.

But I know people (hi, Mom and Dad) are wanting to know what's up with us, so I said, forget the pictures and just write SOMETHING!!

So, here goes.

KITCHEN: We finally got things together and we have a new kitchen! Well, new to us. We tore out the old, stained carpet and the old, ugly, scratched/dented/torn/etc. linoleum in the kitchen and replaced it with tile. It looks fantastic and is so much easier to keep clean. We also painted the kitchen a lovely shade of green called Asparagus from Behr (Home Depot). Just yesterday (Sunday, March 1) we got the dining table back in there. The tile project was done the first week of February! No, we have not been living off of fast food and microwave food for a month--it was only about a week. The range and refrigerator got put back in pretty quick. I painted those two walls first so the appliances could get put back in. The rest of the painting took a bit longer because we had Valentine's weekend plus I was sick, plus I could only work in snatches of time when Alex was napping. But the painting is mostly done (just need to do the pantry wall, which is a small area). Next I need to clean and repaint, then reinstall the baseboards. I would like to add crown molding around the ceiling soon.

VALENTINE'S DAY: We went out with three other couples to a Japanese Tepanyaki restaurant on Feb. 7th. My great brother Mike watched our kids and another couple's 4 kids (making a total of 7 kids). Fortunately they are good friends so I'm sure it wasn't too hard! Feb. 12 we spent the evening (OK, Steven and the kids did--I was visiting my Deaf Mentor family) making valentines for the children's class parties the next day. They were sucker flowers. Got the idea here. On Friday we surprised Daddy and his team with brownies. I also took a little gift of a jar of his favorite candy (Reese's peanut butter mini cups) and new pictures of the kids. Friday night was a couples only ward party. Saturday we started off with a breakfast of heart shaped pancakes, sausage and strawberry smoothies. We made valentines for each other. I made a fancy dinner of Cupid's Chicken and Stuffing, twice baked potatoes, green salad and strawberry lemonade. The lemonade was in a fancy punch bowl. I set the table with our china and candles. Oh, the kids loved having a candlelit dinner. Then we exchanged our valentines and played a few games. We had a good time.

PRESIDENT'S DAY: Steven didn't have the day off from work (which I didn't know until it was too late to change plans) but C&J were off from school so we headed south to visit our good friends the Stringhams. We had originally planned to go tubing in Hobble Creek but the weather had been warm enough lately that the snow at the lower elevations was melted and it was muddy. So we just hung out and visited.

Alex had his 4 month checkup on Feb. 9. He weighed in at 15 lbs and 25 inches long. He is healthy in every way. He smiles and laughs a lot more now and is able to hold things if the object is held against his hand. He is also picking things up. Saturday Feb. 21 we got out the high chair and cleaned it up. He does pretty well sitting up there. We can put a few little toys on the tray and he is entertained for awhile which is really nice when I'm cleaning up the kitchen or cooking. He's also able to roll from his tummy to his back. Still working on rolling back to front. Last night (Sun 3/1) I put him in the crib and he slept there all night, only waking once around 2 am to be fed. We've tried before to have him sleep in the crib but he's always fussed enough that it really bothered Jordan. He has been napping there for awhile now.

Jordan lost his first tooth on Feb. 20. It had been quite loose for awhile and was even starting to look a little strange because it was sort of tilted to the side. The new tooth was already growing in. He has two grownup teeth growing in at the bottom--even though he hasn't lost the baby teeth yet! Both C&J had dentist appointments in January and the dentist wasn't concerned about the teeth so I guess it's not a big deal. He is getting better and better with reading. He's also a terrific speller--I don't think he's gotten less than 95% on any of his spelling tests! We went to the Westbrook 4th Ward's Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet on Feb. 25. He will join the hearing ward pack as our deaf ward doesn't have one. Den/pack meetings are on Wednesdays--and his 8th birthday is Wednesday, April 1! He is very excited to turn 8, be baptized and become a Cub Scout. He will be baptized on May 2.

Christie turns 10 in 3 and a half weeks. I can hardly believe it's been 10 years since she was born! She also is doing very well in school. This year has not seen any projects or reports or anything of the sort that she did in 3rd grade, which I find disappointing, but she is still enjoying school. She's still a great big sister to Alex.

I am enjoying my Deaf Mentor family. I have also been a little busier than usual with Lead Mentor responsibilities. We have hired two new mentors so I have been going to initial visits, which are visits to families to introduce their new mentor. Activities for the Miss Deaf Utah Pageant are also ramping up a bit. The pageant will be on June 13th. I am still mostly just in charge of record keeping and sending thank yous to donors. But there's a lot to keep track of!

Steven keeps busy with Sorenson, as always.

We are still teaching in Church. I have two kids in my class. One will turn 12 in May and move on to Young Men. After that, I don't know what I will do. Maybe I will continue to teach one on one with the remaining girl or maybe she will join the hearing class (which has a deaf teacher) and we teachers will alternate or something. The Primary president hasn't decided on that yet. I am still Activity Days leader. By the end of the year we will have 5 new girls. None go to YW this year.

We are looking forward to spring and warmer weather. We have lots of projects to do outside that were put off from last year.

I'll get the camera thing figured out and get my pictures on the computer and posted here soon.