Catching Up

I got really behind on the blog so here I go trying to attempt to catch up.  I am going to go aways back to get this all in.  This is my journal after all. 

BIRTHDAYS

We celebrated two important birthdays these last two months, Kory and mine.  Kory is now 35 and I am 33.  We took it pretty low key for both of our birthdays.  Kory bought BSU football tickets for his birthday and we gave him a new tie and a love letter saying why each of us loved him.  For my birthday I bought a new watch and a crockpot.  I got a new set of knives a while back and they cost a pretty penny so I told everyone that was my big present.  We ate cake and cheesecake for both of our birthdays and had a good time.

SCHOOL
School has started again.  McKay is in 4th grade this year and Erica started kindergarten.  Both are doing great and enjoying it very much.  They love riding the bus together.  They are going to a new bus stop that is just up from the park that is across our street.  It's nice because I can watch them from our windows.  It's nice to see them go and have fun and learn and we have a quieter home for awhile, and its fun to have them come home and tell us about their adventures and what they are learning and the excitement they bring home with them.  All three play really well together and its fun to watch them enjoy each other and play nicely and use their imaginations and build hopefully bonds of lasting friendship.

KASON'S 2ND EYE SURGERY
Kason went through his second eye surgery the end of August.  He did really well but after the surgery was in a lot of pain just like his first one.  He had this surgery to lift his eyelid even higher so it was more even with his good eyelid.  Luckily Mom and Dad were coming into town for Ashley's blessing and they were able to help us get the other kids off to school and help take care of Kason when I needed to take care of the baby.  They were a lifesaver during that time.  This will be his last surgery.  At his postop appointment the doctor said that this was as far as they could pull it up without bunching up his eyebrow.  It looks really good.  When he looks straight they are both even.  However, when he looks up or down they are uneven.  His doctor said that they can never fix it perfectly; however, it is the best that they can do and we are all happy with the results.  We are still patching his eye 2 hours a day and he is still wearing glasses.  We are hoping that someday he will not need the glasses or the patches anymore.  Keep our fingers crossed.

 Before surgery

 After surgery

Our super Grandma and Grandpa helpers, along with their trusty Ipads.

ASHLEY'S BLESSING
We blessed Ashley in our ward on Sept 2.  Mom and Dad came up and also Kory's parents, sister, and brother.  Jared and Michelle and their family also came.  We enjoyed a wonderful meal at our house afterwards with pulled pork sandwiches, fruit try, pasta salad, green salad, chips and salsa, jello, and Costco cheesecake.  We had a wonderful time and it was great to have so many family there with us.

KASON COMPUTER AND HOME PRESCHOOL
Kason over the last few months has learned how to use the mouse on the computer.  This has been really nice for him.  He used to have to watch McKay and Erica play all the games but now he gets a turn.  He is a pro now and can do about anything.  His favorite games are Lego Preschool and Starfall and Drawing for Children (both Starfall and Drawing for Children are used in Erica's kindergarten class).  I decided to keep him home from preschool this year and just teach him myself.  So far he learns a letter a week and we do it two times a week, just like regular preschool.  We started off by teaching him how to cut with scissors which was a disaster.  I then started letters and he picked up on them very quickly.  We are a bit behind and on letter F right now.  During the last two months he has gone from not knowing hardly any letters to all of them, he can spell and write his own name, and the letters he has learned so far he can write them properly and knows their sound.  I have been very impressed with how quickly he is picking things up.  Good job Kason!

GARDEN
Garden time is over.  We had a pretty successful year.  Of course some things grew better than others.  We finally got raspberries this year after three years of waiting.  However, we got hardly any strawberries.  Our corn did not grow, or our cucumbers, or beans, or watermelon.  Some of the things we did get were tomatoes, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, carrots, green onions, peas, cantaloupe, zucchini, and 2 pumpkins.  Our greatest producers were the zucchini, tomatoes, and cantaloupe.  It was a successful year!

MY WORK
Since the baby was born I was fortunate enough to be able to take almost 3 months off from work.  They were soooooo wonderful.  I knew I was going to return to work but dreaded it for two reasons.  First was how was I going to do it with so much going on in my life and the second was that they were transitioning to speech recognition where the doctors would dictated, the computer would type it out, and we would edit it.  Part of me felt that I needed to quit and the other part of me wanted to try it as a sort of challenge to see if I could do it and to experience the new way of working with the speech recognition software.  With much fasting and prayers, I decided that it would not hurt to try and do it again.  I met with my boss and she let me change my hours.  They are crazy hours and whenever I tell them to people they gasp in horror and don't know what is wrong with me.  I am now working from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.  Yes, I get very little sleep each night.  However, I am finally able to work without as many distractions and I can just sit and get it done and over with.  Sometime it is very hard to stay awake and I am very tired in the morning, but so far I have been able to do it.  Hopefully I don't jeopardize my health too much.  My work was also able to train me on the new software from home so I could be close to the baby and with new speech recognition has been very good and kind of cool.  I am able to go through reports more quickly and I think overall it was a great transition.  I still hope to quit some day when our loans decrease some more and when Kory thinks it is time for me to quit.  Just waiting for the day and carrying on.

TEMPLE
The Boise Temple was shut down for renovations for over a year and they have opened it up again for tours and the rededication in November.  We went as a family one Friday evening.  It was busy but so wonderful.  We had to park aways away and ride a shuttle bus over to the temple.  That was a lot of fun.  The kids were very reverent and we could really feel the spirit.  We met in the chapel next door to the temple first to watch a video and get with our tour group.  Then we went outside to walk over to the temple.  It was night and just to see the temple as we were walking towards it was amazing.  I cannot describe the feeling.  There were a lot of people but it was a quiet and reverent atmosphere and the temple was so bright and beautiful.  They did a wonderful job in renovating it and it is very different from the inside.  It was a great experience for our family and one that hopefully made an impression on our children and they can remember this forever.  One experience with McKay was as we were walking through one of the sealing rooms I noticed McKay wiping at his eyes.  I don't know if it was just super bright in there and he got tears from the bright lights or if it was the spirit touching him during that sacred experience.  I didn't want to ask in case he got embarrassed, but just kept it to myself.  I did not get any pictures while we were there, wish I would have thought about bringing my camera; however, they were not allowed anyway.

ASHLEY
My baby is growing so fast.  She is three months old now.  She is very chubby and cute.  She can hold her head up fine now.  She coos and smiles all the time.  She is starting to grab onto things that are in front of her.  She puts blankets and her clothes in her mouth.  She can't hold onto toys quite yet.  The other kids love to give her attention.  I like that I can put her on the floor on a blanket and they just take over entertaining her, reading to her, trying to get her to hold onto toys, and talking with her.  I love her and such a joy to our family.   The pictures below are a progression from one month old to three months old and how much she has changed.