Summer and Fall

Let's see... in our last episode, I had just gotten a job at Qwest, Mike was doing well in school, and things were looking up. Well, that's only half true now. Mike is still in school, but I lost my job at the beginning of August. I was concerned that I wouldn't make my quota coming out of training, and that's exactly what happened. I don't have any hard feelings though. Qwest treated me very well in my short time there, and my coaches and trainers fought hard to try to keep my job in a review board. All those that worked with me directly knew how good I was on the customer service end, and felt that I was still a good fit with the company. But after what my trainer said was the longest review board meeting she had ever been in (over 2 and a half hours), it was a corporate decision to let me go. The rest of the summer sped by in a blur of homework and unsuccessful job hunts.

Early in the summer, we went to visit Mike's family. His sister's family owns some property which they fittingly call "The Land" at Starvation Reservoir in Utah. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins. We made stick horses, went 4-wheeling, swam in the reservoir, and played the most physical game of spoons I've ever seen. Hyrum still talks about how Ken threw him in the river. In fact, it was what he talked about for his part in the Primary Program in October.

Making stick horses.

Hyrum and his horse (photo swiped from the Golding's blog)

Hyrum started kindergarten in mid August. He's loving it so far, and doing really well! His teachers are all great! In his first parent-teacher conference, I was told that he leads the class in reading and math. His teachers think he is quite brilliant, although he can't communicate it well. He is still doing speech therapy and is talking much better now. It's hard to believe that only a few short months ago, he wasn't speaking in sentences. Now he's quite a chatterbox, although his speech often sounds labored and mechanical. His speech pathologist referred us to a private speech and language clinic in Idaho Falls. He has only gone for 2 weeks now and is still in the testing phase, but I am anxiously looking forward to his continued improvement. Sitting in the waiting room during his testing, I feel blessed that his condition is mild, and that he has met good teachers along the way. There are so many other kids with many more problems than him. In fact, I feel a little guilty worrying so much about his speech when he's clearly better off than nearly all the kids there.

Hyrum's first day of school

The end of summer brought the start of the college football season. Mike had bought season tickets for Boise State before I lost my job. Mike and I went to the opening game against Oregon and got to watch Boise start yet another perfect (so far) season with a great win against the Ducks. We also got to witness the "Punch Heard Round the World" in person. Since then, Mike has taken each of the kids individually to games, and we once went as a whole family to sell our tickets and watch from the warmth of the basketball arena. On that trip, the kids got to go out on the blue turf, pet the Boise State Bronco, and wave as the band walked by about two yards away. They loved it! Hyrum thinks he wants to be a football player, and Emily is in love with the "pretty horse named Bronco."

Hyrum and Mike at the BSU/Miami (OH) game

Emily after the BSU/UC Davis game

If summer was a blur of homework and job hunting, fall has been a blur of sickness. There hasn't been a single week since October when one or more of us hasn't been sick. We had a good Halloween despite all four of us having the flu. Hyrum asked to be a super hero, and Emily asked to be a pink star. I decided it would be easier to make the same costume for both of them and convinced her to be a pink super hero star... whatever that means. I didn't want them to be any specific super heroes, so I made them their own style costumes and crests. I was planning to make them super hero capes for Christmas, but I guess this saves me the trouble.

Hyrum's school didn't allow costumes, only crazy hair. Here he is with green hair. Yes, it was green even if the picture doesn't show it well.

These are the crests that Mike and I designed for the back of their capes.

Emily with her star wand. Do super heroes have wands?

Criminals beware! Super Emily is coming for YOU!

This is as tough as Hyrum can manage to look.

He may look scrawny, but he's surprisingly strong. *cough*

November 17th was Hyrum's 6th birthday. Six! I can't believe it! We celebrated his birthday on the following Saturday. The only present he asked for was a fish. We kept him locked out of our room for a couple days while we set up an aquarium and let the water cycle. I thought he was getting suspicious because he kept catching glimpses of the towel we draped over it. Saturday afternoon, we moved it to his room and put the fish in. I think he was afraid to acknowledge that he really got fish. When we brought him to his room and told him his present was inside, he very purposefully avoided making eye contact with the tank and searched his room for a wrapped gift. We had to confirm several times that the fish were his before he allowed himself to get excited about it. Since then, he has spent a lot of time watching and studying them. Now Emily wants a pink one for her birthday next week. That evening, my mom invited us over for dinner, cake, and presents. He got a new bedspread from my mom, a puzzle from Emily, and church socks from Mike and me. I'll try to post a birthday video like last year, but it took me a long time to put that one together, so no promises.

Hyrum is still avoiding looking at his fish tank.

DeeDee thought it was her birthday.

Yesterday, we had Thanksgiving with my Mom and Sherwin. Sherwin's son Dale and daughter Suzanne were there as well. We had a nice time eating, chatting, and playing games. I can't wait to see Mom's and Suzanne's pictures and videos of Sherwin, Dale, and Mike attempting to do the "stunts" from the Cranium Family Fun game.

After four months of unemployment, I'm still looking for work. However, Mike and I have decided that I will be returning to school full time this spring. I have wanted to go back to school ever since leaving, so I'm very excited. However, I'm also terrified. What am I thinking!? It's been almost 9 years since I left Ricks! I hope I haven't forgotten everything. Also, I'm worried about living off of student loans and financial aid with both of us in school full time. I spoke to the music department, and they seem to think I should be able to do a work study in the music building to help supplement our income. I just hope it's enough. So far, the plan is that I'll continue my degree in Music Education, but I'm apprehensive about the amount of time I'll have to spend away from my family. Music is a very time intensive major. I've been arguing these points in my head since Mike brought up the idea about two months ago, and it has caused me an enormous amount of stress. However, after making a shaky decision last week, I've received several reassurances that I'm doing the right thing. It almost reminds me of when I was at Ricks and struggling with my choice to be a music major. I had my answer then, and I have my answer now. So wish us luck!

I hope to post again after Emily's birthday, but let's be realistic here... I'm lousy at keeping this thing updated! Heck, look at the banner at the top of the blog. Emily was a baby in those pictures, and she's going to be 3 next week! I'll do my best to be better about posting updates, but if you really want to know what we're up to, just give us a call.