July 2010 update

Summer is just zipping by – I can’t believe we are already past the half-way point! I keep thinking that I need to write, because I’m going to forget things that we’ll want to remember someday. Instead, I’ve indulged in lots of reading, and while it doesn’t get the house clean or accomplish much for anyone else, I have enjoyed it!
My parents returned from their 18-month mission in India at the beginning of April. What an experience that was for them, and what an example they are to us! Conditions were tough – the temperature never dipped below about 75-80, and more often hovered around 100; India is where America was about 50 years ago in terms of industry and the technology and conveniences available to the masses; it is a dirty, crowded place. And yet my parents enjoyed their experience there and loved the people and especially the children at the orphanage school in which they served. It has been amazing to me to see how our children have picked up so quickly where they left off a year and a half ago – and even the ones who were too young to really remember excitedly greet Grandpa and Grandma with cheers and hugs and ask often when the next get-together or sleepover will be.
Since they had a week off in April for Spring Break, my brave sister, Sharon, and two of her children (Brett and Brooke) drove out to Utah to welcome my parents back. It is always chaotic but also lots of fun when we get together, and we are always grateful for the time, money, and effort our extended family puts out which shows that we are a priority to each other. We have also seen Derek several times as he has flown in to Salt Lake City for various conferences and for meetings at the University of Utah – and we are so excited that he secured a research position at the U of U and that he and his family will be moving here within the next month!
Our three older boys played soccer in March, April and the beginning of May. The girls had wanted to play too, but after last Tax Season when I had six kids playing soccer and I nearly lost my mind trying to stay on top of the schedule and chauffeuring by myself, I talked them into playing only Fall Soccer when Hugh is around to help. The school year finished at the end of May, but it has begun to really feel like summer only the last few weeks. We really enjoy the more relaxed schedule - more time to sleep in, play games, read, just to do things together (all of us except Hugh, who still faithfully wakes up at 4:30 and goes to work every day!) These are some of the fun things we have done over the last few months: Jon Schmidt Concert in Roosevelt, Utah, Hope of America Program at BYU, End of the School Year Party, Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove, Handbell Concert at Temple Square, Chuck E. Cheese’s, Jon Schmidt Concert in Nibley, Utah, Seven Peaks Water Park, Hot Air Balloons, Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum, SLC Airport La Quinta, Wilkins Family BBQ in Logan, Utah, and the Stadium of Fire Fireworks show in Provo. We are planning our second trip to Disneyland in mid-October, which surprisingly, Hugh insisted on.
Other than reading, I have spent a lot of time researching computers and video-editing software. We bought our first computer seven years ago with the hopes of putting all our home video on DVD’s with snazzy title screens and descriptions, but were able to record only a few minutes to the hard drive before it suddenly stopped working – and eventually I ran out of time and patience to figure it out. I ended up going through the tedious process of recording all the home videos with a DVD recorder, adding titles with a keypad, one letter at a time (like texting) and not many creative options. The memories of frustration have faded enough that I decided I was ready to give the computer-captured home videos another shot – so we bought a new computer. I’m not ready to say it was a mistake, but I will say I have a fresh recollection of why I quit trying the first time. (Is it really too much to ask that the time/date stamp on the home videos be preserved as I am transferring them from one media to another?!) Anyway, one new computer, hundreds of dollars, dozens of hours, and four software programs later, Daniel and I are at least figuring out a way to get around the major holes we have found in the software. It’s a good thing we have some extra time to pour into this project while it’s still summer!
For a little while, it looked like we might move to Germany for six months or so while Hugh took care of some Church business throughout Europe, but to my disappointment/relief, that fell through. Instead, Hugh will make a few trips there by himself. We are trying to figure out if there is any practical way we can send a kid or two with him. Steven really can’t miss two weeks of school at this point in high school, and we are finding that flights are most expensive during the summer, so we’ll have to decide how much this experience would be worth to the kids since it will not be cheap, even with hotels being covered by the Church.
Steven breezed through 9th grade, just barely escaping the parent-imposed retake of Pre-Calculus by squeezing out an A- minus (it turns out the rest of the class didn’t do so well either, so grades were figured on a curve.) He managed to get a B in one of his easiest classes, pulling his cumulative GPA down to a 3.7. If he worked a little harder, he could have all A’s every term, but overall I can’t complain because Steven really is a good kid – generally respectful, pleasant, and kind, which is most important to me. He loves being with his school friends – one of his girl friends talked him into trying Irish step dance and attending a Caeli (sort of like a square dance, but Irish style.) Steven finished Driver’s Education a few weeks ago (I know, I can’t believe he could possibly be that old already, or maybe I can’t believe I could possibly be that old already!) He will need to complete the driving requirements with his instructor as well as with his parents, but we are dragging our feet on that one because we can’t decide which is worse for a new driver: a stick-shift car or a full-size automatic van? Anyway, we have until next May 18th when he turns 16 to figure that one out. Steven hasn’t seen his friends this summer as much as he would like, but he has done some fun things. He went whitewater rafting with the youth of our church (Youth Conference) and is at the University of Utah all this week for a youth camp with inspirational speakers and fun evening activities (EFY).
Daniel finished 7th grade with a 3.92 (3.7 cumulative.) It is interesting to watch each of our kids develop their own preferences, talents, interests, etc. independent from each other and from us. Daniel decided he wants to try student government and yearbook next year. Early this summer he found in our closet the old Dosdall flute we had when I was a kid, and he seemed determined to learn how to play it…for about two weeks… so now I’m glad we didn’t put money into reconditioning it. Daniel has been asking us to purchase Adobe Flash (software which allows you to add animation to Web applications) for a long time, so we made a deal. If Daniel will figure out the video editing software and teach me how to use it, he will have proven his tenacity and we will purchase the software he wants. I’ve been told that high school students who are proficient in Adobe can make good money – I have yet to research who will pay that good money, but at least this software has some productive potential, unlike the computer games and video games the kids usually like to play. Daniel and Michael spend a lot of time pulling weeds in the garden to earn extra electronics time, which I thought was a win-win situation until I discovered that they had unwittingly pulled up all the carrots and peas I had planted. It is so cute to watch Daniel with baby Katelyn. He will pick her up and entertain her when she fusses, and when she does something cute, he makes the same adoring noises I do when I’m thinking she’s just so cute I can’t help it. Daniel has been very helpful about watching Matthew and Emily while I take five of the other kids to swimming lessons. My life is so much easier with helpful older children!
Julia will be turned 12 yesterday! She is anxious to have some school friends over for a birthday party which we will be doing a day late because Hugh took some of the older kids (including Julia) to a concert at Temple Square last night. Julia is very conscientious about how she does things – from schoolwork to chores – and I appreciate that I can count on her to do a good job without my prompting. She started out the summer so on fire about teaching her younger siblings new things like cursive and math, but that has fizzled out and she has spent a lot of time reading and playing games with her siblings. She and the other girls would do well with more of the structured learning time I had planned for the summer, but the boys are enjoying the fact that I have let some of that go in lieu of more reading time for me! Like Steven and Daniel, Julia has been really helpful in being responsible for some of her younger siblings while I run errands or take kids to doctor or dentist appointments. Speaking of dentist appointments – Julia has recently had four teeth pulled in preparation for much-needed braces, which will probably be put on within the next year or so.
Michael enjoyed playing futsal and soccer (with Uncle James as coach) and has improved considerably this year. Steven, Julia, and Michael have all been working on essentially the same piano pieces (mostly Jon Schmidt and classical) and so have been taking a group lesson together. (Daniel opted to continue one-on-one lessons every other week, even during the summer – YAY!) They are all impressive in different ways; Michael’s talent seems to be his ability to memorize complicated pieces in few repetitions. For awhile we were struggling with Michael not wanting to do his chores, then not being able to eat dinner (or not liking what we were having), then helping himself to treats, but he’s doing much better now. He doesn’t love doing chores, but he does them, and it really helps the house run smoothly when everyone pitches in. Michael’s favorite things are piano and electronics. And he really likes Katelyn – he saves his most spontaneous and authentic smiles for her. We have had to adjust our electronics policy a couple of times this summer because it seemed that all Michael did all day was play the piano or do extra chores in order to earn more time to play electronics.
Alyssa did well in 2nd grade academically, but even more importantly at this point, socially. Away from home, she is painfully quiet and shy. At home, she is creative, energetic, even boisterous. She is Matthew’s special buddy, and almost every night Matthew and Emily talk her into setting up a bed of pillows and blankets and sleeping next to them. Hugh and I are so appreciative since it gives us a little quiet time to read or even just get ready for bed without having to corral the little two back to their bedroom every thirty seconds. Alyssa enjoys making things and playing with the other kids. Until I grounded them for dirtying so many towels and tracking so much mud and grass into the house, Alyssa and Natalie spent many afternoons playing water games out back (Slip ‘n Slide, sprinklers, etc.) Alyssa likes to catch butterflies when the weather is not too dreadfully hot. She is also very helpful with Katelyn, often volunteering to sit with her on the rocker out front while I work on dinner or laundry.
Natalie was probably our most social kindergartener to date. She seemed totally comfortable with being away from me (should I be offended?), and made lots of friends. She reads well and has taken her share of turns reading to Matthew and Emily during our mandatory summer Reading Time each day. Most of the time, she is easy-going and pleasant. But you’d better watch out if she gets bent out of shape about something, or didn’t get enough sleep the night before, because she turns into a growling, grumbling, cantankerous little snapping turtle. I think I’ve been saying this for awhile, but hopefully soon she will learn to control her actions even if she can’t stop herself from feeling crabby sometimes.
Matthew is done with diapers! He is 4 ½ years old now, so I certainly wouldn’t call him a potty prodigy, but we are so glad! We tried lots of different techniques to try to potty train him, and what it finally came down to was him spending an entire day (literally 10-12 hours) locked naked in the bathroom with only some books to keep him occupied. We, of course, checked on him and brought him food several times, but we explained that we would repeat this every day until he learned. I felt bad for him, but I also felt bad for me having had to change his stinky diapers for the last 4 ½ years, and it took just that one day in the bathroom to convince him he wanted to learn. Matthew is very proud of himself, and is gradually doing more “big kid” things, like doing chores and playing card and board games as well. He is not the most verbally precocious of children, and sometimes has interesting ways of remembering ideas and pronouncing words, like the 24th of July/Pioneer Day “per-wade” (parade) he has been talking about for the last month, or the “pitootie” (bikini) he was surprised to see someone wearing at the children’s museum. He and Emily spend a lot of time playing together, voicing the action and conversations of their objects of play about two octaves higher than normal, which I find enormously amusing as long as we are not on the same floor of the house.
Emily will be turning 3 in a little over a week. She is pretty easy-going (especially for a two year old) except when it comes to going on the potty and attending Nursery at church without me or Hugh. She likes to play outside and ride her trike, though we have to monitor her carefully to be sure she doesn’t wander out without an older kid or parent to keep an eye on her. She has become rather stoic (like Michael was at her age) and works hard not to smile, though fortunately sometimes can’t help herself.
Katelyn is almost 9 months old. I am already mourning the fact that she is outgrowing the baby stage – she is no longer the calm, cuddly, placid little bundle she once was. Even though they are exhausting sometimes, I love having a baby, and I’m not sure I’m ready to be done – maybe I will never feel ready to be done. She is crawling and pulling herself up to stand, round and chubby (but probably not for long since she is now mobile,) curious, active, and lots of fun. She has surprised us by keeping her blue-gray eyes (unlike the rest of us, who have brown eyes.) Not to worry, though, she still fits in with her bright red hair and deep-set eyes. She likes attention and gets lots of it from her adoring family.
We hope you enjoy the rest of your summer and find joy in whatever stage of life you are in.