We're back...

Well, it's been almost a year since my last blog post. I'm not sure exactly why I stopped last fall, but it was probably a combination of lots of things - our first year homeschooling, coaching Joseph's soccer team, Sarah starting dance classes, Joseph and Sarah starting piano lessons, attending a homeschool co-op every week where I taught a Spanish class to 3rd-6th graders, teaching an online Spanish 101 course for the college, writing the Primary program, singing in the annual Christmas concert, arranging and performing in a flute trio, and David getting called to the High Council (meaning he is super busy on Sundays) -- either way, blogging fell off my to-do list.

So, I decided to start again. I'll tell you a little about what we're up to now and do a "flashback" post every now and then to share some pictures and stories from the past year.

For Grandma Carol - This is the bike you helped Kathryn buy.

August has been a crazy month. We went to Redding for a week and celebrated Joseph's birthday there. (That trip deserves it's own post...I have tons of pictures!)

At the lake

They built this in Redding...can you guess what it is?

7th Birthday - Wild Kratts "Cheetah Power" cake

Along the way, Sarah and Rachel got sick and had terrible coughs, which they passed to the other kids while we were all trapped in the van for the 12 hour drive.

The week after we got home the older kids went to a "Little Farmer" camp at a friend's farm here. They had a great time learning about all the different animals and life on a farm. They got to collect eggs, milk the cow, pick veggies from the garden, make butter, and do lots of fun crafts too. (Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of that). But, their favorite part was swinging on the rope swing that went over the creek and then "accidentally" falling in the water. =)

This past Tuesday was Sarah's first day of school. She is attending an elementary level Montessori school that recently opened here. Her teachers are great and her class is small (11 kids, 2 teachers), with mixed ages from 1st through 3rd grade. So far she is really enjoying the peaceful routine, personal attention, and ability to choose her own work during most of the day there. One day she went on a nature scavenger hunt with her class at the adjacent city park. Another day she played a rousing game of chess with a classmate.

First day of 2nd grade

Joseph and Kathryn are starting homeschool on Tuesday, and little David will start preschool at Montessori in the mornings a few days each week. We decided to NOT do soccer this year, at least not formally. We plan to play a lot of family games in the backyard. Sarah's going do ballet again and, new this year: Celtic soft shoe and hard shoe (tap). All three of the older kids will be taking piano lessons of some variety (either a private lesson, group class, or lesson with mom).

David and I are "back to school" too. Classes have started at the college again and David is teaching his regular load. I'm teaching Spanish 101 online again (this is my 3rd year now). We're doing a homeschool co-op again this year. So, it's looking like another busy fall. I'll try to keep you all updated.

Heather

PS If anyone wants to opt out of the automatic email updates when I make a blog post, just let me know by replying to the email. OR, if you don't get an email and would like to, let me know that, too.

A New House, a Forever Family, and a New PhD

Sorry for not posting any updates in the past two months. We've been extraordinarily busy. At the end of September we bought a house in Lewiston and starting moving in that day. Within 24 hours we had moved all our belongings to the new house and we set to work unpacking and remodeling all at once. Bad idea!

Sept 30 - Day 1 of moving - the kids loaded all their strollers & bikes

I spent my "free" evenings for three weeks repainting three bedrooms, the hallway and entry way (with multiple coats of paint - including the ceilings and closets). We've also had some new windows installed and changed up some doors in the family room. The largest project was installing laminate in the large bonus (play) room. It took a lot longer than we expected because we found some water damaged sub floor boards and mildew/mold when we ripped out the old carpet and baseboard.
Here are some before and after pictures:

The worst room was this neon green one--

Before

In Process...

Pinstripes under window in the green (baby) room

Joseph and Sarah's room - purple & brown to blue & light blue (sorry, I don't have a final photo)

Before

Almost After (the lower part is now a very light blue)

Here is the Bonus room / Play room -- I didn't get a true "before" picture with the old grayish-blue sculpted carpet before we ripped it out. Sorry!

Water stains...ewww! There used to be a hot tub there.

From another angle - we took out all those stained boards

Mold & Mildew

After - replaced old black sliding door

After (we had those exterior doors removed)

In late October our family drove down to St. George, Utah so we could be at Sterling and Emma's sealing. It was a long drive (1000 miles one way), but so worth it to see all of my family and be in the temple with them. The kids did really well considering the long drive -- thanks to my friend Cari and her portable DVD player.

All the ladies

All the gentlemen =)

During all this craziness of moving, remodeling and traveling 2000 miles David managed to finish writing his dissertation and submit it to his committee. On November 19th he presented his defense and passed with flying colors. Half of his committee members received low ranks though because they showed up nearly an hour late for the event. =) He spent a week in sunny Nashville finishing up all the last details before returning home, the triumphant new Doctor on Thanksgiving day.

Thankfully, I didn't have to be a single mom during that full week he was gone because my dad came to visit us for Thanksgiving. The weather turned sour the first day he was here -- snow started falling and hardly stopped for a week...what am I saying? It's still snowing here. We had recording-breaking low temps. Which means we spent most of his visit in the house washing mountains of dirty laundry, scrubbing floors, and preparing pies for the big dinner.

We tried to build a snowman, but no one had waterproof gloves or shoes.

We ate Thanksgiving dinner with some of our new friends here and it was a pleasant evening with plenty of great food to go around. Grandpa Chuck left the next morning and it was back to the old grind around here. David is still just as busy as always, especially since it's publishing time for Hispania (he's the managing editor).

Over the River and Through the Woods...to Grandmother's House We Go!

We left on August 3rd for the long drive down to Redding, CA to visit David's parents and grandparents. Actually, it's only 700 miles, which is less than half the distance from Nashville to New Mexico, so I'm not complaining. We split the distance in half and spent the first night just south of Portland, OR. This was the first time that I had traveled through Oregon. It's a lovely state with wide rivers and densely wooded mountains on western side (we won't mention the eastern side, it wasn't quite so awe inspiring). What's with the gas station attendants who pump your gas?! The first time, it was charming, but after that, it was a bother to wait around for them.
For this trip, we changed up the seating arrangement in the van a bit. Sarah moved up to Kathryn's place, and Joseph moved over to Sarah's old corner. Kathryn occupies Joseph's former space. Sarah kept little David entertained the whole trip -- she enjoys making silly faces at him and talking to him non-stop. For the most part, David appreciates the entertainment. Joseph and Kathryn got along quite nicely in the backseat - they kept mostly to themselves and were relatively quiet.

Mt Hood River, along I-84 through Oregon

Before passing this dam, I thought the massive river was a lake - it was so wide and still.

It was easy to tell when we were getting close to Portland -- suddenly there were trees everywhere... 

and they kept getting thicker and taller.

And Sarah got sillier...

Day 2, new coloring books keep them entertained for varying amounts of time.

Sarah: 10 minutes, Kathryn: 20 minutes, Joseph: 2 hours

One more improvement to the seating arrangement: 

Move Sarah's chair toward the door. 

Now she can still entertain the baby, but can't poke him in the eye or pull his arm.

See Joseph and Kathryn hiding under their blankets?

Little David chewing on Sarah's stuffed dragon's tail - she learned very quickly not to hand him anything unless she wanted him to put it directly into his mouth. Mom and Dad learned to not give Sarah anything that shouldn't be in David's mouth.

Road trip sing-a-long, anyone? We sang a few rousing choruses of "Old MacDonald" and other 2 and 3-year-old favorites along the way. 

Getting close to Medford. Less trees and more brown.

Can anyone name that mountain in the southern skyline?

Still smiling after two days on the road??

We stopped to visit David's grandparents in Medford. Grandpa Asay is around 92 years old and still walking around on his own. He loved holding the baby.

(I caught him blinking - sorry Grandpa!)

Sarah is chatting away with a second cousin who called while we were visiting.

Eating lunch with Grandma Asay. She is 89 and she seemed to really enjoy chatting with David.

The last 2 hours driving down to Redding were the worst. I was sandwiched in the back between two car seats and a very cranky Kathryn. So, we took lots of pictures with the camera on my phone.

It's such a small space that I couldn't sit all the way back.

Story time with Grandpa Kent. I love all the kids' facial expressions, especially Kathryn's.

Check back soon for Part 2: Joseph's Birthday and the trek home