update!

it's been a long time since i've updated our lives on here! we use facebook and instagram so much that i forget to use this forum to go into more detail. here's a brief update...

chris just finished another semester of his masters program and is still maintaining a 4.0! he continues to dazzle all the ogden moneybags and bring donations in for the goddard school at weber state. he was called to be the young men president after we moved into the ward, and it is fun to watch him bonding with the boys. they like him! chris also started taking jiu jitsu a few months ago and loves every painful second of it. he's learning lots and using his body lots. we affectionately refer to his class as "fight club."

olive is excelling in her school work in mrs. morris' 2nd grade class at opa. she has really fallen in love this school year. when oatsie came to visit a couple months ago she brought a long chapter book, and olive finished it in 3 days. since our winter break started 2 days ago she has read about 300 pages in a few different books. i pay the kids a penny for every page they read; she's going to break my bank! olive is also lucky enough to be getting private (and free!) swim coaching by our beloved instructor, mckell. she goes about once a week, and will continue to until summer when she'll try out for the swim team at the clearfield aquatic center. she is super excited to be on the team, and mckell thinks she'll have no problem making it. swimmers need to be able to swim the length of the pool in the 4 basic strokes, and olive has 3 of the 4 down pat. she has always loved the water and still does. we're about 6 weeks away from her 8th birthday, and we're getting very excited! we will drive out to half moon bay and have her baptized in the same spot chris was. we're really looking forward to it. she asked santa for a pair of rollerblades this year.

lucy is our resident peacemaker. about 99% of the time she's seeking to please and to keep the peace instead of engaging in disagreements like the rest of us love to do. she is exceedingly popular in her little 1st grade class. her teacher, ms. cowley, is a buddy of mine and she tells me what a friend lucy is to everyone. luce is doing awesome in her schoolwork, and loves to read to others. on nights when they're allowed to stay up late, lucy will read olive to sleep. she has such a soothing voice, i'm a little jealous of olive! lucy was asked a few months ago to join her dance teacher's competitive team. usually girls need to audition for the team, but lucy was exempt from a try-out because brynn already knew her skill level. she's excellent. she goes 3 hours a week, and absolutely loves it. lucy asked santa for an enormous barbie house this year.

george is such a dude. he soaks in every bit of what chris tells us about his fight club, and chris shows him lots of moves. we're thinking about signing him up next month. he finished his football season this year with 6 touchdowns; it was a thrill to watch his raw ability. he's an athletic kid for sure. georgey's kindergarten teacher, mrs. maag, absolutely adores him. she is affectionate and sweet with him, but also stern and has high expectations. i couldn't ask for a better teacher; she's the best! and it's wonderful to see the progress he's already made this first half of the year with writing his name, beginning to read, and most recently, beginning to sound out spelling words. he has lots of little buddies in his class. george asked santa for a hulk costume this year.

penny, whew penny. she is constantly exasperating her mother these days! penny loves her preschool class with our beloved miss jo, but it's becoming clear she's academically out of her league. we stuck her in that class because her best buddy, avery, is in the class and because we love miss jo. but she is technically a grade behind these kids. and with her developmental delay i think she really needs much more engagement than miss jo's class gives. penny goes to speech therapy once a week, but hasn't made marked progress yet. i have begun the intake process for her to see a developmental pediatrician at the university of utah. i'm eager to see how they evaluate her, and what they come up with. we started a concerted effort with potty training at the beginning of the school year, and pen was making good progress up until about 3 weeks ago. she was in panties and at 100% with pee, but has since refused to use the potty for pee at all, and insists on always wearing a diaper. she has pooped on the potty a few times but it's always a very upsetting situation. so at this point i just ask her everyday if she's ready for panties again, and so far the answer is no. i'm trying to just follow her lead, but holy smokes am i ready for a diaper-free house! penny is delightful to everyone, but is a constant challenge for me. we will be lucky to survive the months before she enters a more full-time school program!! this year, penny asked santa for an elsa house.

i guess that leaves me! at the beginning of the school year when i had a couple free hours with penny at school, i decided to embark on creating a local blog. the very minute i got to work on it, i got 2 callings at church (gospel doctrine teacher, and visiting teaching coordinator - yikes!!), and about a minute later i was asked to fill the role of president of the opapo (like pta) at the school. so, needless to say, my plate went from full to overflowing. i was scattered at first, but have since been able to get organized and i'm managing everything alright. i'm very excited about how well my blog is being received. i have a partner, rachel, and we meet weekly and coordinate our writing. we are both so surprised at how much traction it's receiving, it's pretty thrilling for us! we've even sold ads! i absolutely love teaching gospel doctrine; i teach every other week. we just finished studying the book of mormon and we'll move on to church history in 2017. i'm super excited about the content. i'm teaching - and speaking in sacrament! - on the 1st of january. what a start to the year!! i do not love being the visiting teaching coordinator, but i'm sure giving it my best! i'm excited about what chris and i can offer opapo. it has been disheveled and disappointing for several years - other veteran parents have told us - so i'm eager to get it organized and exciting for parents to be a part of. of course, the thing i love most and what always comes first, is loving and serving chris and the kids. we love our new house, we love our ogden, and we love being visible around town so that we can be a light to those around us. i love our crazy household, i could not be a happier, more fulfilled lady.