2007-01-14 Michelle's update

January 14, 2007

Hi Everyone,

I missed writing last week so I feel like I have to write this week so I don't get out of the habit...It's been tricky adjusting our Sundays to the new 11:00 time schedule. It's nice to not rush in the morning and have some time to actually feel reverent instead of running as fast as we can into the church (which we did today anyway since it's FREEZING). I just don't feel like I have that much time after church is over to do all our Sunday activities. I'm getting used to it. It is SO much nicer for Justin since he naps before and then right after church. He's happy there. He's turned into the ward baby. Everyone fights over him and Hans and I have some peace while listening in meetings now. It's fun to be in a ward with not too many kids. There are only 7 in nursery with Katelyn and 5 in Ashley's CTR-5 class. I am assuming it will all grow and hope that it does for when they are older, but for now it's enjoyable.

It is so cold here. We've gotten snow all weekend to cover up all our gigantic dirty snow piles and make it look pretty again. It's just so cold. It was 0 degrees when I left the house yesterday morning. Plus is it is crazy windy. I have been so grateful for my garage. I love it. I don't ever want to take that for granted. It makes it easier to at least leave our house. We finally switched carseats around as well and now Justin is in Katelyns, Kate is in Ashleys and Ashley is in a new booster. They all feel big.

Yesterday we had a YMCA morning. It's nice on cold days. We worked out and played racquetball and then Hans took the girls swimming and I brought Justin home for a nap. Hans has gotten really good at racquetball. He is actually some competition for me now. At BYU he could never beat me, but yesterday he won 2 of our 3 games. His weekly practice is paying off. I'm playing on Tuesdays with a friend of mine who played for college. It's embarrassing. She's nice to play with me:)

We have had a sick week. Hans is on antibiotics for a sinus infection. Katelyn is on them for an ear infection. Justin has pink eye in both eyes. Luckily for me I never had to take anybody to the doctor. The benefits of owning an otoscope and having a liberal doctor. I think they'd rather call stuff in for me then see me drag everyone in there. Last time I went in for Katelyn I had the flu and looked pathetic. They are nice there.

The girls are well. They love their new ballet classes and especially their new ballet outfits. Their current phase has been building forts for their babies. They are serious players. Katelyn can play for hours with her babies. There is anabellie, Hannah, Annabelle, and Gaby. Ashley is still loving Baby Alive. She feeds her daily and loves to change her and show her off. Luckily for me she is a seasonal item so all her supplies are on clearance on Walmart to stock up on. Katelyn is into saying like. "Mom, Hannah was saying, like, I want to be there too." Stuff like that. It's funny. She is 3 in a month. Ashley is loving just playing here with me. She prefers to be home with me, but likes to play with her friend Kaylee. I'm so glad she has such a great friend here and hope they can grow up being friends. They play dress-up and dolls and lots of make believe. I'm getting better at playing make believe with the girls and daily we go on magic carpet rides or rocket ships to the moon, etc. It's the first thing they want to do when they wake up is make me a rocket ship. It's cute.

Justin is growing like crazy. He is wanting to only take one nap a day now, which is nice. He takes two naps probably half the week. He is still not sleeping through the night and I am up twice with him, but I still hold out hope that it will resolve on its own. He figured out how to stand up in the middle of the room without holding onto anything. I think he figured it out by accident since he was trying to destroy the girls' marble run and kept pulling himself up on it so they kept moving it away and before too long there he was standing by it without using any support to get up. I was impressed. He was VERY proud of himself. As he should be. He is just so cute. I still can't bear to leave him with a babysitter. Someday. Hans tells me I am just creating a momma's boy, but I don't care.

Hans is well. He is busy with work, his ward missionary calling, playing racquetball, taking the girls on dates, and looking for practices. He met with a realtor on Friday and is deciding between a space close to us or building a building out in Falcon with a friend of his. I'm anxious to see which he chooses. There are pros and cons to both. The space near us doesn't have great sign placement so we'd have to hire someone to do marketing at first since it'll be harder to get a patient base. The Falcon building would have great signs and such and is in an area with only one dentist and a ton of growth, but it is further away. Hard to choose. Hans says both would probably be fine in the long run. It all still makes him nervous.

I'm keeping busy with the usual. Our days are fun. I love being able to play with the girls and be here with Justin. Everyone is happy when we just stay home. After working out at the Y it is nice to be home the rest of the day. We have ballet on Wednesdays at two different times and Ashley's pre-school twice a week, but that is it for now. I feel so grateful to live here. I love the area even with the 0 degree weather and ugly snow piles and wind. It's so nice to see the mountains and the stars so clearly at night. We did miss green Maryland this morning as we were looking at some video of our time there. I have been busy trying to figure out school for Ashley next year. It is so strange that she will go to kindergarten. She's ready, but I'm not. She has some anxiety about leaving me everyday so we have decided to do home-school unless I get her into a charter school by our church building that has really small classes and is wonderful. We are 126th on the waiting list though and she has to be 5 by June so I have been petitioning to get her in earlier and stuff. I am excited about the home-school program here. I never thought I would do something like this. She gets to go to the "cottage school" three times a week where they teach her spanish, art, and music and then I do the rest on the other two days. It will be perfect for both of us since she will still feel like she is going to school and I will have 3 days of a break and then two days to be together as a family and to teach her. I think Katelyn will benefit from this as well.

Anyway, this is long.

Have a great week!

Love, Michelle