Family Update

This colorful scene is right outside my front living room windows. Love it!

We are enjoying the beauties of Spring in the South right now! It’s totally gorgeous with the dogwood blossoms and azaleas, but man, there’s always this layer of pollen over everything outside. Not fun for asthma or allergies!

Anyway, Derek is currently out of town, but will be back late tonight. He’s been in Chicago at a conference presenting 2 posters. It’s geared towards clinicians, so he hasn’t benefited as much from the seminars, but it’s always good experience. He leaves again on Thursday for another conference in San Diego via Utah to visit his parents, my parents, go to General Conference, and a mission reunion. (Am I green with envy?? You betcha!!) He’ll come back to us next Tuesday. We’ll be glad to have him home for good! The poor guy’s been plagued with broken things this month…some successfully repaired, others not. He was able to fix a clogged drainage pipe leading from our septic tank. (I won’t gross you out with the details on that. Just think MESSY!) And his blower went out on his car (which he WAS able to fix) as well as the AC on our van, which he spent MANY hours trying to fix only for it to erupt coolant. He’s now decided that we’ll take it in to a shop he trusts while he’s gone next weekend. He was asked by the temple presidency last week to be an ordinance worker 2 evenings a month, and he’s happy to do that.

I REALLY enjoyed Spring Break with the kids. We went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks at the dollar theater, took a trip to the library, and the science center. Plus, per Derek’s suggestion, we camped out in our background with a fire, s’mores, and all. Probably our most favorite camping trip ever!! My friend Annie, and her family came over for Easter dinner. Their son is good friends with the boys, so we had a great time. I was happy to find out that the design team I’m on pays us for pages that are published using their products, so I got a nice check for several pages recently published, and that’s in addition to the magazine’s pay…yipee! I got to sing for our RS enrichment last week, and that was fun. Did I mention I’m still really loving our piano? It’s so nice to play on a real one that works! =)

James has been great about getting up for choir before school even now with 2 rehearsals per week. I appreciate that. He enjoys singing and insists that when I hear their piece “Kyrie”, that I’m going to cry. We’ll see. He and Jeffrey raced in their last pinewood derby. James won half of his races, and sadly, Jeffrey lost all of them. Oh well, they enjoyed making the cars. I am so grateful that he is such a great friend for Jeffrey. He really loves and understands him with all his sometimes frustrating quirks. He’s a good boy!

I was really impressed that Jeffrey decided to say “thank you” to his bus driver everyday because he says there are some really mean older boys who treat the driver very poorly. I’m glad to see him showing sympathy and kindness to others. Jeffrey’s choir teacher wasn’t aware that he has ADHD, and after a particularly frustrating morning she emailed me and threatened to kick him out. I must say I was shocked since I hadn’t heard ANYTHING prior to that, so I emailed her back mentioning I wished she had talked to me before it had gotten to that point. I also explained to her about Jeffrey’s ADHD and how he gets his meds right before rehearsal, so they probably don’t have time to kick in while he’s there. She responded in a much more understanding manner and agreed to try and work with Jeffrey. I have started giving him his meds as soon as he wakes up on early choir days so it’s kicked in by the time he gets there. So far, things have worked out fine. I’d hate for him to waste all the time he’s put into it this year.

Ashley got to sing a song about baptism with a group of girls her age at our RS enrichment as well, and was so excited! She and Lexie enjoyed making their own car for the pinewood derby, and raced it after the cubs finished. She was disappointed to have a field trip postponed today due to bad weather. The girl also has a running tally going since January of how many times she’s burped this year. She’s up to 2,898. No idea why!?!

Lexie’s preschool held a big fund raising Gala/Dinner for the kids and their families. We really enjoyed attending together, and Lexie, along with all the 4 year olds, sang some songs they’ve been working on in music. She did great! The poor thing caught strep throat again, but we were able to catch it quickly and get her on antibiotics so she didn’t miss out on too much.

Well, that’s all for now. We’re excitedly making plans for our big trip “out west” this summer to see all of you! We hope you’re well, and we love you!

Love,
Derek, Aly, James, Jeffrey, Ashley, and Lexie