Michael:
Mikey has been keeping himself pretty busy. (We don't even want or like to be busy, we love calm, but that never happens with us.) He still has the store down the street, Wood Creations. He cuts wood and runs everything in the shop, so there is always something that needs to be done. He was also called about 9 months ago to the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric. Oh my. A lot of responsibility. It took some time to get adjusted and used to the calling. He is doing wonderful with it. I know he is not a fan of getting up in front of people, but he's so good at it.
I'm so grateful for him. He does SO much around the house. Some weeks he does more than me. He is amazing with Aurora. Those two are so darling together. They are each other's favorite people. I wish my daughter acted like his daughter! Mike still plays soccer about once a week with Uncle Stevey. I love to go watch him play when it's not at 9:30 at night.
Lincoln:
He is our sweetheart. Just this past Saturday I was feeling super yucky. We were at the park and I felt like I was going to barf (almost did right in the public trash can). On the way home I got the kids ice cream then barely made it home. Lincoln the entire time was so considerate and worried about me. He told me when we got home to lay down and go to sleep and he would get the girls ready for bed. And he did. He got them going in the bath, told them to get pjs, and then sat down and read a book to them. He is amazing. I was so grateful to him. He is aware of what is going around with us and wants to help. He is very patient with a stressed out Mom.
He still LOVES gaming. He is always obsessed with some kind of video/computer/IPAD game. Right now he's been playing Trove on the computer, and when friends come over to play, he'll play Minecraft or Skylanders with them. He doesn't usually ask to have friends over. They just come over every other day and try to play. I'm pretty sure he could take it or leave it. He's super contend being at home reading a book or playing video games.
He loves to read! Sometimes he'll stay up for hours past bed time just to finish a book. He loves Captain Underpants, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Stink, House of Robots (or other James Patterson kid book series), or any other adventure type book. I love to watch him just relax and read. I am a stressed out boy and think I might be rubbing off on him and creating stress for him. So I love it when he is happy and content.
He loves to "invent" things and goes through the recycling bin to find new treasures to create with. He made his own costume this year out of boxes and metallic spray paint. I love that he doesn't care much with other kids think. He is unique and embraces it.
He is a happy kid. He likes to get his jobs done or whatever it is that needs done so he can play or do what he wants for the rest of the day. He likes to have a schedule and know what's expected of him. But if he doesn't have a reward of some sort or incentive, it will take him seriously all day to get one simple task done. You've got to motivate this cute little boy:)
He is a good boy. I love his laugh and love him in our family. He is responsible. He is the best brother for Aurora. When she is being a stinker (often) he is the one sticking up for her ("Mom, wait, don't get mad. I can help her.") or he lets her hit him till she laughs and all is well in the world. I made a promise when he was little that when he was 10 we would get a dog. We've got a little over a year. He is so dang excited.
Sequoia:
She is my helper!! She loves to help Mom and Dad clean up. She is so good at doing things when asked. She loves to have an organized room. Which is a big bummer for her because she has to share with a messy 3 year old. She will jump up and work when I ask, and work quick.
She still loves wearing her boy clothes. She kind of likes the color pink and dark blue, but her most favorite color is red. She loves to create and make art. She loves painting, drawing and play play dough with Auri.
She has all boy friends. She was the only girl invited to her friend Parker's birthday party. His Mom told Mike when he picked her up that he insisted that her friend Sequoia had to come too. She loves to play with friends and play outside. She is just getting old enough now where I'll let her go to the park down the street and play for about 30 minutes by herself or with Lincoln (if she can convince him). She is so different (so I've heard) when she's not around me. She's shy and doesn't like to talk much about school or friends or anything like that with her parents. But when she's at school she's so outgoing and has a great time.
One time during SEP's last year, I noticed she got a low score on communication with others so I asked the teacher if it was because she's shy. The teacher had giant eyes and a shocked expression and said, "No, it's not because she is SHY." Apparently Sequoia is anything but shy at school. She said she had a problem with Quoi at the beginning of school and couldn't get her to stop talking to friends. (Then I got the shocked looked on my face.) And she told me that one day a little girl came in from recess and told her that Sequoia was being mean to her and that Sequoia said, "I know karate, and I'll use it on you!" Haha. Hilarious. Now in Sequoia's defense, she swears that this never happened. But it's still a funny story:)
She is doing amazing in school. Since life has been a bit crazy now with both parents working pretty much full time, I was a bit nervous we would get behind on school. I don't worry much about Sequoia. She is a go-getter when it's homework time. She zips right through everything and does a good job. She is getting 100% on tests almost every test and doesn't hate Chinese. She is a reliable child and we are so grateful for her. Even her teacher at church tells me she knows almost every story in the scriptures and is so good. There are times when I don't think she's listening during FHE or something like that, so we quiz her, and she says almost word for word what we said. She's a silent little smartie pants. She learned all the Articles of Faith at 6 years old.
Aurora:
Oh my Aurora. How do I even begin with her. I'll at least say that I'm so happy that she is a 4 year old. Three was pretty rough for her Mommy. She is the most lively and fun little girl. She's also very independent and has a mind of her own, that's usually a different idea than what her mom is thinking.
Her favorite person in the whole world is her Daddy. She has always been a Daddy's girl. He puts her to bed 85% of the time. She lets him brush her teeth without yelling, screaming, or running and will even open her mouth for him. Interesting. I still remember the look on Mike's face when I was putting Auri to bed one night and she was having a melt down. He came in with a concerned face and asked what was wrong, was she hurt? I was surprised and said, "No, I'm putting her to bed. This is normal." He was shocked. She has never done that for him. I think one day I would love to put Mike's child to bed. She sounds amazing:)
Aurora is all pink, all things girl and has the cutest little voice. She was definitely named appropriately. She loves My Little Pony, Equestria Girls, Minecraft, loves to play with her baby dolls, likes Barbies every once in a while, and loves to play outside. (If only her Mom would send her out more often, we live on a street with no sidewalk.) She loves to have friends over and to play. We should do it more often. I think her next favorite people in the world are Brittyn, Jaron, and Rylea. She freaks out when she knows she gets to play with them. Annie babysat her (and Brittyn) last year when I first went back to work and she pretty much was her other child, so this year she has really missed her cousins.
She loves that she is named after her Grandma Deanna. Or in her words, "The far far away grandma." or "The grandma who's dog is dead." Anytime we are talking about grandma, that's how Aurora refers to her. It's hilarious! (My cute dog Baley that I bought in high school just died about 6 months ago. We were all pretty sad.) Grandma Goodman is "The grandma that's close." or "The grandma that has a dog." Oh the things little ones say!
Aurora can spell and write her name, she loves to sing, especially when she's all alone and she doesn't think anyone is listening. I love to sneak up on her and just listen. She has the cutest high squeaky voice. She does not get along with her big sister. Someone is always biting, pinching, hitting, sticking their tongue out, pushing, kicking, or something fun for them to think up. There is never a dull moment, especially with Aurora around!
Raquel:
Just a year ago after studying super hard and a lot of stressful days, I took my mammography test and passed! If I remember right, I got a 92% I was ecstatic!! It was a lot of hard work that paid off. I owe so much to Mike for helping and supporting me through it. He let me go to the mammo course for a whole week and took care of the kids, he paid for it, and helped me to study. We also got to go spend the night in Vegas when I went to take the test. It was a wonderful time with my darling, shopping at the Ross across the street, and then sun bathing for hours the next day. Lovely and much needed time with him.
About a year and a half ago I decided to go back to work. I couldn't get a job as an x-ray tech at the time, so I applied for the Imaging Clerk position as a PRN. What I didn't know then was that it was one of the best things I could have done. I met so many people and friends, I was again employed with IHC (which is so hard to get in!), and I worked at the front desk in mammogram occasionally. Through that I was able to get in finish my exams needed to be able to take the boards. Once I passed my boards, they hired me PRN as a mammo tech while still working PRN as an Imaging Clerk. It was a super crazy time for our family! I seriously owe Mike so much for all he did with the kids, the house, and my crazy schedule, all while serving in the Bishopric. He is my hero.
Then January came with even better news! Two techs retired last year and it gave me the opportunity to get a full time position in Mammography!! Huge deal! Women stay and retire in mammo so it's so hard to get in. They also fired the file room clerk just a bit before the end of the year so I was working a ton of overtime for about 2 months. So pretty, our family has been surviving every single day for the past year.
As of right now, I work Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 12 hour shifts. It is a dream. I couldn't ask for a better schedule, better people I work with and for, and I have 2 full days off during the week. Mike and I have been trading off. He is with kids while I'm at work, then I'm with them on my days off and he works. And we still see each other way more than we did when we lived in Wyoming.
I couldn't ask for anything more.
