Christmas week

This past week has been a busy one at our house. We first hosted our annual Christmas Family Get-together. The Utah and Georgia part of the family were unable to make it, so we were a bit small in numbers, but it was a good time none-the-less. It's always good to get together and catch up.

Then Christmas Eve was held at our house and we had the whole turkey dinner with trimmings. Yum! My sister has been here all week and it's been so nice having her around. She's such a great aunt. She kept the kids busy playing cards, games, making Christmas cookies, etc.

My kids really miss having their aunt around. They love her so much! They're excited to make the trek out to CO to see her and Uncle Dave this summer. We spent Christmas evening reading about the birth of our savior and opening gifts. We even had a surprise visit from Santa!

The next morning the kids got us up at the allowed time of 7:00 and we went down to see what Santa had left. They were all very happy with what they received.

Then it was off to Kirk's parents pretty early for lunch. Justin couldn't have been more excited to have gotten his telescope from his Grandma and Grandpa Sumida! He is really into astronomy right now.

It has been a fun week filled with lots of family...just like we like it!

School celebrations

Yesterday and today were full of Christmas excitement for the kids. Devin had his preschool party and program. I didn't attend it for two reasons. First, I had already committed myself to doing something for Avery's teacher (Devin's original program was supposed to be in the evening, but with all the rain it flooded their backyard and so it was moved up to the morning during class) and second because he doesn't perform well when I'm around. From what I am told he did great and performed well and had a great time (although you can't tell from this picture). I did get to see him on Santa's lap at the end.Thanks, Nat, for taking the pictures for me!

Today was all about Avery and Justin. Kirk was home today and took care of Devin while I went into their classes. It started off with the annual kindergarten Polar Express parade. Avery is very proud of her car. She did a great job gluing and taping things on to decorate it. Then I went to Justin's class for a bit and helped with his classes projects and festivities (did I mention it was pajama day?) and then went back to Avery's class to finish up the day with treats the kids had brought in. It was a fun day!

Sea World

Our passes to Sea World are expiring at the end of the month, so we decided to go one last time on Saturday. We had a really good time! It was freezing, but I personally loved it. It's so much nicer to have a coat on than sweating to death there during the summer, in my opinion. We even got caught in a downpour during the Shamu show. Kirk, Justin and Devin got up and ran for cover, but Avery and I put our coats over our heads and enjoyed the rest of the show. We're the tough ones of the family. Ha! We saw all the shows and walked around to the different exhibits and had a great day. Devin was a pleasure this time around. It really made us appreciate that time does help and we were able to marvel at how much he has progressed from 6 months ago, which was the last time we went and vowed we wouldn't take him again. This time he was able to hold our hands and pretty much stay with us (he didn't want anything to do with his stroller) and even enjoyed most of the shows instead of watching everything else around him like last time. Ha! Here are a few pictures from our day.

10 GREAT YEARS!

I know it's a terrible picture, but our scanner doesn't seem to be working all that great and it's the best I could do. We just celebrated our 10 year anniversary over the weekend. TEN years! Part of me feels like it was only yesterday we were married and the other part of me feels like we've been together forever (in a good way - ha). I have to say it was well worth the wait...not getting married until I was 30. Kirk is a wonderful husband and a fantastic father. I feel very blessed to be in a healthy marriage and have such beautiful children inside and out. I'm mostly grateful that Kirk honors his priesthood and is such a great example to our children of how that should be done. I'm thankful beyond words that he feels so strongly that I be a stay-at-home mom. I'm grateful that we are just opposite enough to balance each other out and keep it interesting. I love my husband and the life that we have built together in these past 10 years! Thank you, Kirk, for being such a wonderful husband, loving father and hard worker! I love you!

So, in celebration of our anniversary we went to Las Vegas for the weekend. Not the best get-away, but so much fun none-the-less. My wonderful friend, Allyson, came to watch the kids the entire weekend for us. What a great friend, right?! Our kids just love her and were very excited to have her come stay. I understand they had a ton of fun! So, we got there on Friday evening. I have to add that on our way we stopped in Barstow and ate at Bob's Big Boy. Come on. Who remembers Bob's? We laughed at ourselves as we pulled up to have our anniversary dinner at such a romantic diner. We both have many memories growing up and eating there. So, that night we checked into our hotel (Tahiti Village Resort) and hung out for the night. Nice place if you don't want to stay at a casino! The next day we left our room at 9:00 and only came back for 1 hour the entire time, not ending our night until after midnight. We had breakfast, went to "Outdoor World" (Justin is SO jealous!), went to Treasure Island and walked around, went to check out Circus Circus to see how it had changed since both our families used to stay there when we were kids. We then went over to the outlet mall, dinner and then to see Mystere (Cirque Du Soleil - so incredible!) and lastly to see Twilight (don't ask what number this was for me). I really wanted Kirk to see it since he knows how much I love the books. It was a fun-filled and packed day. Sunday we left pretty early and made a couple stops on the way home. It was a great little get-away and one that wouldn't have happened without Allyson's help. Thank you so much, Allyson! We had such a nice time having the whole weekend just the two of us. Great!

Justin rocks!

Each Friday certain grade levels participate in a "Peacebuilder" awards ceremony at school and 2 children from each class get recognized for good things they have done. Today was the 3rd graders and Justin and his good friend, Dillan were chosen. Justin was recognized for helping others. So Justin, right? He's such a good kid and we're proud of what a wonderful boy he is!

Master Mathematician

Justin was recongnized today during his third grade assembly and given an award for being a "Master Mathematician". What a smart guy. We're very proud of you, Justin! The picture above is him and his teacher, Mrs. Kohrmann.

Bobcat

Justin earned his Bobcat in Scouts and was awarded this past week. Go Justin!

Cutest little Indian ever

Last week Avery had her Thanksgiving feast at school. She chose to be an Indian. She was very excited and even wanted me to braid her hair to look more authentic. I was lucky enough be able to volunteer because Kirk had that day off. Sometimes his ever changing schedule really comes in handy!

DEVIN

Before I get started, this is Devin's preschool picture. So cute, huh?! I thought it was about time I finally wrote about what we now know for sure. Since Devin was 14 months there has always been a big question mark over his head with all the professionals - is he PDD NOS or just delayed? About 3 weeks or so ago he was finally diagnosed as having PDD NOS meaning Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. See this link if you want to read the signs that go along with this disorder -

http://ucf-card.org/uploads/factsheets/1187875130_eng.pdf (copy and paste this if you want to follow the link. I don't know how to do it the right way)

It has been described as basically being a mild form of Autism, although it is it's own diagnosis. Although, it was difficult to hear and we had hoped he wouldn't have it, we pretty much knew already and have now settled in with the label. After receiving ABA therapy (Applied Behavioral Analysis) for a year and then not qualifying for any more services his stimming, unable to wait for things and like behaviors really came about. In other areas he has really improved, though. Being in a typical preschool with children his own age and being around peer models has really been great for him and helped a lot. His language has really exploded since being in that environment and we are understanding him more. He still struggles with ritualistic type behaviors (I.E. opening and closing doors) and lack of pretend play among a few other things, but he's coming along. We are waiting for the official report from the assessment and for his speech assessment in December and then we will be going back to the school district to fight it out to get him more services. He really is doing well and has come a very long way. We are very grateful for his progress and all the help he got early on to get him to where he is today. It is now time to move into the next phase and be his advocates to help him go even further. Wish us luck!

AGW 2008

Our all girl weekend in Vegas was this past weekend. We were a bit smaller in numbers this year, but still had a great time! Every year my cousins, their kids, my aunt and my mom and sister and I all meet in Vegas for a fun-filled weekend of catching up. They come from as far away as Georgia and as near as St. George, UT. I look forward to this weekend the moment the current one is over. This year my wonderful cousin Janey couldn't make it at the last minute because she got sick. Gosh, we missed you Janey! It just wasn't the same. I can't tell you how much we talked about you (in a good way - ha!). We stayed at The Orlean's this time and had rooms pretty close to each other. I always get asked what all we do, but it's not about Vegas. It's about spending time with our family, so we mostly hang out in the room or go eat somewhere. And we normally are having so much fun in our rooms laughing that no one has a hard time finding where we're at. We really do have a great time! So, here's what we did. Friday we hung out in our room pretty much the whole day besides going out to get dinner. Saturday my sister and I went down to the hot tub for a bit before Linda and crew arrived and we all ate a Subway for lunch. Then my sister, mom and I went shopping for a bit. That night we all met up again for dinner at the mexican restaurant in the hotel. Sunday we met up at the buffet for brunch, hung out and went to the hot tub again and then rented Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 in Linda's room. Cute movie. I really want to read the series. Monday we said our goodbye's and half the gang went to the strip to go look at a bunch of chocolate fountains and my sis, mom and I took our time getting ready, checked out and went to the M&M store and MGM to check out the lion exhibit (the picture was taken from under. It's a glass tube like thing so you can get under them) before taking my sister to the airport. A relaxing and low key weekend, but a great time!

Visit to Santa

Last night I heard that Santa arrived at the mall. Can you believe it? Thanksgiving isn't even for another 2 weeks. Next year he'll probably get here on Halloween. Anyway, Kirk had to work today so I took the kids over to see him. I love going early because there isn't a wait and then I'm done and can enjoy the season. Outside there was a train ride that we went on too...in 90 something degree weather. There's just something wrong with going to see Santa and riding a train decorated for Christmas in shorts! :-)

Sad news

It is with great sadness that I post this entry. My dear friend, Lou Roah, has passed away at the age of 91. Lou has been in my life from the day I was born. He was at every family gathering we had and was as close to an uncle as you can get. He died of heart failure overnight. He always had such a zest for life. We shared a lot of stories about our travels to different places in the world. He always had a smile on his face and was a very warm person. I will dearly miss him. He will always hold a special place in my heart!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

This year we had a pirate, Star Wars Jedi and Sleeping Beauty in our neck of the woods. And aren't they the cutest little trick or treaters? We went out from about 6:00 - 7:30. You gotta love when they ask you to come home rather than you telling them it's time to be all done. It was a very warm Halloween this year, so they all came home very warm and thirsty. They should sleep tonight!

Side note: Devin said the cutest thing tonight at dinner that I want to always remember. As you all know, he's delayed and doesn't speak all that clearly or always in complete sentences, so that's why tonight made us laugh so much. We had gotten McDonald's for dinner and only brought Devin home french fries just like always because he never eats his whole dinner, so we usually feed him prior to getting fast food and he's totally fine with that. So, we all sit down to eat and he starts saying he wants a toy and then got all pouty and sad and in a very sulking voice and slumped over shoulders he says "I never get a toy!" To hear such a complete and clear sentence out of him was hilarious and shocking....and very much appreciated.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!