A Month of Happenings

Spring is finally here! We have enjoyed some beautiful weather over the last couple of weeks. We have had an occasional storm come through, but they don't last and I do enjoy the variety in the weather. It seems that my time between blog entries gets longer each time, but at least I still get here often enough to keep things up to date.

Adalyn has mastered the stairs, going up and going down. It is quite a relief to not have the gates up all the time, one less obstacle. She has found that she can stand up on her own for a couple seconds, which is now a fun game for her. She will crawl up to me when I am sitting on the floor, stand up holding onto my shoulder, then let go and laugh for a couple seconds while she stands, then grabs a-hold of me again before she falls. She likes to walk around holding my hands, but when Ryan and I try to get her to walk back and forth to us she just laughs and plays, not wanting to actually walk on her own yet.

With my frustration at work, after switching accounts, I finally decided to apply for a new job. My friend has been working for another Medical Transcription company for the past couple of years and has been recommending it for almost that long. So, I sent in my resume and got a call back just a couple weeks later with a job offer. It is a national company which is based out of Iowa and Wisconsin. The pay will be better and, for the first time, I will actually get PAID TIME OFF, as well as seven PAID HOLIDAYS!! I started training with them two weeks ago and have been on my own now for the last couple days. It has taken some getting used to, with some different rules and other preferences, but I am finally getting it down and getting the hang of it. I gave my other job two-weeks notice, so for the past two weeks I have been working my old job and my new job, which has made for some very busy days. I am looking forward to this week only having one job again.

The kids really enjoyed their off-track time during March and April. Andrew went on a trip with his grandpa and uncle Clayton down to San Diego for a few days. While there they went deep sea fishing and toured some old Navy ships, as well as a day at the San Diego Zoo. The day after Andrew left, I came down with strep throat and got hit HARD. I could not eat for a week! I got started on antibiotics relatively quickly, which relieved me of the fevers and chills, but my throat pain would not let up. Even when it didn't hurt to swallow, my throat would sting after I swallowed, it was the strangest thing. It even hurt to eat ice cream :-( We were all glad to have Andrew home a week later, and he was probably glad he missed my sick days. The rest of their off-track time was mostly spent playing with friends and trying to keep a little order around here. Thankfully, with the spring weather, they were able to spend a lot of time outside, riding bikes, going to the park, etc.

The day before Easter I took the kids to an Easter Egg Hunt that was held at our park around the corner. There was a big group there and despite breaking up the hunt into different age groups, most of my kids didn't get much. Andrew probably did the best, finding two half-dollar coins and a one-dollar coin. I set Adalyn down in front of a small pile of candy and she enjoyed picking it up and putting it in her mouth.

On Easter Sunday the kids were up early and enjoyed searching around the house for eggs. So, it was candy for breakfast, along with a little cereal and milk. Ryan brought Alexia home early from church as she wasn't feeling well. At first I thought it was just not enough sleep and too much candy, but then she developed a fever and was diagnosed with strep throat AGAIN. Her pediatrician has now referred her to an Otolaryngologist to evaluate her tonsils and possibly have them removed. (She has had strep throat four times in the last six months.)

JennyLyn and Brent are coming over for dinner this afternoon, so we are excited for their visit. They found out that JennyLyn will be having a baby boy - due the end of July. We are looking forward to another cousin! JennyLyn will also be graduating with her Masters degree from the University of Utah in May, quite an accomplishment while being pregnant and working full time!

The girls are getting ready for some upcoming dance performances. First, a short performance during a fundraiser this next Friday 4/20. Then, their big performance is coming up in June, the 5th & 6th, at the Empress Theatre here in Magna. They are excited for both and still really enjoy dancing.

Ashley is really picking up on the piano. She has been having lessons now since before Christmas and is getting ready for their next recital in June. Andrew has also been practicing his piano, along with the organ, and wants to add on guitar lessons. (Luckily he can learn all three from the same teacher, though she wants to wait on starting the guitar until After the piano recital.)

Well, I better get started on dinner. Thanks for stopping by!! Julie :-)