Trevor:
- Goes to work every day designing structures. His company engineers bridges, houses, cell phone towers, commercial buildings, telephone poles, scoreboards, and more. He is currently designing the structural parts of a new center-hung jumbotron for Madison Square Garden. So yeah, he's pretty much famous.
- Plays ping-pong at lunch. He plays right-handed with the co-workers who are at his same level, and left-handed with the co-workers who just started playing. So now, he's not just amazing right-handed, he's getting good left-handed too. It's totally unfair! I have only beat him once (he was playing left-handed) and I fear I may never beat him again...
- Follows BYU basketball. We went to two games this season and they were so much fun! I have decided that we should graduate from the nosebleed section and sit closer to the floor next time. Maybe we'll catch a t-shirt when the cheerleaders throw them to the crowd or be featured on the kiss-cam or something equally exciting! We are a little bummed that it looks like we won't be visiting the NCAA tourney this year.
- Keeps busy as the clerk for our ward (church congregation). He is a champ at keeping everything organized, if I do say so myself.
Emily:
- Teaches 12 piano lessons each week and a group music class for preschool/kindergarten aged kids. It's so much fun and so time consuming! I have to keep myself from overdoing things- there is so much demand for music lessons and I would love to be teaching more kids, but I need to avoid overloading myself so I don't get burnt out. Cassie and Benson love when I teach because they get to play with fun babysitters.
- Has been substituting as the Primary music leader (teaching music to the children in our ward). Here's my nerdy self coming out: I totally love it. It is so satisfying to use the things I learned in college and as a choir teacher and to really see the kids learn and improve. Trevor is a good sport when I give him a play-by-play of how quickly the kids learned or how excited they were. It will be nice to get some adult instruction again soon, but right now I just love teaching those kids.
- Loves hosting family and friends. I love that we have a space big enough to have people over! We celebrated my mom's and my sister-in-law, Renae's birthdays in January and have had friends over for games/snacks/ping pong. It's a good thing for me to have people over- my house stays a lot cleaner when I know someone is going to see it!
- Is tackling the projects that got left in the dust when the holidays arrived. You know, like cleaning the oven, taking a load of clothes to the thrift store, cleaning out the fridge, and buying a rug for the entry way. So far I've cleaned the oven and bought the rug for the entry. Onward!
Cassie:
- Goes to preschool twice a week. We both love our co-op preschool. Cassie adores the other kids and they all play so well together. She was especially excited about the science experiments they did this month and gave me very animated descriptions of them.
- Is getting ready for kindergarten! We picked up her registration packet from the school this week. She is learning to read and is getting good at sounding out words. How did this happen? Seriously, kindergarten sneaked up on me.
- Sings all. the. time. Don't worry, it's adorable and totally sweet. She is a good little singer! She is very good at singing in tune and actually has a bright tone- it's not overly breathy like most little girls. She loves the group music class that I teach. I actually started it for her since we couldn't do dance this season due to schedule conflicts.
Benson:
- Is a talker! Sometimes he needs a translator, but his words are getting more and more clear. I think his longest sentences are three words long, although if you count the nonsense babbling, it's probably more like five or six. My personal favorite: if you ask him how old he is, he will hold up his index finger and say "one." We'll have to teach him "two" pretty soon!
- Is a troublemaker. I have to keep my eye on this one. He is very good at climbing and opening doors, and he has a special interest in the pantry, the computer, writing instruments, and bathroom drawers. Luckily, nothing horribly disastrous has happened. Yet.
All of us:
- Have races down the hallway, through the family room, around the kitchen island, and back to the front door.
- Rough house, have tickle wars, and toss Cassie and Benson in the air.
- Play hide-and-seek, sardines, and blind man's bluff.
- Love playing in the snow, especially taking the kids sledding to a nearby hill.
