Just an update - and a good grade on a test!

Martha here!

This week I took my first test in my Anatomy & Physiology class I'm taking (well, first for this semester. It's a two semester class.) I was totally stressed out about it, but I ended up getting an 88!!!!! I was very very relieved!

Jessica was sick this week and missed school Tuesday and Wednesday. It was interesting trying to juggle school and my job and taking care of her. She ended up spending some time with my sister (Thanks, Marian!) and a little by herself. She is feeling much better now, but she is stressed about getting her make-up work done.

Oh, yes, I did mention a job. I am working as a Peer Tutor in the Math Lab on the AB Tech campus. It pays squat, and I'm only working 8 hours a week, but it will help our stress level, I hope. I really like tutoring, even though I am having to re-learn algebra (don't even try me on Calculus right now!)

Just a note for you baby lovers about Carolyn. She is getting better and better at standing, so I am trying to put her down on her tummy more. Makes sense, right??? The reason is that she doesn't know how to crawl yet, and I really want to give her some more practice with that before she starts walking. Our hardwood floors make crawling difficult, so we'll see how it goes.

I even found a way for her to be happy while I was typing this. She is in front of my chair (almost under the desk) eating Sweet Potato Puffs--and enjoying them immensely! (Sweet Potatoes are her FAVORITE food!)

(Yeah I actually posted something!)

B-man has a B-day!

Benjamin celebrated his 14th birthday on January 28th, 2009. He is growing up so fast we can hardly keep up with his birthdays anymore.

At 14, he is the same age Joseph Smith was when he had what we in the LDS church refer to as the First Vision. Benjamin is definitely starting to question the world around him and to begin to wonder about his place in it. As we all do at one point or another.

It is exciting to be part of his life.

Yesterday, he went with his youth group to the Columbia, SC temple to do temple work. Last week, he was very reluctant about the trip as he says he has nothing to do for the 2-1/2 hours that it takes to get down there and then another 2-1/2 hours to get back. I encouraged him to take a book with him.

Yesterday morning he was dressed in his Sunday best before I even had breakfast. (They met at the church at 10am.) Apparently, he was no longer feeling reluctant about the trip. I found out when he got back that he had taken my advice and brought Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird with him and was reading it until it simply got too dark to do so. He rode back with the Alcayaga's and had a good time. When it got too dark to read, Tracy Alcayaga kept him busy in conversation. (Benjamin is not normally very talkative.)

Today, I had the opportunity to ordain Benjamin a teacher in the Aaronic priesthood. A very good experience. It's neat to see him move along in his responsibilities in the church.

Touching Spirit Bear

Benjamin and I have been participating, to some degree, in his school's family book club. This time around, we read Ben Michaelson's book Touching Spirit Bear which is about a troubled teenager, Cole Mathews, who after throttling and permanently impairing a fellow student, Peter Driscal, is sentenced to live in isolation on an Alaskan island. Cole is left to fend for himself on the island and to come to grips with his anger, resentment and learning to forgive himself. It's a tough time to begin with, especially since his greatest enemy is himself. It isn't until he lets go of fighting against society and everyone around him that he begins to grasp at hope. It's a lesson all of us have to learn at one time or another. Fortunately, we don't normally have to go through such trying times as Cole in order to learn to it.

It was a lot of fun to read a book together as a family and to be able to discuss the book. We are all avid readers and will get caught up in a book and let the world go by. A great escape.

At the book club meeting, Benjamin was given a free book for having a birthday this month. It was actually this past Wednesday, January 28th. Martha stayed up late Thursday night reading the book—Book One of The Mistmantle Chronicles, Urchin of the Riding Stars by M.I. McCallister—in one fell swoop. She's a very fast reader but also missed out on some sleep that night. Benjamin and I look forward to reading the book ourselves. It's fun to share books in the family. At this point, a book will often pass through Martha, myself, Benjamin and now Joshua before returning to the library.

A Brand New Year

Ok, so we're a month into the new year. It's been quite a ride already with the kids back in school. Martha taking her second semester of Anatomy & Physiology at AB-Tech. Now I'm driving back and forth to Greensboro each Saturday for a CPA review class.

I leave at 5:30am Saturday morning. (And I am really not a morning person.) I've been getting to the class at least a few minutes late each week. The first week I was more than an hour late because we set the alarm for 5:00PM instead of 5:00AM. Last week wasn't bad. Yesterday, I got up even before the alarm went off but couldn't get myself to get out of bed (bad!) so I ended up being half an hour late. It all works out because it takes a while for the class to get under way.

Yesterday was the last class on auditing. Now just to bone up on the material and take the test. Assuming I get the Notice to Schedule which is necessary for me to schedule the exam at Prometric. It seems like they're being really slow. Keeping my fingers crossed I'll get something this week.

The kids had an extra long break from school this week. It all started with a teacher work day last Friday. Then they, and Martha, had Monday off for Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday. Then it started snowing Monday night and it has been really cold--about 7°F as a high over the weekend and the first part of the week. So they ended up getting Tuesday and Wednesday off. Benjamin was actually a little disappointed and frustrated as he knew that what they lost due to the weather would reduce the amount of time they'd get off at the end of the year. Joshua also expressed that he really liked school and would rather not miss a day. (I would have been OK if I had a day or two off from work due to the snow. ;-)

All the kids were able to go sledding at Grandma and Grandpa Colliers. Interestingly, Carolyn had her inaugural sledding run on Inauguration Day.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Martha and I are beginning to get caught up in the Web 2.0 world. We recently joined Facebook, where it's been fun to see so many friends and family and see what they're up to.

This year, I think we've gotten more electronic Christmas cards than ones we've gotten through the snail mail. They are all fun to see and to begin to get caught up with what is happening with everyone during the past year. Technology is certainly making it easier to play the fly on the wall and see what everyone is up to.

The highlights of this year have been:

The birth of Carolyn Joy Garvin on May 31, 2008. The details are in the photo, but Carolyn was a joy for a number of reasons. First, she was a welcome addition to our family. Just ask her "big sissy," Jessica, who has been wanting a sister for years.

Second, it meant Martha was able to get off bed rest which she had been on for 8 weeks. Martha was going stir crazy despite the support and love she had been getting from her family and church. (Again, a thousand thanks!)

Finally, Carolyn was the closest we have come to a full-term baby. While 5lb 13oz may still be on the smallish side, she was twice the birth-weight of her oldest brother, Benjamin--and more than a pound bigger than Jessica or Joshua.

Partly due to the fact that Carolyn has acid reflux and has been getting cereal in her formula since she was about four weeks, she has been getting bigger and bigger. She now weighs ~19lbs and is in the 60th percentile (in weight AND height). This is big news for her traditionally little family.

Joshua turned 8 this year and was baptized the same weekend Carolyn was blessed. We had held off on the blessing so that Grandma and Grandpa Garvin could be here for both. They are still living in the Seattle area with the rest of Steve's family.

Joshua and Jessica are both in 3rd grade. They are in different classes and have different challenges to surmount. Joshua is actually being a big support to Jessica, who is now beginning to take off in her reading ability.

Benjamin is in 7th grade and entered the realms of teenager-dom. As always, he's been a hard worker and a big help to his family. The biggest difference we've seen in Benjamin since becoming a teenager is his appetite. It's not uncommon to hear from people at activities indicate they were amazed to see how much he can pack into his small frame. He is slowly inching up to the same height as his parents. And there is some indication that he may surpass them in height. (Not a big accomplishment considering how "tall" his parents are.)

Martha just finished her first semester at AB Tech completing the prerequisites she needs in order to enter a master's program in occupational therapy. She took an Anatomy & Physiology class--which is infamous for being an incredibly challenging course--and a general Psychology class. She was able to do pretty well in both classes, especially considering how much she has on her plate at home with four kids.

Steve is working as an accountant, which he has been doing for several years now. This year, though, he left Nypro and started working for Thermo Fisher Scientific, which is a bigger company. He misses the smaller environment but is happy to be gaining some new experiences and furthering his career.

On a closing note, we have made it a family tradition since moving to Asheville, NC to visit the Gingerbread Competition at the Grove Park Inn each year. This year, the children decided they wanted to create a family entry. (Jessica has been entering each year as part of her church group.) We didn't actually finish the creation until tonight. They each had made a gingerbread house at Grandma Colliers, but the castle was their own invention.

More Christmas photos can be seen on Google's Picasa.