Merry Christmas 2007

This summer was the year of the threequel in the movie world (Shrek the Third, Pirates 3, Spiderman 3, etc.) Our family contributed to this rage in June by adding our own threequel as we welcomed home our third little girl! Teyah Mei was born June 14, weighing 7 lbs, 15 oz. This beautiful sweetheart has enriched our lives; her tiny squeals of delight and warm smiles make it nearly impossible to be sad. This petite peanut learned to crawl before her first taste of rice cereal! In her six months of life, she has been to eight states and flown on eight airplanes!

Elliana is in the world of terrible two’s, but we honestly cannot call it terrible. We’re not sure if it’s her personality or birth order, but her tender spirit, large vocabulary, slight shyness, and love of playing with her sister make it easy to forget that she is supposed to be a handful. Ellie has a quirky personality that we enjoy learning more about each day. Just when we think we have her figured out, there’s a new twist! One favorite trait is when she gets an authoritative sounding voice, tips her head to the side, and tells you the ‘rules.’ Ellie started gymnastics this year (after a failed attempt at dance class), and we think we have found her two-year-old calling. The reason gymnastics won over dance is that “mommy gets to come in.” She loves wearing her leotards and her teacher repeatedly says she is “very coordinated.” Ellie attaches herself to certain people, and one of those is her Grandma. She wakes up in the night crying for her and wants to be with her or call her nearly everyday. The 3 growing up milestones Ellie reached this year were, trashing her “Binky”, moving to a “big-girl bed” in Aubrie’s room, and potty-training. Potty training was relatively easy (other than a week after switching to panties, we drove to Chicago, and she begged to go every 3 minutes – only to pull off the road, find a restroom, and have her tell us it was a false alarm!).
Aubrie, 4 ½, had her first dance recital this year. This has been a meaningful event in the lives of both the girls. Unfortunately, Aubrie’s recitals were the day Teyah was born and the day after, so Mommy didn’t even get to watch! However, Grandma successfully curled her hair, dressed her, did her makeup, and found the stage without a hitch. Aubrie started preschool 3 days a week in the fall. Two days with an in-home preschool program called “Joy School,” where Mom is one of the teachers, and one day a week with a preschool sponsored by the school district. Her favorite part of school is her friends, although she is becoming quite a good writer, cutter, and pre-reader. Aubrie masterminded a family theme of Wizard of Oz for Halloween this year and Mommy made almost all of them from scratch! She is taking dance lessons, but we’re not sure if she really needs them because she seems to feel the music on her own … (view the video posted Oct. 10 to see what we mean).

Having a third baby has created a weather report in Jeni’s brain of heavy fog for the year of ‘07. Additionally, David was asked to be early-morning seminary teacher (which means he prepares and delivers a 45-minute lesson from the Old Testament to eight high schoolers at 6 a.m. Monday through Friday). Sometimes it’s debatable if Dave or Jeni is the more sleep-deprived parent. Due to seminary, Jeni has completely taken over night duty. Because Teyah seems to still wake up 3 times a night, and Aubrie and Ellie often have nighttime ailments such as leg aches, nightmares, wetting-the bed, etc. life has been a bit hazy for Jeni. With attending two family weddings and taking a handful of vacations, this year has been one of ridiculous travel. We went to Utah four times, California, Duluth (MN), Chicago, and most recently Phoenix. There’s also talk of a trip to Omaha before the year’s over. Although the travel time and family visits have been fabulous – despite a few hiccups – packing and unpacking for 3 children is NOT Jeni’s favorite pastime. Jeni spends many hours each week driving Aubrie to her schools and activities. A fun way to pass the driving time has been listening to 3 soundtracks; Aubrie and Ellie now know most of the words to Wicked, Hairspray, and High School Musical.

David received yet another promotion at his job. In the spring, he traveled to New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Korea for business. We are proud of his hard work to support our family and his desire to enhance his career. We are wowed that he can juggle his 3 main responsibilities: work, family, and being a seminary teacher. He’s felt challenged by the Old Testament, but the family has felt blessed from him delving into the scriptures. To top off his schedule, he teaches a Japanese class at work once a week on his lunch break and plays basketball. Somehow he’s stayed relatively healthy for often getting less than 6 hours of sleep each night.

We can’t help but agree with the adage that things always happen in three’s! Merry Christmas!