Here we go...

Well, I've been avoiding the whole "blog" thing for a while now.  I didn't want to "make the commitment".  However, I am starting to realize that with all that happens for us every single day, it is really the easiest way to update friends and family on our lives.  We are a busy bunch and have so much going on, I don't like to tell the same story over and over again and I worry that much is lost in translation by the 5th telling.  This way, like so many others out there, I can just tell people to go to our blog to get a full (and hopefully accurate) accounting of what we're up to.

So here we are, with the Holidays upon us.  After a busy football season for Todd and Jeff, we have had around 4 weeks of "down time" with regard to sports.  We don't really get any down time but taking daily practices and weekly games out of the mix made homework and family home evening a lot easier to attend to.  However, those times are over as wrestling season is upon us.  Jeffrey and Jackson are wrestling with the Roy High School Junior Wrestlers and practice two to three times per week and have weekly tournaments every Saturday morning. This goes on until December 6th.

It is amazing to me to see them wrestling.  With football, baseball/t-ball, and other team sports, I watch the team and hope my son gets the ball or has the sack so I can see him excell. With wrestling, I get to focus on my son as he works so hard to dominate his opponent.  Both Jeff and Jack are good wrestlers.  Those of you who have seen them perform athletically (whether formally through organized sports or informally in your yard on a sunny day) are not surprised to hear this.  This is the first year for both of them.  Jeff finds himself three, four, sometimes even five years behind the boys he is paired up with but he has yet to be pinned.  Jackson has less history to work against but he is young and still learning the rules.  Jeffrey has had more experience with applying rules in physical contest.  As I watch them both, I see two traits that stick out and are directly related to their success.  They are both incredibly strong and incredibly intense.  I don't think you could hold either of them down for three seconds just because that would mean an end to the match!  I told Todd Saturday afternoon that the hardest part about watching them is the intensity of the emotion.  Not just in my boys but in the boys they wrestle.  There is so much boiling going on in that tussle!  He explained (and I agree) that it is so good for them to learn to have such high and intense emotions in one moment and then to drop it all, shake hands, smile, and move on in the next.  I am excited we have made the decision to participate in this sport.  I am sure, as with all of our other adventures/experiments, it will be a wonderful ride.

Logan is creeping along in all of his nine month glory.  The owner of 6 erupted teeth and many more to come, he is battling his first REAL cold this week.  The poor little guy!  He has a stuffy nose, a nasty cough, and a hoarse little voice.  He is a patient and sweet baby and is doing his best to stay chipper.  I am hoping we get through the experience without it turning into croup.  This poor child doesn't need anymore medical issues this year.  Logan is smaller than the other two boys were at this age.  He is less precocious with his large motor skills and, instead, has learned to focus on the finer points.  He is working on words.  Yes!  Words!  I hear him trying to say, "more", "Mama", "Dog", "Dad", and other words.  He is very dexterous with his hands and can do things that the other boys weren't yet doing at this age.  He isn't crawling yet but he doesn't really need to as his two older brothers, and his parents, are great at "fetch" and "rescue".  He will come along, as his brothers did, all too soon and then I will be blogging about my frustration with childproofing a mostly stone-tiled home.  He is so sweet and special and has been such a blessing to us all this year.  We are grateful for his spirit in our home.

Jeffrey is learning a lot in the third grade.  I know he is learning to write cursive letters but he won't show them to me because he says he isn't any good at it.  I will continue to bother him until he shows me.  He needs to learn that we aren't always good at everything the first time we try it.  Some of us have to practice new skills for a while before we are adept.  Jeff isn't use to the idea of that since he is good at most things right away.  Jeff reads at a 4th grade level, is so good at math, and is learning to be a good speller and a good student.  One thing he is struggling with this year is that he is finally having to work a little at being a good student, it won't just happen.  I am hoping that this past quarter's grades help him to realize that good grades aren't always just going to happen to him.  I think it is starting to penetrate into his understanding, I pray that it is.

Jackson is loving Kindergarten.  He is loving that he is learning to read and write and that he can come home and show me new things and get such an amazed reaction.  He is struggling with sitting still and with focussing on "hard" things for a long time but I am told (and remember from when Jeff was 5) that these are typical things for 5 year-old boys to struggle with.  Jackson smiles all through his wrestling matches and is such a happy and loving boy.  He exclaims his love and yells it to us in such a joyful way every day as he heads for the front doors of Hooper Elementary.  What would we do without Jackie?

Todd is working to get the start up company he is a part of off the ground.  So much of the work that goes into Phoenix Alloys is faith, hope, and trust.  In himself, his partners, and the Lord. He is doing a great job!  He works hard on the product and development of new and better ways to get it done, so that is part of every day but the rest of it is prayer.  He gets to go to Roosevelt, Utah once or twice and month and that is fun for him because he gets to see his grandmothers and reconnect with the Bastian/Elmer sides of his family.  I am proud of Todd, his steadfast faith and courage and his patience with me.  I have struggled to be patient and faithful and he is a great and gentle reminder.  We are growing stronger together than we ever have and we are grateful for that.

Our little farm is a daily joy and soap opera.  The horses, dogs, goats, cats, and house birds are all very tame in comparison to the chicken drama.  I never knew chickens had such drama!  I thought we would get them, get some farm fresh eggs, maybe sell a few to other people, and then eat them when they stop producing down the road but no, that is not the case.  Between the neighbor's dog, three roosters (all but one were supposed to be hens), and the innate drama that they are born with, every day is a new story.  This whole blog could easily turn into "The Chicken Letters".  I promise it won't.  It could though.

So, that was long but it was my first.  I promise, from now on, I will keep things short and simple.  I will update you weekly and let you know about the things (and feelings) that really matter.  I also hope that this brings you joy and that it brings us closer together.  I am happy to share my life and family with others mainly because, at this point, I am convinced that learning new things and experiencing major life lessons is what life is about.

I am grateful for my blessings and for all that I have.  I am grateful for my family and I am grateful for you, my friends.