Our life right now:

I haven't updated this journal in a month or so, because we've been busy with a few basic repetitave, awesome things:

1.  Rachel has been going to tongue thrust therapy since late August.  Her orthodontist recommended it because her tongue pushes out on her front teeth when she eats, sleeps, swallows, etc.  If left uncorrected, braces would be a waste of money.  (That being said, I'm not sure if she'll need braces).  Last year we traveled to the closest speech pathologist that the orthodontist knew that works with tongue thrust issues.  It was an hour way.  With fuel, it would be at least $100 per week, and we'd have to drive that distance 2-3 times a week.  NOT HAPPENING!  I did some research and learned that the college 30 minutes away has a clinic where students, supervised by doctors, can work with kids for a fraction of the cost.  We are actually paying $100 for the whole semester, twice a week.

I've been picking her up from school a little early on Tuesdays and Thursdays and driving there.  Rachel loves Samantha, her student therapist, and really enjoys going there.  It's also been nice to have this special time with Rachel twice a week.

Unfortunately, with me working Mondays and Wednesdays, I'm not home when Kyle gets home from school except on Fridays.  I know he's old enough, but I still like being home when my kids get home from school.  This part has been tricky, so I'll be relieved when her therapy is over in November.

 2.  Volleyball!  Kayla is now wrapping up her season of JV Volleyball.  I took a bunch of pictures, but they are all pretty much blurry :(  It's so fun to watch her play, and keeps are calendars full.  We usually only go to the home games because away games are pretty far away and more expensive to get in.  Plus, we've got 2 kids at home who don't love going along, and we don't want to leave them alone all the time.  I've got lots of balancing I'm trying to do!

Here's a video of her serving.  At least once a game, people ask us where she learned to jump-serve.  She says she just learned. Jason says he thinks it was watching BYU Volleyball on TV.  It is unique to her on her team and those she plays, so it's kind of a fun thing.

3.  Church keeps us hopping too!  Most of the time, our whole family is at church on Wednesday evenings.  Last week for mutual we played "Human Hungry Hippos." Kayla and Kyle somehow got on the same team: (it was spirit week at school which kind of explains Kayla's war paint and all-black, although I can't remember the theme for the day).

You can see Kyle's turn being a hippo:

And Kayla's:

4.  This guy hasn't kept us busy, but he's been in our lives :)  Steven keeps very busy between work, classes, friends, and the young single adults activities.  We actually don't see him a whole lot, but we enjoy having him around when we do.  He often brings kids home after church (that's what the first picture is), and has some silly fun with Kyle.

Oh, and the kids got their school pictures taken! I love these kids more than words can say- I wish I was better at being a parent!  I'm doing lots of worrying and second-guessing and praying right now.  They have so much teach me.