July Update

GRACE is 6 1/2 months old and is a sweet, smiley girl with an infectious little giggle and two bottom teeth.  She is already rocking on her hands and knees and can move around quite efficiently though she isn't yet officially crawling.  She loves to play and laugh with her brother and just beams whenever she gets attention from Mom and Dad.  She is between 25-30 percentile for both weight and height and weighs 15.5 lbs.  We feel so blessed to have this sweet little angel in our family!

HYRUM is 2 years old and definitely finding out what the limits are.  He is still such a good helper and he loves his sister so much!  I asked him to smile at Grace for me while I took a shower yesterday and when I got out, I could hear her crying so I ran out to find him holding her on his lap, patting her tummy and trying to feed her his carrot.  Ha ha, he was trying so hard to help her, it was so cute.  He is the sweetest little guy and will just randomly stop playing, run over to me, give me a kiss and hug, and run back to playing.  I love it.  He is also getting very good at saying his own prayers and at singing/saying some familiar primary songs with us instead of just listening.  It is so much fun for us to see him grow and learn and progress!

BEN just got back from a week at scout camp.  He had a great time and now we are glad to have him home! It feels like a long time since we have all just been at our house together with a regular routine-- we went from busy season to a great trip in May to visit my brother Phil's home in DC and see him graduate, to UT for Matt and Brianne's wedding, and back home for us to be sick for a month (except Grace, fortunately) with 3 fun weekends in Othello and then back on the road again for a Colorado Anderson family reunion and an Idaho Christensen reunion, both of which were awesome.  We have loved seeing so many family members!  We got back in time to unpack and repack for Ben to go to scout camp.  Whew!  So now he is back and we are enjoying some family time, working in the garden and playing soccer in the back yard.  Hyrum is a great little kicker.  J  Ben has also received a job offer from a competing accounting firm and will officially decide whether to accept by the end of this week.  He is also picking back up on his running in preparation for a marathon in September.  I am grateful to be married to such a hardworking and dedicated man.

RACHEL is finally getting over a 6 week cold, thanks to Ben’s Mom taking our kids and giving me some real rest last week while Ben was gone.  Thanks!  I didn’t realize how much I needed that until I got it.  Along with the cough I had cracked ribs, which was awesome because they kind of keep each other going longer… As the cough subsides I think the ribs will heal quickly.  I also have had several comments over the last few years that I walk funny, so I had a Physical Therapist in our ward look at my foot and he says that I am missing a ligament in my foot, probably from the one really bad sprain I’ve ever had because it was swollen in that exact spot for a couple of years after it happened.  They took x-rays and everything at the time but obviously the ligaments didn’t show up so it was not a visible problem.  Our PT friend told me some exercises I can do to strengthen the muscles around it and straighten out my foot.

We are a happy family and feel so blessed to be together and finally healthy again!