January 2015

How about some individual news this month!  We’ll start with Grant—as of this month he is potty trained, 3, and tonsil free!

We celebrated with a baseball cake (why our Atlanta Publix put a Yankees ball instead of a Braves ball is beyond me).  Grammy and Granddad got him a ‘smart cars track’ and he celebrated at school with his friends with (ah-hem) homemade baseball cupcakes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Necessary but not nearly as fun was the tonsil removal, the recovery was a total beast.  Much harder than Jackson’s seemed to be.  But Jackson was 5 and easier to reason with (take pain medicine etc).  But we made it and he is breathing much more easily!

I think the Lord knew we needed a break because potty training was truly a breeze.  I think the trick was waiting until he was 3.  We tackled it over MLK weekend, and haven’t looked back.  He is even dry at night!  A feat achieved much later by our older 2 kiddos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taylor started an art class every Thursday afternoon which she really likes.  However, her favorite part of the month was probably going to Callaway Gardens to ride bikes as a family (a reward for learning how to ride her 2 wheeler).  We were really impressed with how she kept up--there were a lot of hills and she just powered through them without complaining!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another highlight of Taylor’s month was getting to cheer with the Marist cheerleaders while we were there watching a basketball game.  Not a packed stadium as you can tell!

Sleep over with her best buddy (Carolyn), while Grant was in surgery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jackson has had an exciting month, doing well in basketball, last game he had a record high 12 points.  Need to get some pictures!  And in chess, he had his strongest showing yet at the annual MLK tournament, going 4 and 0 before drawing the top ranked kid in the state (rated 1200, Jackson hovers around 1000).

Since he made it to the championship match, he got to play up on a stage (not pictured) and his game was televised out to where the parents were sitting.  Scott said he was absolutely glued to the screen and it was more riveting than any sports match he has ever watched Jackson play!  Jackson left reenergized about chess.  He left his baseball glove at the tournament, so a special shout out to Scott’s cousin (Cha Cha) for finding it at the school the next day!

And Hammy is still his best buddy!  What do they decide to do on play dates besides play sports??Power Point decks about each of their favorite athletes of course.  Jackson even recently purchased (with his own money) “Power Point for Dummies” to learn “all the coolest transitions and animations.”  No denying he is Scott’s child! 

And last but not least, our little butter ball!  Pierce Charlie is 5 months now, sleeping about 10 hours at night, sitting up, HATING solid food, and no where close to rolling over.

 

He is a great baby, I guess he has to be, but got to give the guy some credit. 

Scott just finished up one case in Florida and is on to another up in Virgina.  He is very happy at BCG right now, but is keeping an open mind to other options.  Here he is at Dartmouth with a colleague after interviewing perspective BCGers all day.  He is enjoying a Nutella hot chocolate before climbing on this plane departing from Hanover New Hampshire to Boston.  One of the passengers got to be the co-pilot!

 

 

 

 

Scott recently listened to a book about brain science on audible and has been convinced of the merrits of both exercising and standing in general.  Therefore for this past month, he has been faithfully running for 15 minutes every morning, and standing all day while working at his computer (they have those standing desks).  He has drunk the koolaid and swears it is life changing.

And I am toying with the idea of getting my Master’s in K-8 math education (UGA, 2 years, mostly online).  I am starting to study for the GRE, just a little bit each day.  Even if nothing comes from it, it feels good to knock the dust off my brain and get it working again!

Lastly, we celebrated my Grandma’s birthday this month!  We had a nice dinner at Pricci in Buckhead, and then my dad surprised grandma with a very beautiful emerald diamond ring—thank you Manoj and Davinci jewelers!

We recently had a church lesson on prayer, and the teacher challenged us to try and keep a consistent dialog going with Heavenly Father throughout the day.  And I feel like for the first time I am really starting to grasp the importance of continual prayer and the way it helps with keeping me close to the Lord--which makes it easier to have a Christ like perspective, exchanges, attitude, etc…Plus it makes it more easy to hear the promptings of the Lord.

The quote she shared on prayer stuck with me: 

Without prayer, there is no possible return to the Father. Without prayer, it is impossible to have enough faith to understand and keep the commandments. Without prayer, the spiritual power necessary to avoid temptation and overcome trials and adversity would be unavailable. Without prayer, repentance, forgiveness and the cleansing power of the Atonement are unattainable. However, WITH the power of personal prayer, all things are possible.

Lots of benefits to be taking advantage of!!!  Have a great month and we’ll be back shortly with another update! 

Love,

TFK