After leaving Nevada City we headed down the Pacific Coast Highway enroute to Arizona and home. We stayed in Point Reyes and got to play in the ocean at Seal Beach, where Laurie dropped her phone in the ocean. Oops. Luckily Porter found it for her or it might have stayed there! Then we stayed with my cousin Danny and his family and got to tour his marine biology lab at UC Santa Barbara. The kids got to hold and touch all different kinds of ocean animals, like baby octopus and starfish.
In October Laurie and I left the kids with her mom and went to San Diego for another cousins wedding. Without the kids we were able to enjoy a nice hotel room, delicious food and a trip to the San Diego Zoo. We got to take dad out for his birthday too.
This March we were blessed with the birth of our fourth child, Quinn Louise Humpherys. She's our only baby to be born on time, and has a pretty sweet birthday, Saint Patricks Day. She's a really good baby and we've been lucky that the other kids have really taken to her and there's no jealousy, just lots of love. Sometimes a bit too much, we almost have to put up a protective barrier fence around her.
Just a few weeks ago we got to go visit uncle Kenny and aunt Myrna in Florence. My parents, Trevor and Damien came to visit us for Quinn's baby blessing so they got to come too. We got taken on a great guided tour of Florence by wagon, we highly recommend it! The adults had as much fun as the kids did, with all the different animals to see and play with. As usual we were fed like kings, Kenny and Myrna stuffed us with fresh steaks (which Mercy was fascinated to find out was from their own cattle), dutch oven potatoes and cobbler, homemade cookies and goat cheese. I'm pushing hard to get our own goat but Laurie's fighting me on it. Something about not enough room. Anybody who gets to visit Kenny and Myrna is in for a real treat.
Here's a quick breakdown of our family this past year:
CJ: I keep really busy at work with the Border Patrol. I still work as a Field Training Officer for the new trainees when they come to our station. I also worked as a Liaison with the Fort Huachuca military police. I just got called as 2nd counselor in the Elder's Quorum and just helped organize the father and sons campout for next weekend.
Laurie: She keeps really busy with the kids and their activities. She's also the treasurer on the preschool co-op board of directors, which she finds fun but stressful at times. Laurie is a co-leader in Mercy's Daisy Scout troop and enjoys that, she gets to work with the second year daisies which is Mercy and her friends. She got released from being a Relief Society teacher and now is enjoying a calling-free church time, until they deem Quinn old enough for Laurie to have another calling. She's also enjoying having her mom in town to help out until June.
Mercy, 6.5 years: She's in 1st grade now, and despite being the youngest in her class she's a great student who excels at reading. She's now reading at almost a third grade level, we're so proud of her! I used to offer her a reward for each test that she got 100% on, but she gets 100% on almost all her tests so we had to stop that before she broke the bank. She's in her second year at Daisy Scouts and loves it, she sold over 350 boxes of cookies this year. She's also in her second year at ballet and loves it, she got to do the Nutcracker again and is getting ready for her spring reciatl dances now. She was diagnosed with a genetic disorder in August called non-classical Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia and has to take medicine twice a day for the rest of her life, but we're so lucky that it's not a life-endangering disease or more serious.
Porter, 5.5 years: did soccer last fall and is in teeball now. Definitely his father's child and loves all things athletic. He's in a pre-Kindergarten preschool and his teachers all love him and his sweet ways. He ended up in the hospital for 3 days in September thanks to a nasty case of pneumonia, which ended up with a diagnosis of asthma as well.
Jameson, 3.5 years: he's a fiesty little booger. The only one he's consistently nice to is Quinn, he has no problem standing up for himself to anyone else. We've already warned his preschool teacher for next year that he's opinionated and bull-headed, but we adore him. He's such a character! He wants to do everything the other kids do and doesn't see why his age dictates what he can and can't do.
Quinn, 7 weeks: sweet, sweet little girl. She's got huge eyes that just pierce you, and sometimes stares above our heads as if she's seeing the angels. We like to joke that they're telling her "we know your family seems a little crazy but we promise, you'll turn out just fine!"
No comments:
Post a Comment