Here we go

Her 'Cheese' face.

Ah! The first snow of the season. We moved our table so that it's parallel to the window and placed Taylor at the end. He was just eating and saying, "It's snowing! It's snowing!"

I love Idaho in the Fall because of the smells. It just smells like the holidays! Luckily, I was able to go to college the first half of the year so I could actually enjoy being invovled in the holidays. Steve is on the same track as well. He is loving not being in classes and loving his calling. He enjoys serving. He has learned new things each time. He definitely misses helping in the temple each week. Hopefully in the near future he can continue his service there.

With the holidays coming up it's also Steve and Taylor's birthdays. Steve said he was always jipped and had his gifts wrapped in Christmas paper. So I've really tried to change that. His gifts are put on the table and wrapped in birthday paper. We also run in to problems when we try to celebrate his birthday on the acutal day. The past two years my opera performances have been the same night, as well as the David Archuleta concerts on campus. Quite peculiar. He is not a Archu-puka (as he says) fan. He is the special guest for the MoTab Concert this year and we're are so not going. I understand people really like him and he happens to be LDS, but he has never sparked our fancy. So, please don't be offended (Kathryn) if you're head over heels for him. Oh, well. I guess everyone was booked this year. Anyway - so we're trying to make his birthday as special as possible. I hope he likes his gifts this year, because he bought them. He came home on Saturday with a Deseret Book bag and said, "I want these for my birthday." So I guess I'm covered in that department.

Taylor is making great progress. He loves going to pre-school. He tends to get a little upset about leaving for the day. We're trying to teach the teachers how to help Taylor make the transitions in class. We found out that Taylor is on the Autism Spectrum and has parts of Asperger's Syndrome. He is on the spectrum because they have widened the spectrum to any type of learning or developmental delay. Even though he isn't an extreme case, such as ear flapping, loud noises, and secluded/no touching type of Autism, he has a delay in his development that's causing his verbal (speech) and social skills to not be where they need to be.

This is has been extremely difficult for Steve and I. We know how to help him and it's a very good thing. The Psychologist said we are better than most parents. We're actually really involved and concerned about Taylor. He is such a special little boy that it's hard to see that he will eventually/possibly be made fun of or just struggle in school/everything. A good thing about it though is he will be caught up about adulthood. The other kind of scary thing about this Autism Spectrum Disorder is that someone, or many people, on either sides of our families could have had this and not even have known it. If our doctor hadn't suggested that Taylor try speech therapy for a while we would've been having a more difficult time. We know how to help him and we've spent countless hours praying for answers and countless hours worrying and crying about it. For me, I just have to cry it out, get over myself and put my son before my own needs. A friend of mine was over making cookies and my kids starting fighting. I hurried over and helped solved the situation in a non-violent disciplining way. She said, "You're such a good mom." It was so nice to hear because at times Steve and I have felt that it is our fault. But since this is genetic it was just kind of waiting to happen. We love him so much and have been promised that our children will excel in all they do if we do our part in teaching them. We use every opportunity and everything around us to teach him. Having this information that Taylor is special and needs extra care makes things so much easier for us. We can go about helping him in a way that makes more sense to him. We're are continually grateful for our family who have always supported us. We love you and know that you are blessed. Please check the signs of Autism and get your child screened so you can help in any way you can. http://www.autismspeaks.org/
Olivia is growing and growing and growing. Holly and Eric Olson stopped by last night to drop off Taylor's part for the Primary Program and said that Bia had grown several inches since they last saw her. She is really doing well. She is saying more words and has the funniest sense of humor. She came into my room the other morning and whipped the sheets off me and handed me my glasses and said, "Eyes." I said, "Ok, Bia. I will get up." She is so cheerful and very mischievous. She is finding out she can climb on things. I sometimes hear her little scream and a "Mommeeeee!!" and find her sitting on a chair in the kitchen, dangling her feet trying to get down, or stuck on her belly on the side of the tub because she wanted one of the fishes to squirt Taylor. One thing she loves to do is laugh. She has this contagious laugh and there is no way you cannot smile when you hear it. She loves, loves, loves Curious George. She calls him "uh-ah", like a monkey noise. She goes crazy with some dance moves when she sees him and even has a little stuffed animal. Bia is also getting alot more hair! Finally! We were in Wal-Mart and walked past some hair bows and Steve sighed. He really wants her to wear hair accessories but she doesn't quite qualify in the hair department. She doesn't really keep her hairbands on. I've thought about trying headbands. I tried one of mine on her and she kept it on for a while. We'll have to do some checking. My visiting teaching companion, Haylee Marshall, suggested looking at Etsy.com to see the bendy clips that they've made with bows. There are all kinds of sizes. So the really small ones may fit. She is a pure joy and we're so excited for the holidays to come. We love the feeling and excitement!

As for me, I am busy at work. I am also feeling the effects of the economy. I plan on getting about $30 a week from each student times 10 students and that's all I need to work. Well, half of that money is for a practice each week. No one was practicing with me so I took on about five more people. It wasn't too bad because their pieces don't require a lot of work, but I want to do the best possible job. So with the opera almost every night for three hours, it's been A LOT more work than I thought. I have some weird times to be on campus so finding sitters has been extremely difficult. There are a few people in my ward who have been awesome at helping me out. I've really appreciate you all! My ward is incredible and I've loved being here. I've become a better pianist and accompanist. I love what I do and my kids will practice along with me. It's annoying sometimes but if your children see you doing things you love they will reflect that in their lives as well.

We love you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Enjoy the snow! Or the sun...if you're not here.