First Loose Tooth

Happy Thanksgiving! The hectic mess of the last few weeks, particularly on the weekends, has made it quite difficult to leave an update. But today is Thanksgiving, & it's time to bring things up to speed.

A couple weeks ago we got family pictures taken, & I was pleasantly surprised how well behaved all the kids were. We're sending out Christmas cards with them on it, which is another reason we took them. Rachel, as always, was great at getting the appointment and our clothing well organized.

Annalyn finally lost her first tooth! From what I've been told she's a bit late in losing her first tooth, but who cares. I'm sure she'll still lose them all before too long.

We had to encourage her to wiggle it more once we saw that the new one had already erupted behind it. Once it was close enough Rachel tried a couple of times to give it a good yank, but t no avail. Finally, when Annalyn was brace enough to let her daddy try, it finally came. She got to put it in her tooth necklace and show it off to friends at school. And the tooth fairy brought her a couple hair toys and some chocolate coins.

Crazy Declan...Rachel thought she heard the microwave running downstairs one day so she ran down to see if her middle child had been playing with it. Sure enough, Declan had filled it with paper towels and fired it up. Luckily she heard it and was able to intervene before the house potentially burned to the ground.

 Now to add more drama to poor Rachel's life: she recently got rear-ended while driving home from helping me at work with our annual security check. Luckily it wasn't anything serious, but they exchanged information any way. She was a nice lady and felt extra bad once she realized the kids were in the car too. Rachel ended up with a miserable case of whiplash that evening, which persisted for a couple of days, but she seems to be over it now...maybe I should ask her...

Annalyn's progress report from school came in and we're so happy with how well she's doing. She's well over 90% in all subjects, with several being 100%. She's made great improvement in her reading and writing, and her math skills have always been strong.

And this past Sunday I received another new calling - the 4th within the last 3 months: I'm now the 2nd counselor in the bishopric, replacing Bro. Richardson, who recently moved out for work. As a result, I'm being released from being a Sunday school teacher, 2nd counselor in the stake Sunday School presidency, and I'll no longer be able to serve as an ordinance worker in the temple. 

Rachel also received a new calling: she's the new secretary in the primary presidency. The president, Sis. Horn, has already been greatly impressed at the volume of work that Rachel's put in, and has been so grateful to have her help.

Now, it is time to get up, and enjoy our Thankgiving holiday!