Nielsen News

I really don't have anything super exciting to report as "news" but I did want to document some of the recent happenings in our lives as captured by my iphone...

I don't have a photo for this, but I did want to have it recorded that I was able to re-enter the interpreting world! When we moved to Green River, I thought it may be possible that my ASL interpreting had come to an end for the time being, but that is not the case! I found out that the local school district was looking for a substitute interpreter - can you say "perfect"?! I applied and they wanted to hire me on right away (it's pretty slim pickings out here aka I think I'm the only other person in town qualified for the job other than the current full-time interpreter). They told me that they just needed me to be an on-call sub for one deaf high school student that uses an interpreter. The student was also going to start an elective before-school class and they wanted to know if I could cover it. The class was 6-7 am. That meant that I could go to the class each morning while Sam was still home with Eleanor - perfect again! I really felt like it was a blessing and a wonderful opportunity that I had the chance to continue with something I have worked really hard on. I just finished the early morning class this week, I have subbed one full-day of school and a few hours of after school activities and I have also been called in to interpret a few meetings at the school. I have some amazing friends out here who I have had to rely on to use as sitters for Eleanor when I get these last minute calls, but it has always worked out. I am always so happy when I get to do a little interpreting and am thrilled I found a part-time role that works for me. Hooray!

Sam has been obsessed with his grill that he/we (it was pretty much a family gift and I definitely get to reap the rewards of having it) got for Christmas. Despite freezing temperatures, he has been grilling ever since he got it but lately it's been nicer that it's not as cold outside. He still has to grill in the garage because of the wind. Sam recently won a weight loss competition with his family (Go Sammy!) and with his earnings purchased some add-ons for the grill. One thing he bought was this rotisserie skewer which he made turkeys on. He also bought a pizza stone and has made some DIVINE pizzas on the grill! Seriously so yummy.

About a month ago we made a big move and sold our trusty Clifford (the Sante Fe) and bought a new car! It was a whirlwind of a weekend as we sold and bought the vehicles within two days while in Utah. We had a lot of errands and running around town we had to do in order to get it done, but we did! Here is our last photo-op with Cliff:

We had Clifford listed on KSL and were able to sell it to a family from off of there instead of trading it in. So, we were happy about that and are thrilled with our new car. We ended up buying a 2013 Dodge Durango. I don't have a picture of our exact car, but this is just what it looks like. We bought used through Hertz Rental (it was pretty new and had low mileage but was a good deal). So far from our experience we would recommend that route to anyone!

Of course once the whole purchase was done and over with we had to celebrate with some Chipotle. Elle was happy about the chocolate milk she was tasting for the first time:

Another week Elle had a birthday part to attend for her friends (twins!). Again, she was happy with the food as you can see by her shoving her mouth full of birthday cake...

Eleanor had her 18 month check-up. SHe was 55% for height, 76% for weight and 92% for head circumference. We sure love her and are grateful for her healthy growing body!

 

With a lot of text-editing help from Sambo, I finally finished Eleanor's 1 Year book. I am SO happy with it and know I will treasure having it.

I spied on Elle's nap one day and found her like this, made me laugh...

We went down to Utah on Conference weekend because Sam's parents were in town. Whenever we go to Utah on a weekday I typically pick-up Sam from work and then we head down since his work is on the way. This time we needed to meet him at the Little America (hotel/gas station/restaurant/only-stopping-place-for-awhile-on-the-I80). It is only a few minutes from Sam's work. Elle and I got there a little early so I decided to buy us a treat while we waited. I loved sitting with my girl on an afternoon snack date while we waited for Dad. I had to document...

Eleanor is obsessed with the giraffe we got her for Christmas. She is always giving him kisses and snuggling up to him. The other Sunday while I was getting ready for church I turned on Elmo for her and threw giraffe on the bed because I thought she'd enjoy having him up there with her. I checked on her a few minutes later and laughed when I saw that she had sat him up and found a comfortable lounging position on his lap haha!

Elle's obsession for shoes continues and she now is often trying on both mine and Sam's. During the day she'll bring me a pair of her shoes and mine and say "shoes!" I know that means she wants us to go out somewhere.

Eleanor has always loved books, but used to only look at them if we were reading to her. She would ask to have books read about 10 times a day it seemed like. She recently started reading books on her own and will spend about 10-15 minutes sitting by herself reading (and then stacking) the books. I love watching her and listening to her when she does it.

Elle is always watching our every move and she is constantly trying to "help" me do whatever it is I'm doing (she's really good at laundry!). Here are just two examples of my skilled lady in the kitchen:

And that is all for now! I'm so grateful I had my blog to use as I put together Eleanor's 1 Year book so I hope to do a better job of keeping this updated...we'll see!