The Year in Review

In place of a Christmas letter, I am going to post this on our blog, and cover what has happened this year with each of us. Hopefully this will be an easy and convenient way for people to See what we have been up to. Overall, it has been an eventful year, to put things mildly. A lot has happened with our little family, but it has all been a lot of positive growth for us.
Eliza has grown up from our little baby girl to our little toddler girl. I can't believe how much has happened with her. She received her hearing aids in January, and still wears them. She has gotten to the point that if she sees them, she will bring them over to us and want us to put them in. She is just doing what little toddlers do. She is walking all over the place, and becoming more and more independent. She has also started to develop an interest in everything traditionally girl. She loves little dolls, and phones and shoes and clothes. She is also coming along in the communication department. It seems that everyday she is learning a new sign. She also repeats a lot of sounds she hears, including her favorite, "Uh-oh". Johnny is her hero, and she follows him around nonstop and wants to do whatever he is doing. She is my favorite girl, and nothing makes my day more than when I come home and she comes running over to me to give me a hug and a kiss.
Johnny has been through quite a lot this year. Those of you who follow this blog know that already. He received his hearing aids in January, and they did little to help his hearing. However, he continued to pick up signing like crazy. It's been hard for mom and dad to keep up. In June, he went in for surgery for his cochlear implant. He was so brave! The surgery went well, and he received his processor a month later. His mapping was a struggle. Not because our audiologist isn't very good, but mostly because he did not want to just sit there and get mapped, and we had issues with our processor from the start. These things have been worked out, and he can now hear at around 25-30 dbs with his processor on. Now, whether he likes hearing is another question. Most of the time he doesn't seem to mind, but from time to time, he just does not want to hear, so he won't keep his processor on. We try to get him to keep it on, but he is two almost three, so it doesn't always work out. His main mode of communication remains signing, which we think is great. It is definitely a challenge to try to keep up with him on his signing, but we are doing pretty good, I think. In January, he will be starting pre-school at JMS, which is the ASL preschool in our area. We are very excited about this. We think he will learn a lot of very important social skills, and he will appreciate associating with kids who are deaf and sign just like him. He is my little hero, and it has been amazing to watch how he has coped and adapted to all of this through this year. He always has a smile on his face, and it's the kind that lights up the room.
Erica just keeps trucking along. She is pretty much the most amazing person in the world (even more amazing than Barack Obama). She has taken everything this last year in stride. I have just been amazed to sit back and watch as she has patiently gone to battle to get done what is right for her kids. She currently is staying home each day with the kids, and I am so thankful for that blessing right now. She makes it a point to find different activities and crafts to do with the kids each day. I've been amazed to watch how she has made choice after choice to benefit our kids, while sacrificing herself. Like when we decided to start attending the deaf ward in our area. It was out of her comfort zone, but she knew it would be best for our kids. That being said, everyone in our new ward has gone out of their way to make us feel welcome.
I continue to stay busy at work and at school. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for school, and can't wait to reach it. This last semester I also started the Seminary teacher preservice classes at the institute. I love the class, and I really hope it works out. I can't picture myself really doing anything else.
The Lord has blessed us in abundance this year. Through all of our challenges, we have grown and have seen the Lord's hand at work. I am grateful to Him for my family that makes this life worth living.