Lifestyle of Learning: Virgin Islands Trip

It's been over three months since I've updated, and in order to catch up I have narrowed down my selection of pictures, made several collages, and I will summarily update with as few words as possible and will probably still leave out things I would liked to have shared with everyone reading this. Things have been so busy that I've not updated as I would have liked. I've gotten a lot done over the past three months, though!

I was behind on putting pictures in albums all the way back to the end of 2008. I used Shutterfly photo books for 2010-2011 (two books for the latter) and separate photo books for our Tabernacles trip to the Yellowstone area and this year's trip to the Virgin Islands. I filled what was left in my last album, too, and the pictures I'd printed forever ago for 2009 are the only ones I have left to catch up on. I also am in the process of catching up on the children's baby books. I've planted some seeds for our garden (not finished with this, though) and more!

Nathan is nearly finished with a new chicken house so that we can get chickens again. He's been super busy with his business, but he's been working on things like this when he gets a chance.

Jaden has had new art classes. This spring he chose a mosaics class. He's had two sessions and has two left. There are only two other children--both boys half a year older than he--in his class, and I arrived early to pick him up this week, and I realized he wasn't dumb-acting sometimes as I thought he was compared to others.

I've also been busy taking Elizabeth, now 3.5 months old, to the chiropractor weekly for various adjustments, including cranial therapy. She has a condition known as congenital muscular torticollis, which has also led to a mild case of positional plagiocephaly. Basically she has a tight neck muscle caused from injury while positioned wrongly in the womb and/or birth. She doesn't turn her head to the left, and it's caused slight flattening on the back of the right side of her head. She is set to have an evaluation soon with a physical therapist so that she can start physical therapy which will stretch the muscle. We're hoping this will correct the problem to avoid surgery, which is necessary in a minority of cases.

We took a family trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands--St. Thomas and St. John. Our friend Casey also accompanied us. Nathan and I went alone last year (while I was pregnant with Elizabeth). It was a fun trip for us all, but it was also a very educating experience for the kids. They learned about airport and security operations, more about airplanes, different traffic set-up in different places (they drive on the left side of the road there), many different species of plants and animals they've never seen, seeing and swimming in the ocean for the first time, and so much more. Here are some pics: