I've been wanting to write an update for a while, but some of the news I couldn't really announce until this week, so I've been waiting.
Our biggest news on the news front is that Rob is now the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric of our ward. He was the YM President for a little over 2 years, and he'd just started to hit his stride. That, of course, was the problem. Once you hit your stride, you KNOW there are changes coming. The story of him getting this calling is a good one, though it's kind of long and intertwined with another story about our car. I'll mark it with a Start and End, so you can skip it if you want.
Start
At the start of this month was Fast Sunday. We had decided that our fast was going to be focused on our marriage and strengthening it. Not that we're struggling, because we're not. Shortly after we'd decided that's what our fast would be about (earlier in the week), our van had a glich. A hiccup. I rolled down the window of the driver's side door, just to make Miciah laugh, and it wouldn't roll back up. Well, it's darn cold outside. This is a bummer. And of course that has to happen on a Friday night, late.
So, Saturday Rob calls the dealership. They told him he could bring it in, but they probably wouldn't be able to get to it until Monday, though they'd park it inside, and the repair would likely cost us anywhere from $100 - $300 dollars. The cost was a bummer, but we needed our window to roll up. And it's not like we cover it with plastic and make do. It's the driver's side door. Kind of need to see through the window.
Anyways, that Sunday was the Super Bowl. And if it means we're going to Hell for watching the Super Bowl, then so be it, because we enjoy watching this one Sunday sporting event a year. Anyways, we were watching it at a friend's house and he had offered to look at the car with Rob. Then, another guy also offered to help. Sure, what can it hurt?
I'm going to skip ahead in this story to the repair at the dealer on Monday morning. The part that was broken in the first place was the switch. The switch was a $70 part. The part they broke trying to fix the first problem was a $600 part. In total, our bill was $830.
So, (skipping back) Sunday at church, during our fast, I was reassured that we should really focus on making our marriage stronger. Then I spent all Monday not talking to Rob after he called to let me know how much the repair bill came to. :) But it got me thinking, and really thinking hard, about marriage and partnership and communication.
I apologized, Monday night, for making Rob feel bad. When I get frustrated, I also get vocal, and maybe I should work on making that not so. Tuesday morning I woke up determined to really work on our marriage. We set out to do a marriage reassessment. I sent Rob to work with homework. We spent the next almost full week thinking about and talking about our roles and responsibilities in marriage. What we liked, didn't like. What was working, what wasn't. Where we needed to re-focus. It was great.
(As an aside, the two men that helped with the van, they're still our friends. :) )
Then came Saturday. Stake Conference. Before Rob left for the mens' leadership meeting, I saw one of the members of our stake presidency (used to be the bishop of our ward, and he's a great guy. I call him Jim, which thrills me) at a wedding reception. All casual-like he says, "I need to talk with you and Rob for a few minutes before the meeting tonight." I'm thinking just to chat. I told Rob, just as casual, "Hey, Jim needs to meet with us for a few minutes." "What for?" Rob says. "I dunno." Rob: "Okay."
Well, I wasn't on time to the meeting, so we met after the meeting. No big deal. Actually worked out really well, other than our friends were sitting next to us the whole time teasing us about what kind of calling Rob would be getting. We got in the room with Jim and he first asked how we were getting along (See? He WAS meeting with us to chat!). We chuckled a little and talked about the week and our marriage re-assessment. He said it was good to re-assess from time to time. I agree. Though NEXT time we'll schedule it so our marriage therapy session won't cost us $830.
Then he asks Rob to be the 2nd counselor. I WISH I had a video camera there. His physical reaction was almost laughable. Now, I was pretty shocked, too. The Bishop had just called a new 2nd counselor a month ago. That's not an exaggeration on how recently the changes had been made. On top of that, Rob just got his YM Presidency in order, and all those changes had been within the last 2 months. So it didn't seem the time, really, to make more changes.
But the call was extended and eventually, when Rob found his words again, he said yes. They looked at me after a time and asked how I felt. Great! Rob will be a fantastic 2nd counselor. No worries there. They talked about increased time committment, but every time committment Rob will have, he ALREADY had as YM President. Really, not much changes.
... Then came a full week of Rob walking around like a deer in headlights. In fact, every day since the call, I've looked at him and said, "How you feeling today?" And I wasn't asking about his health.
End
So, what have I learned from this? That God answers our prayers and petitions in strange ways. And as I look back over the last 3 weeks, I feel so blessed to have a Heavenly Father who cares about us and our concerns. It's amazing to me.
Though I still would have liked to skip the $830 part.
Our biggest news on the news front is that Rob is now the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric of our ward. He was the YM President for a little over 2 years, and he'd just started to hit his stride. That, of course, was the problem. Once you hit your stride, you KNOW there are changes coming. The story of him getting this calling is a good one, though it's kind of long and intertwined with another story about our car. I'll mark it with a Start and End, so you can skip it if you want.
Start
At the start of this month was Fast Sunday. We had decided that our fast was going to be focused on our marriage and strengthening it. Not that we're struggling, because we're not. Shortly after we'd decided that's what our fast would be about (earlier in the week), our van had a glich. A hiccup. I rolled down the window of the driver's side door, just to make Miciah laugh, and it wouldn't roll back up. Well, it's darn cold outside. This is a bummer. And of course that has to happen on a Friday night, late.
So, Saturday Rob calls the dealership. They told him he could bring it in, but they probably wouldn't be able to get to it until Monday, though they'd park it inside, and the repair would likely cost us anywhere from $100 - $300 dollars. The cost was a bummer, but we needed our window to roll up. And it's not like we cover it with plastic and make do. It's the driver's side door. Kind of need to see through the window.
Anyways, that Sunday was the Super Bowl. And if it means we're going to Hell for watching the Super Bowl, then so be it, because we enjoy watching this one Sunday sporting event a year. Anyways, we were watching it at a friend's house and he had offered to look at the car with Rob. Then, another guy also offered to help. Sure, what can it hurt?
I'm going to skip ahead in this story to the repair at the dealer on Monday morning. The part that was broken in the first place was the switch. The switch was a $70 part. The part they broke trying to fix the first problem was a $600 part. In total, our bill was $830.
So, (skipping back) Sunday at church, during our fast, I was reassured that we should really focus on making our marriage stronger. Then I spent all Monday not talking to Rob after he called to let me know how much the repair bill came to. :) But it got me thinking, and really thinking hard, about marriage and partnership and communication.
I apologized, Monday night, for making Rob feel bad. When I get frustrated, I also get vocal, and maybe I should work on making that not so. Tuesday morning I woke up determined to really work on our marriage. We set out to do a marriage reassessment. I sent Rob to work with homework. We spent the next almost full week thinking about and talking about our roles and responsibilities in marriage. What we liked, didn't like. What was working, what wasn't. Where we needed to re-focus. It was great.
(As an aside, the two men that helped with the van, they're still our friends. :) )
Then came Saturday. Stake Conference. Before Rob left for the mens' leadership meeting, I saw one of the members of our stake presidency (used to be the bishop of our ward, and he's a great guy. I call him Jim, which thrills me) at a wedding reception. All casual-like he says, "I need to talk with you and Rob for a few minutes before the meeting tonight." I'm thinking just to chat. I told Rob, just as casual, "Hey, Jim needs to meet with us for a few minutes." "What for?" Rob says. "I dunno." Rob: "Okay."
Well, I wasn't on time to the meeting, so we met after the meeting. No big deal. Actually worked out really well, other than our friends were sitting next to us the whole time teasing us about what kind of calling Rob would be getting. We got in the room with Jim and he first asked how we were getting along (See? He WAS meeting with us to chat!). We chuckled a little and talked about the week and our marriage re-assessment. He said it was good to re-assess from time to time. I agree. Though NEXT time we'll schedule it so our marriage therapy session won't cost us $830.
Then he asks Rob to be the 2nd counselor. I WISH I had a video camera there. His physical reaction was almost laughable. Now, I was pretty shocked, too. The Bishop had just called a new 2nd counselor a month ago. That's not an exaggeration on how recently the changes had been made. On top of that, Rob just got his YM Presidency in order, and all those changes had been within the last 2 months. So it didn't seem the time, really, to make more changes.
But the call was extended and eventually, when Rob found his words again, he said yes. They looked at me after a time and asked how I felt. Great! Rob will be a fantastic 2nd counselor. No worries there. They talked about increased time committment, but every time committment Rob will have, he ALREADY had as YM President. Really, not much changes.
... Then came a full week of Rob walking around like a deer in headlights. In fact, every day since the call, I've looked at him and said, "How you feeling today?" And I wasn't asking about his health.
End
So, what have I learned from this? That God answers our prayers and petitions in strange ways. And as I look back over the last 3 weeks, I feel so blessed to have a Heavenly Father who cares about us and our concerns. It's amazing to me.
Though I still would have liked to skip the $830 part.
Sunday--A Great Family Moment
And then there was Sunday, when Rob actually got the call at church. V & C came down so that V could ordain Rob to be a High Priest. I don't know about you, but I think that's kind of cool. A once-in-a-lifetime event that I'm glad to have been there for. So I called Rob's siblings and told them that, even though Rob thought it was lame, they should come down for it. Rob really would have hurt me if he'd known about all of it. Hence he didn't know. And he's pretty easy to dupe. C brought down a huge crockpot of chicken stuff from C and Rob still was suspicious of nothing.
First, M & K showed up at church. We had M and A for the weekend (as a b-day present to M, whose b-day was yesterday), so Rob just thought they were coming early to get her. Then G and M showed up. And finally C showed, and then Rob got it. He still, I think, thought it was lame, but the family support was cool. And it was a great family moment.
Everyone stayed after for a meal and to play. It was awesome. And to initiate Rob quickly, he had to count tithing after church. :) It was weird to hand him our tithing. But he's trustworthy, I guess.
...................
Other news.
Teancom
Took Teancom in for a doc's appointment last week. He's fine. Growing fine, doing fine. His verbal skills have really shot up, and it's awesome. I've decided he's probably communicating to us as effectively as Miciah was at this age. Miciah was very articulate from a young age, and pretty easy to understand. Teancom is neither of those, but because he doesn't fuss ever, he just uses his words to tell us what he wants. So he'll tell us exactly what he wants without the crying or whining, and it's a beautiful thing.
He's really rather polite. For instance, fruit snacks. I'll often give him a package of fruit snacks, and he'll say thank you and walk off to eat it. He'll get done, bring me the wrapper to throw away, and say, "More," very calmly. Is that not amazing? He has figured out that he has opinions, which is a little weird for me. I'm used to him just adjusting to whatever I want. He's figured out it's pretty darn funny to run away from me so I have to chase him. Or funny to say No, just cause he wants to (though he doesn't throw a fit when I make him do what I want anyway, and I'm grateful for that). So it's fun that he's figuring out he's his own person. He still has so much less attitude than what I'm used to.
He's really rather polite. For instance, fruit snacks. I'll often give him a package of fruit snacks, and he'll say thank you and walk off to eat it. He'll get done, bring me the wrapper to throw away, and say, "More," very calmly. Is that not amazing? He has figured out that he has opinions, which is a little weird for me. I'm used to him just adjusting to whatever I want. He's figured out it's pretty darn funny to run away from me so I have to chase him. Or funny to say No, just cause he wants to (though he doesn't throw a fit when I make him do what I want anyway, and I'm grateful for that). So it's fun that he's figuring out he's his own person. He still has so much less attitude than what I'm used to.
Elijah Fun
Elijah is still crazy and fun and obsessed with Spider-Man. A fun story or two about Elijah.
My friends have now started noticing and commenting on Elijah's clothes-layering obsession. I took him to a play group on a day when he insisted on wearing 7 shirts. I don't even know how he gets them all on. Pretty impressive.
Rob was putting Elijah to bed and Elijah wasn't happy about going to bed. So Rob started distracting him with questions: "Elijah, who is blue and red?" Spider-Man! (As a side note, ever since Rob pointed out to Elijah that Spider-Man is blue and red, those are the only colors he wears.) "Who is green and not nice?" Green Goblin! "Who loves you very much?" Rob was thinking, of course, Mom and Dad. Elijah answered, "Spider-Man!"
Elijah is interested in saying the prayer for every prayer we say. We often let him, but he also will only whisper it. If we ask him to talk louder, he'll usually get quieter. But at the end of almost every prayer, whether we help him say it or someone else says it, he'll say, "Hey! We forgot to pray for Green Goblin and the Bishop!" Now, I get praying for the Bishop. But why exactly are we praying for the Green Goblin? So that he'll join the forces of good? So that he'll die and put everyone out of their misery? So that he will be forgiven in the afterlife and eventually be able to go to heaven? So that Spider-Man can defeat him? I'm just not sure.
For another bedtime, Rob was telling one of his infamous stories. Rob tells lots of good stories. They're brilliant, really, and unique every night. The kids will request the characters they want in the story and Rob will put it all together. Some nights he has to work together the Care Bears, Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, a dragon, Miciah and Elijah, and the Little Mermaid. This particular night, the story was about Miciah and Elijah, the Care Bears and Mom and Dad. Rob set it up so that Miciah and Elijah were orphans and the Care Bears were looking for good parents to take care of them. The stories are pretty predictable, and I'm sure you can guess who the Care Bears found. Right. But, Rob was talking about how sad Miciah was when she didn't have a mommy and daddy: "And Miciah said, "I would really like to have a Mommy and Daddy who love me." And then Elijah said, ... Well, Elijah, what did Elijah say?" And Elijah said, "Elijah said "Spider-Man will come down and slam the Green Goblin in the head!" :) We both just laughed. Here's this touchy-feely story about the love between parents and their kids and Elijah is thinking about Spider-Man fighting the Green Goblin. Awesome.
Elijah has had a hard time adjusting to Primary. Nursery was free-for-all fun for 2 hours, and the fact that he has to sit still for Primary doesn't make him happy. So we've been having some fun weeks trying to convince him to go. Hopefully those weeks are mostly behind us. But my favorite week was one where he'd decided he would go to our boring class with us instead of going to Primary. Even his best friend wasn't enough of a draw to go to class. Finally I told him I'd go and walk him to his chair and stand by him for a few minutes. He was okay with that. We walked in the door, and his teacher looked at him and smiled in a very friendly way. Elijah responds by raising his fist right in front of his face in a menacing gesture, lowering his chin a little and scowling. Lovely. The other teachers were laughing, or trying not to laugh, and looking at me. I was rolling my eyes. It's funny, but why must my son be returning menacing gestures to people who smile at him? Sometimes I genuinely feel sorry for his teacher.
Miciah
And then there's Miciah. Miciah is doing well in school and loving every minute she's there. She lately has been fighting bedtime, I've probably mentioned that in the last update. Anyways, we've been giving her reading time at bedtime and she's grooving on that. We even got her a lamp for her bed so that she can read as long as she wants. She really likes the freedom this gives her and we're really liking how well bedtime is going!
Miciah had to get her chicken pox booster shot last week because we couldn't find anyone who didn't vaccinate their kids, and so we couldn't find a kid to donate the chicken pox to us. Oh well. Anyways, the shot was a disaster. Miciah threw a HUGE fit. I told Rob I'm not taking Miciah in for a shot again by myself. Teancom cried less for his shots than Miciah did for hers. Yikes. Any suggestions for me?
Tamra's News
My news. This week I got my requested 3rd calling. I am now in Primary, I think as a substitute teacher. Like, the person they'll always ask first to teach a class. Sounds fine to me. With Teancom in Nursery, I'm ready to do a little more. My other two callings are pretty low-key, so I'm glad to have a 3rd.
Also, on Sunday I was finally awarded my Young Womens Recognition Award. I earned it over a year ago when I was still a YW leader. I'm proud of myself for acheiving that, especially since I never got it as a teenager. Go me! It was an added bonus that all of Rob's family was there to see it. I didn't tell them, it was just a fun little surprise. Sunday felt like the Rob and Tamra Thacker Show!
And I'll stop boring you with this update. I even fell asleep a few times while writing it, so my apologies to you as readers.
We send you our love! We're watching the snow accumulate and hoping you're all staying warm and cozy (and no comments from Dad or B. I KNOW you live in sunny CA where it doesn't get below freezing)!
Tamra, Rob, Miciah, Elijah, Cleo, and the fish (including 4 baby fish who are super cute! Having baby fish is WAY better than having a baby human. If the baby fish get eaten or die off, no big deal. The guppies will just have more.)
Here are 2 pictures of Teancom. He's a cutie!
Two more, from the same series.
For some reason, I particularly like blurry pictures. I mean, how beautiful is this one of Teancom? (That's not a question I want you to actually answer, since you probably think blurry pictures are awful, because you're a normal person who likes to see things clearly.)
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