UPDATE: WE STILL EXIST.

With my lazy and sporadic posting of pictures, it looks like the last genuine family update was Christmas of 2012.  Eep!  So here's a rundown of what we're all up to lately:

Conrad is now 16 months.  He started walking at 9 months - just when the ridiculously awful winter hit - and he didn't end up walking outside until he was over a year old.  It was in Sarah's backyard in Iowa and it is sloped and that just blew his mind that the ground could be anything but flat.  He (quite brilliantly, I might add) turned around, got on his stomach and crawled backwards down the hill.  It was high-larious, trust me.

He's got a few words coming, nothing too descriptive yet, but when he says "Up" you really feel like he means it.  "No" tends to mean everything - it could be a greeting, admonition, small talk, whatever.  He is insanely adorable and sweet, and into EVERYTHING.  last week he got into the knife drawer (AK!) fell down the basement stairs and somehow opened the front door and was escaping down the front walk when I luckily glanced over in his direction.  That was all by Wednesday.  He pulls EVERYTHING off the counters, does his best to destroy all the library books, steal a violin bow out of someone's hand while they are playing - and his goal in life is to break into the bathroom and steal Forster's toothbrush.  Forster actually has piano and violin lessons standing/sitting on the kitchen table because it's the only place Conrad can't climb yet (all the chairs are stacked in a pile in the corner of the kitchen.)  Also, finding a marker somewhere for a snack is a dream come true, hence the photo above.  

He's truly a joy, but MAN.  

Forster will be 5 next month!  He just finished 4K and spent most of the time charming his teachers.  It was a room full of aides and teachers that he somehow conned into snuggling him constantly.  It might have been because he routinely told them how beautiful they were and how much he loved them.  Seriously.  He spent most of the year being OBSESSED with geography and his knowledge of geographical trivia is pretty impressive - especially of our town.  He spent so much time searching out the streets here in Google Maps that he can give people directions almost anywhere in town.  Maybe he could be a taxi driver for Baraboo when he grows up?  That knowledge has to come in handy at some point.

He has been playing the violin for a year and a half now, and the piano for almost a year.  He can't read anything without doing a dramatic reading of it.  You can tell where he is in any part of the house because he is reading Calvin and Hobbes so passionately and LOUDLY.  Everything he reads that he likes has to be done out loud, in character, to no one in particular.  He is currently trying to survive having a younger brother who is constantly trying to destroy everything.

Solei is going to be 8 in October.  Just let that sink in.  EIGHT.  It's insane!  She continues to be a creative and independent young lady who constantly amuses and confuses us.  She just finished 2nd grade this year - although she started the year in 1st.  After years of teachers not knowing what to do with our little outlier, she was accelerated up a grade (on my birthday) and it has been very surprisingly undramatic.  We'd met with school counselors and psychologists and fretted about all the difficulties it could cause, and then she just went in and fit in like it was the most natural thing in the world.  The only issue is that it shaved off a year for me to have her at home and she'll be leaving for college one year earlier, so this keeps me up and night.  She and her cousin Elisabeth have resolved any worry about this in their minds by deciding to be roommates and BYU their freshman year.

I let her start reading Harry Potter this summer and she's currently heading to the end of the 5th book.   She gives me a play by play of everything that is happening and it has been wonderful to see her enjoy them and share them with me.  Her violin and piano are both doing well.  She actually learned a song my band plays and got up on stage (three times!) to play and sing it with us.  This is her playing it with us at the Blairsville Scottish Games this June:

She played at a show with me here and Baraboo and when I got an offer for another gig after that, they specifically asked me to bring Solei along to play some more tunes. She's also teaching herself ukulele this summer because why not?

Reva (me) is still marginally functional, despite living in CODE RED all the time because you never know what Conrad is going to do next.  Jared did some fancy wheeling and dealing and he got the BlarneyGirls a gig here in Baraboo at the Concerts on the Square this June!  Due to rain we ended up playing inside the Al Ringling theater which was an AMAZING venue.  Things have gone really well for us and we have a few new gigs this year!  You can catch a huge amount of live videos from the Blairsville festival here.

Jared is still bishoping up a storm.  Heck, he's bishoping right now.  He even taught himself how to rehair a violin bow the other day and when we thought Solei's was a goner.  All this man needs are a few tools and a youtube tutorial and there's almost nothing he can't do.  I'm currently blanking on updates for him, so I'll have him add another entry soon.

In conclusion, things in the middle of 2014 are looking pretty darn awesome and we are thrilled to be a family.