Update from Michigan

Hi everyone! We wanted to update you on our family out here in Michigan. Things have been going well, and Van updated our blog with tons of pictures. The kids have been having a great time for the summer, despite the daily chores and workbooks Van got them to do so they don't lose their smartness over the summer. Kelsey will be 12 on Thursday and is almost as tall as Van now. In fact, Kelsey has been borrowing some of her mother's clothes and even fits in Van's viet ao dai that she wore for our wedding! She has had her interview with the Bishop and will be moving on to Young Women's (far too soon, if you ask me). She continues to play the violin and does very well with it; only minimal squeaking when she practices! We sometimes play duets with the violin and piano, and it still amazes me how well she sight reads the music. Khai is 9 and still fearless. We went to a friend's house on a lake a few weeks ago and he loved tubing behind the speed boat. He made us let him go by himself and kept saying "Faster!" He caught a toad and now has a pet all to himself, and he continues to exhibit a keen eye for detail and an inquisitive mind. Although curiosity killed the cat, it mostly just gets Khai in trouble. :) Khai is taking an interest in baseball and we've begun to practice throwing, catching and hitting. Of course, I feel like the dad in that VW commercial, but hopefully he's better at sports than I am. Unfortunately, his hearing continues to degrade and we are waiting to see if it continues. We have begun to discuss the option of a cochlear implant, but we are still a ways away from deciding anything. Emily is 6 now and still as fun as always. She loves to draw and reminds me a lot of David when she draws. She makes great drawings and includes details most kids (or adults) never think of (like the nose supports on glasses when she's drawing the face of someone wearing glasses). She loves crafts of all sorts and definitely got Van's aptitude for creativity. She loves to roller blade around the neighborhood and is already known and loved by her teacher at school. Van has always volunteered for tasks with the kids' classrooms, and she started volunteering (without being asked) to help at the kids' school for lunch. They like her a lot and offered her a part time position as a lunch assistant. With all three kids in school, Van decided to work and took on a second job for a while at a local hotel as their breakfast attendant. The lunch coordinator at the kids' school became pregnant, so they asked Van to take over and work every day instead of just one or two. So, Van has been working at the school for the summer program and is preparing to continue with the school when the school year starts. The job pays didly squat (because it's public school, of course), but Van enjoys it and the enjoys the people she works with. Being at the school is great, too, since she has time off when the kids have time off and doesn't have to work holidays or weekends. Van is also still serving as the Activity Day Girls leader and does a fantastic job, as usual. She sometimes mentions how tiring it is to think up, coordinate and carry out the activities every time, but because she's so great she continues to give 110% and the girls absolutely love her for it. I have been out of school since mid May and it has been great! I've been catching up on sleep and have been able to actually spend time with Van and the kids. Last January, Hobbs + Black (where I have worked for almost 5 years) took me down to half time as the company is in financial difficulty. I continued to hold out and wait for them to bring me back to full time, but after 6 weeks I started to apply elsewhere. I took a consulting job for another firm in Ann Arbor; a small 6-person firm. Between the two jobs I was back to full-time, but it soon became clear Hobbs + Black wouldn't be bringing me back to full-time anytime soon. They went through five rounds of lay-offs, and began to move in a direction I didn't want to take my career. My title is BIM Manager (Building Information Modeling) and am in charge of training on the Revit software; a 3D architecture modeling software replacing the 2D AutoCAD. I also support the software and hardware, derive and generate company standards, and move the company forward with technology. Unfortunately, H+B began to pull back from Revit and decide they were going to wait until they were forced to move forward, essentially taking me back to a draftsman working in AutoCAD. In June I was head-hunted and received an offer from a firm in Detroit comparable in size to H+B to be their BIM Manager. When I mentioned the offer to the small Ann Arbor firm where I was consulting (Box Studio), they immediately matched the offer and said they couldn't let me go. Not having to commute an hour to Detroit is a huge plus, and Van and I felt great about taking the job with Box. I started at Box full time a few weeks ago as their BIM Manager and Senior Intern Architect. As a small firm, the majority of projects are small with quick turnaround, but it's exciting work. I also get to design a lot, and the people at Box are wonderful to work for/with. They will also work around my school schedule (I start school again in September and have four more semesters to go (two years) to finish my Bachelor's degree). We love you all and hope everyone is doing well. We look forward to the family reunion, and, although I'm never commenting or sharing on the blog, I do read it. So keep sharing! Love you all!