Alex

Well, I'm finally sitting down to post about my kids! I think I'm becoming more Dominican than I care to admit...I'm just taking my time to do just about everything :)

Alex

Alex has been taking swimming lessons this year at the Ashton School. He swims for P.E. on Wednesdays and then has extra lessons after school two days a week. He was scared that first day, but it wore off quick and Alex is now a fish!

He has improved very quickly and loves being in the water. His swimming teachers are excellent and have really made the experience a good one for him. As always, Alex works hard to become a better swimmer and student. His classroom teacher has been giving him third and fourth grade work, but it's still not enough! I talked to her today about reassessing him because it looks like he's beyond grade six in reading. He can't get enough science, as always, and has also become interested in books about magic. He has read two of the Narnia books most recently, and is working on finishing the Book of Mormon on his own. His goal is to have it read before he gets baptized this summer. He's on track to accomplish this goal. Almost every weekend morning I find Alex up before the rest of us on the couch reading the Book of Mormon. He understands so much of what he reads and he is able to remember so much! If I have a question, I can ask Alex and he'll know. We're anxious to see what he decides to be when he grows up and where the Lord sends him on a mission!

He's growing like a weed too! I hardly have to bend over anymore to kiss him-I just look down! He'll pass me up in another couple of years or so (not too hard to do, I know). He's also enjoying the arts here in the D.R. He has enjoyed buying souvenirs from the local artists who have been at a store nearby doing a bazaar.

We sure are proud of this kid! He never stops creating. He told me the other day that he bought those carvings that you see him with in this picture as "examples" to use when he can use a knife and carve his own. Which reminds me. He has a few new skills. He is allowed to light the match I use to light the stove (with supervision), and he can also iron his clothes with supervision. He also asks me all the time if he can have his own login and password on the computer. That's still a "no." This is Alex and I in the Atlantic Ocean. We were at a beach called Puerta Plata on the North side of the island. We were freezing, but it was fun. (The kid in blue is from Utah and is in our ward-he's fun too.)

This is Alex at Veinte siete Charcos, which is "twenty seven waterfalls." It was cloudy all day so you can't see it, but one of the waterfalls is in the background of this picture, behind all these random tourists. We didn't take very many pictures there because there were so many people and the light was not cooperating!

Sooooooooo, that's Alex! Oh, he has also lost another tooth which brings the total up to six now. The next post will feature Emma :)