"For unto us a child is born; unto us a son (or daughter) is given"

Well, around June 5th anyway, if all goes well. It's true. I'm 44 and expecting our fifth child. Luke will be 13 by then, and Lindy is and will still be 21, and possibly getting married around then.
"What were they thinking!" you say? Well, we were thinking that we've always wanted more children than four (Paul is the oldest of nine, I'm in the middle of six). But because of circumstances too numerous to detail here -- mostly me needing to supplement our income for many years -- we decided after Luke that four beautiful kids was sufficient.
What I wasn't counting on was this: I was only 31 when Luke was born. I thought that by the time I was in my forties that I'd be done with needing little guys around. I thought I'd WANT freedom from runny noses and crayon on the walls. I was wrong. And last spring when Luke grew enormously and his voice changed and he graduated from Primary, I was immensely sad. I knew we only had one more year with Quinn at home and then it would just be Luke and I during the days. And having already sent two off to college I had learned one sad fact: when they leave, they don't really ever come back. I've only seen my beautiful oldest daughter for a few weeks this year.
So anyway, we're praying that all be well with this baby. I'm healthy and feel perfect, so we'll see how this goes, and we'll see what we'll do from here -- there will be more decisions to be made.
BTW -- the kids are SUPER excited. One of our reasons for coming to Idaho was to have the whole family together to make the announcement. We handed the kids a Christmas card with the ultrasound pics inside, and they just sat there stunned and unbelieving for a while, but then pandemonium broke loose. I don't think Luke has stopped smiling yet.

2010 in review

This year has been one of much progress in our family. Some of us made physical progress, like the huge growth spurt Luke had. Others made educational progress: Lindy is in the last year of her geology major and loving it and Adrianne has finally settled on manufacturing engineering as her major. Quinn excelled on the SAT and is preparing to attend BYU and Paul attended a seminar to learn to do some very specialized economic modeling which will make him even more valuable to his company. Some of us made progress in organizational life skills: Jeni is now the Stake Young Women President and learning to juggle what that calling entails, Quinn completed his Eagle Scout project and has not missed a day of seminary.

We continue to develop our talents: writing, art, woodworking, and music. Adri has had lots of opportunities to play her guitar with several different groups. Lindy is always off seeing the geological wonders of the west with her geology classes, and she’s really becoming quite the rock hound. Quinn has been taking voice lessons, and Luke is learning piano, so some day they can perform together for their parents.

There’s something else afoot in the progress department, but you’ll have to check back on Christmas day or later to find out!