Seletive Mutism

I just found this blog post and was sad to read it. I had a little girl last year who was diagnosed with Selective Mutism after a long hard year of trying to figure out what was going on. Shortly after the year began I know that this little girl was more then just shy. I had another little girl in the class that was shy but I was able to get her to warm up to me and talk and so were other people. Yes she got scared and hide behind me or her mom. Yes she was clingy when new situations arose but with some encouragement she would eventually jump right in. This other little girl was not this way. I felt like crying any time I thought of how this little girl acted in class, in library, in small groups, etc. Everything you asked her to do was like pulling teeth to get her to do it. She shied away from doing lots of things including just her work in class. As a team we worked hard to find things to help her. I tried so many different things and didn't put pressure on her, encouraged others that were shy to invite her into play with them, etc. Gradually we broke into her shell and helped her feel more confident at school. I know she made so much progress and I am nervous about her for next year with so many new changes but I have confidence in just reading this blog in knowing that with everyone working together things will be okay in the end. I am so glad I looked at the signs different then this other girl's teachers and got this girl the help she needed at a young age so she can be given the tools to help her through her school experience. Make sure you aren't labeling things as "shy" or "timid" if it is on the extreme side. Look into things and make sure it is what it is and not something you could help them with.

Double Date-Mulligans

Brian has a friend that he worked with up at Utah State that is interning in Riverton at the same place Brian is working. So we found a night that we could get together and go on a double date before they head back to Logan to finish up school. We started the date eating at a really yummy sandwich place. I don't fully remember what it was called but I remember where it was. So we will probably go back again. Then we went to Mulligan's golf place and did a round of mini golf. Since we finished up mini golf early we then hit a bucket of balls. This is where I pulled out the camera. It was a funny night full of lots of laughs. I am glad we got the chance to get together before they left to go to California and then back to school. Here are the funny/blurry pictures of the funniest moments hitting the bucket of balls.

The funniest part was this last part when we played Chip-Chip. We basically laughed while this guy chip-chipped. He was going so crazy with some of his shots that we were dying of laughter. Then it got better when he lost the ball and then went to hit it and lost the club. It flew right out of his hands and way out on to the driving range. Good thing the driving range was basically closed for a night golf tournament so he only had to ask one person to wait just a minute while he ran around in the dark trying to find the club. Luckily he found it.
Oh it was a night not to be forgotten. Fun times.

Our New Place

One of the worst things about our new place was just moving in. Brian and I haven't moved in 5 years!! We hate moving but I guess we better get use to it since I think we will be moving more now as we get experience and work toward our new careers. Now we are slowly making our new place feel like home. We just got furniture for our 2 front rooms and we are hanging up pictures and artwork. It feels like home already but we hope to make it look like home too more in the next couple months.
Here are the pictures of our place so far:

This is our guest bedroom

The closet to the guest bedroom that is huge and being used as storage and it connects to the playhouse but we blocked that off.

Our room

The playhouse room

Front room with our new reclining couches.

Front entrance.

Other side of the door

Other side of the front room we have set up as a sitting room. This is one side.

This is the other side.

The hallway that leads to the kitchen and laundry/storage room

Storage room and laundry room. We love our new washer and dryer.

One half of the kitchen

Other half of the kitchen.

Our huge pantry

That is our place except the bathroom. Which I just forgot to take pictures of. We love our home and the place that we live. It is beautiful and has a great ward. Everyone is super nice and friendly. We are excited to see what adventures we get to enjoy while living here.

Park City Soccer Tournament

Every year we have enjoyed going to Park City with Brian's family and watching all the nieces and nephews in soccer games. This year was no different. It was fun to head up and spend time with everyone. It is always a last hurrah before the end of the summer. We ended the tournament well with one gold and 2 silvers. We were happy to be able to stay for all the games. I didn't take a lot of pictures except when we hit the Alpine Slide.

The sun moved and glared the camera.

 We all stayed at the cabin and had to get a picture of us all together before we headed out and our separate ways since most weren't able to stay all day.

So we switched positions and it worked out much better.

The rest of July

July was a busy month for Brian and I. We started Brian's new job, found a place to live, and moved in. Before we moved though we spent a fun day with some of Brian's family at Lagoon. It was a fun day since the park wasn't too crowded so we got on to rides super fast. Plus we had fun going on a lot of the rides with our niece and nephew. Overall it was a blast and I forgot how much fun we can have at Lagoon on rides and just having fun visiting with family. We didn't take very many pictures but I got some of us on the Ferris Wheel.

 Then after Lagoon we moved that weekend into our new place. I have a new post about our place though. We had some tickets for Real Soccer with Jan and Spencer. It was great being close to the park and enjoying a night out. We are trying to squeeze in as many of these moments with family as we can while it is still summer and before they all move away and it is a further drive.

 So July ended with new places and new changes for us but we are loving it so far.