So in the backdrop of a lot of national craziness, a lot of anger and fear.... I will report on the happy moments of our month! Finishing the school year had increased significance for me as you can imagine! Being the sole teacher to my four lovely children was not what I had planned on and was pretty challenging. Though it held with it many special moments, and was completely necessary and manageable- it was also a bit draining. Refer to numerous pictures below of clay projects, video presentations, musical video presentations (Let it Be on ukuele for Grant's passion project), chalk obstacle courses, etc! Today I'm taking a step away from the kids to journal all of this. I have spent every waking moment of the past few months with them and it feels good to close and lock my door and spend an hour writing by myself!
Although it was certainly a relief to finish school on June 11th, it was also a little daunting to think of summer beginning after 3 months of homeschool and most entertainment venues closed! Of course we held our annual End of Year Party with a candy bar and swimming.... but this year, no parents and just one friend each. We enjoyed an amazing "Orange you Glad it's Over?" party at Grandma and Grandpa's house where we all dressed in orange, ate Pick up Stix ( a luxury we hadn't experienced in MONTHS) and all sorts of other orange foods including orange donuts and orange rice krispie treats. The kids swam in a pool full of orange balls and walked away with a darling party favor bag full of orange treats. It was so much fun as Grandma's parties always are!
And once summer set in, we began to fill the time with all sorts of amazing things-- first and foremost- a BOAT! Blake surprised us on a trip up to Lake Mead to visit with old friends from our BYU college days. We assumed we'd be traveling on their boats for the weekend, but Blake had pulled the trigger on a vessel of our own. We have been in heaven spending weekends at the Reservoir and inviting friends and family to join us as we learn how to wake surf and launch our boat! ha! It's a heck of a lot scarier than it looks! But it's also more fun than we could've imagined and we are thrilled. Our trip to Lake Mead was an important one in which Blake's best buddies- Adam and Andy- really helped him learn all the ins and outs and navigation of the world of boating. We had a blast with 17 children, 8 adults and 3 boats out on Lake Mead. We ended our trip on Father's day which was incredibly special as we held our own little sacrament meeting and listened to each father share their testimony of Christ and what it meant to them to be a father. It was a special weekend and one we won't soon forget!
The week before lake mead- we traveled up to the same area to "rent a boat" and try our hand at the process. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and we weren't able to rent due to strong winds. Instead of canceling our trip, we enjoyed a little relaxation at the condo we rented on Lake Las Vegas. We had fun shopping, kayaking, and visiting the local water park at 1/2 capacity. I enjoyed creating memes out of the pics I had taken of the kids looking miserable whilst kayaking in 105 degree weather.
Other highlights of the month included lots of family hikes- including one to a beautiful water fall in Penasquitos. The kids enjoyed hopping in after we'd made it to our destination. A Hamilton viewing party without guests (Dang Covid!) was about the best night EVER! I had decorated and we enjoyed Aaron Burr-gers and Guns and "Chips". The musical was everything I had dreamed it would be after listening to it about 5 million times and having every word memorized. Having Blake and the kids watch with me was a dream because Blake has always found it an annoying soundtrack. I don't blame him because it definitely grows on you. But he LOVED the show and it was just a special night.
"Grant Camp" a day camp that Grant organized, planned and put together to earn money for a hoverboard was an extreme success! It was 3 days for 3 hours a day. We had 12 kids and one assistant (Elizabeth) to pay! It was a lot of work preparing crafts, games, baking projects, story times, prizes and other various activities, but Grant really pulled it off and earned a whopping $300! And it was so much fun truly- for our kids and hopefully the other children in attendance. I was tired at the end, but also- I really like kids, so it was kinda fun for me.
Grant had an amazing few days at Grandma and Grandpa's house where he was also able to hang out with Uncle Troy and the dogs one morning for donuts and a hike. He was in heaven bowling, swimming at the community club slide, eating at his favorite restaurants, swimming and talking with Grandpa in the hot tub and making early morning pancakes! He learned how to play jacks with grandma and loved every second of his time with them. I'm not sure my kids realize how lucky they are to have such loving family in their life.
Dane has spent a lot of his month continuing to increase his grilling skills- a newfound talent that I will never tire of bragging about. HA! He is SO GOOD AT IT and it makes my life a dream because he will always be in charge of dinner from this point in my life on!!!!!!! Dane has really grown up the past few months. He's taller than me. His voice is so low- it's crazy. He spends a lot of time with his buddies- Jack, Jarron, Kristoph, Beck, Braxton, Luke and Ryan. He's just a great kid in general and I'm so grateful for his loving and kind heart and helpful attitude. He has worked hard on soccer all year and it's really showing on the field. He won an academic award at school for his grades. He now only wants me to "text" his list of things to do each day rather than write it out on the white board as I do for the other kids! I have an example of my text below. He wants to be better and work on spending his time wisely, so I try to help him come up with ideas- like the Yale Happiness Course or Ted Talks. He is my favorite child right now. Haha.
Anna has been sporting around the new necklace that Grandma gave her for her upcoming baptism. It is a charm necklace full of charms that represent her and it's adorable. Evelyn has one too that she received for her baptism. Anna begged for a sports bra this month. I mean she begged and begged and begged. The child is 8 but apparently Nora has one???? Anyway- she saved her money and bought one. Often I find her in my closet trying on my shoes, lipstick and other accessories. The other day after getting all decked out- in my shoes and sunglasses she said : "Im mommy. Go away please!" It would've made me feel bad that the one thing she thinks I say most often is " Go away" but in actuality, lately it's pretty accurate and generalized across all of the children. Ha! Just read the text below where she is asking for screen time-- she's starting to get a little tiny bit of an attitude! But- nothing I can't handle. She's a walk in the park most days. I've enjoyed watching Anna work hard at learning how to ride a bike and now roller blade. She bought her own rollerblades after doing loads of chores and she works daily at increasing her art. It's not easy- but she keeps at it and I'm so proud of that little peanut!
Evelyn studied hard to take the test and get her Learner's permit last month! We waited in a four hour line OUTSIDE (Dang Corona!) but it happened and she's been driving all over town ever since. The first time we took an outing with all the kids- Anna wore a helmet and held on tight to me in the backseat. I could relate to what poor Anna was going through! It was terrifying! But truthfully, she's a pretty good driver and it's been fun watching her learn a new skill. Along with driving, Ev spends much of her time with Eddie and Louie- she's the official cat whisperer in this house. She passed her first year of SEMINARY-- not easy for a girl who is about the farthest thing from a morning person as you can get! She loves learning tik tok dances and will even teach little sis most days. She was the most excited of anyone I know to get her nails done with Grandma once the restrictions lifted! Ev enjoyed a weekend with Emma and Caylie up in Big Bear for Emma's birthday and loved spending time with her two best buddies. Of course, photo shoots were involved. And last but not least- Evelyn started a voice lesson business. She currently has 6 students and earns $40 an hour teaching 1/2 hour lessons to elementary age students. It's pretty adorable.
And what have I been doing as of late? With school officially finished, I've enjoyed lazy days in the pool, visits to the beach, walks with my friends.... sometimes combining walks with friends and the beach for special occasions like Mel's birthday! I've been ordering ADORABLE dresses from a new company Evelyn got me into-- Shein! It's been fun to order a new dress here and there when you can't really shop (Dang Corona!) Putting together gift baskets and other presents for Blake's staff during Ortho Staff Appreciation week. Visiting little baby Sophie- though I don't hold her yet with all the germs around. Putting together virtual singing times for our ward (We'll Bring the World his Truth was our latest learn). And SO much fun-- having two dear friends who I hadn't seen in ages come to town for a quick visit--- Robin and Jen!!! My old BYU roomies!!! With their kids. I enjoyed one special day visiting with them and relaxing out back and it was seriously the best day ever. There is nothing like an old friend. We hadn't had a good long talk- probably for 10 years- but it didn't matter because we picked up right where we left off and I loved every minute. Since taking the happiness course at Yale (on-line) I've taken two practices incredibly seriously. 1. Always think of 5 things you're grateful for at the end of the day before you go to bed and 2. Savor at least 3 moments in the day-- just take a moment to savor exactly what is happening and not think to the future or the past. I learned so much, but these two techniques have increased my joy substantially. Though things are insane in the world right now and there is so much uncertainty everywhere I turn, I am beyond grateful for the people I have in my life and the love I feel for God every moment.
