Summer Is Over...Sort Of

Paul made the kids an awesome fort on Sunday. They popped popcorn and watched a movie in there.

This was such a busy week! Monday was our last day of summer break, and we spent a few hours at Al's house. Between my kids being sick, and them going to Arizona for a week, we hadn't been able to play for quite a while. We all loved seeing each other again. Rockwell and Wyatt asked if they could run through the sprinklers, and even though my kids didn't have swimsuits, I said yes. They thought that was so fun. They put the hose on the tramp and jumped through the water. It was a fun last day of summer.

Alpine District started school Tuesday morning. Each district has come up with their own plan for how to go back to school during the pandemic. The whole state is mandated to wear masks at school. Salt Lake District has chosen to do only online learning, some districts are going Monday through Thursday, and some are having half the kids come twice a week and the other half twice a week. Our district is going 5 days a week, but each day is an early out schedule. In the past, we had an early out schedule on Mondays, but now it's every day. So total, the kids are missing out on 4 hours of school a week compared to what they had previous years. As far as the options go across the state, I'm grateful for what our district has chosen to do. About 10% of the population has chosen to continue doing online instruction/homeschool, but the vast majority is excited to have the kids back in the buildings.

Tessa was so excited to start school again that she could hardly sleep Monday night. 

Rockwell wasn't that excited about going back, but he was fine with it. :)

When I picked them up from school, they had switched attitudes about it all though. Rockwell got in the van and said, "This is going to sound weird, but I want to go to school every day!! I'm so glad we're back! I think this will be my favorite year!" He loves his teacher, loves seeing his friends, and really does love learning science, math, and art. Tessa seemed pretty exhausted by the day, and is not excited that the mean kid from her kindergarten class sits right next to her in class. Throughout the week, her days got better and better. She's enjoyed seeing her friends and already made new ones in this class. I'm glad she is adjusting, and hope it just continues to get better. We were all excited to see each other after school got out on Tuesday. We haven't spent much time apart lately, so we missed each other.

Paul and I went to Tanner Melville's wedding Tuesday night. It was a hot, but beautiful ceremony. Tanner could not stop smiling, except for when Alyssa started to walk down the aisle. Then he cried. It was very sweet and we love seeing them so happy and in love. The dinner was delicious, and it was fun to get all dressed up and have a night out with Paul.


Wednesday night I went to Music Man at the Scera with my mom, Mel, Amarie, and Ataiya. I really enjoyed the show. The singing and dancing were great.


Since the kids get out of school at 1:15 every day, and it's still 100 degrees every day, it doesn't quite feel like summer is actually over. We still have plenty of time to do summer activities every day if we want to. After school on Thursday we headed up to South Fork and spent the afternoon there with Katie and Al. It really is the perfect playground. We all love it there.



The girls and Damon played in the river most the time, and the boys had a blast collecting logs and building a fort. We were shocked when we realized it was already 6:00 and time to leave.





My aunt Deenie passed away last week, and her funeral was on Friday. Al's kids don't have school on Fridays, so she offered to have Damon go play at her house during the funeral. I was so grateful for that! It was a very beautiful service and I'm so glad I was able to go, without any kids.


Deenie suffered from schizophrenia most of her adult life, which has made life challenging for her 5 kids. Rachel and Deena lived with us when they were 5 and 2 years old, and  Josh, Phil, and Scott lived with an aunt and uncle on their dad's side during that time. People outside their family refer to that as being the time they were taken away from their mom. I found it so interesting and beautiful that the Hudson kids all refer to that as when their mom was taken away from them. All 5 of them are very successful, loving, healthy adults, and I imagine it's that outlook and understanding of their mom's illness that has provided their ability to love their mom throughout all of the disappointments, heartache, and challenges that they have faced throughout their lives.

During the funeral, I was touched by all the love, understanding, and service that was shown to Deenie. I loved that my mom got much-deserved recognition for all the sacrifices she has made for Deenie. My dad and Rachel both expressed how much she has done over the past 25 years, taking care of Deenie like she was her own sister, and taking care of Deenie's daughters like they were her own as well. Both my dad and mom have been great examples of service and love throughout my life, especially when it comes to Deenie.
Rachel threw Deena a drive-thru baby shower on Saturday. For Rockwell's first Christmas, Deenie gave him the book So Many Bunnies. I remember that every time I saw her in the months leading up to Christmas, she would tell me that she "had something up her sleeve" for Rockwell. :) Deenie was an elementary school teacher, and loved teaching children. Her older kids all talked about their memories of their mom reading to them as children. All three of my kids have loved this book, and I think of Deenie every time I read it to them. I wanted to give it to Deena, as she is about to have her first son. I thought the book should be in their family, and wrote a note about Deenie in the front cover. Tessa and Damon were sad to say goodbye to the book, so I read it to them one more time Friday night.

I happened to be the only one at the shower when I got there, so I was able to park and get out of the car and visit with Deena and Rachel for a while. They're each so fun to talk to, and have grown up beautifully.

I also went to Ataiya's cross country meet Saturday morning. She ran the 5k race, and did amazing!

That is so long to run that fast!! I was so impressed every time she passed by that she was keeping her pace and going strong. She is an awesome runner!


Rockwell had his first official soccer game Saturday afternoon.

Their team played great, and won 4-2. Rockwell played well, even though it was absolutely, miserably hot! I was dripping sweat everywhere, just from watching. All the boys were exhausted when the game was over. I sure hope we get some cool fall weather soon!