Last Week of School

 This was our last week of school. I really can't believe that we went in-person all year long. I named the blog posts by the school weeks because I wanted to keep track of how often we switched to online school because of Covid numbers, but we never had to do that. I'm grateful that we didn't!

Tuesday was the last day that all three kids were in school at the same time and so I went for a run up Provo Canyon. I parked at Bridal Veil Falls parking lot and run up to the Upper Falls trail. I thought I would trail run all the way up to Upper Falls, but I didn't realize how crazy steep that trail is! I definitely couldn't run it, so I just hiked that part, and ran again on the paved trail back down.

The falls are very pretty and it was great to get outside and enjoy my last two hours without kids for a few months. :)

That afternoon Al asked if we wanted to go to Bridal Veil Falls with her and Wyatt and Hallee. Damon was at Wesley's birthday party, but Rockwell, Tessa and I wanted to join them. 

The kids had a great time climbing the waterfall and playing in the water, and Al and I got some time to visit.

The girls were so cute walking down like this.

Timpanogos' graduation was Tuesday morning. Paul enjoyed just showing up and helping out where needed. It was a much more relaxing experience than when he was an administrator. :)

Wednesday was Damon's last day of school and his Kindergarten Graduation. 

We were told that only parents were allowed, but that changed last minute to anyone who wanted to come. Grandpa Ham was already planning on coming down that day to bring us a desk, and so he and Grandma were able to stay and watch Damon's graduation too.

Each of the kids had a speaking part and the class sang some cute songs.

Mrs Anderson had all of the moms who had helped regularly (multiple times a week, each!) come up to be recognized. She had a lot of help this year!!

Damon sure did great things in Kindergarten. It was a rough start to his school career, but I hope it will only get better from here. Despite feeling lost a lot of the time, he truly did his best and worked really hard all year long. His hard work paid off and he learned and grew a ton this year. He loved having Richmond in his class, and all the new friends he made.

I took him to get some frozen yogurt to celebrate completing Kindergarten.

Thursday was the last day of school for Tessa and Rockwell.

Rockwell is very excited for summer, but Tessa is pretty sad about school ending. She loves to see all of her friends every day, and is going to miss them. We got Damon's new splash mat out and the kids had a lot of fun on that.

Friday morning I took the kids on a bike ride to the park. 

Then we all went and hiked to Battle Creek Falls. 

The kids were riding bikes later that afternoon and Damon wanted his training wheels taken off. I worked with him for just a little bit, and then Paul took over while I ran a couple errands. By the time I got back home, Damon was riding around the cul-de-sac with Paul only helping him get started. It was so exciting to see him learn a new skill and be so proud of himself!

That night I went over to Emily Eyre's house to watch the Friends Reunion with some friends. I picked up Katie on the way and we got some dinner before the show. I told Katie that I loved her Friends pants, and Kiara said that I should wear her pair so Katie and I could match. She went and grabbed them for me, and Katie went and put on her Ew David shirt so we could be total twinners. :)

The reunion show was really funny, and it was fun to hang out with everyone for a while. The Elon Musk satellites were really bright that night, and so we went outside to see them. That was really cool to see!

On Saturday, Paul and Rockwell mowed lawns for three different families in the neighborhood. Rockwell's getting quite a little business for an 11-year-old! We love to see him work hard all day without complaining. He's saving his money for a Play Station 5, and is very motivated to earn enough to buy that for himself. They saw snakes at each of the yards and Rockwell thought it was awesome to pet one of them. :)

School Week 37

 We went to Grandma & Grandpa Ham's house for a party for Damon. He loved the gifts he got that night.

Rockwell had another track meet. He was so excited Wyatt was at this one. He did the 100m,  javelin, and running long jump again, and this time he tried the high jump. I was so proud of him for trying that. He felt too nervous to try at the the Heber meet since they haven't been taught how to do it at practice yet. I thought it was awesome that he gave it a try.

Friday was Field Day at Northridge. Damon got to go to school at the same time as Rockwell and Tessa, and he thought that was awesome!

Jill sent me this picture of Tessa and Evie. They have loved being in the same class again this year.

I went over to the school at the end of Field Day and picked up Damon. We watched Rockwell in the relay races. Each of the 4th-6th grade classes had a race to determine the 4 kids who would be on the relay team. Rockwell made it onto the boys team, and their team won the 5th grade race. He was excited about that!

Tessa went home with Morgan for her birthday party that afternoon, and Damon, Rockwell and I went to play at Al's house. Al, Caitlyn and I went to Writ & Vision, a rare books and fine arts store in Provo. There was a Heavenly Mother exhibit there that we all wanted to see. Some of the art pieces didn't resonate with me, but I really loved these two.

I also loved the explanation the creators of the exhibit had posted.

Our Heavenly Mother has been coming up in a lot of conversations recently, in very appropriate and meaningful ways. I have loved seeing other people's desire to know Her, and have really appreciated the frequent reminders of Her presence and love for Her children.

School Week 36

Paul and the kids made Mother's Day great for me again this year. I woke up to sweet notes and presents.

I opened the presents after church. I loved all the new hummingbird things! I got a cute cup, a new feeder, some homes and perches for the birds, chimes, a ring feeder so they can eat from my hand (hopefully), and a paint-by-number of a hummingbird. My family knows me well. :) I sure love being the mother of this family!

I rested and read in the hammock that afternoon, and Paul made us a delicious dinner. It was a perfect Mother's Day.

Rockwell has been doing track in Provo with Wyatt, and had a meet in Heber this week. Wyatt wasn't able to be there, but Rockwell was sure grateful Jonah was there. Track meets can be a little chaotic, but we figured out what he was supposed to do, and he ended up enjoying the night.

He chose to run the 100m, throw the javelin, and do the running long jump. He did a great job at them all.

The meets can be very long. Tessa and Damon were so good about staying where I told them to and making their own fun.

Friday night we went to see if the poppies had bloomed in Alpine. They had not, but we all really enjoyed the hike and seeing all the beauty.

It is really beautiful there, and we're excited to go back in a couple weeks when the poppies bloom.

Saturday was Tessa's dance recital. She took a Ballet/Jazz/Tap combo class this year, and got to perform two numbers. 

She did awesome! Her favorite move was the high kick. :) I really enjoyed seeing what she has learned in tap.

Tessa's favorite part about dance has always been doing it with Hallee. Tess has decided not to dance next year, and just focus on gymnastics. It's been fun to watch her dance all these years, and I'm excited to watch her grow in gymnastics now.

That night we went to Katie's house for a night to remember Kayla. May 15th is the day they lost Kayla, and then we almost lost Katie too. Instead of being full of anxiety and sorrow all day, Katie decided she wanted to spend the day remembering and celebrating Kayla. We all painted rocks for Kayla's memorial gardens that they made for her in their backyard. I loved this idea! I remember when Jen died and our friends gave us a tree to plant in our yard for her, it did help to have somewhere close by to go when I was missing her a little more than usual. It was nice to have a place to go just to think about Jen and feel whatever emotions I was feeling that day. I hope Kayla's memorial gardens will bring some peace to Katie and Ben on the extra hard days.

After the kids painted their rocks, they got in the pool and had a fun night with their friends.

The Nielsons were there too, but Audrey had left before we took this picture. Darn.

We had donuts to celebrate Kayla and Damon's birthday. It was a really great night and I'm glad we could spend it together.