School is Out!

This month has been so busy!  Today was the last day of school and the kids are happy to be home.  They all did great finishing up their school year and I am proud of them and the things they accomplished.  I enjoyed finishing up my time as a library volunteer.  One day the librarian had a luncheon for all the volunteers.  I enjoyed going and visiting with the other women and being a part of something like that.  The same day was a volunteer appreciation for all school volunteers.  I enjoyed that too.  The principle thanked everyone for their work and said they are the top school in the district for volunteer hours.  

A couple of weeks ago Neal took the kids on the Sandia Tram.  They have tried going a couple of times and something is always not working and they can’t go up.  This time they got to do it!  I didn’t want to do it, heights bother me too much and I didn’t think I could handle it.  I enjoyed a quiet morning at home alone.  They had a great time.  It is a tram car that goes from the valley to the top of Sandia mountain.  Neal said it took about 15 minutes for the car to get up to the top.  The view looks great from their pictures.  I have driven up to the top of the mountain before, we did that last fall, so I know it is neat to see all of Albuquerque from the top.  From our home we can see the cable lines for the tram and sometimes can see a car moving on it.  They had a fun trip.  They hiked around and played on the top and then rode back down.

We had Stake Conference two weeks ago.  I enjoyed hearing some wonderful messages about temples at the adult session.  Ruth sang in a youth choir for the Sunday session.  They sounded great.  Ruth enjoyed singing with them.

Last week I went to the track meets for the elementary school kids.  Caleb was the first day with the K -2^nd grade kids.  He did great running and loved being in a race.  He also did a mini javelin throw.  While I was waiting in line with him for that javelin I was watching how slow it was going and went to the front and asked the women running it if they needed help.  I ended up helping for over an hour with the measuring.  The kids had fun with it.  The second day I went and watched Spencer and Andrew do events.  They both did the javelin too and again I helped with the measuring until after Spencer threw, then I left to watch Andrew run a relay race.  He did a 4 man 200 M relay.  Andrew was the 4^th man on the team.  I was at the finish line to see him come in.  He told me afterwards that out of the seven teams he was 6^th to get the baton.  Then he ran hard and passed people.  He ended up coming in 3^rd place.  I thought that was great.  He also got 5^th place in 5^th grade boys for the javelin throw. 

Through out the year the boys participated with a runners club.  They ran every week and kept track of their miles all year.  Andrew ended with 30 miles and Spencer had 15.  The best part was they both earned an award for the top boy runner in their grade for runners club, meaning they ran the most out of all the other boys in their grades.  They both enjoy running.

We had our friends Jack and Miles come over and play after school one Wednesday, an early release day.  They were here for a few hours and we had fun with them.  Their family is moving to another home in the area and will be changing what school they go to so we will miss seeing them at school next year.  

Ruth had her final band concert last week.  We went to it and enjoyed hearing all the bands play.  It was a long concert though.  They had some elementary school bands playing too.  I was worn out from sitting for three hours.  The boys did great listening to it all too and behaved well.  

Caleb had a “Bed Time Story Night” with his class.  We went to the school in the evening and listened to the kids read stories that they had written together.  They were fun stories and the kids did a great job.  I liked that we got a copy of all the stories in a little book to keep.  That night Caleb’s teacher also passed out certificates for completion of Kindergarten.  Caleb has loved going to school and loved his teacher.  He even had perfect attendance.  

I was able to go to a friends home, Shannon, for a ladies night activity.  I enjoyed visiting with other women and eating treats.  It was a fun evening.  I am glad I can go to things like that and get to know people better.  I am also Shannon’s visiting teacher and enjoyed a visit with her.  Her daughter was in Caleb’s kindergarten class so we would see each other often throughout the year.  

I went to the eye doctor and my eyes have changed again.  This time the negative number got a little smaller, I think it is because I have given up contacts and my eyes have adjusted.  I still feel frustrated that it is expensive to get bifocals.  Our insurance doesn’t pay as much as our last vision insurance.  I hope that the glasses work well for me.

Last Friday Neal and the boys went on the Father and Son’s camp out.  They had a fun time. They enjoyed visiting and playing with the others there.  Ruth and I enjoyed some time together too. We bought our dinner from a chicken place and then came home and watched “Once I was a Beehive.”  It was a fun, cute movie about girls camp. 

Then Saturday after the boys camping trip we decided to let them play in the water.  We turned on the water and filled up the little pool in our yard.  The kids had so much fun playing in it.  Sunday we got the fountain running and enjoyed watching it and splashing around while we ate our dinner outside.  It was such a pleasant evening.  

A rose in our garden

Monday I went to Andrew’s 5^th grade promotion assembly.  He was happy to finish with 5^th grade and elementary school.  After their assembly the kids went swimming at a high school pool.  Andrew had a great time.  

Andrew getting his award, he is the child on the right end

Andrew with his teacher, he liked that he was almost as tall as her

Andrew made tie died shirts last week and he is enjoying wearing it

Tuesday Ruth had fun with a 7^th grade dance at the school in the afternoon.  She said it was funner than she though it would be.  She enjoyed being with her friends today after school.  They walked over to Rita’s, an ice cream shop and had a treat before coming home.  I am glad she has made many good friends this year.

Yesterday I went to Caleb’s ice cream party at the school to end kindergarten.  I enjoyed being with his class one last time.  Spencer had fun in his class room.  They wore pajamas and watched a movie.  They all have enjoyed the end of year activities.  

Caleb and his teacher

Spencer and his teacher (yes, she is standing up, she is a short lady and I think Spencer liked that)

Last night we had Pack Meeting at 6:00.  We had our dinner early and were getting ready to leave.  We had been asked to bring a 2 L bottle of root beer.  It was 5:50 and I was rushing to get out the door so we would be on time.  Then I heard an explosion.  I ran to see what happened.  Andrew had been swinging around the root beer and dropped it.  The lid broke and the soda exploded.  He was by the front door and root beer went everywhere in our entry way.  Ruth was quick and grabbed a handful of rags that we could start mopping up the soda running across the floor before it got to carpet.  The root beer was on the walls, the stairs, the ceiling!  It was a mess.  I was discouraged but I think handled things okay.  We got it mopped up and then I decided we should go to Pack Meeting.  Neal met us at the park for the activity time.  I told him what happened at home.  Neal and Andrew worked on cleaning up more when they got home.  This morning I found a section that was missed and cleaned that up.  The house smells a little like root beer still.  I will probably see more some time that we missed cleaning up.  

Last night Ruth and I left Pack meeting early to go to a special Young Women activity.  The girls dressed up in wedding dresses women let them borrow and they modeled the dresses.  Then we had a nice message about temples and the importance of keeping yourself worthy to be in the temple.  They also had good treats.  We enjoyed being with the young women and the family members who came.  I had brought my wedding picture to share in the photo area they had set up.  I had people comment on how nice I looked and I wished Ruth could have worn my dress last night.  I remember how pretty it was on her last Christmas when she tried it on. (My dress is in Utah.)

Well, that is some of the high lights of the last couple of weeks.  I hope that our summer time isn’t so busy, but it will be.  The kids will have lots of fun things going on and I am sure we will have a great summer.  

Happy School Days

The end of the school year is quickly approaching and there are lots of activities going on. Last week at the elementary school the did a “Bike to Denver” activity.  Neal, Andrew and Spencer participated.  They rode their bikes from the school along a route about 8 miles long.  Then each biker got to record their miles and then they added them up.  They rode enough miles together to get to Denver and back plus more.  They enjoyed the activity.  Caleb and I played on the play ground while we waited from them to come back.  We enjoyed some time together too.

Last Friday we went to a PTA Reflections open house reception for the students who had work that went to State PTA judging.  Andrew had one of his pictures that was in that group.  We enjoyed some good refreshments and looking at the art.  Ruth went to a choir practice for a youth choir that will sing in Stake conference this Sunday.  

Saturday we had a family activity of going to the park for a picnic and to fly kites.  It was a bit windy but worked pretty good with the kites.  The kids had lots of fun with it.  We cooked up some hamburgers and enjoyed our lunch too.  It was good to take a break from organizing the house and have some fun together.

Sunday was Mother’s Day.  I enjoyed the little cards and crafts the kids gave me.  Neal was nice and cooked all the meals and with help from the kids did the clean up too.  Ruth helped fixed dinner and made a pumpkin pie with Neal.  It was all so nice.  It was different to not be the one cooking. I am thankful for my family.  I enjoyed talking on the phone to my mom too.

Last night Andrew enjoyed going with his new Webelos den hiking.  He is always happy to be outside to hike or bike around.  He is very active.  We moved into a ward with a large den for Andrew to join. There are 9 boys in the group.  That is nice for him.  Ruth enjoyed going to a Young Women activity last night.  She is enjoying being with a new group of girls too.  Most of them she has met through school.  She is also happy that her friends from the other ward she still sees at school every day.  

Last night we also had the missionaries over for dinner.  I enjoyed visiting with them.  I thought it was great they did some service by working with Neal to carry up the stairs our food storage boxes (ones with #10 cans in them) to put under the beds.  I like having them under the beds because then the kids don’t end up with a mess under their beds.  Now the last big project we have is getting the boxes of books unpacked and organized.  We did set up the TV last Saturday but so far it hasn’t been used.  I think it is good we don’t do much with it.  We got the book shelves where we want them, now I just need to get the books organized on them.

I enjoyed working in the yard last Saturday.  I was trimming up the roses.  I haven’t counted yet but have about 10 rose bushes through out the yard.  They smell so good.  I cut a few to bring inside to enjoy.  It is a pretty time of year.  Not too hot and flowers everywhere.  

The view from my back yard

Last week I found out my cousin Mads will be going to Baylor University to work on a doctorate degree.  He will be going to Waco this summer and starting in August.  I had a nice phone visit with him last week.  He is excited for the opportunity.  I was answering many of his questions about the area and schools and church.  It would have been fun if I was still living there.  I don’t think I have met his wife and now they have been married for a few years and have 5 kids.  I am glad we could talk on the phone.  I hope he can find a good place to live and be there.  He said they really liked the Hewitt area when they were driving around.  They will be back there this week end to look at housing more.  I also understand that his parents are planning on moving out with him.  

I am thankful for family.  I know I say that often but I really mean it.  I am thankful I have connections with good people because we are related.  If anyone wants to come visit us this summer we would love to see you.  

We Made It!

Life has been busy.  So busy in fact that I am still trying to get things organized in the new house.  I feel frustrated that some days I don’t get much done besides keeping up with regular life!  

We did most the moving on our own.  Neal took the seat out of the suburban and was able to move most of the stuff with it.  We did rent a U-Haul truck to get the big stuff.  Neal invited some friends over to help and had a great turn out.  The men were able to move the big things, including the piano, and did a great job with everything.  I really appreciated their help.  By Saturday April 17^th we were all into the new house.  It was a big job.  In fact while I was packing I ran out of boxes and had to go over to the house and empty boxes and bring them back to fill again.  Thankfully we were only moving about 1 1/2 miles, so it made it easier to make so many trips.  The kids were a great help too, Andrew especially.  He just kept working and asking what else he could do.  It was a busy week.  I also had to clean the rental house.  I had some help from friends and I appreciated that.  Now I am just trying to keep up with life and organize when I can.  I still have lots in boxes and some rooms are a bit messy, but we will work through it all.  I am thankful to be here.  I remember when I first saw the ad for the house and looked at the pictures it just felt right.  I immediately expressed interest and got an appointment to see the house.  After seeing it I just felt right about it.  Later when we did an inspection and we were at the house I walked in and felt like I was coming home.  It just feels right to be here.  It has been a stressful time going through the process of buying and moving but I believe it is where we need to be. It is still stressful as we are working on getting settled and getting our lives in order in a new place.  I hope things can settle down soon.  

We were getting ready to move things over to the new house and it started to snow.  Later in the day it turned to a light rain.  We still got a lot done that day.

I am thankful for my volunteering time in the school library.  Every week I would go in to serve and just be thankful for that time that I could get away from the stress of the house things.  The ladies that I work with are so kind and have become my friends this year.  It was good to go see them every week and talk with them as we worked.  

I am also thankful for the temple.  I love going there and feeling like I can forget about the stress of life for a couple of hours.  Ruth has also enjoyed going to the temple to do baptisms.  She was able to go again last night and says it is so nice to be in a peaceful place.  I am thankful for the temple. 

This move included a ward change for us.  That was a hard decision to make.  We enjoyed being in our ward.  We were released from serving in the Primary and our other callings.  Ruth was able to lead the music in Sacrament meeting on our last week before she was released as one of the ward choristers.  Last Sunday we attended our new ward for the first time. I already know many in the ward from the school, since our kids attend the elementary school that is in this ward boundaries.  Ruth also know the girls from school too.  So we felt comfortable there and will get to know others quickly.  We have a few member families living on our street and they have been friendly and come to introduce themselves to us.  

 We had a beautiful rainbow one evening.  This was taken from the balcony of our new house.  I couldn't get the whole bow in one frame.  It was a double rain bow and just beautiful.

I have enjoyed walking with the boys to the school every day.  It is a little less than a half mile away and it has been wonderful to be close enough to walk.  Ruth has a bit more distance, a little over a mile, but she walks home every day.  I am thankful we are close to the school.  The high school is also only a mile away.  So no more school buses for us!

I have had a few friends bring us dinner on different nights the last couple of weeks.  It was always so appreciated and it made me feel loved.  I am so thankful for the church and the “family” it creates for me.  One night we took the family out to eat at a steak house and we enjoyed that too.

One evening, while we were in the middle of the moving, we had the sister missionaries knock on our door.  We invited them in and we visited with them.  They were in the area knocking doors and noticed we were members and wanted to meet us.  So we told them we were in the process of moving from the ward.  They gave us a challenge to share the Book of Mormon with someone.  I know I hear this from missionaries a lot but this time I took it more seriously.  I took time to write a note in the front cover for our neighbors, Joy and Mario.  Then one Sunday afternoon (the day after we moved) we went back over to the rental house and our neighbors were outside.  We started talking to them and I gave them the Book of Mormon.  Mario said he had read it before and had even talked to missionaries, he said some day he would tell us more about his experience.  He graciously took the book and said he would like to read it again.  They have been great neighbors and we hope to stay friends with them.  I am glad that it was a positive experience to give them this precious book.

During the month of April I found out my dad’s older brother was sick with cancer and declining quickly.  Then just a few days later I received the message that he had passed away.  Rulen was a good man.  I have memories from childhood of his kindness to me.  I haven’t seen him for a long time, maybe over 10 years.  I can’t remember for sure when the last time was.  It made me think a lot though about life and how we progress through it.  I am seeing my parents generation move on and how I am progressing and really think about how quickly it all really is.  This life is a time of learning and we don’t stay here forever.  

A few things about the children.  One night Caleb had a bad dream and came to me and wanted to tell me about it.  He started out with “mom, it was fiction.”  That made me smile.  Last Friday I went on a field trip with Caleb’s class.  We went to the Wildlife West park.  It is like a zoo for local wildlife.  It was cool to see the animals and watch them. We enjoyed watching a porcupine eating a corn on the cob.  Last Saturday Caleb went to a birthday party for a friend.  He was so excited about this party.  Caleb has made many good friends this year.

 It was a cold day at the park.  In fact it started to snow while we were eating our lunch!  

Andrew has worked hard in school.  He loves art and it shows.  He was chosen to have his art work displayed at a school district art show.  He was one of 16 from his school who had their art displayed.  We went to the art show and he was pleased to see his art up.  It is a collage made of papers that he cut out and glued together.  He did a great job.  

This week we will be going to a program to honor the students who had art work go to the state Reflections contest.  He did a good job with that art work too.  On the Saturday we moved the big stuff Andrew had a big hike with cub scouts.  He enjoyed going out with his group and was full of energy to hike around the hills.  They also did some geocaching while they were out.  He loved it all.  The hike helped him finish the requirements to receive his Webelos and Arrow of Light awards in cub scouts.  Last week he was awarded his Webelos.  They decided to wait to award the Arrow of Light until he was closer to his birthday and they could do a “crossing over” ceremony for him.  Either way he has his awards and I am proud of him for his hard work in earning them.

 This is taken in our back yard.  I am enjoying all the roses.  And I might just learn to love looking at this mountain as much as I love Timpanogos. 

Spencer loves cub scouts too.  He works hard in his school work too.  He enjoyed an activity to eat ice cream for a reward for learning the multiplication facts.  He likes reading comic books and loves that we are by the open space that he can go out and play in.

Ruth has enjoyed being with the youth for activities and church.  She enjoyed going to a birthday party last week for a friend, Maddie.  I am glad that she has friends.  She is enjoying school and was excited to get her year book yesterday.  Last week I also took her clothes shopping for her birthday.  She wanted clothes for her birthday but with the move it took me a couple of weeks to have the time to take her.  She wore one of her new outfits today and looked cute.

Well, this is getting very long.  I am thankful we have the internet connected here, that was another stress getting that worked out.  It is a blessing to be able to communicate with my family and friends.  Our phone number has stayed the same.  If you still need our new address let me know and I can share it with you.