Free Things

We had a great week.  Summer time can be lots of fun.  I enjoy not having a tight schedule.  I had fun doing the cooking class last week.  The kids enjoyed it too.  This week the kids have classes.  Spencer did a “Star Wars” class last Saturday evening.  It was more of a party and they watched the original Star Wars movie.  He enjoyed it.  Spencer is attending an ASL class this week.  He had a lot of fun with it yesterday.  His first grade teacher did a lot with ASL in the class room and he remembered a lot and was excited to practice and learn more.  Andrew is doing a origami class this week.  It has renewed his interest and he has been making things all morning.  Caleb is enjoying lots of time to draw maps and built with blocks.  He also plays computer games as much as I will let him.

Caleb thought it cool he could build a tower taller than him

I have a calling in the ward now.  I am one of the Activity Day leaders with the girls in the ward.  Last week we met and I enjoyed meeting the other leaders and getting to know some of the girls.  It is a big group, about 20 girls.

Last Thursday Neal and I were going to go to a Shakespeare play at an out door theater.  Since it was raining we decided not to go.  Instead we went to a movie theater and saw the movie “Love and Friendship.”  It is a movie based on a Jane Austen book called “Lady Susan.”  I enjoyed the movie and now I want to read the book.  I have it on hold at the library.  I guess others want to read it now too!

Friday evening Neal and I went out to dinner and then did the Shakespeare play.  It was a free event and we were able to enjoy a nice out door production of “Much ado about Nothing.”  I am glad it worked out to see the play.  The evening was pleasant to be outside and the acting was good.  We enjoyed time together.

The boys are enjoying playing with Neal’s Lego and building many fun things this week.  I think it is fun how happy they are in their play.  Often they will be humming or even singing made-up silly songs.  I am glad that they are all so happy.

Sunday I taught Spencer primary class.  It was interesting.  The kids were a bit disruptive and it frustrated me, but we made it through the lesson.  Spencer was well behaved.  He said the kids are like that all the time.  We had ward conference and I enjoyed hearing from our leaders and their good messages on faith. For Primary sharing time we had the stake primary president teach.  She taught the same lesson we had heard at the ward conference for our last ward back in February.  Spencer leaned over to me and asked “haven’t we heard this before?” so he remembered it too.  It was a good lesson about the pioneers and pressing forward in faith.

Monday morning I told the kids we could go to the library.  They were all excited to go and talking about what kinds of books they would look up.  I decided to go to a donut shop to get some free donuts we had coupons for.  The kids loved the treat.  As we were leaving the donut shop I realized “the library is closed on Monday!”  At least I remembered before we got there.  I felt pretty silly to plan an outing and realize it couldn’t happen.  We went to the library Tuesday afternoon.  We found some good books.  Caleb is interested in plate tectonics and I found a book about it.  We had signed up for the reading program so we could show our reading logs and get a prize.  This week they were giving out books.  The kids loved that.  I like that they give the kids books.  In Texas we always got coupons for restaurants in the area, which was fun too, but the books last longer than an ice cream or donut.

Monday afternoon I took the kids swimming at the community pool by the middle school.  They have been begging to go to play and just have fun, not just their swim lessons.  Andrew and Ruth are doing really well with swimming.  Spencer is more confident and learning more about how to get through the water. This pool is nice because at the deepest part (in the middle) it is only 5 feet.  So the older kids do pretty good with it.  Caleb was playful and enjoyed being there.  This is a big improvement for Caleb who just wanted to hang on me the entire time he was in water last year.  I enjoyed watching them play.  The time went quickly because we ran into some friends and I had someone to talk to.  Even though we reapplied sun screen after an hour the kids all got light sun burns.  I am thankful I didn’t get burned.

Yesterday I thought it would be fun to teach the kids more about sewing.  We looked through my fabric boxes and found fabric for the three older kids to make pajama pants with.  Caleb didn’t seem that interested, plus he is a bit young to do sewing.  Today I plan on cutting them out with the kids and get them to start sewing on them.  I will help, especially Spencer, but it will be fun to teach them.  

I noticed some bad spots on my peaches and picked them.  We got six peaches this year.  The previous owners said their had been a frost after the peach tree had blossomed, so it wasn’t a surprise to have so few develop.  I cut two up this morning.  They tasted good, the parts we could eat.  The pits were all rotten. I am not sure why.  I guess I will learn about fruit trees more.  The apples and pears are growing well and hopefully will stay good.

Last Saturday Neal flew to England for work.  He has been able to write me emails.  It sounds like his trip is going well.  He doesn’t have much time for touring anything, he is in meetings all day.  But he has said how interesting the architecture is and seeing things he has seen.  We have missed him.  He will be back Friday evening.  I am sure he will have some great things to share with us about his trip.  

This afternoon Ruth was invited to go swimming with friends and is excited about that.  I plan on taking the boys to do mini golf with some coupons they had for free games.  I like free things. 

Some pretty flowers in my yard

Summer Time

It is in full summer time right now.  We have had hot days and warm nights.  I am thankful for our air conditioning.  I was in a house yesterday that has a swamp cooler and it was having a hard time keeping up with the heat and the house was hot and muggy and I am so thankful I have AC in my house.  I am enjoying my walks every morning, it is pleasant and some quiet time for me.

I have a new calling in our new ward.  I have been called to work with the girls in Primary for their Activity Days.  Tonight is my first meeting with them. I understand it is a big group and it will be fun to meet them all and start to get to know them.

Ruth loved girls camp.  I enjoyed going to a Stake after camp fireside where they talked about what they did at camp and passed out certification and other awards.  I enjoyed hearing the girls sing too.  Ruth has had fun with friends.  She went to a birthday party for her friend from school, Megan, on Saturday.  It was a swimming party and she enjoyed having some fun.  Ruth did a class about “cowboys/cowgirls” and was able to ride a horse.  She thought that was awesome.  She has only been on a horse with someone leading it, so this was her first time to get on and do her own riding.  She only had a few minutes on it and was in a fenced area but she thought it was wonderful. 

Andrew, Spencer and Caleb enjoyed going to their swim lessons.  They did a great job with it.  They are all more confident in the water.  Now they want to go swimming all the time.  Saturday we filled up our little pool and let them play in it.  Spencer had made a boat with his solar robot kit and wanted to try it out.  It worked okay in the water.  

Neal, Andrew and Ruth did a hike on Saturday to help prepare Neal and Ruth for a back packing trip they are doing in July.  Neal and Ruth put their frame packs on with stuff in them and they hiked about six miles.  The fun part was they just started from our back yard.  They climbed the fence and walked up to the foot hills through the open space paths.  I enjoyed walking out there this morning.  Andrew likes riding his bike out there.  It is fun to have all that space so easy to get to.

A week ago on Monday we had a nice dinner with our neighbors from our rental house.  Mario, Joy and Cody came over.  We had dinner with them and enjoyed visiting. They were kind neighbors and we want to keep the friendship going.  We did a Family Home Evening with them.  We invited them to come with a scripture to share and we would have a gospel discussion.  We went around the room and everyone shared a scripture.  It was a nice discussion and I liked the way it went.  They are good Christian people and I am glad that they participated with us.

Caleb had fun going to a “Super Hero” class. He dressed up in a Spider Man costume and had fun with that.  Andrew and Spencer enjoyed playing at Nathan’s home one afternoon while I took Caleb to the doctor for a well child visit.  Caleb is doing great.  He is healthy and growing.  He is at 4 feet 1 inch now.  He told me yesterday he likes being tall.

Caleb made up a board game and called it Travel 2.  He asked Neal and I to play it with him.  Last Saturday evening we ate dinner outside and after dinner we stayed at the picnic table and played his little game.  He was so happy that we took time to play with him.  It was similar to Monopoly.  He is good with counting and adding up the money.

Last week I went to a ward Relief Society dinner and activity.  It was nice to get out and visit with other women.  Then last Friday was a ward picnic.  We brought out own dinners and met at a park and visited and played.  The kids had a lot of fun with some lawn games a family brought.  I enjoyed visiting with other women in the shade.  

Last Monday for FHE Ruth played the guitar for our song.  She played chords and strummed the song “Come, Come, Ye Saints”.  I thought it was great she could play for us.  She has been working on doing music practice every day and goes between clarinet, guitar and even a little piano.

Yesterday I took the kids the the NM Natural Science museum.  We had a fun time looking at things.  We brought our lunch so we could stay into the afternoon.  We were there for five hours.  It was good to get out.

They were pretending to be dinosaurs in a nest.  They were being a bit silly.

I did a profile study yesterday.  I had the kids hold still and look at something and I took a picture of their side.  Andrew asked me why and I said because it is an interesting thing to remember what the side of your face looked like.  I thought they turned out fun.

Ruth took my picture.  

This week I am teaching a cooking class for 10-13 year old kids.  We have had some fun together.  On Monday we made a cabbage and noodle oriental type dish.  Today we did Mexican food.  We even tackled home made flour tortillas.  On Friday I plan on doing something Italian.  The kids enjoy helping in the kitchen and then we get to eat together.  I am glad that they are enjoying it.  I am enjoying teaching it.

Tonight we have Pack meeting for the boys.  Then Ruth and I have activities at the church.  It will be a busy evening. 

Summer Activities

Life has been busy.  I want to do better at writing so I don’t get so behind.  I like sharing things with my family and friends as well as keeping a journal for my family.  Maybe some day the kids will have fun reading all these letters I write.  Ruth has already enjoyed looking back at ones I wrote years ago when she was little.  It is fun to have a record to remember things.

We have been on summer vacation for two weeks now!  Wow, it has gone by fast.  The last day of school was May 25^th, a Wednesday.  Andrew had lots of fun doing a kick ball tournament with the 5^th grade classes.  Ruth had fun walking to an ice cream shop after school with a group of friends and getting a treat.  That evening Andrew shared a fun things with his brothers.  He had crumpled up his old home work sheets into balls and they had a “snow ball” fight in their room.  They had lots of fun celebrating the end of home work for a time.  Although we do school things together here at home. Ruth and I are reading “The Scarlet Pimpernel” together and discussing it.  The thing I like most about it is that we are looking up words we don’t know and I am learning some cool words. The kids also are doing math work every day, music practice, reading and other learning activities. The older kids are working on a typing web site to learn how to touch type. They are enjoying the summer classes that we are participating in with ward members.  We did it last summer too.  Parents teach classes and the kids have fun going to them.  Andrew and Spencer have both done art classes this last week.  Andrew did a volley ball class.  I taught a science class this week.  We had fun doing some simple experiments and hopefully some discovery and learning. 

We finally got the boxes unpacked in the boys room and helped them to organize their things.  We have things pretty much unpacked and are feeling settled in.  We still haven’t hung any pictures up.  That will come as we get furniture where we would like it and such.  I am enjoying being in a larger home, the kids have plenty of space to play and spread out.  We have enjoyed play time with friends.  Miles and Jack came over one afternoon and Caleb went to their home one morning.  Caleb’s friend from school, Xan, came over to play last week.  The kids have had birthday parties to attend too.  So in two weeks we have had lots of social time too.  I also gave all the kids hair cuts, we hadn’t done that for awhile because we had been so busy.  The boys look so much better with their hair shorter.  It was getting a bit long and starting to cover ears.

My mom and sisters attended my uncle Rulen's memorial service in Idaho and enjoyed visiting with the family.  Then on Memorial day we received word that my aunt Zelma passed away.  She was my dad’s sister.  So the family gathered again for her funeral.  I have pondered a lot about the plan of salvation lately with three deaths in the Hancock family in a six month period.  I have felt peace and comfort knowing that we do go on after this life and they are together with their parents now.  I am thankful for the gospel and the knowledge it gives. I have enjoyed going to the temple and pondering things and just know that what I have been taught is true, families really are forever.

My Dad's grave 

My mom and my dad's sisters and bother-in-law

Sunday May 29^th was my parents wedding anniversary and my mom brought a beautiful arrangement of roses to put on my dads grave.  I am thankful we did a big party for them last year for their 50^th anniversary.  

On Memorial Day we invited the Stuart family over for dinner.  We enjoyed visiting with them and letting the kids play in the water.  We had the fountain going and they thought it was great.  

The kids were climbing on the fountain 

Caleb and his puppies

On June 1^st there was a big rain storm.  We even had a little hail come down.  The kids had fun going out and playing in the rain and then we saw a beautiful rain bow.  It was amazingly bright and beautiful.  That evening we also had the elders quorum president and the missionaries stop by to visit with us.  Then on Friday the missionaries came to eat with us.  I enjoy having them in our home, they are good young men.

Ruth went to the doctor for her well child visit.  She is growing still.  She measured 5 feet 8 1/2 inches.  She is about the same height as me now.  I expect her to pass me up soon.

Andrew has been in an origami phase.  At school the art teacher taught some basic things to do with origami.  Andrew likes to watch you tube videos and learn how to make new things.  On the last day of school he went to his art teacher and asked if she had any paper he could have to do things over the summer with.  She ended up giving him a box full of paper!  It is all colorful and cut in 3 and 5 inch squares.  He was pretty excited about it.  He has been sharing it with the others and they have enjoyed making things.

Andrew's origami shelf and Ruth's paper flowers

Last Friday Neal took Ruth shopping for camping gear.  She enjoyed getting some new things.  This week she went to girls camp.  She was pretty excited about going.  I hope that her week has gone well.  We have missed her being home this week and will be happy to see her tomorrow.

Last Saturday we went to the 75^th anniversary of Kirtland Air Force Base air show.  It was a slow start for us when we had to park and wait about an hour to get on a shuttle bus to take us out to where the show was.  But once we got out there we enjoyed seeing some great things.  The air planes flying were spectacular.  There also were lots of planes and helicopters on the ground to look at. Some we could even go inside of.  It was pretty neat.  We spent most the day there and got all hot and sunburned, even with lots of sunscreen being reapplied often.  It was a neat event and I am glad that we went.

I know, it is a rare picture of me, Neal took control of the camera that day.  He had fun taking lots of pictures of planes.  I picked out a few to share.  I am growing out my bangs and have my big sun glasses on.  I will try to get a better picture of me soon.  I need more of them.

This week the boys have been doing swim lessons at the local pool.  They are enjoying getting in the pool every day and are learning things to help them be more comfortable in water.  They will continue lessons next week.

Monday was our 14^th wedding anniversary.  Neal brought home a dozen red roses.  They have smelled good this week.  I have enjoyed looking at them too.  It also was our first anniversary of moving to Albuquerque.  

This week Andrew had a Webelos activity at his leaders home.  They had a BBQ and roasted marshmallow and played in the water with a slip and slide.  He had lots of fun with it.

I got new glasses this week.  I went into a clinic two weeks ago and had my eyes checked. My prescription had changed a little.  I think the biggest change was that since I stopped wearing contacts my eyes have adjusted to that because my negative numbers got a little smaller.  I am enjoying my new bifocals.  They are working so much better than my last pair.  I have been wearing them most of the day and it is so nice to be able to look at things and be able to see things in focus, distance as well as up close.  I am thankful for them.

This week I was able to buy some fruit at good prices and made strawberry and apricot jams.  They looked so pretty I took a picture. Well, I am glad that I could write today and will try hard to not get so far behind again in my writing.