To back up a bit to when I last wrote. Andrew had a great birthday. He went camping with the boy scouts from the 4th to 5th. He enjoyed it. They went fishing on the trip and he caught two trout. He was so happy about it. Neal went with him on the trip. I am thankful that Neal is able to go on trips with Andrew and that he spends time with the children.
Andrew didn't want any cake. So we just had his favorite ice cream, Mango!
Neal has been working with Caleb to teach him how to ride his bike better. Last Saturday Neal took Andrew and Spencer to their train club. Those are a few things that he does for them. Neal is busy with work yet he is always concerned with the children and wants to help them. Neal is taking Ruth to seminary every morning and helping her there.
On the 5th we had Neal’s sister, Andrea and her family of eight kids come for a short visit. They stayed with us on Sunday, then Monday they continued their trip into Utah for a family reunion. It was nice to visit with them and spend the day with them. The kids enjoyed playing games together.
We also had a nice music time. James brought his cello to play for everyone. Charlotte was enjoying the piano. Ruth got out the guitar and they three of them worked at doing a song together. I thought it was fun to hear and be around for. They are all such good kids. That Sunday evening Ruth had a seminary fireside. I went with her to it. James wanted to come with us, since he was missing his seminary fireside at home. It was nice to have him along. It was a good meeting. Ruth has enjoyed going to seminary so far. She is doing great getting herself up and ready on time. It makes for a long day but she is doing well. She also has noticed that high school classes require a lot of work and has had homework this week, something the boys haven’t had yet.
Being with cousins is the best!
Our last week of summer vacation was good. We spent time at home relaxing. I let the kids have more time for play and we didn’t do work book sheets that week. The electricity line finally got fixed, after seven weeks of having the temporary line above ground we now have the regular line fixed and working, underground. Since the electrical line was gone I let the boys play in the fountain with water. They had fun with it for a couple of days before we emptied it out. I am glad they got some water play before summer vacation ended. I also took the boys to the science museum one afternoon. We enjoyed going around to their favorite areas. Ruth went to a party for the library volunteers from the summer time. She enjoyed doing that this summer.
Last Friday in the morning I was getting ready to go on my last early morning walk of the season. Caleb woke up early and saw me and asked if he could go with me. He hurried and dressed and came with me. I enjoyed walking with him and had a nice visit with him. He likes to talk. That afternoon I took the kids to Fuddruckers to use their coupons from the library reading program to get a free meal. They enjoyed it and all thought the hamburgers were the best. It was fun to go with them. I thought it was funny that Spencer asked “why do we only come to places like this when we have coupons?” Because it is expensive! I am glad they could enjoy it. That evening Spencer and Caleb went with me to the elementary school for “meet the teacher” night. They were excited and happy to be back in the school. Earlier in the week I had been with Ruth and Andrew as we went to their schools to get schedules and looked around at their classes. Ruth enjoyed going to a freshman orientation day. This year we get to be involved in three schools!
Over the last week I have taken the kids and myself into the dentist for visits for teeth cleaning. I went to the office three times this week, just the way the appointments worked out. I am glad that we are all doing well, no cavities and no reason to go back until another six months has passed.
The day after Andrew’s birthday, August 6th, he was ordained a Deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood. Neal was voice in the ordination and Glen (Andrea's husband) along with his son Peter, who is a priest, joined in the circle. I thought it was special to have some family there that day. Then last Sunday Andrew passed the sacrament for the first time. He did a great job. He told me afterwards he was a bit nervous but once he started doing it things just calmed down in his head and he felt confident and knew it was the right thing to be doing. He is a good young man. This Sunday he has an appointment to visit with the Bishop for his temple recommend. I look forward to going to the temple with him and Ruth soon. I am thankful for my children and their testimonies. They are examples to me.
Last Sunday we had the missionaries over for dinner. It was nice to have them in our home. It has been a while since we fed them. With summer time busyness and also with me being in primary and not always seeing a sign up sheet, it has been a few months since they were here. I enjoyed having them in our home. They are good young men.
On Tuesday Andrea’s family came back through on their way home. It was fun to see them again and hear how their vacation had gone. We didn’t have much time for visiting since they were just here to sleep and left Wednesday morning to drive home. I am glad that we could see them. Wednesday evening we had Camilla and Rosemary stay with us on their way to Idaho. Again we didn’t visit much since they got in late and left early. It is nice we can help out family in their travels. We love seeing family.
I have enjoyed our garden produce. The green beans taste so good this year and they keep growing! We have had a lot. The tomatoes are getting ripe and the boys like to go out and look for them and pick them. Caleb said fresh picked red cherry tomatoes are the best! This week I made some sweet pickle relish out of our cucumbers. Last night was activity days and the girls enjoyed the lesson/activity I did with them. This week I went into the school for a library meeting and signed up to volunteer again this year. Then I went into the school for a meeting with Caleb’s teachers and did an IEP or individual education plan, for him with the gifted program. Here in NM giftedness is under state regulations with being under special education. It is a bit more formal than the program Ruth did in Texas. It has been a busy week for me. It is nice to get back into our school time routines. I do look forward to the week end though.
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