Ruth is getting ready for girls camp. She and her friend Brianna have gotten together a few times to get their things ready for the back packing 4th year hike. They will hike a total of about 15 miles over two and a half days, two nights. Then they end up in the camp with the rest of the Stake. They are so excited about this and on Tuesday night Ruth went to Brianna’s home and they practiced setting up and sleeping in the tent. Ruth enjoyed her sleep over and they did sleep in the tent all night. I took the girls shopping to get their food and they are getting it all put together. They leave early next Monday morning.
Ruth and I both had vision exams. Both of us didn’t have much change in our prescriptions, which is good. I am glad that Ruth is leveling off and hopefully she wont get as bad as me. I got new glasses and am trying to get use to the new frame and how I see with them. Ruth had new lenses put into her frames.
Tonight Neal took Ruth and Andrew to the temple to do Baptisms. So we ate dinner a little early and I had some time that I thought I would use in writing. Ruth and Andrew are also going to do volunteer work at the public library this summer. Ruth did it last summer and Andrew decided to try it out this year. They had a training meeting this afternoon and will start doing shifts soon to help with the summer reading program.
This summer we are doing our Bear Canyon Academy (BCA) classes again. The classes where parents teach kids in our ward and a neighboring ward simple classes and our kids take classes from others. This week I have been teaching a bread baking class. We have made wheat bread, fry bread, muffins, and today we did cinnamon rolls. It has been fun. The kids like what we are making. It is mostly boys that are coming over, well I have 2 girls and 3 boys in the class but with my 3 boys on top of that it is mostly boys helping with the cooking. We have played games while we wait for things to bake and I think they enjoy that almost as much. The first day I taught one of the boys Clue and now every day he wants to play it. Friday will be the last day of this class.
Yesterday we had the suburban in for repairs. I dropped it off at the mechanic shop and walked home. I have been doing morning walks again every day and enjoy the cool weather and pretty sunrise time. My knees have been bothering me more than usual, so it is getting frustrating to me. We got the suburban back at the end of the day, I am glad they fixed the problem in one day.
Well, so much has happened this month. I would like to mention a few highlights. On the 11th Caleb had a field trip to the river outdoor class room the school district has. He enjoyed going on a hike and learning about the river, Rio Grande.
On Saturday the 12th Ruth and I went to see the play “Les Miserables.” We enjoyed our date time. The production was excellent, it was a broadway touring group, and I am glad we went. Ruth was glad she read the book, because then she understood the fast moving plot better.
On Tuesday the 15th the elementary school did a track meet for the younger grades. I went to help with it. I helped to line the kids up for their races. The PE teacher had it very well organized. Caleb did well. He ran hard and took 3rd place in the 100 meter race for 2nd grade boys, 4th place in the 400 meter and 6th place for the long jump. He was happy to bring home some ribbons. Thursday the 17th was the track meet for the older grades. I again helped with it. Spencer competed in things but didn’t place. He ran well, there are just a lot of fast 5th grade boys.
On the 15th in the evening we went to Andrew’s jazz band concert. He enjoys playing his trombone.
On the 16th I went to a lunch for the school library volunteers. It was nice to sit and visit with the ladies. I went in to the library on the 22nd to see if the librarian needed any more help and I did a little and then wished her a happy summer. She thanked me and gave me a hug and asked if I planned to help next year. Yes, I do. It is nice to feel like I have a place at the school.
On the 17th Andrew had a 7th grade end of year party. He enjoyed hanging out with his friends and playing games at the school. Andrew also enjoyed doing a swim unit in his PE class the last two weeks of school. There is an outdoor city pool on the edge of the school grounds.
On the 18th Neal took the boys on the father and sons camp out. They enjoyed the time together, playing with friends there and camping. Ruth and I bought some fast food and watched a couple of older movies. Saturday morning I took Ruth shopping at the mall for some new clothes. We enjoyed our time together too.
On the 21st Spencer had 5th grade promotion that I went to. The week before I went to the 5th grade talent show. Spencer was a prop changer person and he said it was funny when he was doing it in the afternoon for the younger school kids when he came out to move chairs a group of kindergarten kids yelled out his name. He enjoyed doing “book buddies” with the younger kids. They would meet every week and read together. He is good with younger children so I can understand why the kids like him. After the promotion activity the 5th grade had a swim party. They went to a city indoor pool and got to play the rest of the day and eat treats and pizza on the grassy area outside the pool. Spencer enjoyed his day.
On the afternoon of the 21st I had noticed clouds gathering and was happy to see them. We have had a very dry winter, in fact I read in the news that only two times during the winter months we had measurable rain. Well it came down on that Monday. I left to go pick up Ruth because of course it started to rain right as she was getting out of school. I met her part way home and she was already soaked. We got home right as it was starting to hail. I worried for my garden, but it came through it okay. The rain stopped before the boys got out of school. We got a total of a half inch that afternoon. We need more.
The water that accumulated in our pond after the storm
On the 22nd in the evening I went to a Relief Society activity. We soaked our feet, ate smoothies and talked about body image and taking care of our selves. It was a nice evening. I met a new sister there, Petra. Her husband, Sam, graduated from USU and has his first job here at the labs. After talking to Neal we decided to invite their family over. Petra, Sam and their two cute kids came over Sunday evening for dinner. It was nice to visit with them. They appreciated getting to know a family in the ward. It reminded me of when I moved to Texas and felt a little out of it not knowing any one and having the Vance family invite us over for dinner our first week there. They are still our friends 12 years later. It is nice to have friends in the church.
Wednesday the 23rd was the official last day of school. Ruth was finished with her finals on Tuesday and didn’t need to go Wednesday, unless she needed to make up work, which she didn’t. The boys went to school because they wanted to see friends and play with their classes. The kids all did so well with school this year. Ruth finished her first year of high school with straight A’s (many with the + behind it) and Andrew did very well too with a lot of A+’s and only one B+ the entire year. Spencer and Caleb had high marks, they don’t do grades in elementary school here. I am glad that they enjoy school, have many friends there and do well with their studies. We have encouraged them to think about what they want to learn about this summer and do things every day that facilitate learning. With the boys I plan on studying a famous person each week. I checked out some children’s biographies and we read about Marie Curie this week. I had the boys write short essays about what they learned. We are also encouraging math and any other subject they want to learn about. Caleb checked out a video on Tornados today. Ruth has some books about different countries and cultures. I hope it can be a good summer of learning.
Caleb with his teacher (it was pajama day at school)
Spencer with his teacher
On the 24th I gave the boys much needed hair cuts.
On the 25th Andrew met a group of boys and a few of their dads for a bike ride on the mountain trails. They want to get together often to ride together this summer. They will get together again tomorrow. Andrew is also working to finish his Star rank in boy scouts and almost has everything done for it. Spencer has worked hard in cub scouts and has finished his Webelos and Arrow of Light requirements. He has also worked on the NOVA awards and has earned two, almost 3 of them. He likes his leaders.
On the 26th Neal and Andrew hiked Sandia Peak. From the east side of the mountain you can drive to the summit and we have done that as a family before. From the west side of the mountain you can hike a trail to the summit. That is what they did this week. They did the round trip in 6 1/2 hours. They enjoyed it.
Monday the 28th was Memorial day. The kids helped me clean up the fountain and we got it working. They enjoyed playing in the water most the afternoon. Caleb’s friend Charlie came over to enjoy it too. We had a grilled hamburger for dinner and ate outside at our nice picnic table. It was a nice day to spend together as a family.
Yesterday Charlie’s family invited Spencer and Caleb to go to the park with them to play. They also got a frosty at Wendy’s. They had lots of fun playing and stayed all afternoon. It was a bit quite since Ruth had gone to work, it was just Andrew and I at home. Ruth is working at Kumon still during the summer. Thankfully the employment is very flexible and she can get days off easy. She also will try to work extra shifts on the weeks she is home and able to work.
Well, I think that catches me up to today. Caleb just got done with his first shower ever. (He has been doing just baths) He came running down and said that showers are wonderful and he will never take another bath. I enjoy his enthusiasm for life.
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