Wrapping Up Another Year...

The end of the school year is always an exciting time.....programs, recitals, field days, the feeling of freedom and summer sun (although the summer sun part not so much this year). I love it.....it means having my sweet kiddies home with me for three awesome months....which always flies by like the blink of an eye. But it also is always a tad bit sad for me too. Not sure why....maybe just knowing they are all a year older is hard. I always get a little sentimental and think about all the things they've done and how they've grown over the last year. We had lots of fun activities going on the last month of the school year and here are a few that the kids participated in.

Meili wrapped up her speech therapy for the year and is doing quite well. She has her m's, p's, and w's down pat. She still tends to be a little lazy in everyday speech but when she's practicing and concentrating on her flash cards, etc., she can do it. I'm starting to catch more and more of what she says. If I can just get a word or two of what she says I usually can figure out what she is saying. We had her hearing tested and things seem to be great there so that's good. Her eardrums didn't move though when they did the pressure test so apparently those aren't working too well. She's had a hard time clearing the fluid in her ears so we have scheduled her for tubes on July 1. We are hoping that will help even more with her speech....and also hoping that the surgery goes extremely well and she's up and running around for the weekend......great fun planned for the 4th of July celebration.


J.D. had a great year in 1st grade and did a terrific job in his school program. He knew all the songs and did all the actions. And every time he would see me filming him, he would give me a huge grin from ear to ear. Such a smiley one.....his smile brightens up the day. J.D.'s school has a tradition for the first graders. Every year, the 1st grade classes have a drive-in movie one of the last days of school. They build a car out of a big cardboard box and then bring it to school and watch a movie while sitting in their cars. It's a dang lot of work for the parents but when all is said and done, such a fun tradition. They have popcorn and think they are really cool. When we started, I had no intention of making a Lighting McQueen car....nor did I think for a minute J.D. would want a Lighting McQueen car.....as it turns out....it kinda looks like a Lighting McQueen car. I was scared to see his reaction when I got done but to my utter delight, he either didn't notice the similarities or pretended not to notice. Little Miss Abi informed me though that her car in first grade was MUCH cooler....I told her I think it was just her first grade mind thinking it was so cool....it can't be as cool as she was actually thinking it was. J.D. also found out that he gets Mrs. Checketts next year as his teacher. He was more than thrilled and especially excited that lots of friends are in his class....including some cute girls.






Nick is a great kid and has done some awesome things this year. His teacher shared with me a couple of things that I thought would be fun to blog about. One day Nick came home from school and was telling me that his teacher had been crying. I stopped what I was doing and started listening. I wasn't following the story too well and Nick put his head down on the counter. I thought he was just thinking about it but when he looked back up, he had tears in his eyes too. Later the teacher shared with me this story. There is a little boy in Nick's class who has some physical disabilities and also some mental challenges. One day the boy had a little breakdown in class and had to leave. The teacher explained to the class that he was having a hard time and that one of his favorite things is to play basketball but he will never be able to run and dribble at the same time. A little later at recess a couple of teachers were watching as Nick and his friends took this little boy over and started showing him some basketball moves, etc. They played and played and the little boy even let them guard him etc. The parents were so grateful and said that he doesn't even let his dad get that close to him while playing basketball. It was a very good learning experience for Nick and I'm so proud of him.

The next experience happened one day at school when his teacher realized she had lost her wedding ring. She was pretty upset and just didn't know what to do. She looked everywhere and the kids all helped. As the day went on, she just felt worse and worse and she decided to send one of the kids out in the hall to look and to go ask at the office if anyone had turned it in. The child came back and sure enough someone had found it in the hall and turned it in. Of course everyone was relieved and happy. A little while later, Nick and two of his friends kept pacing back and forth by the teacher's desk. Finally one of the boys said "we have something to tell you." At first none of the boys would say anything and pretty soon Nick was designated as the talker. He explained to her that when the three of them went out for recess they all prayed together and then each took a turn praying individually that she would be able to find her ring. She said it was such a sweet experience and pretty soon they all had tears in their eyes.

Nick's big end of school year highlight was the Greenville Mile. It's a great program where the kids run a mile and they choose the top 3 from each class and then they compete with the whole school on grade levels. Nick kept telling me about it and I kept encouraging him and giving him little bits of advice here and there. Abi kept telling him it was tradition and that he had to be one of the top three. I, of course, told her to stop it and let Nick know that whatever happened would be great. So one morning he gets up and tells me it's the Greenville Mile that day......."um, no Nick I'm sure it's not today, I haven't seen any flyers.....they would definitely let me know....don't worry, it's probably just the finals today, blah, blah, blah." So I send them out the door and start my morning routine. I'm just finishing my run when I get a text from my friend asking me where the HECK I am.....Nick is getting ready to run!. WHAT??@!@!!?? I don't even know what to do at this point, can I even make it if I leave the house now? I call her and she says...."JUST COME, you might still be able to make it!!" So I grab Meili, still in PJs, bedhead, no shoes etc., and take off (hoping that whatever I was exercising in is somewhat appropriate). Of course the roads are all closed that lead to the school since they shut everything down for the mile and the one other road I decide to try is shut down for construction. In the meantime, Kelley is calling me asking me what is taking so long.....I'm still just speechless (where the heck was the flyer? why didn't I know? when were the finals? this was not at all like it was with Josh and Abi). I park a block away, grab Meili and take off on a dead run (thank goodness I had my nifty camera in my purse). I get there just in time to see him standing on the 5th PLACE CIRCLE for his grade!!! Missed the whole dang thing......but before you start giving out "mother of the year" award, I was at least there to get a couple of photos and to give him a really big hug. Thank goodness I have a couple of great friends who took some pictures during the run and then I also paid some random parent/photographer that posted a bunch of pictures and happened to get a great one of Nick. So I think he actually still loves me and next time I'll pay more attention to him. In my defense, they didn't do it at all like years past....no finals....there was a flyer (still haven't seen it), etc. Anyway, he did a great job and had a great time.




Abi has loved middle school and had a great end to a great year. She's definitely a social butterfly but she also keeps her priorities straight and does very well in school. She was honored as Student of the Month in April and received many awards at the end of year assembly. She was a participant in the Breakfast of Champions which recognizes anyone who received a 4.0 during the school year....with special recognition to those who received a 4.0 during all quarters....Abi received that award as well. She also had her country report this year and chose China. She did a wonderful job and had many souvenirs to bring and show......the best souvenir she brought? her little sis of course......the kids thought Meili was adorable. Russel recorded the report but we didn't manage to get a very good pic......grrr!








She also had a great time playing in her volleyball tournaments this spring and did great. All the tournaments were in Eastern Idaho which made for long days.....leaving about 5:30 a.m. and getting home around 6:00 p.m. The most exciting place she had a tournament in?? REXBURG! They actually had a Walmart and an AT&T store where I bought a car charger for my phone. I decided Rexburg is actually a pretty nice place. In fact, Rexburg was quite the happening place compared to some of the other places we visited. Soda would've been definitely more thrilling....at least I'd have people to visit. We had a fun time with Abi and her friends. They had a great year. I'll see if I can round up a picture of their team...Abi even helped me make matching headbands for everyone.


Just a little update on Abi....lots of people keep asking so here goes. She's doing great. We saw the neurologist at primary's and he wasn't quite as positive as we had hoped but she's doing well. He wanted to start her on the medicine and see how things went. We have had to use the maximum dose and the absent seizures aren't still completely controlled. But we are still hopeful the medicine will work. She has only been on the maximum dose for a little while. The pills made her so sick that we had to up them very gradually....just to give her time to adjust. She still gets a little sick from them but she's adjusting well. The neurologist said many times these little seizures can turn into bigger ones....ya that part we didn't like so much. He also said that since she is 12 it is much less likely that she will grown out of them. :( We are still hoping that she does but we will just have to wait and watch. We will go back for another appointment in August and hopefully by then she will have them under control perfectly. She's handled it exceptionally well and does so well to remember to take the pills....4x a day! That's even tough for an adult.

Josh's highlight of the end of school activities was his Lagoon day. The weather was perfect.....no rain and not too cold. He had a great time with his friends. Of course I couldn't talk him into taking a camera...nor did he take one on the last day of school.....so really we have no pictures. He made his debut in the yearbook with a great picture of him during one of his golf tournaments and then another picture of him snowboarding on ski day.

He has also been enjoying the golfing weather and pretty much has lived at the golf course from the time that the homework let up. He then packed his bags and left for EFY the very next Monday after school let out. This was his second year at EFY but first year attending BYU. I was definitely more excited than he was. I have such great memories of EFY that I can't help but be excited for him. Due to the age we live in, we texted almost every day....which was great....I loved getting updates from him. He was a little nervous at first but once he got there he realized he was going to have a great time. In fact, most of the kids in his group were from Logan....go figure. He went down with 6 buddies and only 2 boys in his group were from out of state. I kept asking him how many girls he had danced with.....he said "I don't know." Wow! As in too many to keep track of???? Way to go Josh! Getting out of his comfort zone. He met a lot of great kids. The last night the girls were choosing their escort and apparently the two "hottest" girls in his group asked him to be their escort.....did he get a picture??? no of course not....that would actually requiring taking his phone out and asking the girls if it's okay if someone takes a picture. WAY too much effort just to make mom happy. Anyway, the girls were from MESA!! :) Pretty cool. I told him that's convenient since we are actually headed down mid July (I know, I know, we must have lost our freaking minds to go visit during the hottest month of the year.....but we love our Brennan who is leaving to go on a mission....and honestly I love AZ anytime....doesn't matter to me). So all-in-all he had a fabulous time. He bore his testimony at the Thursday night meeting and apparently his friends were jealous because he made all the girls cry. So Saturday morning I got to have the privilege of picking up all these darling boys. Of course check-out time was 7:00 a.m......which I remember well from oh so many years ago. :) I had driven to my mom's friday night but still had to be up pretty early to get there by 7:00 a.m. Of course Josh texts me at 6:15.....are you on your way? have you left yet? "Of course....I'll be there, don't you worry." So I get there...drive around Helaman Halls trying to find the hall he's in.......and I wait.....and wait.....and wait......."we're coming mom.....just saying goodbye to the girls." LOL! So I patiently waited (good thing there was some catching up to do on FB). They finally come.....all looking as adorable as ever (I feel like they are all mine anyway) and we head for home. I think the boys' favorite thing about BYU was the creamery and the Jamba on campus. Josh decided BYU wasn't all that bad....for EFY anyway....hey my thoughts exactly! :) Here's one picture I was able to manage of the four boys I picked up Saturday....I'll see if I can grab some off of facebook too.



Oh and speaking of BYU.....here's some photos of Josh and his cousin in their contrasting attire. I know there are some major Jimmer-aholics out there.....in fact, I've read some pretty clever one-liners...none of which I'll repeat here for fear of lightning, but I'll give it to him, he is fun to watch and actually many are hoping for him to be the Jazz pick tonight!!! Russel doesn't think it's gonna happen. (UPDATE: apparently, Jimmer is not a Jazz after all, lots of sad people in Utah tonight).....but Josh is still very staunch USU and Ryan is over-the-top BYU. They've been at North Cache together this year which has been so awesome for them. With Josh starting Sky View in the fall, they will be at separate schools again for another year......but hopefully on the golf team together this year. It's crazy to think Josh is starting high school.....learner's permit in a couple of weeks....I hope I survive. :)