Life Lately

A couple of weeks ago we got together to celebrate Elijah's graduation.  I really feel for all the seniors this year, they had everything taken away from them when schools shut down in March.  He missed his senior track season, his prom, his graduation and lots of other things.  I'm glad we could get together and celebrate Elijah and his accomplishments.

Elijah is such a great guy.  He is so well rounded.  He won academic all-state in Basketball and Track.  He works hard at everything he does and he sets big goals for himself.  He is kind, inclusive, spiritual, wise, smart and so funny.  He has set himself up for a great life.  He is excited to start at Utah State in the Fall.

We had fun visiting at Mel's for a few hours.  It was great to visit with everyone.  Hallee had fun playing with Tessa and drawing with chalk.

Cailtyn started Tennis last week.  She has practice every morning from 7:30- 9:30 AM.  She has been great about getting herself up in the morning.  She has loved getting back on the court and being with her friends again.

I used Caitlyn's new schedule to get myself on a better schedule.  I've been sleeping in, so I decided it was time to get up earlier.  I drop her off at tennis and then I go to the Parkway and walk.  I listen to a book or a podcast while I walk, it's a great way to start the day.

It was really hot last week so I would go home from my walk and pick up Wyatt and Hallee and take them to the skate park before it got too hot. Wyatt mastered the penny board on the skate park.

Hallee has become really interested in birds.  She wanted her picture taken with this duck.  She loves to chase birds.  She also loves to talk.  She talks nonstop all day, bless her cute, little heart!

We had another swimming day at Katie's last week.  Audrey and her kids came too.  The kids had a blast together.

Wyatt's break dancing teacher sent me this picture of Wyatt in class.  I'm so sad that I can't go in and watch anymore.  There are so many random rules because of COVID-19, most of them don't make any sense. 

I was so excited to pick Jonah up Wednesday night.  We missed him!  The kids have all missed him so much.  One day Hallee kept getting upset and she told me later that she was crying because she missed Jonah.  I told Jonah that so he called Hallee the next morning to talk to her, he is such a sweet boy. Jonah gave us all a big hug when he saw us.  Jonah isn't a hugger, so it was pretty special. 

He bought a present for all of the kids, they were all so thoughtful.  Hallee is in love with her new beanie boo.  Jonah had so much fun in Oregon.  It was fun to hear all about it.  I think he was happy to see us, but he sure misses Gary and Julie and the kids.

Saturday was our 17th anniversary.  Keith arranged for my mom to stay here Friday night. We were going to stay in downtown Salt Lake, but we decided against it because of all of the protests (that is a whole post, this year just keeps getting more crazy, heavy and overwhelming).  We went to dinner and then got a hotel nearby.  We had fun playing games and watching something about the Second coming.  Julie sent it to us and I'm so glad she did, it gave me some peace and hope.  I hope and pray that Jesus is coming again soon.  I don't know how much worse this world can get.  It was nice to have uninterrupted time to talk and relax.  

The kids loved having grandma here.  They had fun playing games with her.  Wyatt liked going on a walk with her Saturday morning.  Thanks so much mom!  It was so great to not have to worry and know the kids were happy and well taken care of.

On Sunday morning. I took Hallee and Wyatt for a scooter ride on the Parkway.  We saw so many animals.  There is a farm near the parkway that had ostriches, llamas and cows.  On the Parkway we saw a baby owl, ducks, goats and two baby horses.  It was so fun to see the kids excitement about the animals. 

On Monday Mel and Amarie came down.  Caitlyn was so happy to see Amarie again.  Tiff came over with her kids later and the girls watched them so we could go to lunch.  It was so nice to visit with my sisters!  The kids played non-stop.  The temperature dropped a lot so I was surprised that they played outside so much.  It was cold and windy.  Tessa and Hallee were so excited to show us a butterfly they found.  The butterflies wing was broken so it wasn't flying. They set the butterfly down to see if it would fly and the wind blew it away.  It was a little sad, but so funny.  I love Tessa's reaction, she was so worried about that butterfly.

Caitlyn had an appointment to take her learners permit test today at 5:00 PM.  I forgot her social security card so we had to run home and come back and they couldn't guarantee that they would let her take the test because of the time.  We made it back at 5:30 PM and they said she could do it, but she would only have twenty minutes to take the test.  She felt confident so she did it.  She finished in about 10 minutes and passed.  She was so happy.  It is really strange to have a child this old!