I have to go, I have a 4:30 meeting with my stuffed animals

Hallee has been having lots of meetings with her stuffed animals.  We were reading one afternoon and she saw the clock and went running out of the room because she had a meeting set up with her stuffed animals.  

Hallee and Wyatt have been playing with Legos a lot lately.  They love to show me the cool things they build.

Keith is always good about playing with the kids.  He helped them build some fun trucks and airplanes.

Hallee is enjoying her dance and Broadway classes.  She has Jazz on Monday for an hour and Broadway on Friday for an hour.  Her classes are pretty small, the first week they only had three students in them.  Hallee said there were five (including her) in dance today.  She is loving all of it, the creative outlet is so good for her.

She looks so grown up  lately.

Caitlyn got her first college acceptance letter.  She is taking a concurrent enrollment class through Weber State so she had to apply and she thought it was pretty cool to get her acceptance letter.  She loves her Medical Anatomy class and right now she wants to go to school to be an RN.  She will be a fantastic nurse!

Wyatt set up this stand for scripture study one night.  Hallee had fun using it to sing and put on shows.

Caitlyn got her tennis uniform last week so we had fun taking some pictures after her match.  She has been really busy with tennis.  She practices every day and usually has two matches a week.  She loves playing tennis and hanging out with her team.  The matches are really long so the girls have fun visiting or playing games while they are waiting for their turn to play.  We have had fun watching Caitlyn play.  She is doing great!  She has improved so much each year.  

Last week I went and walked in Provo Canyon.  It is so beautiful. 

Caitlyn went to St George over the weekend with the tennis team.  She had a great time.  I need to get some pictures from her and have her post about it.

Jonah has started fishing with his friends. They go over to the river trail.  It is great because it is so close and they can just ride their bikes over there whenever they want. He sent me this picture when he caught his first fish. He was pretty excited about that.

Jonah used his money to buy his own fishing pole so he wouldn't have to share with his friends.  He was excited to try it out on Friday.  Wyatt wanted to go so Jonah told him that he could come with him and Kyle.  Wyatt loved it too! 

Lagoon

Today was Keith's company Lagoon day.  We were so happy that the weather has cooled off and it wasn't really hot today.  Caitlyn and Wyatt went on Bombora first.

Hallee told Jonah that she wanted to go on the Bat roller coaster.  Jonah has been pumping her up for it all week and they headed straight there. 

Hallee started panicking and almost backed out, but Jonah talked her into it.  She looked terrified (except when I told them to look for a picture) and screamed the whole way, but she said she liked it.  She wanted to go back and ride it again, but the line was crazy long. She was so proud of herself!

I'm so glad we got there right when it opened.  The lines weren't long for the first hour or two.  Caitlyn and Jonah were able to go on the airplanes and the Samurai without waiting too long.  I went with them on Cannibal once too.

We all had fun on the space scrambler.

I loved riding with Hallee and listening to her laugh the whole time.

All of the kids rode the bumper cars together.  I loved watching the kids have fun together and pair off to ride rides together.

Hallee was pretty excited to see the peacocks! Vasayo provided lunch for us.  It's so great to not have to spend any money to have a family day at Lagoon.

We stayed for a a little over five hours and then we were all ready to come home.  I was sitting there wondering how we went so many times for those couple of years that we had passes. I think once a year is good for us now!  It is hard to enjoy Lagoon when it is so crowded.  The lines were so long and after five hours, it just wasn't worth it to any of us to wait in those lines anymore.   Even though it was crowded and we were tired and a little grumpy, we all had a great time, thanks Vasayo!

Back to School!

I don't know who was more excited about school starting up again, me or Hallee?! The other kids said they weren't excited, but Hallee sure was. I took Hallee and Wyatt to Lakeview for back to school night on Tuesday.  This always helps them get excited to go back to school.

It's so discouraging that we are still dealing with Covid-19! Some people are pushing for face masks again because of the higher numbers we are having.  There is no mandate like their was last year.  Provo School District has left it up to each parent to decide.  I wasn't sure what to expect so we took our masks to back to school night.  There was probably about 10% of the people there in masks.  The email the district sent out said that people who have masks on won't have to isolate after an exposure and that really made me stop and think about the kids wearing them.  In the end Keith and I decided to share the information the district sent with the kids and let them decide.  I think all of the kids decided not to wear masks and we are fine with that.  It's so hard to find a balance of loving your neighbor and being considerate and getting on with life.  

Hallee was so excited to find out that Trinity is in her class again this year.  They became great friends last year and she has been hoping they would be in the same class again.  Amanda is also in her class this year.  Hallee has Mrs. Hafen and she loves her!  Wyatt has Ms. May and he loves her too. 

The kids started school on Wednesday.  The early morning was a little rough for all of us.  It's crazy that I have two high schoolers.

I had to help Caitlyn since she didn't have enough fingers!

She said she will miss summer break, but I think she is excited to get back to school.  She has loved taking notes and studying already! She has a tough load this year.  She has AP Psychology, AP Language Arts, Honors Math and a concurrent enrollment Medical Terminology Class.  Her other classes aren't much easier.  She will be busy this year, but she is up to the challenge.

Jonah doesn't talk like Caitlyn does, but I think he is enjoying High School.  He loves the social aspect of school.  He is so blessed to have a great group of friends.  I think having such a big group of friends has really helped him transition into High School.  

Jonah is excited about his welding class.  He is also taking French and he said he remembers a little bit of it, hopefully it will come back.  He is glad that he has friends in most of his classes.  He has enjoyed going to summer seminary and he has enjoyed the seminary activities. 

It is so nice that Caitlyn can drive them to school every day.  Jonah sat in the back so Chloee could have the front seat, what a nice boy.  Jonah usually comes home with his friends instead of getting a ride from Caitlyn.

An hour later it was time for these two to leave for school.  It was rainy all week so we took the pictures in the garage.

Wyatt is doing great.  He has been feeling happy and regulated for a little while now, I think we have found the right dosage for now.  It makes me so happy to see him so happy.  Wyatt doesn't have any of his friends in his class, he doesn't seem to mind though.  He said he can still play with them at recess and he has made a few new friends already.

Hallee loves school.  She loves to tell me about every detail of her day!  On the first day of school I was asking Jonah about his day and Hallee interrupted and said, "do you want to hear about my day Jonah?"  Jonah sat there patiently while she told him every detail of her day.  Jonah and I kept smiling at each other and Hallee wasn't sure what we thought was so funny.  My boys and girls sure are different in that way.

The school posted this picture of Hallee and Amanda.  I love to see my kids happy at school.  I am so happy that the kids are in school full time!  It feels like we have been on a two year summer break.  They are all ready to challenge themselves and learn new things and we are all ready to get into a routine.

Keeping busy

Wyatt loves to cook.  He wanted to make muffins one morning. 

Wyatt set up a penguin Olympics for us one night. 

Wyatt is so sweet, he is always asking me if I need help with anything and offering to make food for me.  One morning he came in with a bowl of fruit for me when I woke up.

Hallee and Wyatt are obsessed with fidget toys.  They both got some for their birthday and keep spending their money on them.

Keith and I went and say 1820 The Musical.  It started out pretty cheesy, but we both really liked it by the end.  We got the cd, there are some really good songs in the play.

I feel like I am always taking someone to an appointment.  There are counseling, med checks, check-ups and orthodontic appointments.  Hallee and Wyatt are get left alone a lot while I'm running people where they need to be.  I try and do something fun with them when I'm home.  One morning we went over to Lakeview to play before it got too hot. They loved showing me all of their tricks.

We were glad we could squeeze in a few more play dates with the Barth's before school starts.

Grandma came down to bake with Caitlyn.  Caitlyn was thrilled, she loves grandma so much and just eats up the time and attention she gives her. 

The kids all loved spending time with grandma.

Jonah is looking so grown up lately. He is growing out his hair and trying to bring out the curl in his hair.  I'm not sure if that is part of why he is looking older or just the fact that he is getting so tall.

I took Caitlyn and Jonah to the High School the other day to pay fees and get their Chromebook.  They could also get their picture taken so they both put on their new shirts.

It's crazy that I have two high schoolers.  Jonah doesn't seem to be nervous about starting High School.  

Caitlyn has started her tennis season.  She is having fun and doing great.

She had a match on Friday and the kids came with me.  I was happy when Jonah asked to come, I love when my kids support each other! It was a very close match, so it ended up being almost two hours.  The kids were good sports, especially with the heat.  

We had an appointment for baptisms for the dead on Saturday. 

Caitlyn and Jonah both brought a friend and Kyle and Paige went too.  

I love hearing Caitlyn and Wyatt play their ukelees.

We have been playing a lot of card games lately. Sunday we had a very long game of Phase 10.

Hallee and Caitlyn wanted me to take pictures of them being sassy, look out world!

Yesterday I took Hallee and Wyatt to the aquarium one last time before our pass expires.

We got there first thing so we had the place to ourselves for a few minutes. 

We stopped at the store to get a birthday gift for Amanda and I bought a game like Telestrations.  I went to put laundry in and I came back and all four kids were already playing the game.