First Day of School

My boys went back to school yesterday.  They are lucky enough to be able to attend in person and they were so ready to go back.  I know this is a controversial issue, but I think most parents know that it has been really hard on our kids to be out of school so long, so I am happy for them that the wait is finally over, and they get to regain a small amount of normalcy in their lives.

Tad is in third grade.  His teacher is Mrs. Tanner.  This is her first year as a teacher, but Tad says she is really nice and "doesn't seem like she will be a yeller.", so that is good.  This will be his last year at the Elementary school with his dad as the principal.  I think it will be harder on Jeremy when Tad leaves next year than it will on Tad.  He has loved having his kids attend his school and he has always had at least one there since he became the principal, seven years ago.

Drake is in 5th grade.  His teacher is Mr. Whiting.  Jack also had him for fifth grade and he is still Jack's all time favorite teacher.  That is saying a lot because Jack has truly had the best teachers, and he has loved all of them.  Drake came home from school glowing yesterday, so I am sure he will have a great year in Mr. Whiting's class too.

Jack is in 7th grade and started at the Junior High.  I have been nervous about this change for Jack since it is always a big adjustment moving from a self-contained classroom with one teacher to having to keep track of a bunch of teachers, classes, and assignments.  On top of that, he is still working on overcoming his knee and leg injuries, so he has to hobble around the campus as best he can.  In any case, he said he had a good day yesterday and is optimistic about this year.

Thomas is a Freshman and he moved up to the high school.  It is always nerve-wracking to change schools, but I know he is happy to be moving on from the Junior High.  He said he had a good day yesterday.  He likes his teachers so far, and has lots of friends in his classes.

 
Dallin is a sophomore this year.  He is so happy to be back at the high school with his friends and classmates.  He also had a good day yesterday.  He (and I) are looking forward to him getting his drivers license at the end of the month, so he can get himself and Thomas to the high school, which is at the far side of Snowflake.

I, of course, had to include a picture of them all masked-up.  I know so many people who are opposed to sending their kids to school in masks, but my kids all said they didn't care as long as they got to go back to school.  Yesterday, when I picked them all up, I asked them how it was wearing the masks all day.  They all said it wasn't bad. 

2020 has definitely been a rough year.  We are all crossing our fingers that this new school year will be a fresh start to something better.

Summer 2020

Well, I think we can agree that 2020 has been pretty much a crapstorm, but we have managed to sneak a little bit of fun in this summer.

Well, first for the not so fun part - - Jack was just recovering from his quad tendon repair surgery when he said he felt his leg suddenly give out and he fell to the floor.  When we took him to the doctor they discovered a crack in his femur.  Luckily his tendon repair was fine, so he didn't need additional surgery, but he went into a full leg cast for six weeks.

While Jack was recovering the rest of us did a little cherry picking.

Jeremy, Dallin, and Thomas went camping with some friends.

We had a mini Hatch reunion and the kids had a ball kayaking, swimming, and playing together.

Drake and Tad had some fun doing a bunch of art journal projects on the back porch.

In July, Jack got his cast off and went back into the brace just in time to head to Utah. We were supposed to go to Kentucky to show my kids where I served my mission, and then on to meet my family in Nauvoo for a family reunion, but COVID obviously threw a wrench in those plans, so we headed up to Utah and stopped at the Needles section of Canyonlands National Park.  We really loved this section of Canyonlands.  None of us had been before.  We basically had the whole park to ourselves.  We only saw maybe two other families the whole time we were there.

It was interesting and very pretty.  Definitely worth the time to see it.

We then stopped at Arches.  Drake's Every Kid in a Park pass definitely came in handy.
This park was a little more crowded, but still not bad.  I'm not sure if that was because we went in the evening or if COVID kept people away, but it was nice.

We even did a couple of hikes.  I was concerned about Jack making this one because the sand was so deep, but he was determined.  We loved it and would like to come back another time when Jack is  a little more mobile.

We went up to Orem for a few days and then my whole family spent three days at a rental house and property near Preston Idaho.

It was a fun place right on the Cub River with outdoor games, swings, firepits, and a swimming pool.  My kids had the best time with their cousins.

Since we were so near Preston, a bunch of the cousins took a trip out to see the Napolean Dynamite house.  I wonder if the owners ever get tired of weirdos like us stopping to take pictures in front of it?

We took a fun hike one morning with Dallin, Thomas, Tad, my dad and some of the cousins.  Drake stayed and played in the pool with some of his cousins, and of course, Jack wasn't up for hiking.

The whole gang.  That is quite a group!

We headed home after the reunion and life has been a little quieter.  Dallin did play some 6v6 soccer.  It was fun to see him play again.  I didn't get any pictures of him playing, but here is a blurry video of one of his goals.

We are keeping our fingers crossed that school will start next week, but no official word yet.   We are ready for this never-ending summer break to be over.

Nine!

My little Tad had a birthday and turned nine back in June!  Nine!  It is always hard on me to have my boys turn another year older, but the baby is always the hardest.  Nine just seems so much older than eight and I was not quite ready for that.  At least I have one more year before he hits the double digits.  

We surprised him with this cute Happy Birthday in our yard when he woke up.  He loved it!

Since COVID-19 was raging in Arizona at the time we just had a simple birthday at home with our family.  He had his favorite breakfast, dinner, and cupcakes and, or course, a few fun presents.

We love Tad so much and we are so happy that he is part of our family!