The first week of summer vacation! Compared to all the graduations and such going on last week, this week was pretty tame. We still kept busy, but most of it wasn't very exciting. The only picture I took was of Tanner eating two sandwiches at once:
Teenage boys...you've gotta love 'em!
Saturday was a bit busy with social events. Frank and I went to a wedding open house for a couple in our ward that afternoon. Then we went to a graduation party for a boy in our ward (Scott's age). We took Jared and Seth with us but Tanner didn't want to go and Scott was working. This family is from Guatemala and they had lots of yummy ethnic food. After we got back from that, Jared went to a movie with some friends from school; they saw Men In Black 3. Scott was gone literally all day; he was doing lights and sound for a big dance program at the school. He logged 14 hours of work which is good since he needs as much as he can get to pay for college. He ended up having to work the next day also for about 5 hours (a continuation of the dance program) but at least he was able to go to Sacrament Meeting first.
Sunday I had class presidency meeting right after church and then I caught the tail end of choir practice. The older three boys and I all went to a fireside that evening as well. (Scott was back from work by then.)
On Monday my friend Jeanine came over with 2 of her boys. The boys stayed at the house to hang out and eat pizza while I went with Jeanine while she took some books to a local book store to sell them (they buy used books). Then I took her to lunch. She and her husband are separating and they will be moving somewhere out west probably this summer so she is going through a lot of things and trying to get rid of as much as possible. It is really sad! I will miss her a lot when she moves but I know we will keep in touch. She is one of those people that I know Heavenly Father put in my path as a tender mercy--for she and I both. Her boys and my boys have been very good friends also. Her oldest son Joey is the same age as Scott and he will be leaving in just a week or two to start working out west before he starts college in Oregon this fall, so when they left we knew it was the last time Scott and Joey will see each other for probably a long time. They gave each other a big hug, and Jeanine and I both had to go outside so we wouldn't cry too much! It's hard to believe we've got to this point where our little boys aren't little anymore and they will all be going their separate ways.
The rest of the week we've been getting into our summer routine, with the boys doing some chores every morning and then they get some game time. I'm trying to get back into a good exercise routine and I've been keeping busy with lots of extra things like mending clothes, looking up good places to go hiking (I want to take the boys on some hikes this summer), working on Personal Progress, working on my YW lesson (I teach this week) and reading the book for book club. (Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy)
The boys have had various social activities; Scott went to a graduation party for his friend Neil on Tuesday evening and to Institute last night and Jared spent the night with his friend Bryson on Tuesday night. They all went to the store with me on Wednesday--I'll be avoiding that in the future! Tanner attended a missionary discussion yesterday with a boy his age; actually he and Scott have been to several missionary discussions the last few months but I usually forget to mention them. This particular boy befriended several kids in the ward at school (not Tanner's school) and was invited by them to attend Seminary and other church activites; he went to Seminary for a couple of months until school ended and he has also come to a lot of the activites and firesides as well as to church meetings. Tanner went to his house on Wednesday to play games as well.
Wednesday evening the boys had a Court of Honor for YM and the girls had a pre-camp activity. (The ward camp director did everything--all I had to do was show up, which was nice. The YW president is out of town this week and will be gone for most of June so I guess I'm the acting president right now. It hasn't been too bad so far!) Jared received his Citizenship in the World Merit Badge on Wednesday but they didn't recieve the other awards that they should have received because the scout master is out of town and no one knows where their blue cards are (I handed them in months ago). They also didn't get rank advancements because they missed the Board of Reviews--that was last Wednesday when Jared was at his 8th grade graduation and Tanner ended up stuck with Scott at his job interview (they got lost on the way there and it took longer than they anticipated). I am VERY frustrated with the whole situation because we only had 2 days notice of the board of review and of the court of honor and both Jared and Tanner are ready to advance (and have been for a long time). I know their scout leaders are doing their best and they are great in many ways but organization is not their strong point. It just drives me crazy sometimes!
Yesterday morning we had a sewing activity for the YW to help them finish up their skirts, bloomers etc that they need for Trek. We had the activity at my friend Kathleen's house and her son Tyler and Seth are buddies, so Seth came with me and had a fun play date while we sewed. We got a lot done although there are still a number of things to finish up. We're going to get together again in a few weeks to finish anything else that needs to be done. Yesterday afternoon Scott got a call from his friend who works at Subway; he said "you're on the schedule to work at 2:00 today, did you know that?" This was at 2:30! Scott had checked earlier in the week and been told that he wouldn't be on the schedule for this week at all so this was a surprise and who knows why no one called him to let him know he was starting work. Anyway, they were understanding about it and he went over right away and he seemed to enjoy his first day on the job. He works again tonight and tomorrow too.
Today I took Scott to open a checking and savings account. He's been saving money in a piggy bank since he was about 5 years old, so we had quite a few coins to count up before going to the bank. He is feeling really grown up now. :)
We ended up buying plane tickets this week. Southwest was having a really good sale on tickets purchased for travel between August 13th and November 13th so we decided to take advantage of that. We had already decided that (unfortunately) we wouldn't all be able to come out this summer--some major car repairs plus Frank's appendicitis messed up those plans. (Frank won't have any days off until later in the year either.) But we were able to get tickets for Scott and I so I can bring him out when school starts in the fall. We're flying to Salt Lake City on September 5th and then driving up to Rexburg on the 6th so Scott can get moved into his apartment and attend freshman orientation. I'll probably stay overnight on the 6th and then drive back to Utah on the 7th. I fly back to Maryland on the 12th, so I'll have a few days to visit all of you Utah folks then.
I admit I cried after buying the tickets! First, because I wish everybody could go and I know I'm going to miss my family back home for the week that I'm gone. Second, because I only bought a one way ticket for Scott and it is sinking in that I'm really going to have to leave him and go back home thousands of miles away. Third, because when I come back home I'll be leaving the rest of my family far behind and won't be able to see them for a while. And fourth, because I'm realizing more every day that my boys are growing up and we're not all going to be together anymore like we've been all these years. I only cried a little bit though and now I am "bucking up" because I'm also glad to see my boys growing up. It's what they are supposed to do! And I know that there are many parents out there who grieve over a child who will never be able to be independent or lead a normal life because of a mental, emotional or physical handicap. So actually I'm very fortunate, and I know it. It's very exciting and satisfying to see my kids becoming independent and I am really enjoying this stage of parenting overall--but it's hard, too!
Frank is continuing to improve and gain strength. He goes in to work for about 6 hours most days and does some work from home too. He is also doing some work for clients, so he keeps busy. He is still restricted on how much weight he can lift and he can't exercise either--he has about 4 more weeks to go before those restrictions are lifted. We will all be glad when he is able to go back to all his normal activities.
That's everything for this week. Not much going on, but boring is good! :)
1 comment:
Bittersweet to see your child grow up! I know what you are feeling:) We look forward to seeing you. My kids will be bummed that they won't get to see Scott before he goes to BYU-I. Good for him though, it will be such a good thing for him to be on his own before his mission!
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