Graduation

Graduation this year was a little different.  I give tremendous credit to our school district to overcoming the odds to make this event possible, and it was run flawlessly.  A few days before graduation, Brayden was contacted by his principal and asked to do a special speech at the beginning fo the ceremony.  With his friend Maya, they introduced a moment of silence before the graduation began.  (Recently there was a terrible incident of police brutality in the country and ever since that protests have been raging so this was a nod to that movement).  Brayden did a great job with that and it was fun to see him play that honored role in the graduation.  The principal told me that he could think of no one better to unite the school at this difficult time (and I may have shed a proud mama tear at that kind compliment). 

What a year for these kids to graduate- amid a pandemic and a lot of turmoil- it is truly a tough and historic time.  While many high schools were just having drive thru graduations our district was able to hold graduation ceremonies for the class of 2020 in our new football stadium.  Tickets were limited to five per graduate (perfect for us) and assigned seats so that everyone was spread apart.  Grads were spaced 6ft apart on the football field and everyone got a chance to walk the stage.  There were masks for the graduates but they didnt have to wear them when they crossed the stage.  And there were some extra surprises- including a phenomenal fireworks show at the end.  It was the best graduation I have ever attended! Way to go Brayden- you did it!

After graduation, he and his friends came to our house for Prosper cookie cake, waffles and swimming.  The boys wore cut off white shirts under their graduation robes and then jumped in the pool with their clothes on afterwards.  Silly boys!

Graduation photo shoot

 The high school set up some fun photo ops outside the School for the seniors to come and take pictures. Brayden was not happy about him but we went and took some fun pictures to celebrate his graduation!

A visit from the Thomases

Because of covid we had a break from school and the Thomases had a break from work, so they came down and spent some time with us.  We had a great visit.  We did a lot of boating and swimming and the kids created a masterpiece movie entitled "The Harry Games". It was a great visit.

ALL GROWN UP/ HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAYDEN

Brayden is 18.  It's official.  For his birthday we surprised him by flying out his friend Nolan.  It was a pretty great surprise.

Birthday dinner at Torchys

Tis is the adorable card that Emmitt made for Brayden.

Corona Quarantine

Arriving back from our Spring Break trip we were met with ever increasing news concerns about COVID 19- a coronavirus that seems to be spreading like wildfire and causing big trouble.  By the end of the week we were hit with the news that the kids would not be returning to school and Kevin would be working with home.  It was all quite shocking.  We didn't know at the time but that would be the beginning of a 6 week stay at home order and we would be finishing ou the school year with online learning.  Its been a crazy time.  We've had to get inventive to keep busy and its been hard at time but its also been filled with precious priceless family time.  After the stress of it leveled off we realized we were grateful for this time where life has been forced to slow down.  Heres a few photo highlights.

One day we went to Lowes (one of the few places we can go).  We stayed distant from others and washed our hands thoroughly.  Brielle and Emmitt picked out plants and pots and came home to paint the pots and then plant the plants.  It was a good time killer.

Brielle kept herself busy creating these adorable Mickey Mouse ears.

Emmitt created this desk space for his homeschooling office.  He wanted to "decorate it" like his dads desk at work- hence the soda bottles ;)

When warm days came along, we hit the pool or more often the hot tub.  Emmitt and I experimented with Pina coladas.

There was a lot of baking over this time.  Lots of sweets on hand.  Brielle made these yummy cupcakes.

We are so grateful for our backyard.  Its so nice to have a pleasant place to "go".

One of my main activities was mask making.  I made a dozen for our family and donated 126 to local people in need.  It was a fun project and every once in awhile I was able to rope the kids in to helping me.

My helpers

a few of the masks

puzzles... we did lots of puzzles

Very sadly, our neighbors and friend the Vach family tragically lost their two year old son right at the beginning of the quarantine.  Only their immediate family and the bishop was able to attend the funeral.  The ward and community lined the streets in their cars all the way from the church to their home.  We made signs to show our love and support.  

If you look carefully you can see Brielles new favorite spot to read a book- yep that's the tree in our front yard.  We had to get creative when you needed a change of scenery.

The kids missed their friends so we went and did a little chalk art on their driveway.  It wasn't quite as fun as playing with them but it got us out of the house.

And Emmitt created this weapon on his own with sticks he found at the Park.  So we can feel safe.

And we made our very own play dough.  Then the younger kids and I had food making competitions with it.

I tried to give some structure to our days.  It was much needed.  (It was titled Homeschool Musical because of the studio C sketch... sort of an inside joke)

We had a super warm day so dad took off work and we hit the lake.  It was really nice to get the boat out and enjoy the sunshine.  The water was cold but we still loved it!