First Day of School!!!

 With the uncertainty of COVID, we didn't know if we would be starting school in person.  We were very grateful when our school district decided to have in person learning!  For the first two weeks, the kids will go half days to adjust to the mask and hot temperatures.  (They can't have fans in the classrooms).  Chase is in 12th grade.  I hope he's able to have a senior year.  Bridger is in 8th grade.  Eight and ninth grade are at the middle school.  Bridger is able to catch a ride with Chase since their schools are across the street and Bridger's starts 10 minutes after Chase.  Tanner is in first grade!  It worked out really well doing half days for two weeks because it helped Tanner adjust to full days.  

Tanner started off in Miss Barnes class.  Two weeks into the school year, we got a phone call from the school.  There was an opening in the Spanish Dual Immersion program at our school.  At first, I was hesitant because I was nervous about moving classes.  I called Amy Jo.  She's a teacher at that school and I used to work with her in primary.  I got her opinion about the program.  Originally we really wanted Tanner to be in the program, but when he didn't get chosen (he was the third alternate) I took it as a sign that it wasn't meant to be.  After talking to Amy Jo and praying about it, we decided to switch him. He has Miss Day for his English time and then Señora Arias for Spanish time.  Tanner was super excited about being in the Spanish class.  Tanner was in his best friend Mack's class.  This was such a tender mercy from the Lord.  The Lord knew that they needed to be together.  Tanner adjusted really quickly.  He's loving both teachers. 

Our first cake!

Jen introduced me to Cakes by C.  So I've been obsessed with looking at her cakes.  Matt and the boys gave me some cake making tools for Mother's Day.  All summer, Bridger and I kept saying that we were going to make one of her cakes.  The day before school started, Bridger, Tanner and I made her Chocolate Salted Caramel cake.  The cake part wasn't hard.  I tried to make her homemade caramel sauce but I burnt it.  I cheated and used a jar of store bought caramel sauce and then added sea salt.  The frosting used two cubes of butter!  We did the first layer and then put it in the freezer for 10 minutes.  Then we took it out and traded off frosting it.  Bridger and I were so proud of our cake.  It turned out really delicious.  It was super rich.  I sent pictures to my family.  Luckily we saw them a couple of days later so I took them some leftovers.  Maddie said "why would they want to share with us when it's this good?"  You can only overdose on so much cake.  It made a lot!  

Rach's 43rd Birthday

 Matt was off the week of my birthday.  So I called Kaye and asked her if we could go to the cabin one last time before school started.  We invited Mom, Dad, and Marilyn to come up with us.  The C were already back in school.  Mylissa's family was quarantined because Maddie tested positive for COVID.  We played games, went for lots of walks and ate yummy food.  

 See Cabin Journal 

Corn!!

 Tanner's friend Mack brought us a dozen ears of corn.  They went to their Great Grandpa's (Lee Summers) field and picked us some sweet corn.  It was so delicious to have fresh corn on the cob!  

Bridger's Friend Party

 Bridger has been asking to have a friend party all summer long.  The summer is quickly wrapping up so we picked a day.  It was our anniversary but it was the only night we had.  Bridger invited four boys and five girls.  He didn't want it to be a birthday party so he wouldn't let me tell his friends.  The kids played in the sports court.  Layne and Tiff brought down their 9 square.  The kids had so much fun playing that!  That's a great game to get everyone involved.  We ordered pizza for them.  The kids were being self conscious because everyone ate only one piece.  Normally the boys eat at least 3 pieces so we had tons of leftover pizza. Afterwards they played night games.  Originally we told Bridger the party needed to end at 10:00 but the kids were having so much fun that we pushed it back to 11:00.  

Bridger's Driving

 In Island Park, I let Bridger drive Grandma's buggy.   He's been asking for a couple of months if he can start driving home from church when he's 14.  That's when we started Chase.  So today after church, I let Bridger drive home.  He drove my van which he said was a lot harder than Grandma's buggy.  We waited until the parking lot was almost empty.  I let Bridger drive the long way home.  It was nerve racking but Bridger did a great job!!!  His smile made it all worth it.  

Primary Drive Through

 As a primary presidency, we decided we needed to do something to reach out to the children.  We came up with the idea to do a drive through "Back to School"activity.  Because of COVID, we had masks on and we asked the parents and children to stay in their cars so we could social distance.  We had five different stations where the kids received school supplies.  I was at the last station and I handed out popsicles.  The kids were great to stay in their cars.  It was so good to see some of our primary children.  Matt brought Tanner over on the four wheeler.  

The C's visit

 Shantelle said that they wanted to come up and spend a day with us before they go back to school.  They brought us Lehi Bakery donuts!!!  We devoured them.  They brought their dog Ivy with them.  Sophie and Ivy turned into best friends.  We walked back to the canal and let the dogs go swimming.  Sophie loves to swim.  Ivy wasn't so sure about it.  Shantelle had to push her in but then she caught right on.  As we were walking back, Ivy stopped and started barking at Lisa's horses.  Shantelle brought up her slip and slide.  The kids loved playing in the water.  I love watching the kids play together.  They get along so well.  We made slushy drinks. The kids played playmobil and played in the sports court.  We had a perfect day together! It was so sweet of Shantelle and her girls to come up and hang out with us.  I miss having Shan live 5 minutes away from me.  It makes my heart so happy to be with them.  We love them so much!

Bridger's 14th birthday

 Bridger's 14th birthday - see cabin journal

Chase's Four Wheel Accident

Chase and his friend Kyzer took the four wheelers out.  After a couple of hours, I started to get worried about them.  When they finally came home, Chase had a big gash in his left leg.  He was going over a mound of dirt and didn't realize it dropped off.  He did a nose dive and rolled the four wheeler.  Luckily he had a helmet on and the four wheeler didn't land on his chest or abdomen.  But it did land on his left leg.  Somehow a part on the four wheeler punctured his leg and made a really deep gash.  By some miracle, he didn't break his leg.  We know he was protected!!!  

  The minute I saw his wound, I knew he needed stitches.  So we went to the hospital for about 90 minutes.  The doctor wanted to do an x-ray of his leg just to make sure there wasn't any debris in it.  The x-ray came back clean.  So then the doctor stitched him up.  The gash was down to the bone.  He did five stitches on the deeper layer and then 10 stitches on the top layer.  Chase was very brave.  He has several abrasions and bruises on his leg.  I still can't believe he didn't break his leg.  He was very lucky!!1