Busy busy June

 Let's see, the Monday after my last blog was the day Josh's brother and sister left so he drove them to the airport and then it was my piano recital. Every student played two pieces and did well and then I have them play a fun one and my theme this year was movies. We had a wide range from Michael Jackson to the Rocky theme to James Bond and La La Land. I was proud of my students and thought they all played pretty well. Performing is tough and as my students get older, the songs get more challenging and longer but it all went well. For Lily's senior celebration she and I played a duet of Defying Gravity and we had some page turning issues but at least that stress kept me from crying my eyes out. I gave her flowers and told her how proud I was of her and that was that. I had a bunch of different kinds of popcorn for our treat and also mini cheesecakes at Lily's request. It was a relief to have it over and fun to have two sets of grandparents there to support and help out.

 

The next day was the last day of school. I got to go to Brandon's fifth grade picnic and I actually enjoyed chatting with the Dorns and Brandon's Australian friend's dad and also Brandon's teachers. I got home and Emma was already there and then Brandon came home on the bus--his last ride with Mr. Dave. One of my favorite moments of the last day of school is hearing all the buses honk their horns as they leave Evergreen. We're close enough to hear it and I'm going to miss that. So Brandon got off the bus (his last day of elementary school!) and I was proud of both of us for not crying. We played What Time is it? and had a dance party and then I had to go pick up Curtis from cross country. The grandparents were all here and we had leftovers for dinner and that is a wrap on elementary school for us. 

 

 

I've been dreading the emotional toll of Brandon being done with elementary school and Lily graduating for at least a year but it wasn't so bad, or else I was just too stressed to actually process it. I am not excited to send him off to middle school but I am excited about him and Emma being in the same school again. I'm going to go from four kids in four schools to three kids in two schools (and Lily at BYU but I won't be getting a weekly email from her principal). I actually logged in to see what her final grades were and she isn't in the system anymore--that was a moment. I have loved having my kids at Evergreen though; 13 years since Lily started kindergarten to this moment where Brandon is finishing fifth grade. It's been a good school to us! 

Wednesday the kids hung out with my in-laws while I took my parents to the airport, which stupidly takes four hours here, and I got back just in time to go with Josh and Brandon to his flag football coach's house for an end of season BBQ. They have a super nice yard and are very kind people; this season was such a good experience. The other kids went to church activities. 

Thursday was my in-laws last day here so we just hung out and then they took us out for a special dinner. We went to the Ruddy Duck down by Piney Point and it was okay food but the view is great and we walked around the lighthouse a little bit. It was a nice visit with them and my parents really enjoyed hanging out with them too so it all worked out well--and we're done hosting for awhile which is nice. 

 

 

The next day was a bit of a relaxing day; I actually can't remember much of what we did except go to Abby's graduation party that evening, which was nice. It was good food and Emma and Brandon had fun swimming and the big kids chatted and the weather held until the party was over so that was good. Can't believe these girls are so grown up and graduated and moving on in life. Oh wait, I went over to Melissa's house that day to be trained in my new calling. 

Saturday was a busy stake conference day. Josh was gone all day and then I had to go to the leadership meeting thanks to my brand new calling as primary secretary so I went up with some fun ladies and the meeting was great. Then I had dinner with Josh and Elder Hall and his wife came over and chatted with us and then the adult session was great. I haven't been in a presidency since Josh got called into the EQ presidency 11 years ago and I got released from YW so it has been awhile. I'm not excited about meetings and I will miss teaching and I'm sad to ditch Leisa for the activities but I'm trying to be positive and excited; change always takes me a minute. When I was set apart Bishop Wiest mentioned finding joy in my calling three times and so that's what I'm going to do. Anyway, I loved all of stake conference on Saturday and it was nice to drive home with Josh (although we forgot to pick up the van from where I had met my carpool and Sunday morning it was like, where is the van? Whoops!).

Sunday morning we went up early for the youth session and Brandon and I just ended up joining in and it was really good. The general session was too but I really love and appreciate the informal teaching done on Saturday. Josh had meetings afterwards so Curtis drove us home and we had a quiet afternoon waiting for Josh so we could have some family fun.

The rest of the week was so busy getting ready for our trip. I did laundry twice, went to Inklings and walked with Michelle, grocery shopped, meal planned for while I was gone, took the girls to get haircuts, had a ministering interview, took Curtis to cross country work outs, took Emma to dance (she had an intensive that week so was gone from 9-3), met with a lawyer to get our will taken care of, tried to figure out some primary stuff, packed and cleaned and went and helped Leisa with the valiant activity, which was learning to build a fire and then roasting cheese wrapped up in rolls. 

Thursday I finished packing and then drove up to the airport to pick up my sister, Debbie, who came to watch Emma and Brandon while we were away. We got back about 2pm and chatted a bit and then finished final preparations to go and then by 4pm we were off.