It was Memorial Day weekend and we were excited to see some family. We headed out to my parents' house to hang with them for a while.
Then, we took the back road to Provo Canyon to meet up with several of Steve's family. His sister Jamie and her family were camping at the base of Bridal Veil Falls. His sister Robyn had joined them. Then, his brother David decided to head up just to hang out as did Steve's parents.
We played games, chatted and then some hiked up to the base of Bridal Veil Falls. They put their feet in the water and took some pics of this pretty place.
Of course, Cole and then Reagan had to start climbing rocks. It's what they do I guess :)
We stayed for several hours and then headed home to sleep in our comfy beds.
It's a long weekend and we were glad we were able to see more family this weekend.
Every year, APA has an assembly to thank the parents who volunteer. We track our volunteer hours during the year and report them. I thought this was to show that we had met our requested amounts of hours, but I learned that it is because they are used to obtain grants for the school. I was actually surprised how many hours I had logged at this event or that event or just being Reagan's class AST.
So, at the assembly, each of the classes had made a sign and each grade gave a little cheer for the volunteers. Both of our kiddos were involved in holding the sign for their grade. 6th Grade was up first.
Then, 4th grade gave their cheer.
After the assembly, they had a brunch for the volunteers. Brenda (our other carpool mom) and I had a nice time at the assembly and breakfast. I love that the school celebrates what we do.
This was the biggest assembly I've been at so far since all other assemblies have been for just 4-6th grade or just orchestra or just a part of the elementary school. There were A LOT of students at this assembly. It was awesome!
I've posted before about Reagan having to take orchestra in 6th grade. Well, they had their end of year concert. We saw Reagan walk in, but then lost her as she took her seat at the back end of the stage. They brought in the 6th graders from the other campus, so, they had way more musicians than probably should have been on that stage. We crooked our heads to see Reagan behind the other musicians.
They started playing and they did a great job. You'll remember from my post about their Christmas concert that they weren't able to get into the orchestra room until after Halloween since the high school students were using it before their building was completed.
Some of the songs we recognized .... others were new to us.
Everybody moved for just a second and we were able to see Reagan. Luckily, I had my camera ready.
Their teacher - Mrs. Fallis - directed them and coached them along during their songs. Reagan said that she went to Juilliard and that she reminds the students of that all the time :)
Reagan's teacher and the other 6th grade teachers were so cute to come and support the students at their concert. Love them!
Their last number was one that we really knew :) Mrs. Fallis said that she has never let her students play a song like this before, but that the students convinced her this year to have them play it.
Way to go Reagan!!!! Reagan has decided to continue with the piano and return our rented violin, but we are so glad that she had this experience.
It was Rachel's birthday and her hubby Andrew (and Shannon 🙂) planned a nice day for her. We picked up lunch and then hiked up Bell Canyon to the reservoir.
We ate our lunch by the reservoir and then decided to walk around the reservoir. There were some clouds and the landscape was SO green. It was just beautiful.
Reagan begged to carry Kinsey in her pack. I just wanted to make sure it was on (fairly) flat ground and that she knew to be careful. The boys had a great time climbing rocks.
Reagan and Cole each decided to do some karate and balance moves on the single rock way out in the reservoir.
We walked up to the saddle in the canyon where we can look over and see our house. Then, we walked around the other side of the reservoir, across the bridge and through the wooded area. It was a great day!
Cole loves to jump on rocks. This probably stems from all the rocks in our yard. I think he likes to imagine himself doing parkour. He jumped from one rock to another and Stockton was right on his heels, but didn't want to jump.
So, the other kiddos tried to do it to encourage him. He didn't want to do it, but he did want to do it.....
Eventually, he did jump! Yay!
We walked the rest of the way around the reservoir and then down to the car. Reagan left with Shannon to have their "birthday date". Shannon takes each of the kiddos out and they choose a gift with her and spend time with her. It is their favorite.
I'm so glad that we live so close to this hike. I know we do it often, but it is a fun, fairly short, easy hike that most everyone can do. Plus, we were able to be outside and in nature while we celebrated Rachel's birthday. Happy Birthday Rachel!!!
Throughout our years in private school, we've heard our friends at public school talk about their Fun Run. We never had one (probably because it is a fundraiser) before this year. We were excited to participate. The APA Fun Run was specifically to raise money for our sister APA school in Zambia. Apparently, there is a huge Cholera outbreak there and without running water for their bathrooms and sinks, the school is mandatorily shut down. So, the money being raised is to install running water and latrines separate from the school building.
All four, local APA campuses participated in our Fun Run and it was held at the Draper Equestrian Center (which is right where we had our 5k run for our BIL Mark). At least Reagan and Cole were familiar with the area.
It was a big party - they had food trucks there and a local DJ announcing the events. I didn't choose to have Reagan and Cole walk around the neighborhood and ask for money - I just paid enough for each of them to run the 5K (they also had a 1K) and to reach certain fund raising levels like a "no homework pass", crazy socks day and free dress day. So, they were excited to have those little rewards.
First up was the 1K. We had paid more than that because both Reagan and Cole wanted to run the 5K. At the last minute, Cole decided to run the 1K as well. He asked the director and they said he could run, so, he did. I was worried that he might not have enough energy to do the 5K after that.
Well, he took off with his friends for the 1K and then came running through the finish line - no big deal. Alrighty then - let's see how the 5K goes :)
Reagan was worried that she wouldn't know where to run (she was also remembering how Steve and his brother missed a trail marking during the 5K for Mark and they got off course somehow), so I gave her my Apple Watch so that she could call us if there was a problem and we could geo-locate her if we had to. (I LOVE those Apple Watches!)
The 5K started and Cole and his friends were right at the start again. Reagan and her friends were more into socializing than "racing", so, they were a bit further back in the pack.
We watched and watched and, eventually, we saw Cole coming in. I was shocked that he still had enough energy to run. You could tell he was tired, but he was running and looked great.
Reagan came in much later. She said one of her friend stopped to walk, so, she walked with her, but she didn't come across the finish line with anyone. Guess the pack of friends broke up along the trail. Oh well - she did great.
In the end, Reagan and Cole had a great time at their first Fun Run and the school was able to raise $42,000 for their sister APA school in Zambia. I'm pretty far behind in this blog, so, I have the benefit of having seen updates of the latrines being built in Africa. Hopefully, that will allow the school to re-open and continue educating students in Africa. Yay!!!!
Steve's sister was recently widowed and several of the brothers have been talking about trying to get together. To have Robyn get out and be with family and just.... enjoy being outside.
I guess only David and Steve could make it the day they chose to go. They decided to head up to Bell Canyon Reservoir. I think Steve was up there 3 times that week :) It is centrally located to the 3 that were going, an easy hike with beautiful scenery and just a great hike.
They headed up mid-day and had a great hike. They enjoyed being together, chatting and being outside.
Robyn continues to be in our prayers every night. We love her and can't imagine the difficult transition she is having to make in this tough time. We love her!!! She always calls herself the "favorite sister". She is funny and spunky and so kind to our kiddos.
It was a warm day, but there was still snow on the mountains above.
Glad these three could get together and I hope they make this a regular thing :)
Next up was the 6th Grade Show What You Know. They had a way more involved skit than the 4th graders did. It was all about the playground missing. Their teachers were involved in the skit with them and it was really cute.
They recited poems, sang songs, performed drills and showed off their grammar skills (which are super impressive - I don't know how they remember all the parts of speech and where they go and how to mark up a sentence.
As usual, Reagan has the BEST facial expressions. She's a performer for sure. She cracks me up!
I made a little video of clips from Reagan's performance (Cole was our videographer at this event). Here it is:
At the end of the program, the 6th grade teachers showed a video of photos and video clips from their 2017-2018 school year. It was so cool to see some of the fun ways the 6th graders learned this year :) Here's a link to it (I hope this works since I didn't make the video and am only an authorized viewer):
Yep - Reagan had a fabulous 6th grade year and she can't wait for 7th grade to start..... Middle School!!!! (gulp!) She was unanimously nominated by the 6th grade teachers to be an Ambassador next year (it sounds like it is sort of a student government thing) and she is honored and excited! Yep - way to wrap up 6th grade!!!! Way to go Reagan!!!!!
We LOVE the Shapiro family. Well, on Mother's Day weekend (I know - I know - I'm WAY behind), we had planned to get together. We have to plan weeks out with these guys because they are (and I guess we) are so busy. We had a busy Friday and a busy Saturday and I was exhausted, but we wanted to see them before they left for Germany, so, we decided to meet up. They suggested Fat Cats.
We aren't big bowlers, but we had a great time with our friends. Reagan and Cole enjoyed bowling. Steve's arm hurt, so, he didn't bowl, but he filled in for others and gave tips to the kiddos. We had pizza and breadsticks and enjoyed chatting.
After that, the kiddos wanted to play at the arcade. I was SO tired that I said "No." Then, Vic walked up and said "I want to treat you guys to this great gelato place we know. Let's go!" As tired as I was, who could turn Vic down? We were glad we didn't - it was delicious.
These guys are SO much fun. We say - all the time - how glad we are that the girls met in 1st grade and became friends because they brought us all together.
We hope they have an amazing trip to Germany and Sweden to visit family.
Safe travels Shapiro family - thanks for a super fun night!!!!
I posted earlier in the football season about Cole and his team(s). Remember how he was assigned to one team and then his coach from last year requested him and they bumped him up to play with 5th and 6th graders? Well, he had a great season of flag football.
Cole was able to play quarterback a lot of the time, but he also played other positions. He was a kicker, he played defense and he was a receiver.
Regardless of what position he played, he played hard and he played fast. It was so fun to watch him play.
On one play, Cole caught an interception and ran it in for a touchdown. He and his coach were both SO happy. I wish I would have caught a pic of their "high five".
On another occasion, he faked like he was going to hand it off to another player, but he kept it and ran it instead. He scored and it was so great!!!!
I love the relationship he has with his coach, Ben Erwin. Coach is never harsh with the boys - just encouraging when they make a mistake and supportive when they are doing well. Cole has learned a lot from his coach. We are so glad that he requested Cole to be on his team.
We missed a few games (the karate tournament, Mark's funeral & a school program), but we still had a great time. We'll be back next year guys!!!! See ya then!!!!
"Mom on the Run" is the title that best describes me these days. After practicing law for 11 years, I had two little ones and am now a full time Mom and loving it. With a 14 year old and an 12 year old, life is full and crazy. Each day we "run" whether it is to the gym, shopping, guitar, karate, piano, school, lunch with friends, institute class, family activities or church functions. Reagan and Cole keep me crazy busy and we have lots of fun.
Steve (the love of my life) and I have been married for sixteen years and we live in Sandy, Utah. Playing with the kids is our most enjoyable hobby these days. We also try to fit in snow skiing, walking and hiking, and playing in our yard. We love to spend time with Steve's three daughters (and their spouses/kids). We traveled much more before we had our kiddos, but still try to travel when we can. If we are away, we can most often be found on one of the Hawaiian islands and we love to spend time at the beach.
