Back to School

Well. We're back to school. For now, that means we're actually in school twice a week and doing "remote learning" the other three days. Nate and I decided to put together a little theme this year. Our theme is "Mens et Manus" it's Latin for "Mind and Hand." We based it on the MIT motto and this quote by President Hinckley: "The Lord wants you to train your minds and hands to become an influence for good as you go forward with your lives. And as you do so and as you perform honorably and with excellence ... you will be regarded as a man or woman of integrity and ability and conscientious workmanship. ...The Lord wants you to educate your minds and hands, whatever your chosen field." With so much "online" learning happening these days we feel it's important for our children to engage with the "real" world too. And of course we want them to do this all for the betterment of this world and the people in it-we want them to work to become a force for good. Minds and hands for good.

This is just some of the masks I washed the other night. Trying to be prepared in the mask situation.

I know the kids are disappointed to be learning remotely, to only have 2 days physically in school. And honestly, initially I was too. But, I'm wondering if it will be a good thing. Maybe not having to go to Junior High School everyday isn't the worst thing in the world? That place can be rough. Grace is taking CNA classes at Davis High School, so she splits her time between schools. I'm excited for her to explore this option. 

Kit's face, "What is happening? Where is everybody going?"
 

Winding Up Summer

 

Well, summer has come to an end. In so far that school has begun anyway. It's still insanely hot. Our grass is super dead, and I hate going out in the afternoons. Mornings and evenings are lovely though. 

Lilla went to Cherry Hill with some friends.

Betty Whitlock and Michelle McKenna came over to see the Fairy Garden. I wish I would have taken a picture of Betty. She looked so beautiful. I just love her. Betty is 80-something years old. She said she stopped counting at 80, so I'm not really sure, but I am sure I adore her. She is so much fun to be with. She and her husband, Woody, are sharp as tacks. In fact Woody is still running marathons.  I hope to be like them in my old age!

Gibson has been looking forward to working at the farm for a long time, and finally just decided to show up and see if they would let him work. And they did! I'm so proud of my hardworking farm kids. "Digging in the soil has a curative effect.." said Declaration of Independence signer, Benjamin Rush, and I agree!

Kit suddenly developed a fear of the deck. It's funny though, she doesn't mind being on the rug that's on the deck. It makes watching her easier. For now.  

Gibson had a 7th grade orientation Anderson came along to show him the ropes. They'll be at the same school next year.  I took the boys shopping for new school shoes.

Lake Powell

 We had a last-minute chance to go to Lake Powell with Nate's high school friend and his family last weekend. LaMont and Nate spent a lot of time rock climbing and know each other well. LaMont's company has a house boat and he invited us all to stay a few days. House boats and toddlers aren't a good match, so I was going to stay home with Kit while Nate and the rest of the kids went. How could we say no?! But then Nate's sister, Margie, was willing to have Kit stay with them-so nice! I knew the Fullmers would take good care of little Miss, and they did! 

We spent the first night in a cheap hotel, we had to leave late and drop Kit off and the drive was about 5 hours. So around 11 pm, we checked in and snoozed for just a bit before getting up way too early to make it to the lake by 8 am.

One of the things we did was kayak. There was a little cove across from where we docked the house boat the kids called "Lizard Cove". It was fun to kayak (or swim) to and from the cove. 

Grace had discovered a different little cove that she wanted to explore. It was more out in the lake--outside the little nook where our boat was docked. She and I took the kayaks and and found this beautiful little area. The water was super sparkly and the rock formation awesome. We wanted to swim but there was dead fish that kept us in our kayaks. 

LaMont also had a speed boat there. The kids always love tubing. And this time we tried Wake Surfing. It's so awesome! You basically surf behind in the boat. Once you're good enough, you can do it without even holding onto a rope. I was so proud of Gibson who tried over and over and didn't give up. And then, he got up! LaMont was super patient with us all while we learned.

Anderson did it without the rope! First time I believe! 

Grace was able to let go of the rope too.

I even got up! (It think people were surprised. :)) But I never got to the point of not using the rope. Next time! It felt so good just to be in the water and to swim, honestly. I miss swimming. 

One of my most favorite parts of the trip was sleeping on the very tippy top deck of the house boat and star gazing. The stars before the moon rose we unreal. You could see the Milky Way, so bright! I honestly am not sure if my children have ever seen the stars like that. I know it's been a really long time for me.  Hopefully we can get in some more serious stargazing soon!

Nate, of course, was super man and got up and went running. Grace went with him, I wish I had too! 

The last night we had a Glow Party! The kids had an awesome time playing with the glow sticks in the water. It was awesome to watch. I was a little worried we were going to lose someone swimming in the dark. But we didn't. All is well.

I'm so grateful for good friends willing to share their good times!

Back to Church

A couple of weeks ago, on August 2nd, we went back to church for the first time in over 4 months. Our ward has been split in half and we alternate going to the church every other Sunday and Home Church every other Sunday. There were very few people there, though most in masks. Until the 2nd we had just been doing our own church every week-it's just easier with the baby. The reason we went back this week was because I was asked to say the opening prayer. I'm glad we went. It reminded me of the importance for my children to hear the Gospel from the mouths of others--not just Nate and myself. I too need to hear the Gospel preached by others. Also, President Bednar gave a message recently about the importance of gathering and exercising our religious freedoms. We are strengthened by those around us.

 

Cats and Rabbits

Tuesday we found out the kids will mostly be doing school from home for the next few months. We also got 2!  little animals. Grace got a kitten. She named him Atlas.

Lilla got a bunny. She named him Hank Gerald McMullin. 

 Both little fur balls are adorable. And, I imagine they will get lots of snuggling considering the state of things.

School?

Today we received a letter from the school district. They've decided to only have the children attend school twice a week in person. The other three days will be online. This makes things difficult, online learning wasn't stellar for us. Should I use a homeschool curriculum instead and then just send them to school anyway for the social part??? I don't know that that's a good idea. Sigh.

Vacationing in Idaho

Oh man. I would really like to post more than I have been. Covid is still going strong, but Utah's case numbers have been evening out, hopefully soon they will drop, and keep dropping.  The kids are supposed to start school in a month. Davis County is planning to go back in person, (my kids are so grateful) with the requirement that everyone wear masks. Obviously a person can't wear a mask and play the trombone (Anderson) or the trumpet (Gibson is starting this year!) so it will be interesting to see how that goes. I will pray for the bands.

Despite it all, we have had some fun, mostly involving going to Allred's house in Idaho. Both Gibson and Lilla spent a couple of weeks up there doing camps. Covid just hasn't been as bad up there. Gibson did Basketball Camp and Ballroom Dance Camp. Lilla did Backhand Spring Camp and Tennis Camp. Anderson and Grace stayed here and worked their tails off at the farm. I'm so grateful my children have had productive ways to fill their time during all this craziness. And so grateful Val and Travis were willing to let the lot of us crash their house for so long!

Last week we ALL went up and stayed with Val and Travis for a little family reunion. It was actually relaxing. Sometimes vacations aren't. But I came home feeling totally rejuvenated. (Despite that fact that a fungus started taking over the yard while we were gone...OH! So very sad.)

Saturday we floated the river. There were a lot of people doing the same thing. Luckily it's pretty easy to social distance on a tube in the river.

Sunday we went to Yellowstone. So peaceful and beautiful. WE SAW A BEAR! It was just off the road down in a ravine. We had a great vantage point on it. It was awesome. Kit could even see it and got excited about it. We drove home late and were detoured through some scenic byway. Because of the night we couldn't see the scenery, but the stars were unreal. I'm pretty sure I even saw a comet. Awesome.

Monday we played Kubb--a simple Scandinavian yard game that's a little like horse shoes. A little. We had a Kubb tournament. I didn't even knock over one block. But I was close every time! The dads and kids had a sleepover at Val's gymnastics gym. So that was a party.

Tuesday we went bridge jumping off the Twin Bridges in Saint Anthony. There were cool, what seemed to be, smooth lava rocks in the water to play on too. It wasn't too scary, all the McMullins (excluding the obvious Kit) jumped. RicAnn who is TERRIFIED of heights even jumped. I think the trick is to decide, and then just go. Don't stand at the top looking down for too long, know what I mean. It felt so good to be in the water. We haven't been swimming all summer. It was lovely.

Wednesday we rented dune buggies and rode them through the sand dunes. INSANE! I was mostly praying we wouldn't die the whole time. But, the kids loved it.

Uncle T taught Lilla to drive their 4-wheeler, only around their yard of course. But she loved it.

It was just good to spend time together.