Sunshine in September

Well, school started, as well as dance and some extra curricular activities.  Of course, because COVID is apparently not going away anytime soon, adjustments are being made-masks are worn, distance must be observed.  Thank heavens for the sun!!!  We can still be with people outside and we even felt good about having an almost normal Snowbird week!!  

We look forward to week 36 all year.  It was especially great because we got to see family that doesn't live around these parts.  Grace came down a little early so she and Katelee had quite the fashion show at Grandma's.

Haley and Gage drove in and entertained little people for hours...

Blake, Suzanne and Caleb were there, which was a special treat for Harrison because Caleb let Harrison join him in some serious games on the court.

This beast brought his A-game when it was the cousins...and then he quite literally turned into a beast monster.  Everyone had to evacuate the scene as we calmed the storm.  There was a situation with who threw the basket last, who fouled who, you know typical flagrant fouls during a hugely important competition.   Luckily, he took some deep breaths and came back to congratulate all players on good game...between the hyperventilating recovery breaths.  

We played game after game-Curses and cards, Double Ditto, Scattergories, you name it, it was played.  Loads of movies were viewed, delish treats were consumed.  We've become well known around the Iron Blosam for mixed drinks...with Torani sodas and Perrier, of course.  It is just a week we all enjoy. 

 And while it seems to be mostly about family, it's the mountains that steal the show...

The hikes are invigorating and gorgeous, apparently a little romantic, as well.  

We can't wait for next year already!!!

We decided to keep getting our money's worth out of our Lagoon passes and hit up Frightmares a couple of times in September.  It was the best, not crowded at all, fun Halloween decorations...I mean it's fun to see your kid looking like he's chopped in half, right?

We even brought friends a couple of times.  Perfect fall evening! 

And so, September has given us hope in the idea that life will continue on as normal as it can while keeping that corona virus always in the picture.  Schools are not able to do official dances but groups of kids are trying to make the best of it and organizing their own dance memories.  Grant was asked to go to his first one!  Can't wait to see how it goes in October.  

Yes, this school year will be different.  Yes, some things are cancelled, but yes, there is the sun, there are mountains and Snowbird...and on a lucky day, there are puppies! 

 

Partying Pandemic Style

Well, we made it to the end of summer.  At the beginning of August, Dave and I should have been on a dream President's Club trip to Ireland and Scotland... but ya know, global pandemic and all canceled those plans.  Everyone has things they missed out on this year and that is one at the top of our list!  We had made arrangements with Shannon to babysit while we were away, so she kept her reservations in the canyon and took the kids on another campout!  They are some lucky peeps.  This time, the excursion was girls camp themed since Katelee and Ellie were missing their girls camp...which puts a little hole in my heart, but we are strong and love that Shannon did this! 

They had crafts, scrunchies/head bands, learned some of our favorite camp songs, ate delicious mountain meals, did a hike, etc  so I think they hit a lot of the camp highlights!  Go and Do was the theme and I think we are all learning to go and move forward no matter what.  I love it! 

Dave even came up one evening to sit around the campfire and hang out.  We have incredible mountains so close.  It's pretty incredible we just can drive up and down to places like this in no time at all.  It was the last time we got to see Bucky and Emmalee before they hit the road on the way to Baltimore.  

Fun adventures ahead for everyone!  One of our fun adventures includes starting school...in person!! Wahoo!!!  The schools are taking tons of precautions- masks for everyone, sanitizers, virtual Friday learning day, emergency meetings for when a school gets a certain number of covid cases, etc  So, we will take it as  long as we can!  If anyone is exposed at school, they will have to stay home quarantined for 14 days following to watch for symptoms, so I will not be surprised if it is brief that all my people are in the school building, but we are giving it a go!!

Grant started first...

Tenth grade at Riverton High- officially at the High School! 

Katelee was up next 

Eighth grader right there.  

Our first days were in waves, so Brenna started elementary school a day before Harrison.  Here is her first day picture...

She was thrilled to start her 5th grade year! 

It's a good thing I had an extra couple of days with my little buddy.  I started to have small panic attacks when I thought of him going to school and not being there to hang out with me all day.

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  So, I was hovering big time that last week.  We spent some time on a little lunch date.  We are smiling, can you tell?!

This kid is honestly the best.  He is so much fun and smart and unfortunately so ready to start first grade!

He had his picture taken, donned his mask

and we were off to the bus stop so that dreaded cheese wagon could haul away my baby. 

The crying that began didn't start as soon as I walked away, I waited till Dave left for work and lost it for the rest of the afternoon and laid in my bed.  Ha! The worst part for me was knowing that I can't go in and see him and help this year.  No volunteers in the building with the virus circulating the world.  So, I teared up thinking of my little buddy in his mask and not getting to be a part of his day.   But, the thing is, before I knew it, it was time for Grant to come home.  The next day I realized I sure missed my kids,Harrison in particular, but there was a lot less empty time than I thought there would be!  And honestly, who knows how long they will be gone with this Covid nonsense, so I went from broken hearted to seize the moments pretty darn quick!  

Harrison got to start school and have a birthday all in the same week!  Wahoo! We spent the day up in Park City to ride the Mountain Coaster and Alpine Slide.  

Then, we went to the Drive In that night to watch Shrek.  It was lots of fun!  We had his family dinner the next day.  He got a lot of Titanic stuff from Shannon, because ya know, that's what every 7 year old wants!  Only our awesome Harry!  Here we are trying to put together the Titanic Lego set...

He was excited about his MLB puzzle from grandma 

and he got an Angels jersey from us.  Harrison gives us so much joy in our home...and the world.  We love him more than he will ever know.   The other night Harrison took a bath, we combed his hair down and went to go call it a night.  I told him his hair looked slick and he told me it looked Italian, threw off his covers, stood with authority on his bed and belted out some opera.  This kid is one of a kind, I tell ya.  

He chose an "ANGEL" food cake...so the decoration is nothing to be proud of, but we sure like the taste!  

A fun party- and we all know Dave loves to party!

Overall, a pretty great birthday in a different kind of year!  School will definitely feel different, but a couple weeks in and the kids have adjusted just fine.  Church has been signficiantly different this year.  HOw awesome is it that we were prepared with a home based study program before corona virus hit.  Hello, true prophet, people!  We have worked each week to spend some time taking the sacrament and having a little lesson.   Dave and Grant have been going each week to our next door neighbor and spending time administering it to Susan and her sister.  It's been pretty cool.  

Some weeks are fine, some are not a success at all, and occaisionally we have a good lesson and feel!

  There's been every fast Sunday where Brenna weighs the options of which bread piece is biggest and water bowl holds the most liquid to help quench the hunger and thirst pains...btw our pieces of bread at home sacrament are giant.  There has been a day where Harrison just rolled his piece of bread and told me he was going to harvest it in the backyard.  We had a good lesson where we each took turns preaching as Samuel would have done on the wall, of course we had to throw things at the preacher, but no one was injured...just like Samuel.  

Something must be getting through now and then, though, because Harrison's night time prayer time is often my favorite and most uplifting part of the day.  He has long and thoughtful conversations. He pled with Heavenly Father to bless his brother, his sister, his other sister and his "other" brother.  I was a little worried he was going to tell me I was supposed to have another baby...problem there-the factory is shut down and I don't want to re open....but Harrison continued with his other brother statement being "Jesus...you know, that guy."  

He feels what he is saying and it is like he is teaching me too.  I love it.  He prayed the other night "Please bless my dad won't struggle.  Please bless my mom won't struggle, please bless Heavenly Father and Jesus-the ones I am talking to right now.  Please bless we will always hug cousins, the prophet and our family.  Please bless we will still feel the spirit even as we grow up.  Please bless those with corona in their home."   

There was so much that I loved from that little plea.  I love seeing how we can observe if someone is struggling, I love the need to stop and see if we are maintaining the spirit like we maybe had at a different time or age. I love that Harrison knows who he is talking to.   There might be a lot of struggling going on right now, but that heavens there are people like Harrison who are keeping an eye out for us all! 

Heaps and Mountains of Fun

One thing this year is teaching us is to be creative in our pursuit of entertainment and gathering.  We haven't had family dinners for months, but it is hard to give up our holidays!  So, along the same lines as our Memorial Day get together, we needed to think outside of the box for Fourth of July.  It is way too hot, like Hades hot, to just chill outdoors with the family. 

So, we had our festive food indoors, while annexing the elder family members to their own table so no covid droplets were potentially being shared during the meal!  ha!

Riverton City did not hold the Freedom Fest where we always go to watch fireworks, understandably.  Hundreds of people packed into the park like sardines could potentially be a super spreader event.  Because we weren't going to the park, we parted ways with family after our dinner and fourth of July fashion prep and spent the evening at a friend's house to swim and watch whatever pyrotechnics surrounded their place.  It was pretty amazing.  

So, big thank you to the Martin's for letting us enjoy our holiday in a new way!  

While we were sad not to spend the entire holiday with the fam, the kids got lots of family time at Spruces campground for a campout!  Because Shannon is a camping guru and super Aunt extraordinaire, she offered to let the kids sleep up there with her-Dave and I wouldn't even have to go.  Don't get me wrong (or Dave for that matter) we both love love love the mountains, hiking, spending time in nature, the views, the fresh air, the disconnecting with the fast pace of 'real life.'  But...we also really like showers and a bed that includes a mattress.  I took Shannon up on her offer and helped set up camp, spent the day, then came back to sleep at home.  

We had never been masked in the mountains before, never thought we ever would need to be, but now we can check that off our of bucketlist...

It was a special occasion treat because Haley and Gage drove over from Colorado to join in the fun too.  

There is nothing like camping out- I bet!  Ha!  Really, there is nothing like the great outdoors.  It is refreshing and fun, a time to bond, 

a time to let it all out.

Mountain Magic

The girls were lucky to spend more family time in July-this time with the McArthur side in the blazing heat of  Arizona.  Dave met Kimber half way, dropped of our little ladies and they spent 5 days with cousins and grandparents swimming and summering just as it should be done every year!  

The boys stayed home with me.  Grant worked (he got a job at Iceberg Drive Inn in May), hungout with friends and bummed around.  Harrison spent one of the days at  Lagoon with Porter and Jaylee, Paige and Shannon.  Really, it was the people mentioned minus Jaylee most of the day.  

Jaylee wasn't having the Lagoon atmosphere.  It was our first time trying Lagoon a Beach.  I wish I could say it was our last time, but I am afraid my kids will drag me more.  There are few things I despise more than water parks- the pruney fingers and toes might be the number one reason.  Shrively digits are the textures of my nightmares.  Anywho... it was so fun to spend the day with them there (once we got to the rides)!  Harrison loved the water slides and I am sure he will want to take the other kids there soon.  I will endure the agony.  

I am actually not a huge water play fan, in general.  I would regard myself as brave, but deep ocean makes me a little leary, if someone is trying to swim in open water without a life vest, I am on high alert. I don't want to go scuba diving, like, ever.  Harrison has become fascinated with ocean travel lately, particularly the Titanic disaster.  Why?  who really knows?? He is constantly looking up facts about it, printing off coloring pages, and explaining what went wrong.  Here is a lovely diagram of what happened that he illustrated.

He did do marvelously at swim lessons this year, so he has no fear of water.  It has been nice to have things to break of the routine of the every day.  

 We have all been home a lot doing the same old things...you know, lockdown and all that.  

We had a lot of trips planned this year, Girls Camp, EFY, youth conference, family vacation, Ireland/President's Club...can't even hardly talk about that one!  It has been a tough pill to swallow to give those adventures up.  We were yearning to hit the road and wanted to do it in a safe and quick way, so we packed up the sanitizer, masks, wipes and took a long driving, quick road trip to see Blake and co.

Wow, people weren't exaggerating with the whole Coeur d'Alene is breathtaking description.  

We drove all day, arrived at night and in time to take a stroll at the lake.  Wading revolved into self inflicted wedgies, apparently, and frightening the ducks that were trying to enjoy their evening.  

We stayed in a hotel, but fully sanitized the room, hardly went through the lobby, wore a mask through our entrance and stairway and pretty much isolated in the accommodations.  We ate at some fun restaurants, took the kids with Blake and Grace to the lake to swim and jump in from the rocks, met up with Suzanne and Caitlyn for food, and the girls slept at their house one night. 

 By far, the best thing we did was the bike ride on the Road to Hiawatha. It was incredible and unforgettable.  Picture a mile long dark tunnel, a dirt path down a mountain, train trestles, trees and lush scenery, and you can almost imagine what it was like.  

We weren't sure if Harrison would be able to bike the entire 15 miles-it is downhill, but he is a newbie to the whole bicycle feel in general.  So, we decided to rent a bike that was pretty much Dave pedaling and Harrison connected on the back to a small bike, but he couldn't steer or regain balance.  At the  beginning, when those two tried to attempt a ride, Harrison jumped off and screamed that he would not be joining us.  That sums up his dialogue.  We had to send Blake and the rest of the crew ahead while we coaxed Harrison back onto the bike and encouraged him through his loud screaming that he was going to be great and love it! Eventually, Master Harry got on the vehicle, but every time Dave stopped to check on someone, or if they ended up in the last spot, the tantrum ensued.  Despite the yelling and crying, he loved it!  Haha!  We all finished up muddy and looking like a diaper exploded up our backs, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.  Next time, we would just get Harrison his own bike! 

It's funny to me how we see our own behavior as perfectly reasonable, but when someone else may be exhibiting similar reactions, we find them to be irrational.  When Brenna was yelling at me, Harrison turned and said, "um, mom, is she having a breakdown?!"  It is nice to know other people go through our emotions and experiences.  We have one person leaving the braces camp at our house ...(David-30 lbs lighter, teeth straighter, shortened and whiter-hopefully preventing any gum grafts)

and little miss Katelee is embarking on her orthodontic journey.  

Before shot..

to picking junk out of her teeth...I swore I took a pic right  out of the ortho office, but this will have to do because I can't find it.  

We are so grateful for these fun things we have been able to do this month!  It's amazing how the little things start to matter so much more.  This may be a bit crude for some, but Harrison ran into the bathroom the other day and had a really long pee...then he exclaimed, "that was heavenly."  Isn't it funny how things we don't think twice about become heavenly??  I think that mind set is one I want to always keep and we can thank this year for teaching us that.  

Transporting Ourselves

So our "summer" began.  I mean, we have been home together for months without stepping foot in a school, but summer break is no official.  We aren't really traveling anywhere, you know that Covid-19 situation and all.  But we are going to find fun things to do to keep us busy and transport ourselves to other places- some literal, some quite imaginary.

Grant is taking the literal route here and learning to transport himself via automobile!  Here he is after passing his learner's permit test, holding the coveted paper that proves his eligibility to operate behind the wheel.  

Dave took the kids to a park to run and roll down the hill.  Isn't it so great that rolling down a hill has been a favorite past time for ages!  Keepin it simple-that has to be one of the lessons of 2020.  Those simple things tend to be the things that last.  

All camps/EFY's/youth conferences, President's Club, etc have been officially canceled for this year.  Thus, there would be no transporting ourselves to other lands on vacation.  But,  we found we could still feel like we are on top of the world...

We took Kate Cowley with us on a hike of Ensign Peak.  It is nice to be around friends (we try to stay outside).

Harrison, whose imagination eclipses mine stood atop that hill and transported him self right to Rio de Janeiro. 

 

Most 6 year olds like to impersonate world renowned statues, right? Ha!  

He may be unique in his love for famous architecture and art, but Harrison has fallen into the very popular with the kids (and many adults) Star Wars club.  Because sports have been off the tv (with the exception of some riveting Corn Hole competitions on ESPN- for real hahahah), Harrison has had to spend his time in other ways.  He hasn't been asking to look up logos and make schedules.  He has begun to watch Star Wars.  Grant has enjoyed that-bringing back memories of his childhood.  Harrison has even shifted his career goals.  I no longer hear about which professional sport he will begin with, but he declared that he would like to rule the galaxy when he grows up.  He will give his kids a chance to join him, he said...or they can die.  Well...I am not sure if we are going to encourage that path of employment.  Hopefully sports resume so I don't have to worry about intergalactic terror headed by my child.  

When Caleb was down for a visit, he let Harrison use his extra special light saber.  It was an epic battle.  

This past Christmas we gave the kids season passes to Lagoon. We thought with the virus outbreak we wouldn't be able to use those passes.  Lagoon decided to open up with limited capacity, social distancing and mask rules-so we thought we should do something this summer.  I already took them every week in June, I think I need a small pause on the Lagoon fun.  

It has been somewhere we could be transported to new speeds, heights and adventure.  Harrison, however, will not give the Cannibal another chance this year. We asked him to try it, he screamed while on it, yelling,"Why am I doing this?"  He got off saying he would never try it again.  When we met up with Caleb the following week, we thought we could talk Harrison into it.  He got all the way to the front of the line when he fell to the ground and refused to board the roller coaster even while the rest of us were sitting in it.  It was quite the scene and I wanted to transport myself to another place, immediately!   Harrison said the ride is a thing of his nightmares, so we will hope for better luck next year.  

Shannon and Brenna had been talking about playing Clue and making it a whole murder mystery night.  So, Shannon made it happen.  We were transported to a crime scene right from our kitchen.

The best part was we all took on a character.  Harrison was known as Monsieur Brunette for the evening and he took his accent very seriously.  It was exceptional.  

Miss Peach was a doll and her friend Madame Rose also showed up.  

It was intense and fun!  

While we haven't been able to travel much or transport ourselves to places we thought we would be going this year, we are still trying to get out of our regular routine.  We have learned a lot and while discussing scripture stories we have loved the videos that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has made to accompany the chapters.  Our kids have anticipated watching them, so much that Harrison even cheers and has big plans to imitate it.  We watched as a scripture family took a difficult journey in the desert and now he thinks our family should also have a desert wilderness hardship to teach us and use it as a vacation.  My ideas of vacations next year will be different.  Harrison also said he has plans for his future family-desert journeys included. He said that will teach them about the pioneers.

 He told me he is going to be a really, really good dad.  But, once a month he said he will "be really hard on his kids, because it is good for them.  You can't be nice all the time. That's how they learn.  They need to step it up."  I will be interested to see how the once a month schedule works out for the Harrison McArthur family.   We can't necessarily transport ourselves wherever we want to go while we are on desert journeys, pioneer-like treks, or covid caused isolations.  But, we can transform ourselves to see the good and make it good-for now, that's what we are going for.  Also, praying hard for Harrison's future children!  Haha!