A Fresh Start

And, here we are the beginning of a new school year...this one (semi) "normal."  Normal being defined as what it used to look like when we started school.  Masks are currently not required, many people are vaccinated, so there are high hopes of continuing this educational year the same way we did long ago-pre March 2020.  Ha!  

Harrison is starting 2nd grade.

His teacher is Mrs Heugly.  She seems great.  Brenna actually had her as a student teacher last year, so she's had a brief taste of McArthur children and she's still coming back for more.  

Brenna will be capping off her elementary experience as a 6th grader with Mrs Rasmussen.

I am glad these two "littles" have one more year together.  The rest of their school years will be spent without a family member at their schools, so I hope they love being together-ride the bus and hold hands and hug each day, you know the things I imagine in my head that really don't happen.  

Katelee is a freshman at the middle school and dying to be a freshman who attends the high school.  She looks old enough, but she'll have to wait one more year for that.  She's stuck with the junior high fellas for just a bit longer. 

Grant and his luscious locks will be kicking off his junior year of high school.  He has a lot of fun things ahead, so here's to hoping it is a wonderful year.  

It always feels good to get back into a schedule, to get started on new goals and growth.  I am going to continue substituting when I can.  I love seeing the elementary kids and our people love visiting me at the school.  The older children here; however, still refuse to allow me to be their teacher and I need prior approval from them before accepting positions at their schools.  We will see if I agree to their conditions.

Not only did we start new with school, we are starting a big project in our back yard.  We are redesigning our entire landscape.  

Stay tuned for a fire pit, new patio, some hammock posts for lounging and trees.  It's going to take some serious time to complete.  Brenna could not understand why it was projected to be weeks of work.  I overheard her complaining to Harrison about it.  She thought it should be easy to build a fire pit- stack some stone and voila, masterpiece.  Harrison told her she is thinking like the 2 lazy pigs from the Three Little Pigs story.  Ha!!  I am so glad he is helping her realize we need time and effort so when the big bad wolf comes, it doesn't blow away.  Now, a wolf has not come yet, BUT...the floods did.

We have never had water come into our basement, but the very day after our yard was torn apart for the project, there was a massive storm.  It rained for hours and hours and hours.  Everyone around the neighborhood was running from house to house to help pump water from windows.  I kept thinking how lucky we'd been in our house since we have lived here.  Well, Katelee came home and went into her room...apparently, our luck had run out.

Her room was completely soaked.  The drainage had been torn up with the backyard project.  

So we got to start another new project in Katelee's room.  Our landscaper actually came over and helped me pull the carpet while Dave was at work.  

Then it was our friend, James to the rescue yet again.  He pulled off our baseboards and cut into the sheet rock and came back to put new ones on when we had dried out.  When we tried to pay him, he responded in his fabulous Scottish brogue that we not be daft.  Guess we will have to pay back in a steak dinner.  We are so grateful for him and kind people who jump to our aid- we do not have skills and talents in anything handy, so all is appreciated. 

Right after school started it was our Harry baby's birthday- a big one...EIGHT years old! 

Harrison chose to take a few friends to Boondocks and out to ice cream for a party. 

 Only a couple were able to make it (Krew and Paxton), but it was loads of fun shooting them in the laser tag arena 

 

and slurp ice cream like wild animals.  

Much to my dismay, Harrison has discovered the world of Pokemon so we have to speak Poke-language and open presents of stacks of cards that add to the hundreds he already has.  But, he loved every minute of it.  His baptism was just a couple of weeks later 

and we were so happy to have lots of family there to support him.

Grandma and Grandpa McArthur and Dean and Sharon came from Arizona and then lots of family from around here.  Blake and his family came from Idaho because after the baptism we kicked off our week at Snowbird.  

Harrison is pure gold.  He is still sports obsessed (thank heavens pokemon doesn't monopolize every moment of his day).  He is doing fall soccer and is the absolute most fun to watch of any kid playing sports of all time.  His enthusiasm and the way he gets pumped up on the field, court, diamond, is unrivaled.  

He bore the sweetest testimony after his baptism, spurred on just by the inspiration of the spirit. He drew a random picture the other day of two penguins one said, "Jesus is real." the other replied "Oh."  It made me smile that simple but sure belief was on his mind. 

 He explained to me how he wished a friend knew about Jesus and how he wanted to tell her Jesus is real and she lived with him before, she just can't remember.  He is just a joy...and super funny...we are always having a good time with Harry.

He loves playing games and our favorite is still Skull King when he dressed us like a rascal buccaneer with his accent to speak over the music we play in the background.  He has caught on really quickly and now hates to lose.  When he was behind in points the other day, he was really mad.  We told him messing up another player is part of the game (he had been doing it to everyone else) but when someone made him lose a round he was very upset and explained to us that the game should be about "friendshipping"  Nice try, you sneaky pirate.  We seriously love him soooo much and are happy he had a wonderful baptism and is a true example to all of us of light and love.  

He has a natural inclination to lead and listen to the spirit so we are proud of this step on his covenant path.  

We had a great week at Snowbird and look forward to our favorite (ok, MY favorite season) of fall.  We used our Lagoon passes for Frightmares one weekend and had a good time.  Pretty sure it was the only time Dave made it there all year.  He still is not so much an amusement park guy and said the best ride is the Skyride that takes you across the park when you don't want to walk.  

The kids were so excited for him to join us though.  We arrived first -with Grandma!- and then we had to meet Dave later.  When we were waiting, both Brenna and Harrison said they would go find Dave and talked about how they love him.  They ran to him and held his hand and I could not get out of my head...our holding hands days are numbered.  Well, maybe I can get Harrison to hold my hand still when he is 16, I sure would be delighted.  

We loved having Grandma experience the Halloween spooktacluar Lagoon as well, she may be in her 70's but she ran circles around Dave's riding ablities.  We only thought she was stuck in a seat once.  Haha!

So now we are off to our start of school (yay High school dances are back on!  

Grant his cute ward friend Sadie to homecoming)

...football games

...Harrison cannot contain his excitement for his turn...our new house project...maybe new hobbies (our neighbors couldn't believe I had never been shooting and taught me how. 

 It was quite an adventure that I was not looking forward to, but actually enjoyed)...

...a gate opened with baptism...so much ahead on our horizons.   It's exciting. We are not always ready for what's ahead (like when Katelee came home with her baby from Child Development- 

she spent some of the weekend in tears when she couldn't get it to stop crying...maybe I laughed, yes, but I was struck that she couldn't have prepared herself for her feelings and reactions to the task at hand.  We anticipate something and nearly always it is a little bit different.  Whether what's ahead in our new year is expected or not, it has begun and we are off to a new fresh start.

'The Great Outdoors' Adventures

 We spent a lot of time enjoying nature in July. We had a couple nights for a family camp out, and when I saw "we" I really mean Katelee, Brenna and Harrison camped out.  The other 3 members of our family-me included- went up for some food and fun, but slept at home and enjoyed the amenities a house has to offer. Shannon is the nicest and always provides the fun for my kiddos.

There was no stopping in for a comfy mattress during girls camp, but that's just the way it is supposed to be, right?  This was our first official camp in this ward since the boundary alignment, so bonding was our goal-mission accomplished! 

It was a fun and spiritual few days-full of crafts, a rain gutter regatta, devotionals, lip syncs, card games, 

tenting, eating and serving.  

I loved spending time with the young women, these leaders and especially Miss Katelee.  

Our theme was 'small and simple things.'  It is so cool to remember how these little memories and events in life shape us and help us focus or refocus on what matters and who we want to be.  

At the end of July, it was Grant's turn to experience AFY.  He signed up for a location an hour or so south of us- Payson Lakes.  This location didn't offer some of the high adventure activities that Moab gave to Katelee, but it worked better with Grant's schedule because he took a Lake Powell trip with buddies in June (when Moab was happening).  While Payson didn't have the high heat Moab gave Katelee, the Payson camp did give Grant some thunderstorms that helped him get very close to some group members...very close-as in taking shelter from lightning in the bathroom as a group for 3 hours.  And that's what these church camps are for again- bonding...mission accomplished here as well, ha!  Grant experienced connections with his first EFY and has kept in touch with some of the friends from that group.  The craziest thing was when Grant and one of those friends realized they were registered for the same week and location this year!  This girl flew in from Egypt and accidentally registered for this week, but it was fun for Grant to see her again.  We actually met up with this gal the morning of drop off, had breakfast with her and her mom and Grant headed up the canyon with them.  I took zero pictures, but I know Grant has some in a cloud somewhere.  

While he was gone, the kids wanted to visit cousins in AZ, so Dave dropped them off there.  All the kids gone for the week??  What should we do?  We should go to Maine, of course.  While it would have felt like a vacation just staying home sans kids, we thought we wanted to beat the heat and get out of town.  We've always wanted to go to Maine and so why not then?!  We ate lobster rolls galore, found lots and lots of lighthouses

hiked through Acadia National Park...

which was totally breathtaking...highly recommend

and explored various beaches.  Yes, Dave is in long sleeves and full-length pants- he is determined to never experience a sunburn the rest of his life, so he takes his skin coverage very seriously.  This was actually in Acadia, so we were hiking a lot.  

We saw incredible flowers and trees.  The coastline was dreamy.  It was so magical, in fact, that David now thinks we need to live there later in life.  I am not sure this will come to fruition, but he keeps plugging it.  Regardless of whether it becomes a residence for us, Maine has a piece of Dave's heart.  Ha! 

With the summer racing by, and school fast approaching, we decided to skip town one last time.  We collected the children from Arizona, had a couple days to pack again and jumped in the van to see Blake and company in Coeur d'Alene.  

Blake's coworker took us boating on the lake and it was a blast.  

Caleb got a couple wave runners for us and we rode those all afternoon as people tubed.  The most exciting part of the day might have been when Caleb had Brenna and Harrison on the wave runner and was being so slow and careful that his turns weren't fast enough and they flipped the wave runner.  Harrison was hesitant to ride it in the first place, so we were sure the flipping caused trauma, but he was a good sport and we were all laughing afterwards. He got in the tube still, so he did not develop a fear of water sports in general.  

Brenna, hands down, won best expressions award.  We were dying at the way her mouth became rubber and her eyes popped out of her head.  Speaking of eyes popping out of heads, Harrison was introduced to Pee Wee's Big Adventure-Large Marge is now one of Harry's most feared fictional characters.  So, between flipping in water and screaming at Large Marge, Harrison might have lasting nightmares.  But we had some good entertainment.

We had big dreams of accomplishing the Hiawatha trail with no melt downs and we did pretty well, but we will need to tackle that again to pull off our goal.  Harrison did not like it when he was not in the front of the line and he and I had to have some chats.  Grace had an injury when she slid and fell off her bike, Caleb was overrun by rodents (like literally, chipmunks and squirrels were all over him) but it was still so fun.  We absolutely love that bike trail.  

We ate at a lovely brunch location on the river-Le Peeps.  

It really is a beautiful part of the country.  Idaho did not get the same endorsement as Maine did from Dave, as far as potential home locations, but we still loved it.  This year the smoke has been sooooo bad from wildfires.  We were just so grateful to get away and be able to see mountains, sky etc  We are so ready for the air to clear and the temp to come down.  Bring on fall very soon! 

Swinging into Summer as the School Year Rounds into Home

We made it!  We made it through a whole year of pandemic education.  Bless the teachers and everyone who helped it happen!  Here is a pic of Brenna with her 5th grade teacher at Field Day...

luckily, Katelee was able to finish off her 8th grade with a brand new smile-

Braces off for this gal!  It was such a quick braces experience-on and off in 11 months.  The other people in the family probably won't be as lucky.  Grant sure wasn't.  It really was the ideal year to be a metal mouth-half the time, her face had to be covered in a mask anyway!

Spring sports bled into summer, Dave went to a Jazz game with his friend Dave

 and biggest news in sports- the Phillies took the little league championship!  

Harrison was sooo lucky to get on this team.  His coaches were great, the teammates were fun and impressive athletes.  We missed draft day so it was just by luck this red headed got to wear the red jersey.  

He is planning on playing football instead of baseball next year.  Now, I am not naturally a baseball fan, but it sure grew on me.  It mostly was because our little guy is still the most fun player to observe, but I actually got into the games.  While football may be more exciting...I have an aversion to my child being tackled or concussed, so we see what will happen.  For this year, we loved saying GO PHILLIES!

We were so anxious to put our Lagoon season passes to use again this summer.  We loved spending so much time there last year; however, this June was blisteringly hot.  This momma doesn't do Lagoon and walking around the asphalt to burn by bottom on rides.  We don't go above 84...so we only have gone once.  I just can't do it. 

Thank heavens for Rattlesnake Rapids-even if it left me sloshy and soggy britches for half a day.  I ams sure we will spend lots of fun days "here, at Lagoon."    

Back to the unseasonably warm June I mentioned...it was so hot...and we had to send our cute Katelee off to Moab for AFY.  She was a little hesitant not knowing anyone and I was anxious with the above 100 degree heat they would be frolicking in, but it turned out amazingly!!  She can't wait to do it again.  She met amazing friends, really got to know some of them, well, one of them...wink, wink.  She had a blast biking, hiking, rappelling, dancing, white water rafting, singing and building her faith.  We love she got to experience it.  

I picked her up and she was crying saying goodbye...so I was crying.  But, anyway, yay for AFY!

We sure have missed church programs and camps with the covid restrictions and we were over the moon that we got to plan and execute Youth Conference this year!!  We had an Olympic theme to pump us up for the world wide sporting event coming up.  The youth were split into teams (designated by color and bandana) 

and they competed and worked together as we camped and bonded. 

 

Katelee was on the blue team, Grant the red.  I don't know why Cameron was wearing Grant's bandana, he was on a different team, maybe so we could all have a more glorious view of Grant in his box braids.  I told him he looked exactly like Darla from Finding Nemo...I mean, its like his twin.  

We capped it off with a float down the Provo river-which was hilarious and freezing.  It was a (nearly) perfect Youth Conference.  It was so fun to be there with my oldest two kiddos-making those memories.  

We came home just in time for the fourth of July celebrations 

(like this sweaty parade- we got some free froyo coupons, so it was worth it)

I love our city during the summer- they put on the parade (that I try to not go to, usually due to the melty conditions), they host a Rodeo- we channeled our inner cow folk and cheered on the riders 

 and they have the best firework show.  We love having Paige and her family, Shannon and Grandma join us every year.  Grant had to work but he only had a few more shifts left  at his beloved Iceberg.  He would not refer to it as that, but we think it has been a great place of employment.  On to Target to check people out and grab those carts! Let's hope for a family discount, eh?

Brenna, Harrison and I visited the master fry maker on his last day and he gave us the royal treatment.

We spent some time in the mountains

 to beat the heat with some awesome cousins from AZ.

Brandon and Malia brought their family to stay with us and everyone had a blast.  We were hoping Sloane would love Dave as much as she did during spring break, but she has since changed her tune for him.  We will win her over next time! 

These two buds are only 3 weeks apart, so they have a lot of fun together!  Good thing Harry gets to visit Jack in July and they can spend even more time hanging.  

I love when my people want to spend time with me...sure it may have been because there were cousins or more exciting company, but I like to tell myself it was an opportunity to be with me they didn't want to pass up!  Ha!  Yea right, I know they are very busy with their social and work lives so I take every minute I can get.