Fall 2020--Teaching, Sydney turns 16, Newport

One of the biggest changes that happened in 2020 for me was landing a full-time high school English teaching job at Perry!  Ashley Stivers (whom I subbed long term for last year) took a one-year leave of absence.  I was hired about 10 days before school was starting.  I was supposed to do a long-term sub job for another teacher who was having a baby, but this job miraculously came available so I took it.   Everything was online and I had to learn super fast how to work all of the technology along with all of the administrative hulabaloo.  Not to mention we were in the middle of a pandemic and trying to figure life out.   It was very stressful, but I loved the challenge every day.  It made me feel alive again and more like myself.  I had been praying and hoping for something to come available and it sort of fell in my lap.  I believe in the principle of letting your life speak to you.  
Our baby girl turned 16 in September!  She has been such a great daughter and friend to me.  She is very trustworthy and hard working.  I have been so grateful for her help since I started teaching.  Every day when I would come home from work she had the kitchen cleaned and usually something baking in the oven.  She did the grocery shopping and made our home feel special.  She loved online school because it gave her more time to do things she loves.  We love Sydney!


We had a blast in Newport being all together.  These are days I will never forget.  The pandemic has reminded me that my relationships with my family are the most important thing in this world.  I love them all so much!










My mom and dad made it back down here to Arizona.  I always love it when they return!  They are some of our best friends. 










During the pandemic, we have spent a lot of time at home.  We have remodeled almost every room on the inside and resurfaced the tennis court outback.  This whole year has felt like a remodel in every way possible.  Our lives feel very different than they did a year ago.  We've spent less time doing things we really didn't want to do in the first place and started doing things we actually love.  I feel like we've had a mindset change that I don't want to lose any time soon.  I am resisting going back to the old normal.

McKell had quite an eventful trip to Jackson Hole Wyoming with Kate.  I think they learned a few lessons about driving in the winter in Wyoming.  We are glad they made it out alive!









Halloween this year was almost non-existent.  But Syd and her friends did dress up like Mean Girls, and Paige and Johnny carved a really cute pumpkin.  They are so creative!

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbye 2019

Image
In September we had our high school friend Bo Ross and his wife Jodi come and stay with us for a few days.  They're so down to earth and easy to talk to.  When Brandon and Mike get together they go back into their fun joking bantering mode.  I love seeing Mike let loose a little.  We laughed and talked and ate and to top it all off enjoyed an amazing night of John Mayer together. For Fall Break we rented a beach house in Newport.  The older girls flew in from Provo and we drove with Sydney & Jackson and his friend Devin.  We loved chilling at the beach, listened to some general conference and enjoyed the air show they were putting on right above us.  Jackson and Devin kind of had their own vacation with their friends who were staying down there too so I didn't catch a pic of them. Half of Gilbert comes to Newport for Fall Break so Sydney was in heaven too having her friends there. Jackson accomplished a goal h...
Read more

Odds n' Ends of May

Image
After not blogging for a month I have some catching up to do. Here are some photos from the last couple weeks in May. Paige graduated from the 8th grade at Veteran's Memorial Middle School. She's headed to Columbus High School this Fall with her two best friends from school, Berkeley and Bentlie. Birthdays come faster every year, but I can honestly say I don't mind being 38. My life is pretty darn good! I loved the London book Mike got for me. Jackson graduated from 2nd grade. He had a rough year with his teacher and had the hardest time transitioning to Georgia. He is still very loyal to his Washington friends and didn't really click with anyone in his class. Hopefully this next year he will have a better experience. I knew he didn't like his class much when he passed on the ice cream sundaes and told me he just wanted to be checked out early. Paige had her year end dance recital with Columbus Ballet. She performed ballet, contemporary, and jazz numbers. She...
Read more

Future Scientist??

Image
Paige is learning all about what it means to actually study and work hard in school this year. She has always been able to get by without having to do much, but her high school Biology class is pushing her to new heights. She finally realized that her teacher is not going to spoon feed her all of the material and that when she reads and knows the info in the text book she does better on the test. She was proud of herself when she got a great score on her midterm. It's so rewarding to see your kids make the connection between real learning versus regurgitating facts. It's also science fair time. ugh... She decided (with her Dad's help) to do a project on why blubber is such a good insulator for marine animals in the antarctic. She has spent a lot of time with her hand in a bowl of ice water the last few days. Amazingly, Crisco really does help insulate your hand from the cold. (One advantage to having some extra blubber around the middle). I'm so glad Mike has tim...
Read more