Busy!

Hey there! Hope you are doing well. I’m excited to talk to you and hear how your transfer went. I hope you are enjoying springtime in Boston and having good success with teaching and speaking Chinese. 

Things around here have been busy, busy, busy!

1. We came home from NYC and Blake got Covid. I think he is the only one who got it. But Tate, Ty, and I all got a cold a week or two after, and that was a royal pain I the neck! It totally solidified my germ phobia. 

2. I got sick right before my trip to Colorado. I kept testing negative, so I decided to go anyway. I went with my friends Janie and Megan to Rocky Mountain National Park and we stayed for a few nights in a nice little cabin with a stream in front of it. We went on some easy hikes, saw a lot of wildlife, talked for hours, and found a lot of yummy food to eat. I’ve been doing a LOT of traveling, and I’m sort of relieved to be home now!

3. Last Saturday we went to Provo canyon to celebrate Great Grandpa’s 90th birthday! Can you believe it?! It was good to visit with him and Janet, and most of my aunts and uncles were able to be there too. It’s been a long time since we’ve all been together. Grandpa is moving up to Idaho this week to be with Janet. 

4. The next day we celebrated Nana’s birthday at our house. Alison and Zach were in town, and Andrew & Giannina, and Maddy also came to join us. It felt like old times having the house full of visitors. Of course Alison’s kids got the toy closet unlocked and I had to deal with the mess later. Boo. Worth it anyway. I’m hoping I can go up to Fort Collins and visit them this summer. 

5. Last week Great Nana went to the hospital. They think she had a small stroke. As far as I know she is doing just fine now. 

6. Ethan also went to the hospital last week. He was pitching and the ball was hit back to him. It was a grounder and took a bad hop and smacked him right in the nose. He dropped to the ground and was bleeding a lot. We all thought it might be broken. But the X-ray looked good and he seems to be healing well. Lucky for him because he had basketball tryouts and a birthday party also this week. 

7. We had some basketball drama. Dad can tell you better, but the high school is doing a new program. The younger kids try out and are assigned a team and coach, and they are expected to prioritize that team over other comp teams. The parents on Ethan’s team didn’t even want the lit kids to go try out because they think the empire team/coach will be better than what the high school provides. Dad and I think playing in the high school feeder program is the best path to playing on the high school team. Anyway, after a lot of debate everyone ended up committing to tryouts, and then the team got split up and parents are angry. Sigh. Hopefully it’s a good situation for everyone despite the drama. 

8. Ty and Brooke went to prom!

9. Ty has had something crazy like 60 skiing days this season!

10. Ty missed his practice APUSH test so he could go ski with his team for the last day of the season. Luckily he was able to make up the test. He took the final exam Friday, and we are all hoping he passed!

11. Blake took his AP Geography test this week also. I’m surrounded by a bunch of smarty pants!

12. Blake has been working out hard getting ready for football. He has early morning practices and your dad is trying to use it as motivation to get up early and exercise too. Good for him. I hope the habit sticks. 

13. Jett has been playing baseball, and Blake has been reffing it!

14. Jett has also been playing soccer, and he’s a good little goalie. He also likes to go to chess club occasionally with his friend Andrew. 

15. Ethan has been going to robotics club twice a week and they have a competition at Lagoon this Friday. He has also started going early to school for stem Olympiad. And he’s been just really excelling in piano He is self-motivated, and it’s awesome. 

16. Tate is flat-out exhausting. We’ve bumped playgroup from 1x/week to 3x so he can have some extra playtime with his buddies. 

17. Tate and I went on a field trip with Ty’s class to the Tracey Aviary and had a lovely afternoon. Some of the birds were locked up because of a bird flu that is circulating here. 

18. I also go to go to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point with my friend Alisa. It’s amazing what some sunshine and friendship can do for my well-being. I’m so glad winter is over!

19. We are still having problems with the water heater. The plumbers came back this week to work on it, and I asked them to do a bunch of other things while they were here—like fix some leaking drains and replace the disposal. They did it all free of charge! I was not expecting that. Hopefully we have no more problems with the darn water heater. 

20. I went to lunch with your friend’s moms this week and found out that Keegan’s family is moving to Florida. 🙁

21. Your cousin Natalie had to have surgery this week. They found a growth and had to remove half of her thyroid. Luckily it came back non-cancerous, so we are relieved the surgery went well. 

22. How long can I make this email?!

23. I got released from my calling last Sunday. It was kind of a relief. That class was so hard. I thought they needed an ornery man to whip them into shape. Hopefully their new teacher can get control of the class better than I did. 

24. Warby’s are ripping out the backyard and putting in a pickleball court. Karene is going to share some of her strawberry and raspberry plants with me. Hopefully they grow better than the plants I already have!

25. The Porter’s still do not have a yard. They still have dirt and big trucks out front of their house every day. I really hope they can wrap things up soon. 

26. My tulips finally bloomed!

27. Dad is teaching Jett to mow the lawn and Blake to edge. 

27. Dad bought himself a mountain bike!

28. Grandpa Rawson is having a hard time recovering from his knee surgery. 

29. The state of the world feels so chaotic right now. Ukraine is just a terrible tragedy, and this Roe V Wade decision is going to be HUGE. 

30. Ethan had his birthday this week. He’s 12! He finally got a cell phone, and he’s SO EXCITED about it! We had a birthday party with his friends last night and took them all to Flowrider it was super fun. I baked 4 cakes this week. Can’t complain about that!

Ok. That’s all I’ve got! Hope you have a fantastic week!

Live you!
Mom