Grade 9 Grad

We celebrated Blake's grad this last week.  He had wanted a vest and orange tie.  When most stores were closed I decided to try to make one. We went to the fabric store and let him pick out any fabric he wanted.  I had never sewn a vest before and some of the steps I had to read over many times to make sure I understood exactly what to do.  The grad started a little later than usual.  At first it was planned to be all outside to stay within health guidelines.  And because there was a slideshow for the grads that was going to be on the side wall of the school it needed to be dark enough.  But just a few days before there was a thunder storm forecast and the restriction were lightened a little.  

Leah comments Keepin' it real on every one of Blake's Instagram posts.

Cora has asked many times since March for Dave to stop shaving until she gets home.  It bugs him to not shave, but apparently a few weeks ago he gave in.  One more reason to be excited for her return. :/

Look at my handsome men.  Blake's grad started with a parade.  Our little town is so supportive, it is fun to see all the people that come out. 

I snapped a quick picture of Blake and his friends before going into the hall. These are great boys.  I am glad he has had them the last couple of years. They sure like to joke around, but it is fun.

The awards were given out and Blake earned Male Athlete. 

 Well deserved. Mr. Jackson always has a great speech.  He says something that is special, meaningful, and funny about each kid.  This year he compared them all to Disney characters.  For Blake he said he really couldn't decide between two:  'a  few of the girl would admit to having a secret crush on Blake throughout the last year or two, so it had to be somebody quite suave, but it also had to be someone resourceful, determined, and a hard working'. Prince Eric and Russell from Up :)  

He talked about Blake's kindness, making people feel important, how he works hard, is a bit of a goofball, he is an animated storytelling, makes you laugh, and is up for anything. It was nice to hear he can behave himself out in public.  Just kidding.  He is a good kid. 

After the awards we all walked or drove to the softball diamonds were the town had fireworks as a surprise for the grads.  (I stole this picture off of the village town site.  I loved how it captured just the grads watching their special surprise just for them.)  Great fireworks.  Next they all stayed for a movie as everyone else went home.

He had a nice grad and it was good to see his friends again.  Since they don't all have a license, Blake hasn't been able to get together with them like Leah has her friends.  So it has been since March that he was able to.  They enjoyed laughing and being together.  I really hope school is back to normal in September. Blake needs the interaction and sports. A big thank you to all the community members and staff that made it such a wonderful night for these kids.  Happy Graduation Blake!!  Off to grade 10.  Crazy.  My youngest is in high school.  That is so weird.

Grad 2020

A quick catch up first. Cora is still doing well.  She got to go on a road trip last week.  She needed to take a sister to Poole (6 hour round trip) and then pick up another sister. She was very excited to get out and drive around. They got to cross the Prince of Wales bridge.  It is 5km long and she said it was so neat.  She has just over a month left.  Yesterday they did a zoom zone conference with Elder Rashband. She has been able to FaceTime us and join us for church a couple times.

I am loving having Blake home from school during calving season.  I love checking the cows with someone, but I don't like doing it on my own. He will go out multiple times a day as Dave is at work and has fixed fences and chased cows back in.  The other day Dave and Blake were out feeding cows and doing the water, when they came back in Dave said he went to thank Blake for helping him with the chores and he realized that is has been a long time since Blake just helped with the chores.  They are working side by side and together.  Much more than helping. He is grown up and does it right along with Dave. 

Now to Grad: Leah and Blake have finished seminary.  Leah got 100% attendance and 100% on all her assesments.  They very much enjoyed not doing early morning the last few months. As they worked on their test together they assured us that it was team work, not cheating.:) 

Each year the Bio 30 teacher has the kids in her class paint a ceiling tile.  Leah got volunteered in her class to be the one to paint it.  She had to think of a design and get it approved.  She had done all that and started on it when Covid hit.  She was kind of sad about not getting to do it and one day decided to ask if she could go grab it.  It then sat in our house for the next 2 months as she would pull it out and work on it.  It worked out so good that she had decided to do each student as a germ or bacteria, she just added Covid right in and made everyone far away from it.  I think it turned out awesome.

We picked up Leah's gown a few days early.  She had asked me to sew pockets in it to hold snacks.  Each student had to buy their cap and gown, so we figured we could do whatever we wanted as long as it looked the same as everyone else's.  I did hidden pockets so you could not even tell.  But when she pulled something out and her principle saw, she was not pleased. Haha Leah did not care. 

Trying it on to see where pockets should go.  Not much caring about this.

Leah started debating last May (while still in Grade 11) if she was even going to go to her grad. She started looking at dresses and knew exactly what she wanted.  First grad meeting in the fall they were told they had to wear cap and gown. We told her that we thought she should at least go to part of it.  Get her diploma and the class picture.  She did not have to do the dinner, dance, and she certainly was not going to the after party. In January she made her final decision.  She would get a simple nice dress to wear under her gown and that she could also wear to seminary grad.  After she had a few friends that she wanted to go rock climbing, dinner, and longboarding or a movie with. And then when Cora got home, we were going to dress up and do a dinner out together as a family. After we found out there was not going to be a traditional grad we were so glad we had not spent hundreds of dollars on a dress.

Leah had picked up her cap for Grad back in February as she wanted to paint it.  She has many friends from all over southern Alberta and wanted everyone that has had a positive influence on her high school years to sign it. She spent many weeks driving around to collect signatures. She has a few that she hasn't been able to meet up with yet and then Blake and Cora will sign it also.

What they ended up doing was fun.  We did a drive in style grad.  They had a stage set up.  We all stayed in our cars.  It was perfect for Dave and I, we didn't have to talk to anyone. The program was broadcast over the radio so we could all tune in.  At their appointed time the grads got out and walked up to receive their diplomas, Ms Mattatall read out their future plans, and then off the stage they went.  All while keeping a save distance from each other.  Everything was cleaned and wiped down after each speech. 

Each grad was asked to do their own write up for the future plans. Back in Grade 11 while in physics 20, one day Leah was not having a great day with the material.  Mr. Monts, one her favorite teachers was trying to help her and commented that if physics didn't work out she could always have a plan B to marry rich.  She looked at him and said, 'Oh that is Plan A, plan B is school". He laughed.  Ever since that, each time he would see Leah with anyone, anywhere, he would always ask if that boy was Plan A.  It became a joke between them. So for her write up Leah said she was going to NAIT in the fall, working towards going into the lab and x-ray program unless Plan A presented himself sooner rather than later. He loved it.  But then a different teacher read them out and she forgot the last part.  Later Mr Monts stopped and talked to Leah saying he missed having that part read and that he wanted to be invite to her wedding. He really wants to meet Plan A.  She had already planned on it. 

After the program the Grads met on the rugby field at previously marked out spots for a group photo.  They were each given a little gift.  Inside was a snack, water, and a funny hygiene kit.  Some of it was one square of toilet paper that had 'never forget' written on it, kleenex and a mask that said Grad 2020.  For one of the pictures they all wore their masks. During the week before, the town had hung the grads pictures, banner style, down main street.  After the group photo each grad stood by their picture as the town did a drive by parade.

I was so impressed by the support of everyone.  The parade was miles long.  It took 45 mins for all the cars to drive by.

For us it ended up being a really good grad.  Leah went to all she had planned to anyways.  She got to see a few of her friends.  We will still do the dinner as a family at some point. And now she just has a few week of school to finish up. She has been getting together with friends as much as she can.  Leah has had some great teachers along the way.  Some she has built great relationships with.  Her high school years were filled with travelling around to support all her friends in their activities, playing basketball and softball and making  many friends along the way.  When asked what her greatest memories from County Central were she said she couldn't answer.  All her greatest moments, except being on the basketball court, were not made at her high school.  It was every time her boys won provincials (football and basketball) and she had been there for every game of the season to cheer them on. Girls nights with everyone and doing nothing. Laughing, driving around and singing loudly with Emily.  Getting scared in the barn.  Surviving her first broken heart (and broke a few), slurpees, concerts, Timmy's wedges, late night chats, hikes, movie nights, and so much more. All done with kids that didn't go to the same school as her. She has had a blast and yes learned lots along the way. She is ready to move on and take the next steps in her life. Way to go Leah!  You did it. Congratulations graduate of the class of 2020!!🎓

Just another update

We are on week 9 of isolation.  Cora has had a few days that she was bored and said the days were very long.  They have a tiny patch of lawn that the suns hits just at the time of their language study.  So they go out and sit in the sun for that hour. I was confused why she had language study time as she is in an English speaking mission.  Haha stupid me, she was like, mom my companion is from Denmark.  But it is funny to hear her talk about the study time.  Cora has always struggled a little with reading and such so she says it is quite the time since she doesn't do well in English and is supposed to be helping a companion learn. :)  They have been reading the book 'Saints' for their study.

It is also fun to listen to her stories each week of the adventures they go on to get groceries. They have been kicked out of stores if caught together.  They try to be stealthy and try new things each week.

We had a fun Nerf Gun war with Dave a couple of weeks ago.  We haven't done one like this for a few years.  We left Dave a warning and a loaded gun on the back stairs for when he got home from work.  Then we all hid and prepared for an ambush.

Leah and her friends have continued to find safe social distancing activities to do together.  They meet in a field, parking lot, or diamond and hang out.  Tonight they are doing an outdoor movie.  She went on a picnic with Toone's one day as well.

Blake convinced her to play Fortnite with him.  I decided I needed to document that occasion. Probably will never happen again.

Dave's work is going well.  He did have 2 weeks were they only worked 3 day that week.  We were not sure how long it was going to last.  Then they decided to put in a new line and he is very busy again.  A good busy. He has had lots for Blake to do.  They have been picking up sticks in the sand and doing a lot of projects around the farm.  Blake always does the calf check during the day when it is our week.  Dave is teaching him to do the tagging so one day soon he can do that as well.  School is still going well for both of them.  We have had a few meetings about what to do for both their Grads. Leah and I were talking yesterday after yet another meeting.  I mentioned that I really do feel bad for these senior, it is a bummer to not get those last high school moments, but I was getting a little sick of hearing it.  Yea, they got a bum deal, so did Cora with her mission in lockdown, so did all those that lost their jobs, so did businesses going under that may never recover.  Every single person has things they are missing that they will not be able to get back.  She said, 'yep, I AM a Grad and I am also tired of the whoo is us.  Lots of people have it way worse.' 

Cora's companion's mom can send her packages that arrive in just a few days.  I sent one in February and it still has not arrived.  Go figure, but anyways, she sent a 1000 piece puzzle that they finished in two days.  Turned it over and did it and then drew pictures all over the back as well.  It is a really good thing she gets along with her companion.  And has wifi.  Their wifi was down for about a week and she said the days were soooo slow.  That is how they are doing all their missionary work right now.

Leah has had pain in her chest/shoulder/arm for months.  It was getting bad enough that I had actually decided to take her to a Dr. when covid lockdown began.  So nope, not going to a hospital.  Avoid, avoid.  Sunday May 3 we did a birthday parade for Emry.  We have been trying to do as many with the fire department as we can, but this day we were going to be away during that time.  Yet we still wanted to celebrate her birthday, so before we left we each took a car, so it would still be a parade and all drove through her yard with balloons and signs.  It was kinda fun.  Hopefully she enjoyed our little parade.  Anyways as Leah was waving something popped more than usual and she had such intense pain she almost past out while driving. Not a great time to pass out.  She made it home, took some Advil, and layed on the floor.  That afternoon, after church we went out to my parents for a picnic. As we were sitting around Leah could hear a loud popping in her sternum. So I thought I guess I will have to take her in sometime.  I know, I am a great mom.  Later during the night Dave started panicking a bit and woke me up.  We called HealthLink and long story, we ended up taking her to emerg. Many breathing tests to rule out lungs, ECG to rule out heart and they eventually  determined that she has inflammation in the ribs.  Leah had recorded the popping sound. 2 nurses and 4 dr. listened and said they we not sure what it was, had not heard that before, possibly the ribs trying to move around and line back up.  The Dr did say when he saw her that he recognized her because she was 'the one that never came to the Dr when she should. Left things for a very long time.' So apparently she has Chostocondritis.  Sounds like it will flare up from time to time.  We think she must have crazy bones that just don't like her.  With her knee issues and now ribs it is good times for Leah. 

Cora getting sunshine and fresh air where she can.

Blake is back to work with Sis Smith.  His first day he texted me 5 mins in and said he had forgot how much he loved working there.  It is the perfect situation for him, and us.

Dave had us all go down and help pick up stick yesterday.  I do not enjoy picking up sticks.  I did loads of it growing up and it seems to be a never ending task.  But it was okay with my family. We had a nice walk and found some cool bones as well.

We learned that long boards are not essential items.  But finally a month late, Leah received her birthday gift and loves it.

We got an email from Cora's mission President and it sounds like things will very slowly start to open in the next few week.  They are opening a bit slower then we are here.  There is some hope, however, that she may be able to do some street contacting and a little more getting out before she comes home.  Probably not church or baptisms but it is a start. We have her travel plans now and passport and license have been found.  We are enjoying the days that the sun shines, doing school work outside and reading.  Dave said he loves the commute to church right now.  We are soaking in the last few months we have with Leah and it has been great.

All the Things

General Conference:  General Conference was amazing.  I knew it would be and was not disappointed. There is always such uplifting and wonderful messages.  This year for the Saturday evening session all 11 and up were invited.  So we got to do all 10 hours of church together.  We had some good meals and enjoyed being together.

Blake has been working on a tie.  We made them side by side so I could demonstrate and then he followed.  He finished it in time for Conference Sunday morning.  He did his and I did Dave's. It was a neat experience to do the Hosannah Shout in our basement with just the 4 of us. 

Blake working on his tie.

Worldwide Fast: During conference, Pres Nelson called for a worldwide fast to be held on April 10, Good Friday.  He asked that we fast for the pandemic to be controlled, caregivers protected, economy to heal, and live to be normalized. We had had a fast just the week before, but we felt this one was to be different and that we need to take it serious.  Not that we usually don't but like I said it just felt so important,  when the prophet asks in General Conference for you to fast, you make sure you do it. We decided as a family when we thought would work best for us.  Lunch to lunch Thursday to Friday, or Friday to Saturday etc. In the end we chose dinner Thursday to dinner Friday. It was a beautiful fast to break.  Dave kept Blake busy by doing farm work and Leah ran over to do a drive by birthday parade for a friend.  Then we all sat down together and ate a delicious meal. I know God can do all things, and am sure that things will start to improve soon, if it be His will.

Keeping Sane:  Dave and I don't feel like our life is to much different.  Neither of us like to be social much and he rarely has down time anyways, but for the kids it certainly is. I do miss going to their sporting events and watching. Leah says she feels this is very bittersweet.  She is getting this extra time to spend with her family with no distractions before she leaves home, but also she is missing seeing her friends that she may not see for a couple of years to do missions and schooling. Blake is keeping busy by helping Dave lots and building things.  He was craving tacos the other day and so looked up how to make shells.

Doing some schoolword. :)

They are on Easter break now and so we will do some spring cleaning and if the weather is nicer go for walks outside.  

Easter: We had a lovely Easter.  Dave had gotten the kids a few treats.  We always do the fun hunt on the Saturday before. My mom had invited us for Easter dinner, but we decided since Dave is still working (thank goodness, everyday we are still thankful for another day of work) we didn't want to be the cause of spread.  We are just staying home.  I missed the family and ham.  Fingers crossed we can celebrate again soon.  We had a nice meal and had a great discussion on the Atonement.  I love that my kids are old enough to really get into discussing things with us and it will often turn out to be much longer then we had anticipated.  For church at home this week we were able to have the sacrament again as well.

Cora: Cora is amazed at how busy they still are. She said that in England the ward averages about 50 attending and 600 less active.  Those 600 are her responsibility to call and check up on.  She said Sunday is a crazy busy for them.  She loves her daily runs to the beach.  Her companion right now is from Denmark and was telling her that the whole country is a beach. She can drive from one end to the other in 20 mins.  Cora told her that it took her 20 mins just to get to high school. 

Her companion can drive, so they can get groceries on PDays.  Still no word on where Cora's passport and drivers license is. She is anxious to get out and meet the people in her ward in person, but is not bored or going insane yet. 

She is over two zones, which covers all of Wales and she wants to travel around and see it.  She got transferred to Wales one week before quarantine and in that week she was running around cleaning out sisters flats that were going home suddenly with borders closing and what not.  She said as an STL she has a lot wider range of where she can go for PDays and is excited to see it all and meet all the people.  She loves street contacting and teaching in people's homes.

Work: As mentioned above so far Dave is still going to work.  On the 20th they will go to more modified hours and hopefully be able to stay at that until this is done. He is concerned about his wage going down with less hours and not being able to get the compensation most are because of the farm.  However we are not really stressed as we feel prepared and are hopeful it won't last long.  Many many prayers are said daily.  So many are out of work, we are thankful for what we do have and that our kids are healthy.  That we have wide open spaces to get out in and projects to keep everyone sane. And we are enjoying the beautiful world we live in.

Happy 18th Leah

Leah turned 18 yesterday.  My kids are getting so old.  I have no idea how I got a 20 year old and an 18 year old.  It is crazy.  Leah's birthday usually falls on or very close to conference weekend.  What a great way to spend a birthday, listening to a prophet of God.  Since we are in the middle of this pandemic still, I was worried about how lonely her birthday would be.  I had managed to get her a couple little gifts before we were not able to shop anymore and as requested Dave was able to pick her up a DQ cookie dough cake.   Friday she was supposed to go down and do a social distancing circle of cars with her friends to celebrate her and another friend's birthday.  But it started to snow and was cold, so she didn't feel like joining them.  Besides as is Leah's life story, she had homework to do.  (Can we still call it homework if all school work is done at home now?) All in all Leah had a great birthday.

We tried to quietly cover her door with balloons.  I don't think it is possible to be quiet with plastic and balloons, we had a couple pop too.  But we managed to get it all up before she opened her door. 

She couldn't decide between spaghetti and Chicken Caesar salad.  We did both. Spaghetti Saturday, salad Sunday.

During lunch we got a text from Jared saying the first calf had been born.  Leah decided since it was named on her birthday that she was going to name it.  The next day she went to check cows with Dave and to get a picture.  She has named it Jerky.

Blake gave her the best coupon book. He drew all these funny quick pictures that are hilarious to the two of them because of conversations they have had the last few weeks.  For example he asked her to play fortnite with him.  She did not want to but finally went down with him and the he played online with his friends as she texted her friends.  Great bonding moment. ;) None the less I thought it was a cute fun book for them to share.

The DQ cake!

The week before I had seen our local fire department say that if anyone had a birthday, they wanted to help celebrate.  I debated for a day or so, thinking 18 might be a little old for the fire department or we might be to far out of town.  Then I was like what the heck she can't do anything with friends.  So we got it all set up.  They called me when they were about a mile away.  I looked out the window and kind of laughed because we rarely have a car go by on our road and behind the fire trucks were 5 cars.  I was thinking those poor people, got stuck behind the birthday parade.  As they got closer they had the lights and sirens going.  They sang Happy Birthday through the megaphone and had balloons and signs.  It was awesome.  Then we started to recognize some of Leah's friends and our neighbors in the cars behind them.  The Fire Department had somehow contacted her friends and had them come along too.  It was so neat.  Leah was so pleased that so many friends and neighbors would drive out of their way, just to drive by her house. Some came 30-40 mins one way just to wave at her.

It was really cool.  She even got a card handed to her while trying to social distance.  Our fire department is awesome.  They went above and beyond to make it a special day for Leah.  We were very pleasantly surprised.

That night she wanted to watch The Greatest Showman, and of course we needed a little second piece of DQ cake.

Sidenote: I was teaching Blake to make a tie.  We did two side by side so he could follow along.  He made his and I made Dave's.  Turned out fairly well for first time.  His few mistakes we were able to hide and he learned the importance of properly cutting out material and not rushing through it.

Leah is a true delight in our family.  We feel so blessed that she got to come to us.  Next year our home will definitely be quieter and not as busy.  She has a very deep rooted testimony and will not be swayed.  Even when her friends try to get her to 'have a little fun and stop being a party pooper' she will not do anything that she feels is wrong.  She is a loving example to her high school friends and they all know her to be trustworthy and dependable.  She will not gossip and many kids will come to her with their problems and ask for help.  She is a good kind soul, but will not put up with your crap.  Leah has very high standards.  Some of her friends tease her that they can not wait to meet the man she finally deems worthy to date.  Many have tried. She has a fun, sarcastic, offbeat sense of humor.  Extremely hardworking and dedicated to her school work.  We are still working on the room cleaning. We are so proud of the woman she has become and are excited about the next steps in her live and can't wait to see what she does with it. We will miss her dearly.

Happy Birthday my beautiful girl.  Love you lots.