June

June 1st was the last day of preschool for Lucky Ducks. We ended the year with three different celebrations for families to attend. This was the best picture of all of the teachers I could find. Not sure why I'm the only one not making a silly face! I've said it before, but this job was such a tender mercy for me this last year. It kept me just the right amount of busy - not overwhelmed and not too bored and lonely while the boys were both in school. Plus my coworkers and the kids (well most of the kids ;) ) were fabulous! It's exhausting, but fun and never boring work. I'm very grateful for my boss, Ranell, and her willingness to let me come back next year even with our uncertain adoption situation. 

I was super excited to have a couple of weeks at home before the boys got out of school to organize and prepare for summer, but I wound up getting sick in the evening of the last day of preschool and tested positive for Covid a couple of days later. Boo! I can't complain much though because we managed to avoid it for over two years and the strain I got was quite mild. It mostly felt like a bad cold with some achiness and a little tightness in my chest. I felt crummy for a couple of days and then just dealt with lots of mucous and some fatigue for the about two weeks. No one else in the family got it so we assumed they had had it a couple of weeks prior when both boys had mild colds - so mild that we didn't even test them for Covid. We probably should have tested anyway. 

 Our ward held a primary activity at the temple on the first Saturday in June. I had been looking forward to going with Mason, but Alan took him instead so I wouldn't spread any germs. They had fun playing games in the visitor's center and each kid had a professional photo taken in front of the temple. Hopefully, we'll get that picture sometime. 

I went strawberry picking all by myself one warm day while the boys were in school. The picking was amazing and I got all of the strawberries I needed for freezing and jam in one trip. Prices had gone up this year and I paid $2.40/lb and Koch farms in St. Paul. At least it's a beautiful and peaceful farm!

I turned 40 on June 9th! I remember thinking my Dad was so old on his 40th birthday. Now, I'm there and it doesn't seem quite so old anymore. Turning 40 was a little traumatic for me though and I decided that I wanted to go trail running to prove that I wasn't too old and decrepit yet. The boys were in school and Alan took the morning off work to go with me. We drove up to Forrest Park and I think we did about five miles. It was amazing and I wish we lived closer to trails like this so we could run on them more often. Such a great change from the treadmill and roads and sidewalks! The weather was perfect for running too - overcast, but not raining and not too warm. 

We got my favorite Jimmy John's sandwiches for lunch and then went to a ward bbq in the pouring rain in the evening. I didn't really want to go, but everyone else did and I didn't want to stay home alone. It turned out better than I expected. All of the adults just ate and chatted under the pavilion and the kids all got drenched playing in the rain. Even the teens were out there laying in puddles. Haha! Mason, M. and J. had a fabulous time playing in the wet sand. 

We had my apricot upside down cake a few days later when we didn't have other things going on in the evening. I let Mason blow out the candles since I was right at the end of possibly still being contagious with Covid. It was as yummy as always.

Mason's school finally allowed parent volunteers to come back after over two years! I helped out with field day for a couple of hours. I manned the first aid station and all I did was apply one band aide and tie two shoes. Ha! Mason was super happy I was there though so it was totally worth it. :)

Spencer's last day of 8th grade was on June 16th. He's never super happy about the thought of a long summer without his friends, but finishing middle school was exciting. I'm still in denial that he's really going to high school in just a few months. Spencer is totally ready and will be awesome in high school. He's so smart and mature and almost always makes really good choices. I just don't want my little boy to grow up. :(

Poor Mason got sick the last week of school and had to miss 2.5 days. Even he was a little bummed about missing the fun of the last week. Thankfully, he tested negative for Covid twice and was feeling well enough to go on the very last day. 

Mason's last day was June 17th. He was super excited to be finished with school for a few months, but truthfully the year ended so much better than I could have imagined it would when he was struggling so much last fall. So grateful for answered prayers for this sweet, funny, and smart boy!

Waving goodbye at the window one last time for 1st grade:

8th Grade Promotion was the evening of the 17th. Dark clouds threatened rain the entire time, but we were lucky and it didn't even sprinkle on us. There are over 400 kids in Spencer's grade (about the same number as both Alan's and my entire high schools!). It was a pretty typical ceremony, but we were shocked when Spencer was one of only three kids to win an award from the American Legion. We are assuming Spencer's teachers nominated him for the award because no one ever said anything to us. The plaque says it's in recognition of  "the possession of these high qualities of Courage, Honor, Leadership, Patriotism, Scholarship and Service..." What an honor! We're so proud of the good young man Spencer has become. 

There was a dance/celebration at the school right after the ceremony. Such a good way to keep kids out of trouble! Spencer had a great time, but was a little bummed that his phone (that he got for Christmas less than 6 months ago) had died just a few days before. He lost all of his old contacts and couldn't get new ones without a replacement phone yet. At least now, he'll only be texting kids we know from church over the summer instead of a lot of kids I don't know. ;)

May

The day finally arrived when Spencer needed to shave for the first time. Ahhh! He has had some upper lip fuzz for awhile, but it was the scraggly longer hairs under his chin that really had to go. So weird that we're in this stage now!

Mason built these funny goggles from a Kiwi Co. kit all by himself. He was super proud! They have a mirror inside so you can see the ground while looking straight ahead.

Spencer had a track meet every week during May. They were all in Sherwood, Tualatin, or Wilsonville and all on weekday afternoon/evenings. It has been nice having our Saturdays free.

Mason completed the "bravery ladder" that we started clear last fall! It was a sticker chart to help him  master being able to enter school more and more independently. He had been almost finished with it since about January, but just didn't want to complete the last step of hugging Mom or Dad goodbye at the car instead of right outside the school doors. He finally tried it once and it was super easy! We are so proud of how far Mason has come this year! Alan was working and Spencer had a game night with friends that night so Mason and I celebrated by going to the movies. It was his first movie since Covid so it was pretty exciting. We saw The Bad Guys and both really enjoyed it.

A rainy trail run in Camas on a Saturday morning - just proof of my existence! Haha!

Mother's Day turned out really nice this year. All I wanted was no extra Sunday meetings and to not have to cook and I got both! I was afraid this year might be a little emotional for me since we're in a hard adoption waiting place right now. I was good all day and just felt really grateful for the awesome boys I have. Then my emotional roller coaster took a dive in the evening and I ended the day feeling super frustrated with the hoops we are having to jump through with no apparent results.

Mason liked practicing field events much more than running at track practice. 

Mason had two days off school for parent teacher conferences in May. He came to work with me on Thursday and then we had a fun lunch date on Friday. He wanted to go to Biscuits Cafe because that's where Spencer chose to go for his birthday lunch in April. My homemade biscuits are Mason's current favorite food so it was fitting. ;) He was a fun lunch date!

Since Spencer was the only 8th grade boy running the 1500 meter from his school, he automatically qualified for the district meet. He was fighting a cold that day and didn't run his best, but I was impressed with his good attitude about it anyway. This was his last meet of the season and he ended with a PR time of 5:09. Track has been such a positive sport for Spencer and we're excited to see where he goes with it in high school.

There were a few things I was a little sad about our boys missing when The Church ended their partnership with the Boy Scouts of America a few years ago. One of those was the Pinewood Derby. Spencer had just finished Cub Scouts when it ended and had loved the Pinewood Derby. Luckily for us, one of the Young Women's leaders in our ward decided to do a derby for the YW and invited all of the other organizations in the ward to use the track the same day if they wanted. Mason's activity day group jumped on that idea so he go to make a car with Alan and then race it at the Derby. Sadly, Alan was working in Eugene that day and couldn't be there, but I volunteered Spencer to be the timer and Mason still had a great time. Alan was shocked that Mason's car wound up taking 2nd place for speed! It was a great night and I'm so grateful for all of the leaders who made it possible!

Spencer got to have his first piano recital since May 2019 this year! I don't think he missed them very much, but it was awesome to be back to normal and get to hear a bunch of kids perform. Three years ago, Spencer was one of the younger kids listening to the older teens in awe as they played. Now he's the one the younger kids are looking up to. His amazing teacher, Kristen Cichoski, also presented him with three medals for each of the last three years of Syllabus (technique, sight reading, scales, and memorized pieces played for a judge). Syllabus is serious work and we're proud of Spencer for taking it on each year. Sister Cichoski is such an incredible teacher and we feel very blessed that Spencer is able to take lessons from her.

Alan was in Eugene on his actual birthday this year so we had to celebrate a couple of days late. He got presents, yummy food and cake, but not an actual celebration. :( That was really not fair at all because Alan had been working incredibly hard for the last two months and definitely deserved a party. Alan has been my rock through all of the adoption ups and downs and I wouldn't be able to do it without his steady faith. We all adore him and are so grateful that he's ours!

We got Alan a heated vest to keep him toasty during all of the rainy meets he times. 

Mason got to go on his very first field trip at the end of May and I was so happy that I was able to get the day off work and go with him as a chaperone. (I know that the days when he'll actually want me to go with him are passing quickly so I wanted to take advantage of it while I can.) 

We spent the day exploring OMSI with two other cute boys from his class. We got to attend a cool presentation in the planetarium which is something I've never done. It was fun to hear the first graders answer questions about the sun, moon, and stars that they had recently learned in class. Mason's favorite part was playing in the space shuttle, but it was so crowded I didn't even get a picture. It was a fun day and honestly a lot easier than working with 40 preschoolers for four hours. ;)

19th anniversary celebration! We ran our favorite trail in Camas in the morning while the boys played at the Holden's house, did sealings at the temple for the first time since Covid, and then ate a yummy dinner at Oswego Grill. It was really nice just to spend some time together since we don't see much of Alan during track season.

Cute boy starting to love reading 💗

Memorial Day (our actual anniversary) trip to George Roger's Park.

And, first family bike ride of the year. Of course we had stop at Menchies. ;)