My “little things” post for April will be gigantic if I don’t break it into smaller increments so here’s what happened this weekend.
It is already starting to get unbearably hot around these parts, so on Friday when the temperature dipped back into the high seventies my friend and I decided we better soak up that weather while it lasted.
So we hiked to the tippy-top of this mountain:

And it felt hard, and good too.

Dave and I divided and conquered as parents since we had an out-of-town soccer tournament for Claire and also the dumb ACT for Grace (I hate those tests…maybe because none of us are too hot at them and they determine so much!)

So Claire and I packed her up and got her all hyped, and then these two headed up to the mountains on a soccer date…

(I think Dave was bracing himself for the cold in that picture 🙂
…while I stayed to hang with Grace and Lucy.
As much as I wished I could be both places, there’s something about letting go and focusing in on fewer kids that just felt so right.
Grace and I had some good talks (although no pictures of her…when I try lately this is what I get:

…that girl is killing me!)  She did have her last tennis tournament right before the weekend that deserves a post of it’s own coming soon.
… and Lu and I had a special little date (when Grace left with friends), and we have a soccer “mom” (who is actually a dad), who sent so many pictures of the soccer tournament I felt like I was there in person 😉

Claire was laughing about this first night because her hair elastic broke and she ran around like this all night:

Here’s a better shot:

…and another:

HA!  We were busting up at these pictures when she got home.

Lu and I face-timed with Dave as he sat in the car to watch from the sidelines since it was SO COLD.

(That was the second game…no action shots of that one.)
Lu and I felt pleased as punch sitting wrapped in blankets on the couch watching “The Good Place” back at home.
Grace and I got up nice and early to get her some protein and get her pumped up for the test and then I sent her off with all the luck I could muster up.  

My friend who was up in the mountains for her daughter’s tournament sent me some pictures of Claire the next day…

…and her date too.

Back at home Lu and I worked our tails off really knocking out the details of Saturday jobs and cleaning out some drawers.  It was so nice not being pulled in different directions and really working together.  It’s tough for Lucy to see a lot of the details with Saturday jobs lately but I still want her to get the satisfaction of doing them, and I think we accomplished that.

We stood back and admired our work and then she invited a few friends over to swim.

Not sure about the red tape, but they thought they were pretty funny.
I had to pull them out so we could get to our neighbor’s baptism.  It was pretty beautiful one, as of course all baptisms are, but his older brother baptized him just like Max baptized Lucy (back HERE) and it made me nostalgic for that beautiful day back in China.

Grace came back triumphant from the test (although not overly confident she did amazingly well), and did a senior photo shoot for her friend…this is the only picture I have, but I think she did such a great job!

Had to take advantage of having that white backdrop set up for a little bit…

Bo looks pretty pleased in that last one, don’t you think?

Dave and Claire got home in time for Dave to take me out on a date to meet up with some friends and watch this gorgeous sun set over the desert:

Yesterday was church and then bishop’s youth council held at our house:

We are still getting situated in our new (recently split) ward and I think this was a great way for the youth to gather and get to know these new great men leading the ward.

The palo verde trees are blooming like crazy and all that yellow just takes my breath away all the time.

Last but not least, I just wanted to share this video that my brother sent us back in November to make a couple little announcements to our family (he and my sister were traveling together):


(I am a baby, but that makes me just want to bawl with happiness every time I watch it.)  And as of this moment, we’re waiting with baited breath for the first of those little “announcements” to make his/her (we don’t know yet) arrival over in New York City.

Cannot wait for the big news!

4 Comments

  1. I'd love to read more about that act prep book and all of your post-it notes! Having not gone to college and hubby went to trade school, we were not prepared for our oldest to go to college. He didn't do well on his ACT. (And to be honest not doing real well in 2nd yr of college) Why didn't I think about looking for a book to help? I have a freshman right now and a more motivated student, so I need to be much more prepared.

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    2. Something that may really help is to hire a tutor. I’ve heard some great results come from that. My son’s high school had an act prep class that I signed him up for. He recently took the test so we’ll see how he did. 🤞 The more practice tests they can do and familiarity with how the test is structured the better.

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    3. You can buy those books on amazon and they have tons of practice tests, which are helpful. We've hired tutors like Molly mentioned for our kids after they take the first one "cold turkey" (not much prep) and they have improved, but test taking is not our forte, dang it!

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