Back to School

We have been waiting for this day for months.  The last official in school day was March 13, 2020.  It has been a lonnnnng Spring Break / Summer Vacation.  The kids are ready to get back to their lives that doesn't include parents, endless chores, and lessons on the computer.  For me I am ready for them to be challenged and interact with something other than a computer or electronics.  We are the first school district in the state to open up and give it a shot a normal.  I am thankful to our school district for providing options on how to return.  However, I extremely frustrated with those discounting and refusing to let us make the right choice for our family.  I am nervous but we can't continue to live in fear.  We have to have faith and be prepared to move forward.

The big day has arrived....Bright and early on Thursday morning.  I am not sure that Ryder even slept.  His alarm went off at 6:15.

7th Grade
Sunrise Ridge Intermediate
7:45 am

10th Grade / Sophomore
Desert Hills High School
8:15 am

Poor guys!!!
This is also the first time they
have been back in their kennel
for most of the day.
Or maybe they are happy for peace and quiet.

What a morning!!! Everyone made it where they needed to be and on time.  Rylee doesn't start school until later this month.  However, she still had to to go work.  The house was empty during a weekday since March.  Will the house stay cleaner and the food stay longer? Probably not but I can hope.

A Quiet Week

It's August and it's HOT!!! It has been a quiet week as we prepare for school to start up next week.  Will we or won't we go back is the question everywhere.  Turn on any news program or check out the headlines online everyone has their opinions.  I am grateful to our school district, health department, and schools for planning, preparing, and working hard to get everything ready for the students to return.  I am excited for the new adventure.

While we prepare for school it is time to tackle a few projects around the house.  Cleaning & dejunking the laundry room and back entry.  It's hot, sweaty, and dirty work which I have procrastinated doing for much too long.  I found the "Old Man" mask part of Dave's halloween costume hiding away in the top most part of the closet.

Dave began to smile and put it on.  What happened next made us all laugh.

The dogs went crazy.

So much for quiet
They barked and growled for 
the next 1/2 hour.
He tried it on Reganne and
she just laughed at him.

Yummy Sunday Dinner!!
The ribs turned out tender and juicy for
my first attempt.
This dinner will be added to the rotation.

Everyone ate until they were full.  My potato salad tasted almost like Grandma Johnson it needed more onions.  The one request was to made double the ribs.

One to another week and with it let's start school!!!

Blue, Black, and White Swim Meet

The excitement in the air was crazy.  SUSA was headed back to pool for a swim meet.  The last meet we all attended was February in Cedar City.  We are headed to the SHAC for our team only meet.  The kids don't care who they are racing with only what the final results are.  They have practiced hard over the past 3 months and were ready to show their stuff.  

The new normal requires answering questions, providing a phone number for contact tracing, and finally masks for on deck.  Nobody on deck who isn't a volunteer or a swimmer.  This is the first meet in 3 years that all the volunteer slots were full the day before.

The pool is alive!!!
Warmups begin...

Masked Officials
Ready to blow the whistle and get the party started.

It looks like glass!
Getting ready to start the mile.

Flipping for each lap.

His cheering & counter section.
He refused to let me be the counter.
You will mess it up was his reply.

Lap 61 with only 2 more to go.
He & Claire were in sync with each other.
That is what happens when you work out each day together.
She beat him by 3 seconds to the finish.
"That was the most boring event ever"

The Blue Team won!!
All the kids worked so hard and best of all they were all smiles.

First Place Trophy!!

It was a great evening!!!  We are hoping that we proved that we can be safe and have fun.  You may ask why the swimmers themselves didn't were masks while on deck.  They have been practicing all summer together in and out of the pool.  Nobody has been sick yet.  The deck was extremely hot, humid, and full of chlorine fumes they needed to be free to swim.  However, we the officials made it through with the masks through it all.  I am guess temps were close to 110 if not higher.  

We all will be back to support our swimmers. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.

Ryder's Stats:

Male (14 & Under) 100 Breast:  3rd Place, 1:24.61

Male (14 & Under) 100 Fly:  2nd Place, 1:18.73

Male (14 & Under) 1650 Free (Mile):  1st Place, 22:34.18

Male (14 & Under) 100 Free:  3rd Place, 1:05.60

Male (14 & Under) 200 Back:  1st Place, 2:46.04

It Bit the Dust..

Afternoons are a busy time.  Ryder has swim from 4-6 every day which means right after work I am in the van dropping him off and running errands.  This Tuesday wasn't any different.  The van needed an oil change and then filling up the gas tank.  First stop Walmart but their auto shop is still closed.  Second place Jiffy Lube and as I pull out into traffic I hear an awful noise.  The only thing I can do is turn the wheel towards the center median and stop.  I had a sinking feeling that this was another transmission problem.  Called Dave, Julie, and Rylee for help and reroute my plans for the afternoon

Loading it up

Unloading it
Ryder was proud to be able to drive it off the trailer.

Sparkers & Poppers
to celebrate the 24th of July.
Ryder was the only one home with us to party.

Staheli Farms throwing a great party.
Everyone loves princesses.

Saying Goodbye...
Official diagnosis the transmission fell apart again.
The cost to fix it was double what the whole van is worth.
Off to the salvage yard.

Will this work for mask making??
We are on the hunt for cool mask material.
If these are needed to get through this crazy stuff then 
let's have fun with them.

Ryder is back in the kitchen.
This was my lunch courtesy of Ryder.
He called him looking for steak to cook for breakfast.
He is starving.
I love his creativity however his single mindedness can make me crazy.

It has been an exhausting week with all the politics swirling around us.  Ryder informed me that he needs 14 masks to start school.  That way he always has a weeks worth available to use.  We are going to be busy learning out to make them.  It is becoming the new fashion statement.

2 weeks until school starts.  The finish line is in sight can everyone make until then?

It's Lake Time

We are always open for a lake trip and this weekend Rylee & Ben were going with us.  The holiday was yesterday so we were keeping our fingers crossed that the crowds are home sleeping off the fireworks.  We are in luck no major crowds and the boat decontamination was successful.

We all found our seats.
Got settled
We were off across the lake.

The kids were ready to cool off.
Ben was willing to try the knee board for the first time.

Rylee couldn't let Ben out
do her.  She popped up her first run.

Ben also popped up 
and kept right on going.

Time to cool off.
This if the first time in the water for Dave.
It's cold!!!

Cannonball!!!

Reganne giving it a try.

Rylee & Ben 
grabbing their turn!!

One last ride.

It was a great morning.  Everyone was hot, soaked, and hungry.  It was time to head to shore.  We all had a fun time hanging out with each other.  Playing in the water and having fun together.  We still have half the summer for a few more trips.  The weather isn't cooling off and the water is warming up.

Summer Small Town Tour...Brian Head

It's another hot weekend and we needed an escape.  We headed off towards Brian Head for their annual car show.

We brought our masks.
Let's check out the cars.

Let's try the ski lift.
It was busy but not crazy and they also
lowered price.
We headed off and up.

A little rocky start.
I was a little eager and jumped on early.
This frustrated Dave & Ryder both that I couldn't follow directions.
However, in my defense I was concentrating on not falling that I jumped way to early.

We made it to the top.

What a view!!!
Also the wind was also in our faces 
and quickly cooling down.

Love these faces
Dave trying to hold still.  Ryder wiggling around
trying catch the view from all directions.
I was starting to want a jacket.

Selfie time
I needed a jacket desperatley.

Nearing the end of the ride.
It looks to peaceful and a whole lot. warmer.

Back on the ground and
checking out the show again.

Headed home
with the top down.

It was a beautiful drive down the canyon.  The top was down and it was about 75 degrees.  As we got closer to St George it really started heating up towards 105 degrees.  I am loving these little adventures.  Enjoying the time together and not being cooped up at home.

Where will we go next?

It's Hot Outside

The temps are raising daily and not rain in sight.  However, the wind is blowing and not a cool breeze.  Instead it feels like someone turned on a hair dryer and left it on.  Once again everyone is staying inside trying to stay cool.  Scientists & politicians are asking the question of why the spikes.  Well I can't say much about the world in general.  Here in Southern Utah we are all inside breathing the same air and sharing germs.  It's bound to be higher over the next couple of weeks.

Rylee shared hers & Ben's adventure to an Alpaca farm in Hurricane.

These look like cows to me.

How cute they are.

Babies are even cuter

It's hot and now we have
multiple fires that are way to 
close for comfort.
We are on our weekly drive to
get Reganne more hours.

Trying to figure out to use
YouTube TV.
Need newer equipment to run it on.
Thanks to SkyWest for my Apple TV
20th Anniversary Gift.

Another dinner date!!
I am not sure whether they are enjoying their food
or not?

Decontaminating the boat.
Much easier than expected.
Not sure why all the negative press on this issue.
We are not good to go out another weekend.

Baking again!!!
Loved this recipe from Amber's Kitchen.
One pan and it was gone by Tuesday.

Not sure what else
they do except eat.  They were
excited to have a picnic.

It was a crazy week with our AC going out and discovering it after getting home from work.  To late to call anyone until the next day.  Lucky for us we have fans and a small window unit to try and keep at least our room to under 80.  Snow Canyon Heating & AC were able to come the next afternoon and recharge it.  We are back in the cooler temps inside.  However, the bad news is it most likely will need to be replaced in another year or two if we are lucky. 

Everyone stay cool, healthy, and strong.

Summer Small Town Adventures....Beaver

It's Saturday again and we are off to another small town to find a new adventure.  We are headed north on I-15 to beat the heat.  Let's stop and check out the Creamery in Beaver.  We have driven by this for years without stopping but they have a new building calling our names.

Wow!! This looks nice.
Not a lot of cars in the parking lot.

There were crowds inside.
We came prepared with our masks.

This made me laugh.
It is a great way to get everyone to
stop, read, and think about
what we are doing while waiting in line.

YUMMY!!!
Mac & Cheese with chicken, spinach, and tomatoes.
2 meals out of this one bowl.

Ryder had Mac & Cheese
with bacon.
Dave had a mystery sandwich that wasn't on the
menu...Turkey with Pesto.

All was yummy with left overs to take home and share.  We were too full for ice cream maybe next time.  Ryder begged for cheese curds to take home.  Dave of course agreed with him.  I have never been brave enough to eat one until today.  Way to salty for me.  I needed more coke to drink.

Sunday afternoon naps.
Everyone was exhausted after a busy week.

Due to heat outside there are no baking pictures this week.  I can barely stand to cook dinner.  It is supposed to get hotter this next week so I had better make a menu or we will be spending a lot to go out and eat.