Report Card

A few weeks ago we had an IEP (Individualized Education Program) meeting with Will’s regular and special ed teachers. We have those regularly to see how he’s doing regarding the goals that are set for him, and to set new goals. They were very pleased with his progress. It seems that he picks up the classes fairly well, but that whenever he is tested he’ll loose confidence. To work on that Will now gets Double Dosing. This means that he goes to school as an Early Bird and leaves as a Later Gator. In the extra time he is at school, he has one-on-one sessions with a teacher. It makes for long days when you figure in homework, karate, scouts and of course the commute. Homework is not always a very fun time at our house with frustation on both sides. But we’re working on that.

And it looks like it is paying off. His latest report card was one for the books again.

You may be able to imagine how proud he was of himself. And how proud we are of him.

September

Time for another catch-up post.

My mom and 2 uncles (Jo & Peter) came over for a 2-week visit in September.

We (they) planned lots of fun outings.

Brunch at Sundance has become a tradition for my parents. So the first Sunday we drove up beautiful Provo Canyon.

After brunch we drove to Park City and walked around Main Street for a little while.

Of course no family visit is complete without traveling in Utah. We went to Moab for a weekend, giving my uncles a chance to rekindle with the place where Trevor and I got married on their previous visit.

We visited the usual, Arches NP and Canyonlands NP, but we also went to Dead Horse State Park.

Trevor and I both celebrated our birthdays during my family’s stay. We had amazing dinners at Mazza and The Happy Sumo. Both Will and Tessa were adventurous and tried new things.

Mazza

&

The Happy Sumo

(Don’t worry, that is not sake in her cup.)

At The Riverwoods there was live music before we had dinner. We sat and listened for a while and tried to take some good pictures. That didn’t work out so well with the boys.

I did get this video of Tessa dancing to the music.

We’ve been working in our yard pretty much every single weekend this year, so it was nice to get some help.

The day before their arrival Trevor and I found out that I had miscarried. On the day of their arrival my family had to wait for 2 hours on our front porch for us to come back from the hospital. (Sorry, again!) I don’t think I ever really told my mom how much I appreciated her help and support in the two weeks she was here. I know that she knows this, but it should be said anyway. So Mam, dank je wel!

Some of the things we did in August…

– A 4-wheel drive day trip to Cascade Springs

As you can see in the upper left picture, Will and Tessa were really excited for this. It was a nice drive though!

– Hiking Timpanooke

One date night Trevor and I hiked part of the Timpanooke trail. We got a late start and we had to turn around at the Giant Staircase and still hiked most of the way down in the dark. But we did see a moose and some deer.

– Sundance

We had some time to kill one afternoon while in town, so I took the kids up to Sundance. We walked around for a bit, ate a snack and drove back to town. The temperature in the canyon was a lot nicer than in the valley.

– Another Belt Promotion for Will

Brown-Orange!

– Our trip to Lake Powell

Which has its own post.

– And some random pics of the kids

Ready for the sun!

Both fast asleep in the car after Granny Night.

Tessa trying to dress herself. Those are Will’s socks.

Tessa feeding Will’s bear her lunch.

Some of the things we did in June…

Still working on catching up from the summer!

– Swimming lessons for Will

– Belt Promotion at Karate for Will

His brown belt!

– Swimming at Seven Peaks

– Sword Camp at Karate

I didn’t get any good pictures of Will using his sword, unfortunately. But he did well enough to earn another belt, his second in 2-weeks time!

– Pinewood Derby at Scouts

Will’s car got a few first and second places, but ended up in fourth place overall. Together with Trevor he spent a few evenings working very hard on his skeleton car.

– Johnson Family Reunion

I took Tessa to Kris’ family reunion. She had fun playing with all the toys they had there. Since they had held a reunion last year as well, it wasn’t as busy this time. It was still good to hang out with everyone who did come.

– More swimming lessons for Will

Will has done so well this summer. He was able to go to the next class up. His favorite thing: Survival Float. Nothing better than just laying in the water!

– Playing at the Park

I took the kids to the park for lunch one day. Will took the pictures of Tessa.

– Wedding Stephanie & Steve

(Pictures courtesy of Ashlee Elizabeth Photography, thanks Steph for letting me copy them!)

Some of the things we did in May…

– School Carnaval

– Karate Tournament

Dianna, Adelein, Isabelle and Granny came and watched Will compete in forms and sparring.

– School Dance Festival

The 4th grade classes danced to Cotton Eye Joe.

– End of school Festivities

With his teacher Ms Jensen.

Our 5th Grader!

Will started 5th grade last Tuesday.

So far he’s liking it.

On to a great year!

The Boys Digging Trenches

Like Father, Like Son!

Date Night At InstaCare

Tuesday nights are our date nights.

Granny watches the kids and Trevor and I get to hang out together.

Last night we had someone come with us though.

Will jumped down the stairs last week and while doing so hit his left big toe on the stairs. It hurt a little and we put some ice on it. It bothered him the past few days, but it was nothing serious. So yesterday he went to karate as normal. Things got a bit worse there.

While warming up his foot started to hurt more. He sat out most of the class with an ice pack on it. After class his foot was really swollen and hurt so much that we decided to take him to InstaCare.

They did their checks and took some X-rays and according to the doc it is just a sprained foot, right below the big toe. No karate or running around for 10 days, but otherwise the boy should be fine.

These pictures are from this morning and the swelling has gone down a lot already.

Of course it took a total of 2 hours before we were out the door. Oh well.

Will is doing fine now and is totally milking it!

Double Digits!

Will passed a mile stone yesterday!

He added a digit to his age.

10 Years old.

We started celebrating on Sunday.

Later that afternoon we had a BBQ party at the park.  It was great to see the Aarons, Granny & Grampy, Grandma, Paka & Diane, Josh & Natalie, Keelie, and Cayden.

Good food, good company, and most important for Will, yummy cake (“chocolate mud and lemon sand cake” made by Keelie) and great presents.

Then on to Monday, Will’s actual birthday!

We started with fresh blueberry muffins (with a candle, of course).

In the afternoon we went to the Hogle Zoo.

They have a dinosaur theme this summer: Zoorassic Park.

Will was in heaven!

Both Will and Tessa had fun walking around.

Will was born at 5 pm.

So this is Will at 4.59 pm, quietly contemplating the past year.

9

And this is at 5.00 pm…

10

Checking a happy birthday  message from Dad!

And the three of us after a fun, but warm and sweaty afternoon at the zoo.

To end the day we had dinner at the One Man Band Diner (Will’s pick) and ice cream at the Red Barn!

Happy Birthday Will!

Piece By Piece

Will and I both love building Legos.

He’s got quite the collection by now.

Every summer we try to build all his sets.

To be honest, I think I might enjoy the building more than him, and he the playing.

But it is a fun way for me to spend more time with Will.

So far we’ve finished his Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Atlantis and some of his City and Creator sets.

Up next are his Star Wars and Batman sets.

And when summer is over we break them all apart.

Will REALLY likes to do that.

And I get my shelving space back!

Atlantis & Harry Potter

Indiana Jones