May Round-up

We had a lot of stuff going on the last Saturday before school was out. 

One of our friends was turning 50 (the one directly behind me) and so a little surprise "party" was planned - the party was going to her house at 7:30 and kidnapping her on a hike. :) She's crazy about all things hiking and outdoors and so this was the perfect surprise. We had a great morning hike! 

Miles went with a group to the high school's Prom. I guess it's pretty common to go as a group, i.e., "stag." We had encouraged and bugged Miles for weeks and weeks to ask Jentel, but of course he didn't. Sigh. Jentel ended up inviting Miles to join her group (Jentel is the one on Miles' left in the purplish dress). Miles spent most of the afternoon at Jentel's graduation party at her home, then the group met and all went to Prom and had a fun evening, and then he went back to Jentel's home and played games with her family. He had a good time!

The girls and I headed up to Junction for another one of Lucy's gym meets. This turned out to be her last one as her state competition was scheduled for a Sunday and so she won't be participating. Lucy did great on all events, placing 4th or higher - and ended up with a 3rd all-around. There were some high scores at that meet! Lucy got some of her highest - a 9.65 on vault and a 9.5 on bars. So fun!

I was invited to join Lucy and her grade on their field-trip to the Black Canyon. It was as fun as you would expect going on a hike with a bunch of 4th-graders. :) It was fun to be there with Lucy, though, that's for sure. 

Lucy finished up her last day of school, 4th grade, and her last day at Northside. Wow. We are sure going to miss that school . . . But Lucy's looking forward to middle school and her friends there.

We all went to get Lucy from school on her last day - 12 years of having a Maxwell at Northside. Wow.

I have a cool friend that wanted to do an artistic shot of us - Abbey Road style. Too bad I couldn't quite remember what the Beattles looked liked. . .  The boys had it down pretty good, but I was "marching" a little too much. Ha, but a fun picture. Who knows how many times we have all crossed that walk.

Candy Grams:

Dear Miles,

A great way to sum up you during this past year: “If there’s anything I can do, don’t hesitate to contact someone else.” Wow, that is just so you. :) It’s been an interesting year due to the pesky pandemic. Maybe we can blame that on why we are celebrating the 2020-21 school year being over NOW, even though it will be LATER for you. . . Even though you fell behind in your courses and we thought you must have your head in the MILKY WAY, you’ve done well and have learned a lot. You continued to work once a week at Crash Burger and so you were always excited when it was PAYDAY. You took your SAT for the first time and had lots of DOTS to fill in. You did well and now we’re anxious for you to actually study and prepare for it and do even better. What should we call you . . . A JUN-SEN? You know, someone in between being a junior and a senior, haha.

Dear Jonas,

Well it was a crazy first-year of high school for you. A mix of BYU HS online, hybrid school at

MHS, and finally full-time schooling at MHS - your favorite. You liked high school and enjoyed your classes, too - including your Spanish class where you learned words like “BUENO.” You usually saved your homework for the last possible moment and thus had to work in a CRUNCH. But you managed to get straight A’s anyways! You took a certification class and ended up learning how to be a LIFESAVER and even got a job at the pool! You like earning money, but like going on shopping SPREES even more. You haven’t quite figured out how to save your money . . . You recently bought cowboys boots and think your hick friends will think you’re HOT & SPICY in them. Great job on your freshman year!

Dear Emmy,

Even though this year didn’t start out too PEACHIE, you made the most of it and even loved doing school at the Pavilion. During your hybrid days, you spent a lot of time with REESE doing your school work - plus laughing and tumbling a lot. You often had a lot of time on your hands during your online weeks, and so you made DONETTES a ton. No one complained about that! You tried out volleyball this year and loved it. You always ran in track and impressed everyone with your BURSTS of energy at the end of your 1600, 800, or 200-meter runs! You finally went to the CARNIVAL this year with your friends and had a great time - going on all sorts of scary and sketchy rides! Next up, 8th grade - you’ll rule the school!

Dear Lucy,

You were able to have the most “normal” school year of all the kids because elementary school  was full-time in-person all year long (except for those 2 weeks you had to quarantine . . . ). You were excited because school is so FUN and you love it so much! Even though you didn’t CHEWS Mr. Stammler, you adored him and was so happy he was your teacher this year. You went NUTS over lots of stuff you worked on this past year and would tell us all about it like every day. Things like your tiny house, your tiny city, Minecraft, and the GaGa ball pit to name a few. Once again (and probably forever) you were the RUNT of your class, but that didn’t stop you from being strong and fast in all you did. You still have a BIT O HONEY left in you - don’t let middle school next year take that out of you! Good luck at Centennial next year, you now 6th-grader (aiyiyi).

I was worried about having to tell Lucy that her state meet was scheduled for a Sunday and thus she wouldn't be participating . . . but she actually took it really well. And one of the first things she said was, "We should go get our nails painted!" Because you can't have painted fingernails or toenails during competition . . . So after school the three of us went and got a pedicure. So fun. :)

Afterwards we went to a local place for "Boba" smoothies. The smoothies were very yummy (although after much-anticipation from Lucy, she didn't like hers much . . .), but the Boba things were weird! I guess they are quite popular for middle-schoolers. :)

Memorial weekend and we're all done with school (well, not Miles . . . ), so we wanted to go on an outdoor adventure. We chose the Crag Crest trail - a 10-mile loop in the Grand Mesa. It looks nice starting out . . . 

But quickly the trail was covered in snow. Like 95% of the trail. Which we really weren't prepared for . . . so it wasn't the awesomest. Which was a bummer. We all sank up to our knees at least 2 dozen times each. :) Yes, I was in my chacos. No, it wasn't fun. The kids feet were pretty soaked as well.

There's the whole crew - including Miles sunk in the snow. :) It was nice to get out, but was frustrating as it wasn't what we were expecting. I had read the trail report from someone on May 17th and there was not a single mention of snow . . . 

When we let the dogs off the leash, Jonas put Emmy on the leash. Then played some really weird game . . . but they weren't fighting or complaining, so that was good!

By the time we made it to the ridge (and had some pretty awesome views), most of us were pretty soaked. My feet were the coldest they had ever been. Jonas was pretty good and soaked, too. The sun had gone away behind a thick blanket of clouds and so we all were even colder . . . The ridge wasn't clear of snow, as we were hoping as we continued to trek up to it. We weren't sure what the next 7 miles would bring in terms of snow and terrain. So, we decided to go back the same 3 miles we just came. Which, frankly, a lot of people do. It just wasn't our plan and so it was a bummer to not accomplish what we had set out to do. But the deal was that if we turned back, we'd all have to come again and do the full loop. Everyone eagerly agreed. It has the potential of a great hike - just sans snow. :)

Byebye May! I can't believe June will be here on Tuesday! (Look closely at the calendar and find my mistake, ha.)