Christmas in July

We have made a tradition of celebrating Christmas in July the last few years. Technically, I think it should be Christmas in June, but we did it in July like everyone else. I went a little overboard this year. I'm not even sure why. It may have been spending so much time in the hospital, it may have been the fact that I am lamenting how fast my daughters are growing up, or just that I was excited... probably a mixture of all three. 

I made a book on Snapfish of some pictures Abi made in school last December. She made twelve days of Christmas themed pictures with You-gi-oh! characters. We always open a new book on Christmas Eve, so I wrapped this book up for Christmas in July Eve. They were very surprised. 

The next morning I put out a special breakfast. 

We brought down Maddy's little tree, I put a big bow on it, and then I put out presents for both girls. I filled the stockings too. These were bought this year to be different from our regular Christmas stockings. My mom spent the night and we watched The Man Who Invented Christmas, so she was still here in the morning. I gave her a stocking and gift too. And she gave all three of us gifts as well. 

Maddy got mostly art supplies, Abi got mostly toys (yes, that's true), and My mom and I got books. It was really fun. 

 

Random summer memories

Maddy found a vole in a window well in our back yard, so she and Doug coaxed it into this bucket and then released it into the field across the street. 

There were quite a few celebrations during the summer: 

my sister-in-law Karen's birthday,

the Fourth of July,

(we went to Doug's parent's house in the morning for breakfast with his family, and then we spent the rest of the day at home. We had a bbq and watched National Treasure at night.)

my niece Courtney's baby shower,

and the girls' spent their annual week at my parent's house while I did school planning. Doug and I went out most evenings, so that was fun. 

 A few weeks before that, my dad ended up in the ICU and spent a week in the hospital and a week in a care center. I was gone almost all day every day while he was in the hospital, so that I could be with him and help my mom. It was a hard time, so having a lot of fun things to do afterward were nice. Thankfully, he is doing much better now. He had pneumonia really bad, and it will take a while for a full recovery, but he seems to be progressing pretty quickly now. 

Last day of School 2022/2023

I didn't tell Abi and Maddy when the last day of school would be, but they knew it was coming soon as we were winding down all of our subjects. On June 20, I set up our school room with the Last Day flag, a bunch of things from our school year to show what we have done and read. This year I didn't put out all the read-aloud, but I did put out their personal reading. I put out the binders of their work, and then bags with gifts to celebrate their hard work and the summer. 

When they came down, they were very excited to see it all laid out and to find out what was in their bags. 

It was so fun to spend time going through all of the things and talking about our year. My mom came over to look through their things as well. 

We always have donuts or something similar on the last day. I bought a few kinds at the store in the days leading up to the last day. We made a fun drink, and it was all put out on the dining table for my mom and the girls to enjoy. I also sent some home for my dad. 

They presented their last project, and the school year was done!

 

Rocky Mountain Homeschool Convention

There aren't any big homeschool conventions in Utah, and I have wanted to go to one ever since we started homeschooling. I knew that if I wanted to, I would have to travel. The Good and the Beautiful did a convention for the first few years, but even those have stopped. In 2020 I bought tickets for the Great Homeschool Convention in California, but obviously that got cancelled. 

This year, knowing that we were going to be using mostly Master Books for our curriculum, I checked their website to see which conventions they would be at. The Rocky Mountain Homeschool convention was listed. They were having a lot of presenters I wanted to see, and it was in Denver, so I decided to grab tickets!

I asked my mom if she wanted to come along, and she did!

We got a room at the convention center. Originally the girls were going to come too, but we decided that my mom and I would just go this time. 

We left on Wednesday, June 14th. With minimal stops we drove the whole day and arrived in Denver in the late afternoon. 

The convention center was really nice, so we were excited to be there. 

We were planning on checking in with convention registration, but that wasn't going to open until the morning, so we settled in to our room and then went to Applebees for dinner. 

The next morning I was able to go register us, and then we spent the next three days going to so many amazing sessions!

Paul Washer:

Andrew Pudewa:

Jeff Myers:

Davy Liu: he used to be a Disney artist (and worked on my favorite- Beauty and the Beast)

It was interesting to see how he left Disney when he realized the direction they were going to be going with their storytelling. He began his own company and is making books and movies with Disney style/ quality animation, but Biblical themes. 

We also visited a mini dinosaur museum that was out in the parking lot.

Jason Lisle- we use his logic curriculum. He is one of my favorites. 

Ruth Chou Simons: 

Jim Ryun- the Olympic runner

My mom is a runner, so this was especially meaningful to her, and it was so much fun. He and his wife were so inspiring, and the class and meeting him afterward were just so cool. 

We had many activities and classes that I didn't take pictures of, but it was just one of the best weekends ever. 

The event ended on Saturday night with a theatrical presentation of Corrie Ten Boom. This woman dresses as her and speaks like her. She shares Corrie's story. 

We spent a lot of time in the vendor hall and bought a LOT!

I got a lot of our curriculum for this upcoming school year, but I also bought a lot of books. 

On Sunday, we drove home. Again, the weekend was just amazing. We were so edified, so encouraged, and so inspired. It was amazing to be in a place with so many other like-minded people. People that homeschool like us, people that share our political views, and people that share the same theological beliefs that I do. 

I loved it so much. 

But I was also happy to get home to my little family. 

The girls set up a little welcome home display for me.