Grandma and Grandpa came to visit!

When we scheduled Tyler's baptism, one of our main considerations was making sure that my parents could come out and be here to see it.  They usually make their drive out in August, but my Dad was able to shift things around and come out a month later.  I'm always so excited when I get to spend time with them!  A fair amount of our time was spent prepping for the lunch after the baptism, but we still managed to have fun.

Of course, the rain had to continue ALL weekend.  My mom got tickets for the General Women's Meeting for our church, so we headed up to Salt Lake to go see it.  In an absolute downpour.  We jumped over small rivers in the streets, and my shoes were still wet at the end of the night!

The next night, we headed up American Fork Canyon, tossed the football around for 20 minutes, and then the rain chased us back home.  Oh well, Tibble Fork is always worth the trip.

We have fun indoors, too, after all.

After that, my parents continued onward to Moab, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef.  I pulled the kids out of school at the end of the week to meet them in Zion National Park, which worked out really well.  I was nervous about making the trek without Christopher, but it wasn't an issue at all.

We didn't meet up with Grandma and Grandpa the first day, so we just took the shuttle around . . .

hiked and wandered around . . .

and somehow, the most exciting part to Tyler was that he saw a squirrel.  He's easy to please.

When we got to the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa, I was all set to take the kids swimming in the hotel pool.  But Kaitlyn said she didn't want to- she just wanted to put on her jammies and climb into bed!  I assumed that meant they were really tired, but since they were bouncing around and talking until 10pm, it turns out that just meant she was nervous about an outdoor pool in the dark and thought a hotel bed sounded exciting.  They wore out eventually, though.

I promise I put Jasmine up in bed after I took this picture, but when I woke up in the morning she was on the floor.  Poor thing.

Notice my backpack carrier, here.  The good one was at our cabin, so I only had this old garage sale find.  Everyone else in Zion had fancy ones with sunshades and cushions and zippered pouches, but thankfully Jasmine didn't mind the Big Bird colored thing we have. :)

I think the only one that had a bad day was poor Tyler- a bee flew into his ear and freaked him out so much that my mom was worried he got stung, and then right after I took this last picture he fell and scraped his knee up pretty bad.  We had to hobble all the way back to the car with him holding his shorts up so they wouldn't touch the owie (after stopping at the bathroom, because of course, he had been needing that for a while too) and then he finally got his precious band aid.  

Kaitlyn was just thrilled she got to be a Junior Ranger.  And Jasmine . . . was ready for her nap, having not slept well the night before.  We were all sad to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, though!

Tyler's Baptism

 Sometimes you have to make things up as you go as a parent.  I was going to say that as a parent of a child with special needs, but then I realized that we are all adapting everything in life to the needs of our kids.  Which change daily.  And which we figure out as we go.

Anyway, I talked at length about Tyler and his postponed baptism back on his birthday post in January.  So I won't repeat that here.  We did take him to almost every baptism since then, and usually when we got home I would go through more of the questions that our Bishop was going to ask when he interviewed Tyler to be baptized.  We debated on how long to wait- at one point we scheduled December 6th - but in the end we decided that he is as ready now as he will be as an eight year-old.  He knows a lot of the answers to the questions now.  How much he understands . . . is something still up for debate.  But I do know that one thing he gained was a true excitement to be baptized.  After seeing other kids get baptized month after month, he was SO excited.  And I am starting to see those answers we prepped him with pop up in other Gospel discussions, so I think some of it really has sunk in.

We don't know exactly how his interview went, since he met with the Bishop by himself, but I know that our Bishop has been emotional every time he has talked about it since.  He said that "in all my years as a Bishop, and all the interviews I have ever given, this was the first time that when I asked a question, I was sung a song in reply."  Tyler loves to sing and remembers things better when he sings, so when asked about Jesus being baptized, he replied by singing "Jeee-suss caaaaame to John the Baptist."  Our sweet Bishop was so touched that he called us the night before the baptism and asked if Tyler could sing that as a special musical number.  When I told him that it was set to be the opening song, Daddy figured out that Tyler could sing the first verse and let us all join him for the rest of the verses.  We spent some time practicing, and it was one of the most adorable things I have ever seen. (Yes, I'm biased.)

Of course, the Bishop also told us that he finished his interview by asking Tyler if he had any questions he would like to ask.  "Yes,"  Tyler answered firmly, taking Bishop Anderson by surprise.  "Do you know -  what is four plus one?"
Through his laughter, the Bishop replied "Is it five?" and Tyler congratulated him.
"Yes, you are right!  It is five!"

I seriously love this kid.

Daddy does, too.  When I asked Christopher if he wanted to use his white shirt and white pants, or wear a jumpsuit like Tyler, he told me he wanted a jumpsuit "because I think Tyler will want me to dress just like him."

The baptism service went really well, too.  Bro. Simko (one of our friends in the ward) gave his talk using a coloring book, and Tyler was absolutely riveted (which is rare for him).  The theme for the day seemed to be preparing for baptism.  Tyler's Grandma Skarda said that he was the most prepared anyone has ever been for baptism, I think mainly because he was born so pure and happy.  His Uncle Brian added that "no one gives you enough credit, Tyler.  I think you're just going to amaze everyone someday."  My mom and my Uncle Bob talked about their baptisms as well.  Their mother did not like the Mormon church, and merely tolerated my Grandpa taking them to church occasionally.  I guess one day he just decided it was time and took them both to be baptized, assembly line style with all the other kids, at the Tabernacle downtown.  Neither of them had a clue until they were about in the car, and hardly had any interest in it!  So to them, it came down to what you do with your life and your testimony afterward, not how prepared you were when you got baptized.

And when Tyler got baptized, he was grinning from ear to ear.  Daddy held him under for an extra second so his hand didn't fly up, but they got it done.  And when they were climbing out of the font, Tyler told him happily "I got wet!"

Ironically, one of the reasons we switched from December to September (apart from how excited he was for his turn to come) was because we figured it would make it easier to host our families for lunch afterward.  Christopher's family alone is 7 siblings, their spouses and 30 grandkids, not including his aunts, uncles, and Grandma that came.  Then you add my family, and you no longer fit in our house.  September meant we could be outside and have plenty of room.

Except the fact that it rained all weekend.  So we made a quick decision and reserved the gym at the church, which worked out well.  We had all of Tyler's favorite foods- pizza galore, mac and cheese that Grandma made, Cheetos, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate muffins.  He was a happy guy.

And we were all happy for him.  I could truly feel how much everyone in that room loved Tyler.  Even one of his old aides from school a year or so ago came.  We always laugh at how quickly Tyler converts everyone he meets to just adore him.  We feel truly blessed to have him in our family.

School is awesome!

Tyler and Jasmine have been obsessed with the song "Everything is Awesome".  And I have decided it is the perfect theme song for Tyler.  He just goes through life believing that everything is awesome! Thank goodness, this year school truly is AWESOME.

Last year was not a good year for him, in that regard.  I liked his teacher as a person, but she had never taught that age group before and was not too eager to get it all going.  She basically started off the school year by apologizing at PT conference, assuring me that she was talking to other teachers to learn what she needed to do and how to do it, and not to worry- she'd have it sorted out by Christmas.  I don't want to focus on the negative on here, but suffice it to say that it didn't go well.  Tyler regressed a bit last year in his reading and such, instead of progressing.  My inside source basically told me that Tyler spent most of his time by himself, doing nothing in that classroom, since the teacher was just trying to contain the other kids.  Late in the spring we found out that this teacher was not returning . . . along with all the other teachers for the small group classes at his school.  No matter what, if we stayed with the public school we would have a new teacher who was just learning what they were doing.  And after how badly last year had gone for Tyler, I just wasn't okay with another year of throwing the dice.  I needed a sure thing.

Thank heavens I knew right where to go.  We've taken Tyler to Clear Horizons for summer school for years now, and I can't tell you how happy I am to have him there this year!  Actually, I could go on and on about this.  Maybe I'll go with bullet points on why this is the most awesome school ever.

* In public school, there are privacy laws that protect the students from other people knowing they are receiving services.  For example, if you ask my friend the speech therapist if she is seeing so-and-so, she can't tell you.  But that meant that parents are not actually allowed into the classroom for these special ed kiddos.  Regular classrooms have parents coming in daily to help with reading centers or lead art time, but in the classes that need it the most, it is not allowed!  Not only are the missing out from added help, but I missed out from learning how to help my little guy.  I'm not a professional in special ed!  I don't have a clue what I am doing- but I am eager to learn.

But not only CAN I come and watch at this school, I could come all day every day if I want to.  Each classroom has an attached room with a one way mirror, and I am welcome to come and sit in there to see the class if I don't want to disturb them.  If I want to come in and help out?  Come on in.  If I want to learn what techniques they use, or what the latest research is showing?  They have classes for the entire community to come and learn, and partnered with UVU in the creation of an Autism Studies Minor that even non-UVU enrolled students can take.  They fought so that parents like me can take those classes and learn how to help my own child.

*Sometimes it is the little things that get me.  At our parent meeting the other night, a parent asked the Adaptive PE teacher if there was anything they could do to help her child learn to ride a bike. And they said sure- bring a bike in, and we'll work with him!  Another parent volunteered that she loves teaching kids to ride bikes, and I think they are now developing a bike riding workshop.  But the look on that mom's face is what got me.  Her jaw just dropped.  "I've asked that same question at IEP meetings for years," she said.  "And they all told me it wasn't their job."

"Welcome to Clear Horizons!" someone chimed in from the back row. They consider their "job" to be anything they can do to help these kiddos.  That is truly evident in their classrooms.  Anything they can do - from special desks that help the kids focus, to extra aides, to rearranging their schedule to meet the needs of the class, they are on it.

*Another story- the age group from 16 to 18 is called "transition" because they are transitioning from school to life on their own.  They need to polish off their skills from handling currency, to doing their own laundry, to job skills.  In public schools, I have to say that the people I have talked to don't see it as a place of hope.  If you are still in special education by transition age, then they just don't see much hope for you.  But the teacher of that age group at this school spent her entire summer writing to businesses and asking them if her kids can come in and visit.  She wanted them to see, hands on, what sort of entry level jobs they could get, and to be introduced to employers willing to hire them.  Do you know how many letters she sent out?  "I expected to hear back from 1 in 10 of them, but can you believe it was actually double that?"  She told me with a huge smile.  She has enough for them to take a field trip every single week out into the community.  That is a teacher filled with hope in her students!

*Their school building is awesome because it is designed with these kids in mind.  They have a tendency to run off, so all the doors have alarms to make sure everyone is contained.  They need a lot of physical therapy, so there is a giant room dedicated to the most awesome swings and tunnels and everything they could want to use for that.  They sometimes need to divide and conquer, so there are smaller rooms attached to each room so an aide can take some kids aside and away from the chaos of the rest of the class if they need to.  The students often have sensory issues with certain clothes, so there isn't a dress code, let alone uniforms.  Many students have dietary restrictions, so their cafeteria has microwaves the kids can use to heat up whatever they bring in.

Wow, my bullet points are actually novels.  Um, sorry.  But when people ask me if I mind the drive (sadly, they are 15 minutes away) or the cost (they are a private school) I tell them I could not be more thrilled to be there.

And so is Tyler.

I love this "first day of school" picture.  Tyler was being silly, and Jasmine wanted to join in- but Kaitlyn is trying to be a big grown up first grader (while actually just laughing at her siblings).

Oh, and I don't want to leave out Kaitlyn.  Because she has the sweetest teacher in the world.

Her teacher has been teaching First Grade for 10 years, and told us that the point of first grade was for the students to learn to love school.  And she does a great job at making that possible.  Kaitlyn just gushes with all the details of how much fun she has and what she learned that day, and her teacher has emailed me notes just to tell me how much she loves having Kaitlyn in her class and all the wonderful things that she has seen Kaitlyn do.  The parent next to me at the back to school night told me that this was her 5th child to have Miss Hull.  And that if she had enough money, she would pay Miss Hull to quit her job and come to her house and homeschool all of her kids.

I'm glad that if the kids have to be gone from home so much for school, I can at least know that they are in such awesome hands!

Lake Powell

We are beyond grateful that Christopher's brother invites everyone to come and stay on his houseboat every year.  It is a truly expensive vacation for him, and there is no way we could do it otherwise!  This year was a bit adventurous- it rained nearly the whole time I was there (I had to leave early to get the kids home to meet their teachers), and the boat ran over a rock one day and had an expensive repair to get it up and running for the rest of the week.  But my kids didn't care!  They had a blast anyway.

Jasmine loved digging in the dirt.  Tyler loved that too, and was very proud of his "castle" (which was one bucket of sand turned upside down) until Jasmine stomped on it.  He then found other things to do the rest of the week.

Mostly landing in the water.

Over and over again.

Seriously, it was cute to watch him be "all boy" that week.  He had a couple of other cousins who liked bouncing around on the tube next to the houseboat, and jumping off the houseboat, and that's basically how he spent his week!

This one spent the entire week right there.  On the ladder.  She didn't want to have her legs dangling, and she wanted to be part of the action while Tyler was playing back there, but she would complain loudly every time he would try to climb past her onto the houseboat so he could jump or slide again.  It was her kingdom, and hers alone.  Nothing I did could convince her otherwise.  I don't know why both of my girls have done this at this stage, but it drives me crazy.

And I didn't see much of Kaitlyn, which is really impressive when everyone is trapped on a houseboat!  She declared these girls (and another little one) her "new sisters" and they would find little hideaways all over the boat to play games and color pictures.

Christopher and I went to see a waterfall during a rainstorm . . .

spent some time wake boarding or surfing (I only wake boarded once, but I like watching everyone else go) . . .

And even got some tubing in.  Thankfully, he didn't stick with that vest long.  Tyler stuck with the technique you see here- firm grip, as flat as he could go.

Overall, it was a great week.  As always.  I always get horribly nervous beforehand about the kids and how dangerous the water can be, but they really are very used to it all by now.

Oh, I had to throw this picture in here!  Jasmine loves to sing about the monkeys jumping on the bed, complete with actions.  "Two little monkeys . . ."  Except right now, it is mostly a chant to her "Two monkey jump - a - bed.  Bonk on head.  Talk - a - mom.  No more monkey jump - a - bed."

Summer fizzling out

I haven't blogged in a while.  But sometimes, life is busy with mundane things, and not with blog worthy things.  That pretty much sums up my summer from the Fourth of July until the middle of August.  I kept trying to do summer school, but I have to admit is mostly didn't happen.  I knew it would go like that for me!  I was hoping to be better this time around, but it just fizzled out.  It seems that whenever I try to improve something in my life or achieve a goal, I am good as long as I do it every single day with no excuses.  But as soon as one day doesn't happen, it is all over.

And in the case of summer school, I had to have a one week break so I could get things ready to host our party at the cabin for the 4th.  After that, getting back in the habit was excruciating.  Which is why I don't homeschool.  I need deadlines in life, or else I just don't have the self-motivation to truly get things done.

All in all, though, I have to console myself that summer home school was not a total failure.  Kaitlyn learned to sew.  We got more reading and math done than I otherwise would have.  We went to the Aquarium twice, the pool and skating place once a week or so, and had a great summer.  In fact, the kids made great progress on swimming- especially Tyler!  He figured out a doggie paddle, and while we are still working on getting him to close him mouth underwater (his underbite means that he rarely closes his lips together anytime), the doggie paddle meant that he can get around pretty well.  And he loves going off the diving board now!

Notice how when he jumps, he looks like a cat.  All of his limbs spring out, ready to land!

Kaitlyn helped me make her mermaid skirt.  The cheap fabric didn't hold its color in the pool all summer, but she didn't care.  She doesn't want to anywhere swimming without it, and it makes her day when little friends come and admire it.

It is basically just a long, skinny skirt that has elastic at the bottom so she can scrunch it up when she wants to.  I thought it might be tough for her to swim in, but she actually did just fine.

Jasmine like "simming" a lot, too.  Thank heavens our pool has a large "zero entry" area for her to play in- she doesn't like being held in a spot too deep for her to touch the bottom.

For our Anniversary this year, Christopher and I stayed at a local bed and breakfast some friends of ours own.  We also took advantage of our kid-free time by hiking up to the "G" on the mountain.  The best part was that it was a holiday weekend, so we had a great view of everyone's fireworks from up there!

Busy summer

Summer school has certainly kept us busy around here.  A good kind of busy, though.  We've used our skating and swimming passes a few times.

We visited a new aquarium.

Tyler wanted to make sure he was taller than the penquin.

Kaitlyn wanted to spend the entire day trying to touch the stingrays.

 And Jasmine wanted to stay in her stroller nearly the entire time (once she woke up from her nap), until she saw these plastic whales you could climb on.

Kaitlyn learned to use my sewing machine!  She has been begging for months, and I finally relented.  We had a lot of discussion about safety before we even put a needle in it, and I'm always right next to her while she works.  But she has been doing great.

So far she made a pet snake, a backpack for her piano books, and then her 4th of July cape.
 

Next she wants to make "a mermaid tail I can swim in!"  We'll see how that goes :).

We've gone on bike rides . . .

Met up with old friends . . .

And my mom, brother and neice all stopped by one night too!  My brother has a cabin up in Idaho that they invited my mom to come to, so they stopped by on their way back home to Vegas before my mom flew home from our airport.  We took them to the PG Rodeo, which was a first for most of them.  It is a cultural experience you gotta try at least once.

One week, Daddy headed off to scout camp for a week.

So we moved summer school to our cabin.  The kids are showing off their Kiwi Crate rainsticks here.

The kids all loved when we lit a fire for hot dogs and marshmallows.

Poor Tyler kept his hot dog far, far away from the fire so it wouldn't get burnt.  Slooooow cooking.  And then, after 20 mintues of work, it fell in the fire.  Mommy had to cook another one, quickly.

And then last week, we canceled school so Mommy could get everything ready for our 4th of July party.  We host Christopher's entire family at our cabin for lunch every year, and it is always so much fun!  We smoked some brisket this year, and there was tons of food and tons of people as always.

This year I may have gone a bit overboard on the craft table.  I made capes for all the kids to decorate!  I had the idea last year, but didn't find any red fabric to go with the blue I had.  So when I snagged a gigantic red sheet at a garage sale for free a couple of weeks ago, it was a go.  They were really easy to mass produce, thankfully.  You can see 20 of them hanging on the line here, while Kaitlyn decorates the one she sewed for herself.

It was all worth it because they were a huge hit.

These girls were honestly the most into it in the whole crowd!  When they told their dad there were capes to decorate, he asked "do you guys want to make one?"  to see if they were too old to think it was cool.  But they responded "is that even a question?" and then made elaborate superhero decorations on theirs and their little sisters'.

I even had enough leftover red fabric to make liners for these baskets I painted!  I figured I could make BYU liners and use them for snacks at a BYU party, too.

Jasmine cracked me up that day.  She loved the bubbles Aunt Sandy brought, and enjoyed a few of them before they accidentally poured all over herself and the dirt.

Then she figured out how dispense root beer, and that got poured all over her.  And THEN she played in the sandpit.

My child looked homeless by the end of the day.

In fact, the only reason her feet are clean is because she loved dunking them in the creek!

As I was looking though our pictures, it struck me how some things never change.  I was talking to Christopher as I took the picture of Tyler in the sandbox, and I asked him "when do you think Tyler will get tired of this?"  He honestly spends hours digging in there, every single time we go.

Daddy said "maybe when he's 30".

We changed out the swing this trip.  The old IKEA swing was getting pretty ratty, and we moved the swing back to where Kaitlyn's rope used to be.  It amazed us when we first bought the place when that tiny little girl would hook her leg through the rope and go swinging off wildly yelling "weee- ha!"  Kaitlyn was thrilled we moved the swing back so she could jump on it anytime she wanted.

I am constantly amazed that we got lucky enough to have such a great place for our kids!