Hockey Tryouts

Wes is not happy at Brighton yet, and that makes me sad. He told me today at 3:45 that he wants to try out for hockey team, which were today at 5:30, and that to try out he needs all the gear, of which he currently has none. Corey couldn't help him, and I didn't know what he needed, but we have a neighbor James who works with Wes in the Young Men group of our church and also plays hockey, so I told Wes to text Jim to ask what he needs. And Jim saved the day - he offered to take Wes to find all the stuff he needs, and THEN took him to the tryouts too. Corey went to the try out at the end. We were impressed that Wes made it happen! And were also very very grateful for Jim's help, Jim definitely made it happen too. (Wes in white below)

Yesterday Corey, Wesley, and Hyrum took the day off of school and life to go rafting with some dads and sons in our neighborhood at Westwater Canyon. I don't know if they got many pics on the water, but Corey got this one - of them all digging out Jim's car (same Jim as the hockey miracle worker above)

They were suuuper late getting home last night (1AM) because Jim's car got stuck in the mud after trying to take a short cut, so they all stayed and tried to help dig it out and pull it out but eventually had to just wait for a tow truck. So yeah, they were home very late.

I had scheduled Hyrum to get his ingrown toe nail operated on yesterday, but rescheduled it for today because of their river trip. Daniel and Peter came with us. 

Hyrum post operation. I'll spare you the pre-op pic I took of his toe. Daniel took an upclose look and said about Hyrum's toe "That looks baaaad. ...even it smells gross!"

And then he shared his teddy bear with Hyrum. Now, with his toe finally fixed, he's all ready to serve his mission. He received the Melchizedek priesthood tonight and was ordained an elder. 

He gives a talk in our ward on Sunday and then starts online MTC on September 6th! So just one more week!

A few other kid updates - Abi made Cocoa quickie cookies today. Lily likes how wavy her hair looks when she washes it and then puts it in braids. Ah - so with all of that my brain has been kinda freaking out lately with overwhelm and stress. I'm doing good today at not turning to food for a distraction from these uncomfortable emotions. I just did 4 blog posts instead (catching up on August) so that is good.

Moving Out and Moving In

Hyrum is ready to move on. He spoke at church today, sort of a "farewell" address to our local congregation. Our extended family came to hear him speak. I only got a picture with my parents at church.

Afterward, Corey's family and some of Hyrum's friends came to our home for a visit. Most of the family was in the front room laughing as we listened to Corey share stories of their recent adventure in Guatemala. But Hyrum and his friends were in the kitchen, and cute Daniel was stealing the show in the conversation as he sat at the table with the teenagers.

Hyrum did a good job. I'll paste his talk here as soon as he shares it with me. Today was cousin Isaac's birthday, but they brought a big cake and we sang to everyone who has a birthday in September or October. Abi's birthday is on Friday! 

Sophi's birthday is next Monday! We sang to Hyrum again, and Jordyn, and Daniel's name wasn't listed in frosting but we did him too and let everyone blow their corona all over the cake. 

That fun lasted until around 2:30, at which time Corey, Wes, and Hyrum hurried and packed for a little rafting trip that they were invited to go on with some neighbors. They left around 3 and drove down to southern Utah. They are going to raft the Colorado River through Westwater Canyon tomorrow. So Wes is missing school, but it's a last chance to bond activity with Hyrum, so we're going to excuse it. There was one more spot available, and Joseph was invited to go, but he declined. School starts for him tomorrow, and he's too responsible to just blow it off for a day. The kids were outside riding bikes, I left Abi in charge and I took him down to BYU. 

Joseph is ready to move in to his new place. His roommates helping him unload. He forgot to bring pillows, too bad. 

I took a little tour of his apartment. Small, but doable. And he pointed out, his bathroom is much nicer than most of the ones he used in Guatemala recently, so yeah, he's livin' the life! Fun fact, he is like a 60 second walk away from the basement apartment where Corey and I lived when he was born! 

I can't believe that this little house is still there! Our basement apartment -

Like this is "off campus" housing that is closer than most of the on campus housing. Joseph is closer now to his classes in the Life Science's building than he was when he was in Heritage. Corey and I were so lucky to live here. We walked out our front door and were closer than people who parked their cars in the campus student parking lots. It is as close as you can get. When we lived here, I went and washed laundry at the apartment complex where Joseph is going to be living, so that's fun, and the circle of life continues! One last "small world" moment - Joseph got this text from one of the missionaries that he served with in Guatemala. They weren't companions, but they went on splits once. This missionary was from the Dominican Republic and noticed an Elder Wride in his stake. He let that Elder Wride know that he knew an Elder Wride on his mission, and they put two and two together and then sent Joseph this picture - "Hey! Your brother is serving in my stake!" 

So that was fun. Now we're heading to bed at a semi-decent time, and I'm buckling up for a busy school week. I'm trying to figure out how to spend 3 hours getting kids out the door in the morning and NOT lose all my steam for the rest of the day. If you have any tips, feel free to leave them in the comments. 

Church History Tour with Joseph & Hyrum

Joseph and Hyrum got home today from their cross country trip. Their adventure started on Tuesday, they first went to the Priesthood Restoration site. Here is the Susquehanna river behind them. 

They took the long way up to Palmyra next, allowing them to stop by Fayette to visit the Whitmer Farm where the church was organized in 1830. 

Then they visited Palmyra next to see the Smith Farm, the Sacred Grove... Hyrum said there were tons of mosquitos that attacked him in the Sacred Grove. They also went to the top of the Hill Cumorah. We visited Palmyra in 2007, and we saw the Hill Cumorah pageant, but we didn't walk up to the top of the hill. I think we were a bit late arriving and the show was about to start, or maybe because we had 5 kiddos and it might have felt like a bit too much to handle to make them hike up the hill. Joseph learning how to fold a signature at the EB Grandin Print Shop.

Joseph and Hyrum didn't come with us to the Crandall Print Shop here in Utah, but it is a real treasure to have something like that here locally. But good to know you can also go to Palmyra to see it. The Palmyra Temple.

That was all Tuesday. Wednesday they started with a sunrise view of Niagra Falls (...but the sun was behind them and the falls were in front, so next time they are going to go to the Canada side.) 

On to Kirtland Ohio to see the Kirtland Temple~

Touring the Newel K. Whitney store - 

and the upper room where the school of the prophets was. We all just studied that this month, with the school of the prophets and the word of wisdom, very cool! I think it's great that they both got to go see these sites. It helps things make more sense when you actually visit and know the places and understand things from that personal level.

They ended Wednesday's drive with a drive by Nauvoo and their arrival in Carthage. They spent the night there, and then toured Carthage Jail on Thursday morning - The room where Hyrum died, with the same door that was there that day in 1844. You can see the hole from the bullet that shot him - 

Joseph and Hyrum said that lots of their tour guides were so excited to have "Joseph and his brother Hyrum" visiting them! haha

And then toured Nauvoo for more of Thursday. The Nauvoo temple - 

The statue of Joseph and Hyrum

and Joseph and Hyrum taking one last opportunity to enjoy being Joseph and Hyrum, as they imitate Joseph and Hyrum's bronze statues called "Calm as a Summer's Morning"

"I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; But I am calm as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me — he was murdered in cold blood." - Joseph Smith uttered these prophetic words June 24, 1844, in the final moments of what would be his final horse ride from his beloved Nauvoo. He was dead three days later.

In Nauvoo, they went by the Scovil Bakery. Corey's parent's called Joseph and Hyrum to tell them to be sure to go by the bakery, because Lucius Scovil who owned that bakery was their 4th great grandfather. (Lucius Scovil b. 1806, daughter Alodia Scoville b. 1864, daughter Lula Loveless b. 1887, son Reid Franklin Curtis b. 1910 is Corey's maternal grandpa.) The missionaries who gave them the tour were excited to have Lucius' real live descendants in front of them!

I really liked this quote by Lucius - 

"It seems a painful duty for me to perform, to leave my family to go into the wilderness and I to turn and go the other way. But inasmuch as I had been appointed to go, I was determined to fill my mission if it cost me all that I had on this earth...I thought it was best to round up my shoulders like a bold soldier of the corps... and assist in rolling forth the kingdom of God." - Lucius Scovil

Lucius commissioned this plate to be made that had a picture of the Nauvoo Temple and the names of the 12 apostles around it. Joseph and Hyrum bought one and brought it home as a very thoughtful gift for us. 

So they left Tuesday morning and arrived home today at 2. They drove all night last night, and I guess I'm glad that they didn't tell me they were going to do that or I might have stayed up all night with worry. I went to my phone around 11:30 today to check their status today and saw on Life360 that they were in Evanston! So yeah, they drove all night. Not a great idea, but I guess not as bad of an idea if there are two of you. They took turns driving and stayed awake by singing songs. That works for me too. I need to sing along to John Denver or Brandon Flowers, cause they are in my voice range. Or listening to Brian Regan is great too. They were driving through Des Moines Iowa last night at 11 pm and after saying a prayer, they decided they didn't want to stop, pay for a room, and face a 15 hour drive in the morning, they felt ok to do it now. So yeah, it's great to have them home for the weekend! Joseph was crashed out on the couch most of the day. Abi is on the right. 

Hyrum stayed awake. Maybe Joseph did more driving and H got his sleep on the road. Hyrum had a little package waiting for him - his mission name tags! 

Corey made crepes for breakfast this morning, (cause I took Lily to jazz band) and there were some left over for Hyrum and Joseph to have for lunch. And Daniel ate some too - 

Silly Daniel, wearing Sophi's sweater on his head to be his hair - 

Feeling pretty fancy and striking a pose for me. Daniel is so cute.

So it's great to have them home. Corey and I went on our date tonight up at Swen's restaurant up at Alta, which was nice. The Wasatch mountains are beautiful. We live in a beautiful country and a beautiful state, we're looking forward to a nice weekend with most of our kids at home for two days before Joseph goes to Provo and starts school on Monday. 

Books and Hockey

I love it when I look around to find where quiet Peter is and I find him reading.

I love how he crosses his toes and fidgets his feet as he reads. He loves books and he is getting so smart and knowing all the things in the eye spy book and all the cars in his 100 trucks book. The kids were all out playing street hockey with Wes today. 

Wes is enjoying being on the JV hockey team at Brighton and tries to get over to the rec center when he can to practice skating on the ice. And when he can't get over there, he does a little practice with his stick skills outside and is very nice and patient to let his little siblings play too.

Something occurred to me today that made me realize that the defeat I felt yesterday on Wesley's behalf was unwarranted. Up until today, for some reason I have thought that the BYU Math class was to fix his 4 failing grades from 10th grade. Like last year when he was working on math to get a good grade on his 4th quarter, I was like "You're already taking Math to re-do those grades, focus on getting good grades in other classes" but I did some thinking and now realized that this was to fix some C's that he got his Freshman year! BEFORE he got the Fs! I thought he was one step closer to digging himself out of his gpa and graduation predicament but no - we aren't even onto fixing any of his F's yet! Oh boy. So I had that bawling breakdown yesterday when I thought it was to fix the Fs and that he was close to getting those credits fixed so he could graduate, but now I realized that if he doesn't get his petition granted, it doesn't matter cause he still has to take another class to fix the 10th grade Fs to graduate. So I guess I feel better cause help for graduation isn't on the line here - he's going to still have to do that anyway. This was just to fix some Cs and his gpa. Oh, the good old days when we thought Cs were a problem! 

Corey took inventory of our ski supplies today to see what we need and who doesn't have skis that fit. Gotta get ready for the ski season! 

Plus the Ski-N-See Ski-a-rama sale started today and Corey wanted to go while the hot deals were on. i took Sophi to soccer and then we stopped by after practice was done. Peter taking a late nap on the couch in my room -

I woke him up so that he'd go to bed, but he got too much sleep. It's ok - we're getting a little better and getting to bed a little earlier, but tonight was a later night as I found Owen reading to Peter at 10:30 pm

Cute boys. I'm glad it's almost the weekend. We're just two weeks in but I think this school year is going to wear me out. 

Wes' BYU Math Class

Hello. I am going to talk about school stuff. I'm trying to decide if I want to have Sophi and Natalie in a before school orchestra at an elementary school that is close by - it would only be twice a week, but I would have to take them, then pick them up and take them to school. Originally I thought it was going to be held at our elementary school, so I signed Sophi up thinking it would just mean that she goes to school early twice a week. But it's not at our school - it's at a school 5 minutes away, which isn't too bad, but still.... having to go get her and then go back in 50 minutes to get her and take her to school might be more effort than I can do logistically right now with how busy we already are with taking carpools in the morning, plus taking Wes to early morning seminary every day, plus Lily early every day to Jazz Band. So, yeah. I'm thinking about it. But I'm not loving the 3 hours of morning responsibilities. I wish I could be up in the mountains riding along the dirt paths. Sigh. 

So something that is going on today - Wesley missed school yesterday to stay home and try and finish his BYU Independent Study Math, which was due last night - Here are some of his finely printed handwritten notes as he's been working on this -

So this class got me very worked up today, like bawling out of control. I'm slightly calmed down and cried out of tears, but I don't think I've cried this hard since October 2017. So he signed up to take this class in May 2020. Wes stayed home yesterday to finish his BYU Independent Study Math to recover his four F's of Math his 10th grade year. Yesterday his class was scheduled to end, and you have to have everything in or submitted by then. He needed to have everything done to request the final exam. Well, he didn't have two stupid assignments done. And I called the Independent Study hotline around 4 to see if we could take a zero on those two assignments or something, so that he could request the final, and she gave me someone to email, so I sent them this:

Hello - My son Wesley Wride  has been taking a High School Secondary Mathematics class online and his course expires today. This is our first experience with an Independent study class so please forgive us for not being aware of all the how to's. There are two assignments that he was not able to answer or submit online, and without those he is not able to request the final exam today. I just called the Independent Study hotline to find out what he was supposed to do for those. The two assignments are:

  Unit 4 - Exploration Meeting: Systems of Equations and inequalities

  Unit 7 - Exploration Meeting: Parallel Lines

I learned that those were supposed to be done in person on a Monday evening. We are hoping that we can either get an extension to allow him the two Mondays to complete those two assignments (both are available at the same time from 6-7pm) or if he can receive a zero score on those two assignments and thus have all the assignments submitted and scored so that he can request the exam. 

We will also not be able to request the exam today without those two assignments checked off, and thus we would also like to petition for him to be allowed to still take the final after the status of those two assignments are resolved. I will also submit a petition form through the IS website. 

I look forward to your reply, thank you!

...and so today I got a reply from the liaison today at 11AM:

Hello Ms. Wride,

 

Unfortunately, once the course has expired, no further assignments may be submitted or completed.

 

Wesley had 18 months to complete the course, providing ample opportunities to complete the two Exploration Meetings during that time.  We are not able to issue a 0 grade for the assignments nor are we able to exempt Wesley from completing the assignments.

 

Since one extension was already provided for the course, Wesley will need to submit a petition explaining any extenuating circumstances that prevented him from completing the course in the allotted 18 months to see if another extension might be granted.

 

Thank you,

 

Doug Gwilliam

BYU Independent Study

So after I got that, I just felt defeated on Wesley's behalf and I cried and bawled for over an hour. That was around the time that Mel called for her p-day, so my emotional state took the main focus in our visit. Mel is praying for Wes and for us. I think we've put more worry and concern into this emotionally than Wesley has. Corey said, rightly, that Wes needs to own this path forward as much as possible - be fully invested in it, that this is very sad - but it was us pushing, not him driving. After Wes got home from school today, he agreed that he has been doing this for us and he has not been invested or really cared. So that sucks cause now he might have to DO IT ALL OVER again unless he just doesn't want to graduate high school with his peers. I did get an email from his school counselor. I had emailed him today in my stress and said maybe Wes should re-do 10th grade this year, but he let me know "students are placed grade appropriate. Wesley could not be retained at this point of his education. If for any reason Wesley does not pass his courses and graduate, he could go to the adult high school after graduation." So, yeah, it's sad and stupid but I guess this will all be a learning experience for him and hopefully for us, too, that we can stay on top of the rest of our kids and not let this happen again. Wes can write a petition to ask for an extension, but I'm not going to do it for him - he's got to start owning his life, so we'll see what he does. Wes teaching Peter how to long board. 

Mindset

I felt like I was so on top of it the past two weeks when I was on my own. But after a really busy weekend, I have lost my focus and I want to get it back. I think Owen locking the keys in the car was where my calm and controlled self turned back to my default frazzled self. I went to distract myself by looking for sweets, which there were plenty of at the wedding and there have been plenty of around here. So I'm bummed cause last Tues I was at the lowest weight I've been at in over 3 years, but I'm back up after my downward spiral this weekend. Time to take a deep breath and examine my thoughts and try to gain some calm. I'm not the only one needing a mindset reset. This morning Owen didn't want to go to school. Each time I called him down to get ready for school, I saw this cute little head pop up over the edge of his bed, and he'd say "I don't want to go to school... it takes too long..."

He eventually got up and willingly walked to the bus stop, but I was worried I'd have have a repeat of the time that I dragged Hyrum to school. Thankfully Owen is not as stubborn (yet...) as Hyrum was. Crisis temporarily averted. Wes needs a mindset check: I got a text from him that he went and talked to his counselor about his Honors Physics class, but the counselor won't let him change out, so looks like he's gotta do it, and I hope he can believe in himself that he can. Natalie needs a mindset reset: when I picked up Sophia and Natalie from school to go to violin, Natalie asked if she had to go to dance after, and I said yes. She was crying  and doesn't want to go. She wants to quit. I called the ballet school and she said Natalie can try out a different Level 1 class that is a bit smaller, so we are going to do that. That one is on Wednesday and Friday, so Natalie did get out of going today, which she was grateful for. But we don't quit when things are hard. It's an opportunity to learn a skill and learn how to work to gain that skill.

We talked with Ethan today. 

There is a funny Toilet hunt story that I put on his blog that he shared with us in our family messenger texts, but it didn't make it into his weekly email. So if you want a good laugh, go read that at the end of his letter/blog post for today. 

After Ethan had to leave, Joseph talked to Natalie for a second and told her she can't quit dance, she can't learn to quit when things get hard! He also told her that he saw this sign at the airport in Miami "ALL WE NEED IS LOVE" and it reminded him of her (and her Christmas Present to Ethan in 2019, haha)

Joseph travelled back from Guatemala to Philadelphia today. He has arrived safely and Hyrum has his last day of being an assistant technician today and they are both excited to be leaving their pest control summer behind them. They start their road trip home tomorrow. 

So, back to mindset, that has kinda been the theme for the day. Joseph sent me this podcast this morning, Episode 142 with Craig Manning.  I listened to it while I was at the gym after taking Wes to early morning Seminary. While I was waiting for Sophi at her soccer practice, I listened to him give this youtube TED talk - ALL FEAR IS IN THE FUTURE, stay task oriented, not outcome oriented. Task is rooted in humility, outcome is rooted in pride. That goes for me with my weight, Owen with first grade, Natalie with dance, and Wes with school. Stay task oriented and focused in the present moment and what we CAN control. That will allow us to achieve and become what we want to achieve and become. 

Walkabout

We were one of the host houses for the neighborhood walkabout today. 

It's a fun summer tradition that our neighborhood has been doing for over 5 years. We hosted it in 2018, too, before Joseph left on his mission. I thought we went a bit overboard that time, although the kids in the neighborhood loved the open buffet of desserts. I did all the food prep for today and it turned out alright - still had plenty but I tried to keep the kids' 3rd and 4th helpings under control. We did root beer floats and orange fanta freezes, and also had a healthier option of berries with whipped cream and granola. Gabriel and Angela and their daughters came over for dinner today - 

and kept the kids entertained - 

and then when it was time to get ready for hosting the neighborhood, they helped us get everything set up. I think it went alright. It felt like a busy day though, not much of a day of rest, but that's ok. Sometimes we can worship God through a day of service. A few more pic - months ago I bought some of the Disney princess lego story books for myself to keep when I'm a grandpa, and I recently caved in and let Daniel build them and then let the kids play with them. I tried to say they couldn't mix them up and they also had to keep them in my closet, so that none of the pieces would get lost, but today that all got messed up cause Wes started building space ships and stuff - 

Boys are happy and having fun playing together - 

But my princess castles have been turned into space ships. 

They also took them downstairs to show off their handy work, and I hope that pieces aren't missing. I'll try to get Lily to fix and build them for me again, and then maybe I can hide them away. Although it was cute to see them playing together. I like it when the big siblings play down to their little brother's level.