Jack

 Jack got to go on a school field trip to the Museum of Pop Culture and some zoo in Seattle. He got to go because he was in advanced wood shop. The band at the school go at the end of the year and so does the advance woodshop. This is an annual trip, but it is the first since COVID. Jack had a great time. He had plenty of pictures and stories to share when he returned. 

Jack built two sheds this year in advance woodshop. The second time he joined Mr. Matson told him not to come until all the other students had done their safety test, blueprints and model shed. Once the class actually started building Jack came to help. He quickly realized he had more experience than the other kids and become a leader right away. His experience in advanced woodshop even made him stand out in regular woodshop because kids would ask him questions since they thought Mr. Matson was too scary. As much as Jack enjoyed building a shed, he says he does not want to be carpenter when he gets older. He wants an inside job. 

Jack

 Jack is officially a high schooler now! His school held a short celebration ceremony for his eighth-grade class. We are so proud of how much personal growth Jack has made during his middle school years. He started online (6th grade), then went thru several different in-person schedule changes (7th grade), and finally a year with no restrictions (8th grade). I believe he found his stride this year, becoming more confident in himself. I pray he continues to let his true-self lead him and not get distracted by things that don't matter. 

Amelia

 Happy 12th Birthday, Amelia! 

Amelia had another amazing year and birthday. She wrapped up elementary school, played sports, broke her first bone and has continued to develop into an outstanding young lady.

For her party this year we rented another inflatable with a water slide. She loved it! Plus she had eight friends over, with four of them spending the night. It was a nonstop party for about 18 hours. :)

Jacob

 Jacob torn his meniscus in May. (insert big frowning face) He was playing handball at Scouts when it turned into tackling handball. A fellow Scout took Jacob out at the knees. So we went back to Dr. Perry to have his knee looked at since it was the knee that he had his ACL repair on. We didn't get an MRI but both Dr. Perry and I, thought best for him to limit his activity level to see if it would heal on his own. Jacob got a 4-week excuse note for his PE class and couldn't go on the Boy Scout backpacking trip. It has since healed on its own so we are very thankful for that. 

Jack

 Jack wrapped another great season of tennis in May. He did a great job playing and being a good sportsman. On the day the high school coaches came to talk with the 8th graders at MAC the tennis coach sought Jack out. He wanted to make sure that Jack planned on playing tennis in high school and gave him some dates for him to practice with the high school team. We are so proud of Jack. Tennis is just another avenue for Jack to practice daily habits of excellences, which he is doing very well at. 

Jacob

 Jacob got to go on two field trips in May. His first trip was to a Seattle Mariners game with his marketing class. The class was supposed to get to the field early enough to hear a presentation on business and marketing, but the bus drove so slow they were almost an hour late. Jacob said they showed up half way thru the presentation and had to sit so far back they were behind the speakers so he couldn't hear anything the presenter was saying. He didn't mind that too much because he enjoyed the game. It was his first time going to a Mariners game. He said he liked it. On the way home the bus to equally as long, that he did not like. It was a long day.

However long the day was, he signed up to go back to Seattle for another field trip the following week. This one was a tour of the University of Washington campus and a zoo, I don't remember which one. He said that the bus on this one didn't drive as slow, so it wasn't as bad. I asked him about the tour of the campus, but he said he didn't remember what was said. He did like going to the zoo with all his friends though. 

I am glad he is able to participate in different activities at school. It gives him the opportunity to see new things. 

Amelia

 Amelia is playing softball again this year. She is doing great. Some of the girls from last year's team is on this year's team. She fields the ball just fine and hits the ball each time she is up, so that is good.  I think Amelia would enjoy softball more if there were snacks, but it is good for her to be part of a team.