Amelia

Amelia participated in the summer band camp through the school this summer. That means she went to band camp each morning for two weeks and ended the whole camp by performing in the Grand Old 4th of July parade in Pasco. The school district bused, fed the kids breakfast and lunch, and provided instruments the entire time. Amelia really enjoyed herself and even asked if she could move her Camp Ghormley time to July so she could go to band camp the entire time. (We couldn't change it but she only missed 4 days.) 

Now the parade took her by surprise. She came home the first day saying, "Did you know the parade is 2 miles long?" I told her I did, but I didn't want that to discourage her from trying. :) 

Because Amelia plays percussion we weren't sure what instrument she was going to be given. She started with cymbals but since she was gone four days and she was worried about carrying the cymbals for 2 miles she switched to maracas. She did a great job in the parade, but it was long, hot and exhausting. It ended up being 2.7 miles. Not sure if she will be in a parade again but it was a good experience for her. 

Amelia

Amelia went to Camp Ghormley again this year.  This year her friend Miran went too. She had a great time doing all the usual fun camp activities. I think I would have more to share about her camp experience, but Dad picked her up this year so she told him all about it on the way home. By the time she got home she was tired of talking about it. lol 

Tri Tech

This summer the boys both did Tri Tech, the local trade focused high school. Jacob did auto systems and Jack participated in the culinary program. Jacob did a good job in his. The auto systems class was a basic introductory course to fixing cars. Jacob has a little experience in that, so he didn't have as much learning as he did in welding last year. But he did a good job taking in new information. His instructor highly encouraged him to come back his junior year to take the auto systems class during the school year, which offers more learning than the two-week course. And for Jacob to consider the diesel engines course, which is offered by invitation only after the auto systems class.

Jack did a great job in the culinary program. He was the youngest person in the class, being 13 at the beginning but he did an awesome job. He brought him a lot of what he cooked to share with us. Towards the end of the course the head chef asked Jack to run a culinary station as a student-instructor since one of the student-instructors had to leave early. I was so proud to hear that Jack was excelling so well in the course that the head chef asked him to do that. He also obtained his state food handlers permit. Jack wants to use the food handlers permit to volunteer at the church's drink cart on Sundays and Wednesdays, which we think is a great idea! 

Jack

 Another day to recognize Jack this month is his birthday! He turned a big 14! We took him and some friends for pizza and video games at Shakey's. He had  great time spending way too much money on video games. We are so proud of Jack. He is really coming into his own responsible, kind, respectful young man. He loves to play video games, camp with the Scouts, his dog Rocky, food and going to Youth Group. I am so excited to see what his life will become as he enters high school and beyond! 

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. :)