I'm a model, you know what I mean...

One day I was out hiking with my friends and got a text from James with some of these pictures of Blaze! Somehow Alanna talked him into dressing in some of my clothes and having a photo shoot. I asked Blaze if he liked it, and he said "Well Alanna said I really could be a model!". He just loves any attention he can get!

 

Perkins Family Father's Day Celebration 2022

We all hung out at Caleb's house for a pool party and b-bque to celebrate the dads! Caleb made some rib eye steak cooked on salt stones he mined himself, and I heard it was really good! The cousins all had fun playing basketball in the pool and getting thrown around by Caleb. I loved holding butterball Covey who is three months old but looks like a huge 6 month old! He stands up on your lap and squirms around like he wants to get down and take off! I think James encouraged Bode and Charlie to have their own little pie eating contest. I don't know why pie in the face never gets old!
 

Paul's Humanitarian Trip to Kenya...

Paul got to miss the last few days of school to start his HEFY trip to Kenya! I was SO excited for him to go, although there was so much preparation like vaccines and spraying all of his clothes to protect him from mosquitoes. I thing these kids look like missionaries here! They saw 4 baptisms during their 17 days there, and they got to tract with the missionaries. I think these trips have been invaluable for Jackson and Paul!

They went on a safari and an excursion to see hippos up close and personal!

 

Boys are weird...

Jackson and his friends have moved from Sting Pong to boxing each other. For fun? Jackson thought it was fun to get bloodied up from a boxing glove. SO WEIRD!

 

Our budding baker...

A few weeks ago I went to a cookie decorating class and got some really good recipes and tips that Alanna wanted to try out. The cookies tasted so good and she did an excellent job piping, texturizing, and painting them! She has always been such a talented artist!
 

My special class...

I just threw in this picture of Alanna's play she performed in for her theatre class. It was actually hilarious and entertaining and I couldn't believe how well these kids pulled it off! It was fun to see Alanna acting and she was so proud of their efforts!

I have been so blessed to have the opportunity to work with this academic support class this past school year! It was unexpected and led me to figuring out what path I would take to furthering my education. I don't think I will ever forget any of these sweet kids! Every day when I entered the classroom at 10:45, I was mauled with hugs and excited exclamations of "Miss Sarah! You're here!", or "Miss Sarah, you're late again"! I learned so much from these kids about determination, patience, and having a positive attitude despite whatever challenges may come along. I had some amazing co-workers too, the "Old Miss Sara", as the kids called her, or "Saratops" is what Desi and called her. And Desi is one of the most patient and hard working women I have ever known! She loved her students so much, everyday, and never gave up on them or limited expectations for them! I'm really going to miss them, and I'm afraid that I won't ever love a class so much either!

I loved talking to their parents at the end of the year as one father told me that his son talks about me every night. And a mom who said her son is trying so many new foods and she knew it was because I encouraged him to do so during lunch each day. All of the parents expressed so much gratitude for working with their special kids, and that was so much more rewarding than my measly paychecks! 

 

Jackson's High School Graduation!

Sadly, it won't be long before Alanna is wearing that cap for real!

I wasn't surprised to see that James was working right up until the ceremony started. 

1st day of Kindergarten to last day of High School!

There were over 1000 graduates which made for a really long ceremony!

Paul was in Kenya, so he missed the festivities, and we missed him. We had lunch at The Trellis Cafe at Thanksgiving Point and took pictures in the beautiful gardens there. We had to be at UVU at 4pm, and the graduation lasted until 7. Then it took us another hour to get out of the parking lot. It was a good choice to eat a late lunch!

I caught a picture of Jackson and Cortney before they could escape!

I went down closer to the floor to see Jackson accept his diploma. I still couldn't see that well, so I was recording the jumbotron as they announced his name. My heart stopped and I was mortified as I watched him trip as he walked down the 3 stair to get back to his seat! Then he did a few push ups and I wondered if he had fallen on purpose. He did, and he was really happy that I recorded his stunt. He went to the all night grad party at Fat Cats, and said goodbye to his childhood, supposedly. I don't know what the big deal about high school graduation is anymore. I get that it's a mile stone, but I don't know that kids these days are ready to conquer the world and be independent anymore! It takes a lot to survive/thrive in this world these days, and I think he is off to a good start. As I sat there listening to the graduation speeches of achieving dreams, I teared up as I thought of all of my aspirations and dreams I had at that age. I realized that everything I wanted has come to be. At my Sr. Breakfast 

I remember that I was given a little ceramic house and my friends said I was most likely to have the perfect little life with a white picket fence and kids running around. And although my life isn't perfect, I do love being a mom and working on taking care of my family each day! As they are growing up, I have been able to continue growing too, and have gone back to school and to work and have the opportunity to give back to our community.
 

Paul's Off to Kenya...

Paul is our world traveler now! He successfully navigated a trip to NY to meet up with his HEFY group, made it through customs etc. He actually asked me if we could change his ticket home from NY so he could stay a few extra days. A few of the 18 year old kids were planning on staying to tour NY, and Paul thought he would just tag along with them. I couldn't believe that he would even ask such a thing! Jackson explained to him that even though a kids is 18, that doesn't mean you're really an adult. It was a really funny conversation!