So how about some pictures instead of paragraphs? Here's our semester in pictures, from the Dentonoids.
This semester was out-of-control busy and, well, kinda stressful. As such, it involved a lot of poor-but-let's-call-them-awesome parenting decisions, like indoor picnics of Sonic breakfast burritos on blankets on messy floors in pajamas.
One of the things we LOVED about this semester was spending time with friends! We have been so amazed by all the wonderful people we met in the Adobe Villa Ward! I was so bummed out when boundaries changed and that was no longer our ward.
Much of my energy was devoted to my kids' group this semester. I took almost no pictures, though. I didn't even take pictures of the performance! Sad panda. So here's a shot that I took only to help one of these little girl remember who she stands by in that song, haha!
Thanks to some hard work and some extra family help, we were able to swing a Disneyland trip with my family! They hadn't been in about seven years, and it was such a blast experiencing it with them.
This kid inherited some Disney-love from his mama, I daresay. So many moments of pure happiness from him! It was magical.
And afterward? The perfect magic to follow up and complement a fast-paced theme park - my mom and dad took us all to the beach, and we all had a wonderful time.
Easter came and went with fun family picnics and a real effort to help Tommy understand what it was all about.
In addition to the basic commitments of the semester, Chris was a musical director for his first-ever show! Big Fish the Musical! Lots of work, and lots of fun.
In our new ward, we were called to be nursery leaders. Neither of us have ever been in nursery, so it's definitely teaching us lots! But we love that we get to be together and we enjoy being with Tommy and all those darlings.
Posting this one just for cuteness, and because I was impressed with how quick he figured those tracks out on his own. I guess it's a pretty accurate depiction of HIS semester!
We found out that our sister-in-law and Chris's brother are expecting! It's a boy!! Tommy is gunna have a little cousin close to his age! We are thrilled for them, and they're going to be awesome parents.
On Mother's Day, we got to Skype with Aurelia, who is currently serving a mission in Tahiti. It was sure good to see her excited face and hear her bubbly voice!
The learning curve of Chris's first year of teaching was steep, to the very end. It's been hard work! But he seriously LOVES his kids, and they love him, and he was able to teach them so much. They had a great spring concert, Spring Sing, Baccalaureate, graduation, etc.! As a side note - Right at the end of the semester, Chris was officially declared legally blind. While that has been hard for him to swallow, we are hopeful that that the ensuing resources available to him will help him navigate the logistics of working and not driving.
I did my best to assist him as much as possible with his school stuff. And on the side, I got to assist this amazing lady with her Sunshine Singers!
And then came my own show. Which I think was pretty good! I think the kids all had a great learning and performing experience! Again, I didn't get any pictures. But here's what it looked like at midnight the night before the show?
The truth is, this is probably the most accurate picture of my semester: driving around here to there, running errands, heading to and from class/lessons/work, or driving Chris, usually makeup-less and headband hair with a poor little tagalong buddy in the backseat:
Or maybe just this face: "We got this. Right? Right? Right?"
[This was my #uglyselfiefriday the day before the show.]
All said and done, we survived Chris's first year of teaching. And, truthfully, went through a lot of challenges I'm not going to laundry-list here. . . it's been a tough semester. But through all the good and the bad, we have made it out alive on the other end! We're so thankful for all the blessings from people and from heaven that brought the good into, and out of, this semester.
Now, on to Workshop season!
(Stay tuned for a Tommy-only picture update, my parents and grandparents!)
