August 2016

There is always excitement in the air when a new school year starts. This year was particularly exciting for Hannah because she is starting 7th grade. Hannah had lots of worries about this big change to the middle school.  We had been telling her for a long time that her friend relationships would change and she would meet lots of new people.  My hope has always been that she will remain true to herself and continue to the be the friendly open girl she has always been.  

JJ is the big guy on campus being a 9th grader. He's "been there, done that" on most everything that the middle school has to offer.  He is doing honors math and english this year so that is a slight change that has me worried that he will be responsible about getting his work done.  I have no doubt that he has the academic capacity to handle the honors classes.  JJ is excited to see his school friends again and not be bored at home.  

Asher is starting 4th grade and this is the first of many years where he will be the only Madigan kid at his school.  He's made some good friends the last couple of years and so he is looking forward to catching up with them.  Asher is hoping to take part in the gifted and talented early morning classes this year.

First Day Of School

Hannah's official first day of school.

This photo was from 7th grade day. It's a day where only the 7th graders go and attend all their classes for a few minutes so they can find their way around the school. She only got lost a couple of times!

Asher's 10th Birthday

Technically Asher had gotten his BIG gift already . . . Spirit!  But he did get a few gifts from family members.  

 Asher got to have a friend birthday party this year.  His friends Gavin and Taylor came for ice cream cake and laser tag and bowling at Jack and Jill's!

Beauty and the Beast

Hannah was beyond thrilled to make it into the cast of the Lehi Arts Council production of Beauty and the Beast.  She was able to be the footstool/dog.  This was a different experience for her because she was participating with a mostly adult cast unlike the workshops and school plays.  It was a real learning experience for her.  I think she was surprised to see adults throwing little fits just like kids do.  On the whole though she really loved it. We were really grateful to all the family and friends who came out to support her and enjoy the show!

 This show is a money maker for the Arts Council so there are a lot more performances.  For several weeks this show was pretty much Hannah's life.  One night she accidentally dropped one of her face jewels down the bathroom drain.  Luckily for us Lance is pretty handy and although he grumbled about it he took apart the drain and was able to retrieve it.

Fathers and Sons

The boys, Lance and Jake were able to go to Strawberry Reservoir for our ward's fathers and sons outing.  The ward hasn't done one in a while and I suspect it may be due to Asher's constant pestering of the Bishop about it that it happened this year.  

Newsies

I was pretty dang excited when Lance got tickets for us to see Newsies at the Capitol Theater.  The kids all love the movie and music almost as much as me so we were all looking forward to it greatly.  We ate at the Cheesecake Factory before the show and it was SOOOO good.  I love their bang bang chicken and shrimp. I love it so much I sometimes day dream about it!

Pets

So this puppy has been really quite good!  His only real issue is potty training but we are working on it.  He is the sweetest little guy!  He loves to take his naps on my lap.  He is a real people dog. He never wants to be left alone.  He would not be happy if he was left on his own all day.  He gets along with Jax and Mouse really well.  Bo doesn't think to much of him but is fine if the puppy leaves him alone.

 Spirit likes ALL the toys.  He thinks they are all his and he wants to be surrounded by them always.  If he isn't taking his nap on someone's lap then he piles up all his toys and snuggles with them.

We have way too many videos of him because he is always doing something we think is cute!  We want to remember what he was like as a puppy because he is growing and changing so fast already.

Raingutter Regatta

This year the cub scouts did the Raingutter Regatta instead of the pinewood derby.  It is really hard for Asher when he doesn't win stuff.  I am trying to help him see that it's ok to loose sometimes especially when it comes to stuff like this because it is all just supposed to be fun.  He still gets depressed and down on himself if things to work out the way he thinks they should.

Pokemon Go

The Zeller's introduced us to the Pokemon Go game.   So they invited us to go down to the boat harbor in Provo because there was supposed to be lots of pokemon there.  Maybe I should back up and explain that PG is a game on your smart phone that uses GPS and the internet to create this world where pokemon exist all around us.  There are certain places that you can go to to get the supplies you need to catch the pokemon on your phone or you can buy the supplies.  If you go near water then you will find more water-type pokemon etc.  It has been a fun activity that adult and kids can do together as long as each person has a smartphone.  

Saying Good bye

We were extremely sad when we found out that the Zellers had decided to move to Vegas.  We all love them so much.  They really are family to us.  They were kind enough to stop at our house on the way to start their new adventure.  Saying good bye was tearful but we want them to be happy.

Train to SLC

The kids had a day off school that Lance still had to work on so we road the train up to have lunch with him and do some pokemon going around city creek.  Figuring out the timing of the trains and trax was interesting and we spent a lot of time waiting but we got to do something different out of the house so I think it was a success.