August brought the end of the longest Spring Break in history. It also brought the start of another school year. While times of transition can be difficult, we were all ready for a change...for a new routine...for what God had next.
Jeff started back to school with 2.5 weeks of professional development. To say that it was a strange time is an understatement. Trying to prepare for in class instruction while simultaneously preparing for virtual classes was interesting. The school district was continually coming out with new directives and changing safety standards. The students were originally slated to return to school a week earlier but then the governor changed the start date of school. He is now in his second week with students. The district decided to go with a block schedule this year to help with social distancing. This has been an exciting change for Jeff and one he has wanted for a while. He is also teaching an online coding class for Grace Academy again and is looking forward to trying out a new coding language.
The kids wrapped up the summer swim team session with an intrasquad meet. The kids all enjoyed the opportunity to compete, except for maybe Anna. She was more interested in smiling at everyone watching her swim. The boys dropped times off some of their events. It was nice to see all their hard work pay off. It was a good time and everyone in the stands seemed to enjoy the "normalness" of it.
This year Marie and Anna are both attending public school. For a variety of reasons, we decided to send the girls physically. Marie is in first grade and has Mrs. Wilson for her teacher. She is getting back into the swing of school routines and was excited that several of her classmates from last year are in her class this year. Anna is in kindergarten and has Mrs. Rogers as her teacher. We are so thankful that she got the same teacher that Marie had last year. She is EXCELLENT! Anna also has a sweet girl, who is diligent in her studies, and follows rules as her table mate and new friend. That is a HUGE answer to prayer.
The boys have started their third year as River Valley Virtual Academy students. Thad is starting 5th grade and Elijah is in 7th grade. Thad is looking forward to learning sign language this year while Eli is learning Spanish. Both have a challenging course load but they are hard workers and will get it done.
Piano lessons also started back up this month. The boys are both a little rusty but were looking forward to getting back into the routine of practicing.
Leigh Ann started her training for a new year of BSF. They will be studying Genesis this year. She is looking forward to her second year as a substitute teaching leader. They are starting the year virtually but hope to return to in person class very soon.
This month we enjoyed several family fun nights with our church family. We played minute to win it games, had a scavenger hunt, and enjoyed times of fun and fellowship. We also enjoyed time spent with Nana and Papa and the Anderson Family.
We hope that you are staying healthy and safe and that like us, you are looking forward to new opportunities to see God at work this fall.
Click the link below to view the August Smilebox.
https://desktopapp.smilebox.com/playBlog/4e4463774e4463324e6a4d3d0d0a&blogview=true
