January 2023

Here is a sampling of what happened in January. 

Enjoying life with a dog: Megan and Artemis taking a rest together.

This is where Artemis went the first time we vacuumed after we brought her home.

Another angle.

Artemis chewing on the tag of her dog bed, which she loves. (She loves the bed and she loves chewing on tags.)

A couple of shots from Matthew's running club race. He came in 3rd for 6th grade boys.

Megan was happy to get a blue dress! (She'd been looking for one for awhile.)

Megan and some of the other 12-13 year old girls. They made the black skirts.

We successfully conquered the Amazon Rainforest escape room without any clues!

Artemis exploring the backyard.

Italy Yum box.

Megan's solution for when she doesn't want to wear socks but wants them with her in case she wants to wear them later....

Michelle, one of Me's college roommates, and her husband Reed, who we also knew from college, came into town for a conference for Reed. Michelle and Me went to the Gilbert temple and to lunch one day. The next day, Reed and Michelle came over for dinner. It was nice to catch up.

Matthew and Artemis

U's picture of the Gilbert temple

Christmas card wall

One evening, Megan told Me how she was feeling about the whole Sarah situation. Then she wrote down what she had said. (Note that Megan does keep track of how many days Sarah has been gone.)

Here's samples of a few interesting conversations from our house:

Is Melatonin an upper or a downer?

Megan: It is a downer because it helps you calm down.

Matthew: It is an upper because it increases the amount of melatonin in your body.

Megan: How do they get melatonin? Do they take it from people who sleep too much and then convert it into the bottle to give to people who can't sleep?

Matthew: Wife is asleep. Husband is awake. Husband performs surgery on the wife to take melatonin. Husband falls asleep. Wife wakes up screaming.

Interesting conversation for a couple of 6th graders to be having. While melatonin isn't actually an upper (stimulant) or a downer (depressant) I think they both have valid points. And the "how do they get melatonin" question and answer is amusing.

Conversation on the way home from church one week:

Megan: I really love Sarah but sometimes I just wanna slap her across the face and scream at her.

Matthew: I want to give her a piece of my mind. And strap her to her bed with rope, seatbelts, iron and wire that shocks her.

Megan: That seems a little hard core. Besides, she has wire cutters in her room.

Matthew: But she'd be tied down. She couldn't get to them.

Megan: She lived in the wild, Matthew. She knows ways.

This shows how worried Megan and Matthew are about their sister and how they really want her to be safe.

December Happenings

December was a full month for us. Here is a sampling of what happened. 

A few notable conversations:

Megan: My hair is a disastrophe.

(She thought this was a real word and she apparently uses it regularly.)

One evening at dinner, we were discussing the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide. Matthew really latched on to the fact that it is found in nuclear reactors and that if you breathe it, it can kill you. He said, "That is probably why so many people die on nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers....Either that or because they drown." (Note: dihydrogen monoxide is water...)

Me saw Megan's kindergarten teacher and her baby Jordyn outside Lowes one day. Her teacher is currently staying home most of the time with the baby but does some substitute teaching at the elementary school. Megan makes a note of when and where Miss MacTurk (now Mrs. Boxberger) will be in her agenda so that she can make sure sure to say hi.

Matthew at his first running club race. He took 5th place for the 6th grade boys.

We did the Spain Yum Box. The gummy pineapple and kiwi were favorites. Not so much the spicy dried mango, although U liked them. The chips that tasted like fried egg were the weirdest.

The first gift of Christmas: Mom and dad's ornament, Matthew's ornament and Megan's ornament.

Megan and her classmates at the National Elementary Honor Society induction ceremony. Matthew was sick so could not attend although he was inducted later (see below).

Megan received her certificate from Mrs. Pierzga. Actually, Megan received Elijah Pierzga's certificate who received another student's who received another student's.....somehow they got all mixed up. They figured it out and let the kids know so they swapped to get their correct certificate before leaving for the evening.

Megan signing the induction book.

Megan with her certificate.

Megan with her teachers: Mrs. Piezga (science and social studies), Mrs. Weber (math) and Mrs. Babcock (English)

Picture of the teachers to photoshop Matthew in.

Matthew at this band concert to photoshop in.

And the result!

Matthew enjoyed his kickball club. The last session they had a match of parents versus kids. Despite Matthew's insistence that the kids would win, the adults won.

They assuaged their kickball loss with donuts and juice.

Matthew with Pokeball lunchbox on his back.

Looking at the possibilities of where Mr. X (aka Matthew) could be during a game of Scotland Yard. He managed to win this round.

Jacob and Megan at the band concert.

Matthew (behind Dylan) at the band concert.

Matthew being inducted into the National Elementary Honor Society. I thought it was nice of the school counselor to invite the parents to come see it since I thought it would just be her and Matthew in her office.

Megan helped read the Pillars of Conduct and do the swearing in which was nice. Mrs. Dussault, the school counselor, helped as well.

Matthew signing the book.

Matthew with his certificate.

After Matthew signed the NEHS book and we got a few pictures, Mrs. Dussault said that the principal wanted to shake his hand. We headed outside to where the principal was getting ready for an assembly. She came over and asked if the handshake could wait until after the assembly. I wanted to make sure it wouldn't take long since I had a class that morning. After being assured it wouldn't, the assembly started and the real reason for our presence at the school that morning became clear: I was being recognized as the Volunteer of the Year at the school. (Side note: I don't think Matthew ever got his handshake.)

Me receiving the Volunteer of the Year Award. It was a complete surprise!

Student, Volunteer and Teacher of the Year.

Me with my award.

Megan, Matthew, Me and U on the kinder playground with my award.

One of the ways I help out at the school is that I make copies every week. Here is the workroom one week right before I left. That's a pretty impressive stack of copies! And it's not all I did as there were at least 1000 pages more in the teacher mailboxes. (Yes, we go through a lot of paper!)

Megan at the YM/YW white elephant gift exchange. She was very happy with her dot-to-dots book, pencils and candy so she tried to hide in the corner. Matthew got Bernardo, a big Squishmallow burrito.

Megan and Matthew enjoyed their class party at school.

Matthew during the donut eating competition.

Jacob and Megan competing.

Go Megan!

Snowman Matthew

Snowman Megan

The snack grandma brought over a fun activity: fruit Santas.

Grandma and Grandpa Martin came over for a visit. Matthew and Megan put on a concert for them.

Megan and Matthew enjoyed decorating the gingerbread house.

Matthew and Megan with the gingerbread house.

We went to the Mesa temple to see the lights.

Megan, Me, Matthew and U

Matthew, Santa and Megan on Comstock.

There were a lot of lighted archways in the neighborhoods around Comstock.

We enjoyed walking through them.

We made and decorated Ninjabread men. Matthew enjoyed setting up this fight scene.

December was also filled with anxiety and worry as Sarah ran from her treatment center in Georgia the evening of December 1st and we did not hear anything from her. We managed to keep things as normal as possible and overall handled the situation pretty well. Still, we missed having Sarah around and worried for her safety and well-being.