Sent: 06/19/2017 From Alicia
Subject: West Coast Westra Update 6/19/2017 Mon, 19 Jun 2017 21:30:33 -0700
Hello family!
It's been a crazy couple of
weeks since we sent our last update, so be warned...this is kind of a long
one.
School is finally out here in
Redwood Shores and it is nice to have a more relaxed schedule. Calder had a
preschool graduation ceremony on Tuesday the 13th. It was cute. They sang a
couple of songs and handed out certificates, then there was a little potluck
party for the kids and families. I guess next year the district is reducing the
number of classes, so several of Calder's classmates are being
"graduated" from the program, even though they will not be entering
kindergarten next year, so their parents are scrambling to find preschools that
are not full. We also had Calder's transitional IEP meeting to move him from
the district special programs department to the elementary school, so he and I
met with one of the kindergarten teachers, his preschool teacher, the
principal, and the school speech therapist (who happens to be a friend of mine)
to talk about the plan for next year. Calder charmed them all with his lego
book and commentary.
Rella had her 5th grade
promotion ceremony on the 14th. She was recognized for her service in the
school valet program. She was also able to participate in the color guard with
her girl scout troop and the school's boy scout troop, which was cool. There
were some speeches, a slide show, and the presenting of the certificates. Then
we had treats and went to Rella's classroom to pick up her stuff before heading
home. Rella also had a girl scout bridging ceremony on the 11th, moving from
the junior troop to the cadet troop.
Adria was just happy to finish
up 6th grade. It's been a good school year for her and she's really had a good
middle school experience so far. She wanted to take a friend kayaking on
Friday, so we packed all the gear up and headed out to our favorite kayaking
pond, only to find that it was being cleaned! So we went to another park, but
it had just had pesticides applied to the water. So we went to a third park,
which was happily just fine. All the kids had fun playing in the water and in
the sand. After we got home, Rella got ready for a dance dress rehearsal and
Adria got the house ready for a get together she was hosting for her group of
friends. They had a great time playing games and chatting.
It was dance concert weekend
for Rella this past weekend, so she was extra busy with rehearsals and performances.
We went to the Saturday performance. It's been uncharacteristically hot here,
and the theater didn't have air conditioning, so it was really warm! I helped
with the Sunday afternoon performance backstage...it was even warmer! But it
was a good concert. The first half had a story line (which seemed to be loosely
based on "Ferris Bueller's Day Off") and includes all the classes,
but the second half was just performances by the kids in Rella's level and
higher, so they actually do all the bows before intermission so the younger
classes can be picked up by their parents. Rella did a great job and had a
great time. She's excited to continue dancing in the fall.
I've had a bunch of projects
going on, so I've been on the go all week. I was in charge of the Father's Day
Treat for the men of the ward (the YW hand it out), so I was getting that
together. I also arranged a hymn for the YW to sing in our Sacrament meeting
program this Sunday (couldn't find an arrangement that I liked, so I dusted off
all my musical skills to pull something together) and also taught the lesson in
YW yesterday. I had a photoshoot on Saturday morning for a family in our stake,
too. So it was really nice to have a day to catch up on a few things
today.
Shane is always busy at work,
so nothing new there. He had someone lined up to start as the new director of
product at work, but at the last minute (the day before the start date) the guy
decided to stay at his current company instead. Shane was really frustrated. So
now he has to start hiring for that position again. He's also still looking for
a director of QA. One of the company bigwigs was in town today, so Shane and
other executives had a work dinner and lots of meetings.
Adria left for girls camp
today...the other kids and I dropped her off at the stake center this morning.
She was pretty excited (she loves camping.) Camp is done a little differently
than in Utah wards...the campers are divided by year instead of by ward (since
some wards, like ours, have so few YW) and the stake takes care of everything.
It's not as big a burden on the ward YW presidencies. Our stake camps at Camp
Lehi, which is a church owned recreation area 20 miles south of Santa Cruz.
They were stopping at a strawberry farm on the way down to pick strawberries
for freezer jam. The camp has a big commercial grade kitchen.
Rella had an appointment with
the oral surgeon to talk about the procedure for removing 10 teeth. We got her
scheduled for July 7. She's a little nervous. I'm just hoping they can get it
all done in one session! Adria's palate expander is working well...she's got a
gap in between her front teeth that gets a little wider every day. I had a deep
cleaning on the left side of my mouth, which was pretty intense. They use the
water tool, the regular tools, and a laser to remove all the plaque and tarter.
I'll go back for the right side of my mouth next week.
Calder went to a birthday
party for one of his school friends a couple weeks back. It was at a farm in
Half Moon Bay. People here really go all out for parties. This one had a bounce
house and inflatable slide, petting zoo, train ride, tractor ride, "bubble
show", pony rides, and tons of food. This party was for the friend and his
older sister, so it was bigger than most parties, but it was still pretty over
the top.
We missed going to the Westra
Father's Day BBQ. Hopefully we'll get a chance to see everyone when we are in
Utah next month! We'll be there the 14th through the 21st, so if there is
something you really want to do with us, let us know so we can get it on the
schedule.
Love you all! Have a great
week!
Shane, Alicia, Adria the camper,
Rella the dancer, and Calder the kindergartener.
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