A Sweet Surprise

Kelsey is loving BYU-Idaho! Her semesters go from January to July every year and she has proudly finished her first year.  One day after the end of the semester she called me and mentioned she was thinking of driving home for a few weeks.  I told her that sounded great and to let me know what she had decided.  A few hours later when I got home from work, Kevin asked if I had heard from Kelsey since she had left Idaho--a few hours ago!  She obviously had made up her mind!  She said she wanted to surprise her siblings, so that was hard to keep a secret.  It was fun for them to find her pulling in the driveway. 

About a week later I got a call from her boyfriend, Aaron, who was in Provo at the time.  He said he wanted to come surprise her.  Only catch--he was already here in town!  Surprise! on us!  Now we had to do a quick clean up without Kelsey finding out why!  Lucky for us, Kelsey is always in the mood for a clean house, so she pitched right in with us.  I then sent her out on some "errands" while Aaron drove over and hid in the house.  Of course she was stunned to find him when he popped out from behind the entertainment center and presented her with a dozen roses.

We enjoyed getting to know Aaron for a few weeks before heading back to BYU-Idaho with Kelsey in August. Kelsey was able to stay here for a month and I will always treasure the time we spent together this summer. 
The kids put together one more surprise, this time for me.  I came home from school one day to find Kelsey and the kids sneaking around. . .cleaning!  They were all excited but didn't want me to see them cleaning the bathrooms.  They then snuck off to a store and again made me stay out of their way. I soon heard a hammer banging on my bathroom wall.  When they were finished, they showed me 2 sparkling clean bathrooms with new decorations, a bath mat, a toothbrush holder and hand towels, purchased with their own money. 

I really do have the best kids ever!! 

Eight is Great!

Okay, I am back tracking a little.  Jayden celebrated his 8th birthday this year and chose to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in June 2011.  We were fortunate to have Kelsey fly from Idaho to be with us and so many of the Hancocks were able to come.  It was a beautiful service and a happy day all around.  Jayden commented that he too felt happy all day, especially at the baptism.  Hard to believe all my kids are baptized now and growing up way too fast!

School Begins

August always comes too quickly and so does the begining of school.  For teachers, the first day of school starts even sooner, this year August 4 was our return to the school date and the students returned bright-eyed and ever bushy-tailed on Aug 8.  I am starting the year out with 6 students and so far, we have kept just 6.  The kids are just as sweet as always and it is fun to have the same students year after year.  Its fun to be in my 3rd year now and to look back at my first year and realize the growth I have seen in myself.

My children are in the full swing of things in school and its hard to believe the first quarter is already done.  The high schoolers are busy with classes, including "A" Hour, which starts at 6:20.  We do have release time for Seminary, but most kids have to take "A" Hour to make up for the credits.  Breanna and Jayden are busy as well and they feel like they have "A" Hour since they have to go to school early with me by 7:20.  Its a long day for us all, but we are happy and keeping busy.

Here is Jayden at 6 pm  on the first day of school.  He was talking, talking, talking, . . then silent. . this is what we found next.  And slept soundly for the next 12 hours.  I felt the same way, but was not as lucky to get there so soon!