Vanuatu and the start of the 2022-2023 year

 In the summer of 2022, we moved back to Vanuatu. What a blast into the past! It was like the twilight zone because we left the house in pristine condition, and we come back and everything has degraded over the three years we were gone. But it's been pretty glorious. 

We came the first week that Vanuatu had opened up since COVID, but Hyrum did not come with us because...of COVID..... But he LOVED being left behind! He was able to spend more time with friends at home ant then went to Hawaii with cousins and then he went to Fiji with Josh and Teyvin who travelled with him from Hawaii to Vanuatu. 

And Teyvin and Josh ended up staying with us for quite some time, and that was just the best. They are awesome kids...I guess they're not kids. I mean awesome young men....or young adults...whatever. They're awesome. 

Then Dan and Shi came too! We loved that as well, and as far as school went, Dan taught us how to sew up wounds. It was a pretty scary lesson actually when I thought about how I might actually need this skill in the middle of the ocean. (Honestly the more real this whole thing gets, the more I am terrified and overwhelmed. NOOOOOO I want to scream, but we are in over our heads. We have the boat. This is happening. )

And it was really special that they were here, because ABRAHAM WAS BAPTIZED! He wasn't taught by missionaries, but by me because there are so few missionaries because of COVID and the ones here are not specifically english speaking missionaries anyway. 

We invited the branch and we had a roast pig that Matilda and Ezra cooked in the ground, and Maxwell baptized him. It was really special. 

As you can see, Pat came as well.

And we have done educational things. We have done things that are not too formal like painting the pool, Abraham making paper sculptures, and painting murals on the walls of local schools:

And we have done formal things. In fact, Hyrum got finished with Level C in his math program, and Daniel finished Fix It Grammar.

And we have been doing at home seminary under the guidance of our local church leaders. That has been a great thing and I'm grateful that the Proffitts are here to help with that. Yes, the Proffitts came shortly after the Leavitts left, so you see, we have been blessed with visitors. 

And that would be the end of this post, but I want to talk about this kids right here:

No, not William, the other kid. That's a bad picture of Nicky, our neighbour. He came to our house and started talking perfect English in a Boston accent. My mind kind of broke. Who was this kid?!? What Nivan talks like that? 

It turns out, he's adopted by a Bostonian man, so yeah, Nicky isn't your typical boy.

He's at our house practically every day, and it came to my attention that he couldn't read. He's seven. He's been going to a local school, but getting terrible marks. I finally (at Dustin's request, funny enough) had him take the Barton student screening. He failed pretty bad. I went through teaching him lis letters, and he didn't even know all his letters. 

We started with Leap Frog, and then started in on Foundations in Sounds. FIS was hard work for him. I could see him trudging through the mud in his mind, but he did it! It was so so hard for him, but he made it through the program. 

I realized that I only have a short time with him, so I've tried to make teaching him a priority, but I've worried that I won't have enough time to actually make an impact anyway.

So then I started Barton level one, and it was a little easier for him, which was incredible, but I still wondered if I would have any impact over all since my boys took years of effort to learn to read.

Then I taught him the first lesson in Barton level 2 which ended up to be the most rewarding tutoring session I've ever have. HE WAS READING! Small words, but hey, he was doing it, and not only that, it seemed like it was fairly easy for him! Nothing like this breakthrough ever happened with my kids, so I didn't even know it was possible. 

I'm only here for a few more weeks, but I feel like I actually have made a difference, and that's such a good feeling! 

The rest of the 2021-2022 School Year

 What? am I actually posting to this blog?! Yes, yes I am. It's for you....my children, grandchildren and their wives of the future who are reading these yearbooks that are dusty in my basement. Are you actually reading this? Do you find it fascinating? BTW....how's life right now?... because the USA president (Biden) basically just said we're on nuclear Armageddon's doorstep....so...glad you exist....  

ANYWAY....hi future SELF because let's be honest, YOU are the one actually reading this. 

Okay I have a lot to unpack here, and I'm obviously in a weird mood, so here we go:

I left off when we were in Dubai. We continued to be in Dubai for awhile, and we saw incredible things including the TALLEST BUILDING IN THE WORLD on Daniel's birthday.

But is that truly important? Is that what William paid attention to? Is that what William took photos of? NO instead it was any cat that crossed his path. THAT was what he would always take photos of. 

And we did do school there. Here's some excepts from Hyrum's writing book which he finished (is this writing book several grade levels below where he should be? Yes. Is he severely dyslexic? Yes. Do I think that he has a chance at succeeding at life regardless? Yes. Will he get all his university English done before he moves out of my house? Yes. Do I still feel vulnerable about my kids academic levels? Yes.

Hyrum's writing just cracks me up. Seriously. And so does Daniel's, check his out:

And then we went back to the states. It was good to relax in Arizona for awhile. We were able to take part of their homeschool world there, which was so nice. My boys were even able to go to a reptile show at their library...or homeschool thing...or church...I don't know. Their Aunt took them, but I'll take credit in this blog for it. Sure.

Auntie Heather also arranged for them to help at a food packing warehouse that helps starving children. It was actually a really cool organization. Highly recommend helping out at "Save my starving children."

And Aunty...or someone other than me...got them to decorate for mother's day and it was oh so cute..

And even with these things, we managed to do the bare minimum of reading writing and arithmetic as well! Even when catastrophes such as this happened:

Only those who have taught All About Reading can understand how the mere photo of such an event could strike fear into a mother's heart.

And then it was on to Utah where I was finally able to show my kids the Timpanogos caves! They were even way better than I remember when I would go there on field trips as a child.

And we went to a Utah thing that I had never been to before, the Boneville Salt Flats. 

But the highlight of our Utah trip (beyond seeing my parents) was the LDS Homeschool conference. My boys LOVED it and the Peavoys came down! 

One awesome thing was the talent night at which Maxwell displayed a 3d model he designed and printed of the Vanuatu future temple. and Hyrum did a "mentalist" type comedy show. Very fun

And then we were off to California! We saw cousins, and we went on many field trips. Including to Sacramento, where we learned all about the Pony Express, which was perfect because Daniel was writing about them anyway for his school.

And we went to San Fransisco, which was really cool because my kids LOVE the books by Virginia Lee Burton book about the cable car, so to go on a cable car was way too special.

But the absolute highlight of the trip was when the teenagers (yes....Daniel is a TEENAGER now!!!!) got to go to Trek with their cousins.

And YES we did do more reading writing and arithmetic. Enough that we got to the point where I feel like summer actually starts, which is when Rightstart Math books have been completed. I feel like I'm more excited than the kids when this happens each year. 

(Abraham's math is on the top and William's is on the bottom. FYI)

And, hands down the coolest thing we did that summer was MORONI"S QUEST!

Sadly this is the only photo I could find of this even though they are not in their full Book of Mormon costumes. 

Can I just say how grateful I am that my kids were able to go to all these awesome events? Did I mention they went to a father son's campout in Dubai and then one in Arizona, and then the LDSHE and then a different Homeschool convention and then they went to Trek and then to Moroni's Quest?!?! It was like they got paid back for all the things they had to miss during COVID. 

They were really affected by these things. In fact, to night as I started writing this, Hyrum and Daniel came into my room and read their scriptures on my couch before bed. Come on. How awesome is that?

Yep. I'm blessed.

That is all.