5th grade Service Project

In 5th grade the students at our school have the option of doing the Great American program where they have to memorize all 50 states and capitals, learn the national anthem, memorize the preamble to the constitution and a bunch of other things I can't remember.  They have a few optional projects to choose from like memorizing the Gettysburg Address (Grace did that last week smarty pants girl) and then they need to complete 3 hours of service.  The twins did a diaper drive for refugees and today we got to drop off the diapers at the Utah Refugee Connection warehouse.

I can't imagine what it would be like to take my children and have to flee my home and go to a different country with very few belongings and where so many things were foreign to me. Language, culture, customs, food etc... 

I am so grateful for organizations like the Utah refugee connection and others like it (Lifting Hands International is another good one) that help people in need and make it so accessible for families like mine to help serve even in a small way. 

Such a great reminder to me and hopefully to my kiddos, that we are so incredibly fortunate and that as followers of Jesus Christ, the best way we can follow Him is by serving others. Service projects like this are so great, but I heard something a few weeks ago in a church meeting that I've been thinking about a lot lately.  

In the parable about the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan served the person who was right in his path.  Sometimes the greatest service we can do is for people who are right in our path while we are going about our normal routines.  Everyone we meet is going through something...even if you can't see it. I've been thinking about that a lot lately and am trying to work on serving those right in front of me; at the store, library, school, church etc... and at home. It's a work in progress for sure but I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve.

I am SUPER grateful for these amazing twins who have been such a source of light and joy in my life for almost 11 YEARS!!!! 

How is that even possible?

 

Christmas Card 2024

Chad: (middle-aged) survived a mediocre BYU football season...but they are in the Big 12 so at least there's that. He continues to love mountain biking, skiing, Traeger-ing (we love that too), our dog Rosie, Mary, and the kids...not necessarily in that order.

Mary: (slightly less middle-aged) nothing major to report, but let's be honest...she's making all the things noted above and below happen. She is happy to be back volunteering for the elementary school choir and is loving the last year of having all her kids under one roof before they start to leave the nest (insert cry face emoji here).

Jack: (18) busy mountain biking, college applying, cello + piano playing, soon to be ski bumming but STILL senior year class attending (right Jack?!!) He is also a much loved "high school helper" at the elementary school and the word on the playground is that he's the coolest kid in the 5th grade.

Marian: (16) had a great season on the mountain bike team, worked at Handel's Ice Cream (yum), and earned her driver's license!!!!!! We haven't really seen her since, but caught a glimpse of her singing in the school choir and heard she is doing lots of service through the Draper Youth Council.

Lucy: (13) also had a great mountain bike season! She loves our dog Rosie, baking, playing guitar, and skiing.

Grant: (11+1 minute) competed on the summer swim team, started mountain biking, beat every single member of our family in chess, and read approximately five bajillion books.

Grace: (11) crushed it on the soccer field this season and although her wardrobe suggests she is a BYU student-athlete, she also excels at baking, reading, piano playing, and movie making. Her latest film about BYU football was a huge success and earned a 99.9% on the Pughmeter.

Wishing you a Christmas filled with the joy of family, friends, and love. May this season remind you of the greatest gift of all—hope born in a manger, bringing light to our lives. Merry Christmas!

Random awesomeness lately

A lot of random awesomeness has been going on in the Pugh household lately.

Jack and Marian had their end of season Mountain Bike banquet!  I wish I had taken a picture of the entire crowd.  One of the banquet halls at the expo center was filled to the brim with amazing high schoolers and parents who are SO DEDICATED and know how to work hard and make good things happen in mountain biking and in the community.  There is so much love and camaraderie in this group and I feel sooo lucky to be a part of it!

Jack was one of the team captains this year.  Awesome kids!

I had my school choir concert and it was awesome!  The kids did amazing and I got such good feedback from parents, teachers, and kids.  I LOVE music!

Ummm can you tell I'm excited?

No surprise at all but Grace won the leadership award for her soccer team!

This girls is small but mighty!  She's such a smart player and does a great job talking to her team on the field to make good things happen in the games. So proud of her!

Jack is the most amazing math tutor.  He is wicked smart and incredibly patient and creative in the ways he helps his siblings understand math.  Good thing because I am NO help in this department.

Chad and I took Lucy, Grant, and Grace to see the Kalani Sitake show down at BYU

It was even more fun that I expected it to be and we a fun BYU experience...something that has been hard to come by lately.  Hang in there Cougs!

Serious BYU fans in this household...not that you didn't know.

School "Skate night" at Classic Skating.  Grant (not pictured because he was off with friends in the tramp/bounce house area getting sweaty and gross all night...and having the time of his life) and Grace loved it.  I used to work at Classic and know too much to let me kids go there ;) but I figured for school night I'd make an exception.  I assumed all the parents would be skating/roller blading too.  It wasn't until my 2nd or 3rd lap around the rink that I realized that was not the case.  I wasn't the ONLY parent out there...but pretty much.  I didn't let that discourage me and I actually had a ton of fun cruising around the rink.   Let's just say I've still got it...sort of.

We had everyone's least favorite (I have mixed feelings) fall activity...FAMILY PICTURES.  Yay or BOO depending on which Pugh you are talking to.  My photographer friend took the real pictures...these are just some of the ones I was able to sneak in.  Based on who is and who isn't in my shots, you can get a good idea as to people's level of enjoyment of this whole enterprise.

are you kidding me with those gorgeous GREEN eyes?!!!

Can't wait to get the real photos back from the photographer!

Being a twin has it's ups and down.  Sharing a room with your sister/brother at age 10 is not ideal (but the least un-ideal set up....believe me we've tried them ALL) but these two twinners have A LOT of fun together.

Grace was very excited to style Grant's hair the other day.

This is their "rock star pose"

Not sure what this pose is....

this is their "Grant is only 1 minute older but a FOOT TALLER" pose

Last but not least...Grace had hat day at school and couldn't decide which hat to pick so....she picked them all.

Like I said to begin with...a bunch of random awesomeness has been going on lately and I am so grateful I get to be a part of it all!

 

5th Grade Colonial Day

Grace woke up early for school Monday morning SO excited for colonial day!  

We'd picked out clothes the night before...but made a few last minute adjustments (I braved the "closet of no return" under the stairs to find the colonial bonnet instead of the pioneer bonnet we had picked out the night before)

Grant wasn't as excited at first but he was a good sport in the end

Direct quote from Grant, "Colonists!  Why didn't you just wear SWEATS!!!?"
 

They were so excited headed off to make wax candles, home made butter, decorate oranges with cloves and only slightly less excited about the partner dancing.  I gave them strict instructions to be kind to whoever their partner was and to at least smile at them.  

Grace came home and said the partner dancing was actually fun... and then they learned the "Boot Scootin Boogie"....so....although it may not have been the most authentic colonial day...it was a success in the blue and green eyes of these cute 5th graders!

Do do do do (snap snap)

I am probably the only one who will get that this post title is supposed to be the beginning of the Addams Family Theme.  But it is.  Just trust me.

Jack was in the pit orchestra for the high school play of "The Addams Family"

I have to be honest...it didn't have that high of expectations for it but I was

 TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY!

The sets, the costuming, the acting and singing...and the orchestra!!!  They were incredible!  The entire production was amazing and SOOO fun!

We all went for family home evening

Handsomest cellist ever up there on the back left

So proud of Jack!

He spent so many hours after school in rehearsals.  The 2 weeks leading up to opening night he was in rehearsal pretty much every night for hours and even then would come home and practice his part even more!  The hard work paid off...all the kids in the orchestra must have worked hard too because they sounded INCREDIBLE!  

Incredible enough that I didn't totally lose my mind when Jack texted to tell me he'd broken his cello bow after the dress rehearsal performance for the elementary kids.  His bow got caught between the orchestra room doors and completely snapped.  Oh baby.  

I wish I had a picture of him in the pit...so many talented musicians down there and a wonderful conductor.  I am so grateful for all the incredible people Jack has gotten to work with and the cool opportunities Jack has been able to have thanks to music.  

Music is pretty much the best thing ever!

 

Mountain Biking 2023 in the books

Mountain biking is such a great sport!  You get to be outside, with friends and learn how to work really really hard...and it teaches a lot of Grit!

Jack, Marian, and Lucy had a GREAT season and although I have about a million pictures from the races, I am a pretty lousy action shot photographer.  I think half of those pictures are actually of other people's kids.... It can be pretty tricky to tell which rider is yours when they are going by so fast and in the same jersey.  I tried to convince my kids to get funky and unusual colored helmets but no luck.

Lucy made a HUGE jump in her racing from last year to this one. She went from the back half of the beginner category to competing with the top riders!  Lucy is SO dedicated and rides every day.  Outside if the weather is good, inside on the indoor bike if the weather is bad.  I am so proud of how hard she worked.  She is the most dedicated and consistent athlete I have ever met!

Marian all smiles before the race!  She claims that waiting for the race to start is the WORST part of biking...I can't even imagine the butterflies and nerves when you are packed in the starting gates with all the other riders.

Jack is Mr. cool at the starting line and usually chatting with people around him.  At the state race the M.C. was interviewing riders and when she said Jack's name, my entire Pugh family cheered so loud that she stopped and had a fun little interview with Jack and he gave a shout out to his "fan club".  Such a fun memory!

SOOO much determination and grit goes into every race!

I always look for blood and dirt when they come by to see if they have crashed.  There were a few of those this year but nothing too bad so I was thrilled!

Jack had the lucky 1234 racing plates this year!

This part of the race in Richfield was especially fun to watch!

I love the pre-race pep talks from Jack....

And Chad

It's such a fun sport to cheer on!  It really does take a lot of effort on part of the family to get riders to the races all over Utah but it is totally worth it! 

My parents were able to come to the State race in Cedar City this year and it was so fun to have them cheering Jack and Marian on.  Lucy is on the middle school team and they don't compete at state but she still got to pre-ride the course with the high-schoolers.

Best cheering crew!

I love the post race emotions!  All the riders are just so raw with emotion after giving it their all for nearly an hour or more!  No matter what happens Marian is usually pretty smiley/goofy.  Gotta love that Gatorade tongue.

Another great aspect of Mountain biking is all the great friends my kids have picked up along the way.

These seniors worked so hard and had an amazing season!

Jack has SUCH a great group of guy friends on the bike team.

Marian does too but somehow I don't have any pictures of them!!!!

Lucy and her awesome biking friends!

Coming to the races as a non-racer is less fun...but Grace was a really good sport and ended up having a blast with her friends who's siblings also ride on the team.  This hill ended up being a perfect viewing spot at the race at Powder Mountain.  The sky that day was gorgeous!

I am still a pretty mediocre biker but I LOVE it!  It  is so fun to get out on the trails with my kids.

It just feels like such a cool and adventurous thing to do.  I love seeing my kids try new skills and get better and better as their confidence grows and they try something hard and new.

Grant and I got to sneak away for a few one on one rides this fall and the views were stunning!

One afternoon we biked to an overlook of the city and Grant LOVED it.  We could see our house, schools, and parks from up there.  We live in such a beautiful place and I am so grateful we get to go biking on such awesome trails just minutes from our house.  I LOVE mountain biking.