Another busy month for the Russins West. We’ve transitioned from school to summer break. The kids finished the school year with their end of year presentations on different US states. We took a family trip to Sequoia National Park. Our first adventure in our old-new pop-up trailer went well. While we were up in central California we visited our first Au Pair and got to see her newborn baby. The kids are now getting into their various summer camps as we head into July. The bathroom remodel is starting to take shape after some bumps, twists and turns.
Cordelia’s end of school presentation went well. She shared about Maine and earned first place for the 5th grade. Cordelia enjoyed the trip to Sequoia and was excited to see our former Au Pair. Cordelia participated in the summer piano recital. Her first summer camp was a volleyball and pickleball camp and had a lot of fun there.
Anthony finished his school year well and tied for first place in 3rd grade for his presentation on Alaska. He also enjoyed the camping trip and the various hikes to waterfalls and rivers. Anthony also participated in the piano recital. He did his first week of archery camp for the summer and continues to enjoy it. He’ll be doing two more weeks of archery later in July.
Lydia did her school state presentation on Arizona. She sadly didn’t win first place for her grade but she did well on her poem portion. Lydia did good on the Sequoia hiking and said her favorite part was visiting our former Au Pair. Lydia got to be the first performer at the summer piano recital. Lydia had her week with Camp Grandma and Grandpa. She has a lot of fun going to the beach, Legoland, and the zoo.
Natalie is working on her short words and basic counting at school. Her focus and motivation comes in spurts but she’s progressing and her penmanship is improving. Natalie did a good job on the camping trip. After a bumpy first night of sleeping, we rearranged and she slept great the rest of the time. She also did a great job hiking. Natalie is continuing at school for the summer and came back with a bit more focus after the week break.
Alicia has had a very stressful time at work. She’s doing two persons jobs and there’s some hard deadlines that are causing a lot of pressure. The days leading up to vacation were very full. At home things have been very stressful. The management of the home construction has led to lots of struggles getting things done the way they should be done. The week break to Sequoia was pleasant. It was fun getting to spend extra time as a family and the trailer worked well.
Tim has had a very stressful work month. Things went poorly on one of his projects and there’s been a lot of political upheaval. He’s been trying to transfer some other projects with limited success. Tim worked hard to get the trailer roadworthy for our camping trip and it was a successful upgrade. At home things have been busy with summer yard work picking up and the support for construction workers. Overall it has been a very busy and stressful month.
We are praying a lot for peace and wisdom in our house and family. With all the challenges of the house renovation things have been very tense. Plus with the added stress at work it seems there’s no place for relief. Pray that we have strength and God’s spirit come out in our actions and interactions through our various challenges.
In July we’re looking forward to a fun Powers clan 4th of July. We’ll also be celebrating Lydia’s 7th birthday.
