Olivia's Kindergarten Placement

 Today is a monumental day. A day that I have stressed about for over a year, maybe even longer.  And a day that I have prepared for, for about that long. It was about 15 months ago that I started to wonder and worry about Olivia and where she would attend kindergarten. I'm not certain how many details I should write because I know I would inevitably leave something or someon out. Scott and I have spent countless hours talking, debating, pro-ing and con-ing, researching, getting opinions, listening and most importantly praying about this decision. I can look back and see so many times and places where the Lord put small pieces of the puzzle in so that this would all work out. 

In our school district, there are 3 options for kids with special needs. Special school, which is a school for severe special need kids. There are certain schools that have "special classes." Special classes are places where we cluster together kids with high level special needs but are functional (autism, down syndrome etc). And there is the boundary school, the school we are zoned for. The district does not typically recommend sped kids go their boundary school, unless of course their boundary school is one that is set up with special classes. 

Scott and I felt so strongly that we wanted Olivia to go to our boundary school. I know this is a decision that many people will never understand. Some people will look at the situation and ask, "why in the world would you not want her in a special class?" Well there are lots of reasons (remember how I said we have been pro-ing and con-ing?) Anyway, suffice to say, after a lot of prayer and thought, we felt that the best thing for Olivia was to send her to our boundary school where she would be with her siblings, her neighborhood friends and a school that she is familiar with. (There are lots more reasons but anyway....) 

We went in to today's meeting prepared and ready to fight, if needed. We felt so ready. We walked in, sat down and Scott started out by boldly saying, "We'll just put it out there. We want Olivia to go to Welby." On Olivias team are her preschool teacher, Welby psych and vice principal, District reps: gen ed rep and special ed rep and our parent advocate. From the moment Scott spoke, not a single person disagreed. Everyone was talking about why they think Olivia will succeed and on the conversation went about how this will be a great thing to try. I was shocked and the whole thing felt surreal. 

I am still a little stunned but am so thrilled. Olivia is going to Welby and we couldn't be more excited! I saved all of my tears till we were at the car and then I couldn't hold back anymore. This has been such a huge stress for me and I cannot adequately describe the relief and peace I feel. 

We are so grateful for all those who have helped get us to this point. And so we begin a new journey with Miss Livvy. We are not totally sure of where this journey will lead, but this is a good start. 

*we took Livvy out to lunch to celebrate

Weekly Wrap-up December 23rd, 2023

-We had the Franklin family over for soup and chimes. They are so fun and we are grateful for their friendship
-I made some amazing looking cookies to give away to teachers and neighbors etc. I am so pleased with how they turned out
-Welby had their Chrsitmas/Holiday sing-a-long performance. The kids did a great job preparing and sang very nicely! Weird that it was Trey's last Elementary Christmas sing-a-long. 
-The kids made DIY snowglobes for their teachers this year. They were cute and fun that they made them. 
-I helped with Trey's Christmas Party and had a lot of fun with the kids! I even roped Scott into helping!
-Scott and I attended the Desert Star Christmas performance! It was SO fun!
-We had a Christmas fun party at the Wings house!
-We drove around seeing lights in our area. People are awesome and put so much energy and fun into Christmas displays! 

Weekly Wrap-up December 16th, 2023

-Carsons basketball team played a team that made them look like dwarfs! It was crazy!
-The kids made their annual ornament. They turned out really cool! 
-Trey and Kayla performed in the Welby Winter concert. It was fun to watch them and they did a really good job!
-Carson had his orchestra concert. He did great!
-We went to the Orem Temple open house. It is a beautiful temple and it never gets old seeing how many temples there are around here!On the way home, we stopped by the Travers Mountain shopping area to see some Christmas decorations. 

Weekly Wrap-up April 15th 2023

-We celebrated Easter. The primary kids sang in sacrament meeting and I couldn't resist snapping a pic of them-they did such a good job. It was Olivias first time participating and she did a great job of smiling and waving at the crowd. We had a wonderful time celebrating Easter and carrying on traditions of coloring eggs (the night before) and having an egg hunt. Skyler made a guest appearance as the "Easter Bunny" which cracked us all up. We tried to get some selfie family photos which is always exciting ;-) (Side note-we took the funniest "boys" picture where Scott looks massive and Skyler looks like a cardboard cut out. See below-its pretty funny)
-Baseball season is in full swing. That means we spend lots of time at the field. Andrew had fun finding friends to play with. I found lots of selfies on my phone from the girls who may or may not get bored at the games. We had our annual pre-season pizza party at practice for Scott's team. 
-Cousin Hailey came home from her mission. Andrew, Livvy and I had fun going to the airport to welcome her home! 
-Kaylas battle of the books team WON!!! It is kind of unheard of for a 3rd grade team to win since they are battleing against 4th graders but they did it and we are SO proud of her!