We are officially on summer vacation and it couldn’t feel better! After quarantine, online teaching and learning, we are all loving the warm sun and less responsibility (well, except for Scott 😉)!!!!!! What a wild and crazy spring we had. 2020 sure is throwing us for a loop but we are making the best of it and hopefully getting stronger.

Because the end of the school year was so different and chaotic, I didn’t get a chance to give an update on Sam’s graduation from high school. What a bummer way to go out but he was strong and went with it. Our high school and overall community was amazing and did their best for the 2020 graduates. There was a parade, an adopt a senior program, yard signs placed and a drive-in movie to watch graduation. Although they would have preferred a normal graduation, the seniors did feel pretty special and are moving on to new things.

Here are a few pictures from graduation week!

Now on to Montana State in the fall. Sam has been texting with his roommate and picked out classes. Go Bobcats!

Full disclosure. It’s been a tough couple weeks for the Summit County community and we are having a hard time staying positive around here.  We are all emotionally drained and overwhelmed. We are trying though!!!  Scott taught me how to fly fish and I have been enjoying that new activity.   Tonight, Scott and Alice joined me for a quick trip to fish the Blue River.  I really just needed to clear my head and get some fresh air.  It was a gorgeous day here and it was wonderful to get out and enjoy it.

 Stay healthy and safe friends,

Jen

We are all still here, hanging out at home.

The end.

😂😂😂

Not much to update. We are staying pretty busy and trying to get outside everyday. The dog are exhausted from so many walks. We’ve sorted through the crawl space and are now emptying our storage unit. It feels good to be productive! The girls started making masks today. I’m not sure they are necessary for making dinner but who cares if these two are cooking!

We’ve been running a ton. Here are the girls in front of the high school. They really want to go back. Everybody is missing their friends something fierce.

Paige has been perfecting her French macarons. Baking is good…they taste delicious!

Three positives from this week…

1) I joined a new site where I can check in with my roommates from college. It’s been fun to catch up.

2) Spring break! No online teaching or learning this week.

3) I am going to learn to fly fish tomorrow.

Happy Thursday, I think?

Jen

Here we are, still online learning and teaching. We are all healthy and trying our hardest to stay positive. While Scott and I have only left the house to go to the store or post office, we just realized that aside from outdoor activity, our children have not left home. They are grieving the loss of end of year activities and events like the musical, prom and awards nights. Sam learned yesterday that graduation has been canceled. The school is hoping for a virtual version but losing this rite of passage was a tough pill to swallow. Now he is looking forward to college! Here are a few pictures in the daily life with four quaranteens and an antsy husband 🙂

One more fun family activity that got 6 thumbs up over here…

Pictionary

I brought home white boards from school and we downloaded the game on my phone. Lots of laughs and yelling!

Just so you don’t think we are always sitting around hugging and singing songs, sometimes our day end like this….

Margaritas for mom and dad.

Happy Friday!

It is not super easy keeping a 15, 16 and 18 year old in the house all day every day. They get bored and want to see their friends. I get it…I want to see my friends too;) Today we slept in, had Chimayo for lunch (supporting those small businesses) and then went for a walk around the hood. This evening the kids had a video call with their youth group and then we made a fire and roasted s’mores. It was a gorgeous evening to hang out around the fire. I am missing those warmish summer nights. Anyway, we made it another day.

Good night 💤

I think it’s day 6 of social distancing and we are still all in good spirits over here. Just trying to do our part, stay positive and enjoy our time together. We ordered books a couple days ago and they arrived today. Everybody was excited about their book and found a quiet place in the house. I love seeing my teenagers put down their phones and read. Last night we baked and decorated sugar cookies. Today, Scott, Mason, Paige and I went out for a long XC ski on the peninsula. We did see a couple people but kept our distance. It was a gorgeous snowy day. Getting outside is keeping us sane right now!

We are definitely thinking and praying about the families and people in our community who may be struggling without a job or steady income. We are also thinking about those in our county who are affected by this virus. Just doing our part so that we can go back to life as we know it…

Jennifer

Well, we are already 3 months into 2020 and it’s taken an interesting turn to say the least. A pandemic has spread throughout the world and our country. Our little mountain community is shut down and we are socially distancing ourselves from others. We have been dismissed from school which means the kids are learning online and I am teaching online. We are a pretty tight knit family but after only a few days into this “quarantine” we are already a bit stir crazy. I am trying to find some fun activities that keep teenagers busy and entertained. Here are a few ideas.

Game night

Thank goodness we received a couple fun games for Christmas! This was the time to break them out.

Movie night

We have had a couple of movie nights. Scott and I are having fun showing the kids some classics from the 80’s and 90’s.

Get outside

We’ve taken time to run, ride bikes and hike. Alice even dug our the trampoline! Fresh air can do wonders for a bad case of “stir crazy”. Thank goodness for nice weather!

Painting party

Tonight we broke out the paints and made some beautiful pieces of art. Everybody grumbled at this idea but once we got started it was a hit. We took turns picking music and talked about what we might want to paint next time.

Stay tuned for more updates on this crazy time. If you are reading this you are probably social distancing as well. Good luck!

Jen

While it’s always fun to look ahead to the new year, I always really enjoy reflecting on the past year and all the fun it held. Man, 2019 did not disappoint. Of course, there are always ups and downs, but we sure did have a ton of fun.

One big bummer was that my good camera broke right around the first of the year so all my pics will be from my phone. I made due but I missed taking “real” pictures:)

Here are a few favorites from each month of 2019.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Here’s to another exciting year for the Wescotts. We are looking forward to graduation, college, more running, musicals and so much more!

Happy New Year!

Jennifer

Every (well, almost every) year we hike out into the woods and find our Christmas tree.  I think that we counted 4 or 5 holidays that we did buy a tree on a farm or elsewhere.  Mostly we love to go out and run around the woods, arguing about which tree might be the one.  While our Whole Foods tree was probably the prettiest, the trees that we pick out of the woods always have the most character and hold the best memories.  This morning, we braved the cold and extreme wind and snow to find our 2019 Christmas tree.

I don’t often post about myself but I have to give a little shout out to my running girls. These woman and I have been running together on and off for 5+ years. I have taken some time off from the early mornings but we do occasionally brave the early morning cold and snow. We mostly run at 5:30 am and pretend to keep each other safe from wild animals that we imagine hiding in the trees. Over the years we have become great friends. One of our girls is moving to Hawaii so we had a going away run for her last week. It was exactly what I needed! We wore leis and laughed the whole three miles.