My parents recently got home from a 45 day trip and showered us with souvenirs when they got home. They live nearby, and we are used to seeing them at least once a week so we were glad to have them home safely. We appreciated all the gifts they brought home to us but in light of my current book endeavor, this gift was my favorite! Thank you for your support!
Ingrid saved up enough money from her part time jobs to buy her 2003 orange Volkswagon Beetle. It is the perfect car for her. Not only is it the perfect size, but the perfect color. It is orange, the same color as her high school! When our kids want to pursue their driver's license, they have to have enough money to pay for half of their six month insurance premium. We pay the other half and their gas for work and school. Unfortunately, Ingrid's air conditioner went out last week and the car dealer wanted $2200 to fix it. It is still hot and now humid here in AZ! Luckily she has a Dad that knows how to fix cars and was willing to do it for a lot less money!
We made it through week one of school! It will be a crazy year for both kids juggling high school, West-MEC and work but so far so good.
Ingrid started her second year of hairstyling at West-MEC on Wednesday and was very excited to go back. She exceled in the program last year with straight A's and we were very proud of her! As a second year student, the classroom becomes an actual salon on Tuesday-Friday so she will start working with the general public during that time and start getting real experience.
Juan started his first year of coding at West-MEC also on Wednesday. The kids are at different campuses and at different times. I really hope he likes it and embraces it like Ingrid did with hairstyling. He can apply his West-MEC classes to credit at the community college and then transfer the credit to Northern Arizona University if he would like to. If Juan works hard, coding could be a successful career for him after high school graduation. We are very excited he has this opportunity!
It is hard to believe it is already the first day of school and summer is over! The time flew by this year with the kids working and so we kicked off another school year this morning!
Today was Ingrid's last first day of school as a senior at Desert Edge High School! She is very excited about the year, and we are all excited the kids are starting the school year at school and not in the the remote environment. As a senior and a second year hairstyling student at West-MEC technical school, she only has three required classes this year. Her classes include Financial Literacy, which we are very excited about, AZ Government and Economics, and English. She will be attending Desert Edge in the morning, West-MEC in the afternoon, and working some nights at Safeway. Luckily, she drives!
Juan is a junior at Canyon View High School and will be starting his first year at West-MEC in coding. Because he goes to West-MEC every afternoon, he has five rather than six classes. He will be busy at Canyon View all day and then goes to West-MEC after school and into the evening. He will only work on the weekends and holidays. We are very excited for him and hope he loves West-MEC as much as Ingrid does!
It is hard to believe Juan is 17 already and time goes by so fast! He had a nice birthday, and we enjoyed a Mexican dinner out at Arribas, cookies, and presents. He worked during the day and he requested cookies this year rather than a cake. In years past, we have always had the tradition of the kids picking out a sugar cereal for their birthday morning breakfast. With a prior scheduled dentist appointment and work, breakfast was McDonald's sausage burritos and iced coffee! He kicks off his junior year of high school and his first year of technical school next week so we are excited for him, and the year he has ahead of him.
Ingrid and Juan both have part time jobs, and we are very proud of them for working so hard. One of our family rules is before you are allowed to get your driver's license, you have to have a job and save up your half of six months of your insurance premium. We pay the other half of the premium for them.
Ingrid's first job was doing laundry at a massage therapy place where she saved up enough for her insurance and her first used car. She then took on the position of a server at an assistive living home this past fall and up until this summer, did that job every Saturday and Sunday. She recently got a new job at a grocery store as a courtesy clerk in order to work more hours, and she likes it a lot. Once school starts in August, she can still work there in the evening and on the weekends. She will be very busy going to normal high school and technical school for her second year of hairstyling every day!
Juan got his first job this spring as a dishwasher at a senior independent living home and is doing a great job! He was just promoted to an expediter position and continues to work hard. When school starts in August, he will be busy with normal school and his first year at technical school for coding but will continue to work on the weekend.
We are very proud of both of them and their work ethic!
It is hard to believe Ingrid is 19 now and we celebrated another birthday! She had the whole day off of work, which was nice. After breakfast, we opened up presents, went swimming, and then went and did a little shopping. Ingrid celebrated her 19th birthday with a pool party with a few friends, in the evening, and had a nice time.
I had a very nice birthday this year and thankful for both my family and friends! We celebrated with my parents ahead of time and then enjoyed dinner out and presents with Dainis, Ingrid, and Juan on my birthday. Ingrid and Juan both bought me gifts with their own money now that they are working, which I really appreciated! I received a nice text from Angie.
It is hard to believe we celebrated our tenth Gotcha Day! I tried to make it special and put together a special photo book for each child that covered our ten years together. Everyone also got a photo blanket and a t-shirt. Grandma and Grandpa came to dinner to celebrate with us. I sent Angie's presents to her as to not leave her out since this was a very special Gotcha Day.
