December: It's a Wonderful Life, Another Adult in the House, and Merry Christmas 2017

It was a fun start to the month when we got to go and see Kendall and Lynnsey perform in the MHS production of It's a Wonderful Life. They both had such a fun time with this one and I loved that they were able to be in theatre together this year. Kendall played the part of Cousin Eustace and Lynnsey had several roles as part of the ensemble. It was such a talented cast and they all worked so hard in the weeks leading up to opening night. They did a phenomenal job! 

 Kendall celebrated his 18th birthday on the 7th. I just can't even fathom how this is all happening so fast. How do I have another high school senior? How am I going to send out another missionary in a few short months? I am simultaneously dreading his leaving and just so proud of who he is becoming and excited for the opportunities ahead of him. I just wish he could do all that and still come home every day! He has been such a joy from day one--so funny and kind and helpful and such a peacemaker in our home. It has been one of the biggest blessings of my life to be a mom to this boy.

 Kalen actually missed Kendall's birthday because he was on another trip to Spain with some students from his first year seminar class. This is literally the only picture I have of his trip! He has lots of others but they're on the camera and he lost the cord needed to upload them to the computer so we haven't been able to retrieve them yet. He had a great time although I think he much prefers going on his own. I keep telling him he'll prefer taking his wife even more! Maybe someday...

We had a great time at our branch Christmas party this year too. The food was great and we had a really nice turnout so that was fun to visit with everyone. Brother Fittro planned a fun music program with performances from branch members as well as a few songs with all the primary and youth. And he played his guitar and sang his traditional version of "Run, Run Rudolph". We also sang some Christmas hymns to wrap up the evening.

 While I was looking for something in our game closet one day, I came across this old puzzle that we'd been given a few years back. We haven't put it together since that first year we got it and we decided it would be a fun activity to do. It kept us occupied for several days and we finally finished it on Christmas Eve, just in time for Christmas.

 We had a wonderful Christmas. We actually managed to cut back on our spending this year so the gifts were a bit less extravagant, but we were all together and had a great day. Taylor was able to come home which was a bit lucky. He had put off buying his plane tickets until the cheapest tickets were about $500--way out of his and our budget. But I was feeling sick about not having him come home since he'd missed the last couple of Christmases before while on his mission. I had the idea to check Chicago flight prices just to see and I was able to find one for $244. Taylor didn't even have enough to cover that much but we we bought it and he's paying us back gradually. It was so good to have him here for the first time in years, but next year he'll have to be more on the ball and get his ticket earlier because it was a nightmare making that drive twice to Chicago during the holidays when traffic was even worse than usual and taking him back we hit a horrible snowstorm that slowed us down and caused Taylor to be later than we'd wanted. So hopefully next time he can just fly to Detroit. But anyway, we had him home this Christmas and that was a blessing. We had a fun day opening presents and talking to extended family members and we had our traditional breakfast omlettes and a ham dinner. Our house smelled amazing all day!

 One day shortly after Christmas I was passing by the Nativity set and saw something a little off. I about died laughing when I realized that Spencer has put his Yoda figure in between Mary and Joseph! He said it had been there for probably at least a week or more and he was wondering how long it would take before someone saw it. Yoda was just blending in so nicely, I guess!

 We had another awesome New Year's Eve party. The best ones are always just our family in our pajamas with lots of great munchies and tons of games. And this one did not disappoint. We had great food, including some treats like eclair's from Kendall. Yum!

 We played lots of games. Every New Year's Eve we play Clue and have a Fast Track tournament. And then each family member gets to pick the game of their choice and the rest of us have to play it whether it's a favorite or not. We played the games that Timothy gave us this year--Spoons, Tenzi, and Wacky Six, plus the one he gave us last year, Ticket to Ride.

 We wrapped up the evening and the year with sparkling cider and watching the ball drop while we counted down to 2018.

Happy New Year from the Oswald's!

November: An Awesome Solo, a Long-Awaited Award, A Great Thanksgiving Break

We began the month of November with a middle school solo and ensemble event for Spencer. It is a required thing for all 7th and 8th graders and it terrifies nearly all of them but gives them some really valuable experience and feedback. Of course, it hit on a very busy Thursday when we had a million other things happening, including my weekly pathway class. But we made it work by Kalen handling the stuff going on in Albion and me taking Spencer to his performance which we managed to schedule with just enough time for me to get back and drop Spencer off before heading to class in Jackson. Spencer was SO nervous but he did a phenomenal job. He was one of only two trumpet players who scored a 1 so that was a pretty big deal. They judge gave him some nice feedback that Spencer found to be really helpful (including about how to hold the trumpet, which in the couple of years he's been playing, none of his teachers have taught him such a simple thing but it makes a big difference!) Now hopefully next year won't be quite so scary for him since he'll know what to expect.

 Kaya was thrilled when a letter came home from school saying that she had (FINALLY!!!) been selected as one of the 4th grade Student's of the Month. She has been hoping and hoping since last year that she would be chosen. Last year her teacher's reasoning for not nominating Kaya was that Kaya already knew how valuable she was to the school and her class and that the teacher felt that she needed to give the award to students who had maybe struggled in the beginning but who were overcoming things and becoming better so that they could have a boost to keep them performing better. I think Kaya could appreciate that reasoning but for crying out loud, even the best kids deserve some positive recognition sometimes! And it finally came this year from her 4th grade teacher who said of his choice to nominate her: "Kaya Oswald is a leader in the classroom! She always has her work neat, complete, and on time. She is a welcoming and compassionate person for the new students, who have joined our class this year! I am very proud of her, because she definitely deserves it!! ~ Mr. Coats"

All of the students of the month get to have their picture taken and hung on the main bulletin board in the entryway of the school and they had a special ceremony where they get to eat treats and have the principal award them a certificate. Kaya was so excited to be recognized and we're super proud of her and her leadership and helpful attitude at school.

For Thanksgiving this year we had our usual visit from the Bramhall's as well as Jonathan and this time my dad was here too. We had such a fun time. Jonathan mentioned that he'd missed our excursion years before when we went to the Albion College library to see their first edition copy of the Book of Mormon. We decided since Kaya was a newborn the last time we went, that it was high time to go see it again. It was really awesome to see it again and I think it had a big impact on the kids who were so young the last time we went.

 While we were talking about their rare books, the librarian told us that they had a very old copy of the Holy Bible (I think he said it was from the 1400's maybe?) So he pulled that out and it was pretty amazing.

 It had the old English lettering which was pretty fascinating.

 And then Kalen found out that they had an old copy (1600's)of Don Quixote, only his all time favorite work of fiction ever in the entire world! So they pulled that out and Kalen got to look through it. He's already making plans to take his students over to see it soon.

 The kids had fun goofing off on campus afterward too...

 And our Thanksgiving dinner was fantastic as usual--delicious food and the best company ever. I can't express how thankful I am for my sister and her family and the relationships that our kids have with each other. I just love that they have such similar fun personalities and that they are all best friends!

 We had lots of fun visiting and playing games and even had a fun "red carpet" event where we got to watch the kids latest YouTube movie called "Macaroni and Cheese: Friendship Forever", a super silly (of course) but so hilarious production that they filmed when we were in New Jersey in August.

It was a great way to wrap up another fun and busy month! I wish we lived closer!