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!

October: More Cross Country, More Soccer, More Band, and Finally Some Progress on Our Bathroom, And Halloween of Course

The last month of cross country was a busy one daily practices and lots of meets. Lynnsey continued to be plagued by shin splints but still worked hard and wound up improving her time by a bit.

Spencer had some rough meets for a little while and had about decided he was through with cross country but then he had a great meet where he actually won a medal and that seemed to recharge his batteries a bit so that the last few meets, he ran really hard and wound up getting a PR for his final run which seemed to totally fire him up. So now he says he totally wants to run again next season.

Both Spencer and Kaya had a great soccer season as well. Spencer played on the U-14 team and wound up being a real asset to his team. Kaya played on U-10 with Kalen as her coach again. She had a really fun team and it was fun to see them work together so well.

One day after soccer, Vondy came to hang out with Kaya for a few hours because her parents were at the temple. They had so much fun being on the same soccer team. It's too bad for Marshall that they discontinued their soccer program but Kaya loved having one of her best friend's ever join her team. Anyway, the girls had a fun afternoon at Kid's N' Stuff.

In addition to all the fall sports, marching band was also super time consuming. We got to see a few football games and the half time show was always great. One of the games we went to was the senior show where the seniors are in charge of selecting the music and coming up with the formations and choreography. They did a great job. It is just so strange that Kendall is a senior! As his parents, Kalen and I were called onto the football field where each senior paid tribute to their parents and gave us a flower.

 One of the great things about my dad being retired now is that he comes to visit a little more often. And he has been blessing us with his amazing talents in home improvement. When we first bought our house, our upstairs bathroom was horrible. It had a mint green tub and an olive green toilet with a wacky counter top and a green sink and of course carpeting because that makes SO much sense to put carpet in the bathroom! Ick! We immediately replaced the toilet and flooring and then a few years later we took down the wallpaper, put in a new tub and tub liner, sink and counter top. It was so much better but we didn't finish it because in the installation of the new tub liner, we had to take out the drop ceiling tiles and several of them were so old and yucky that they crumbled. So we went years with an unfinished ceiling until now. My dad came and worked some magic and put in a brand new ceiling for us!

 I still need to post some "after" pictures, but we still have some painting to do first. It is SO much better! He took out the giant florescent light fixture and put in some recessed lighting that changes the whole look of the bathroom. We're getting so close to having it finally done!

Spencer and Kaya had a fun night at the library "lock in" activity playing games and making food and crafts.

 We also had our branch Harvest Festival which was really fun. The kids played all sorts of games and we were able to have Sister Fry do our family pictures again as she has done for the past couple of years. Spencer invited his friend Alex to join us and I think he had a lot of fun.

 Spencer got creative with a couple of little gourd pumpkins and turned his into a BB-8 robot!

 The high school and the elementary school had some Halloween festivities so Kendall, Lynnsey and Kaya were all able to wear costumes to school. (The middle school needs to get with the program!)

Lynnsey went as a girl from the 1950's.

 Kaya got some more use out of our Harry Potter robes and went as Hermione again.

 And Kendall donned the Jedi costume that he made all by himself.

 For actual Halloween, we let Kendall choose our family theme since it's his last year at home. He picked Lord of the Rings. It was a really fun theme--though a little more expensive than past years. I should be able to sell most of these costumes back on eBay though so it's good.

Kaya went as Galadriel. She was able to use her flower girl dress from Susannah's wedding so that was a bonus. We just had to come up with the long blonde wig.

 Lynnsey went as Eowyn and her costume was one of the biggest challenges because you can't buy and actual Eiowyn costume. I just had to look at pictures and then do my best to come up with something similar. It actually came out really well and I'm pretty proud of it.

 No Lord of the Rings Theme is complete without a hobbit! Spencer made a great Frodo Baggins.

 Kendall had a ball dressing up as Legolas the elf. He kept cracking us up all evening as he tried to walk so gracefully everywhere we went!

 I went as a (rather too old) Arwen.

 And Kalen made a great Gandalf the wizard!

 Kaya had fun putting together a fun diorama of a Native American village. She got pretty creative with her use of materials and did a great job.

 Meanwhile Taylor was having tons of fun at BYU. He got to meet Dalton from Studio C one day so he was pretty thrilled with that!

 He went to some fun Halloween parties and activities dressed as the 10th Doctor from Doctor Who.

 And he spent lots of time working at his dream job! He was able to score a job at the campus dinosaur museum even though they technically weren't hiring, so that was a huge blessing for him and something that he absolutely loves!