November

One new thing for us as the parent's of a child at Marshall High School is that band is a huge commitment! If you are in band that means that you are automatically in Marching Band and Marching Band means that every Monday from the end of Aug - Nov you have a mandatory three hour rehearsal in the evening (even if you try to use Family Home Evening as an excuse) and you have to play during all the home football games and do a halftime show. We decided since we weren't getting to ever see Kendall anymore that we would go where he was and we managed to catch a couple of the games this year. It actually was a lot of fun even though it was chilly and rainy. They do a really good half time performance and it was fun to get caught up in the excitement of high school football (even though many parents got WAY too involved and took it WAY too seriously!).

Also in November, it finally happened. A few months later than he had planned, but it finally happened. Taylor submitted his mission papers and began the anxious wait to see where he would be assigned to labor as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

While we waited and speculated about various exotic and not so exotic locations that he may be sent to, we also celebrated Thanksgiving. Jonathan came out again this year for his usual vacation time so that was great to see him again. And he also installed a new bumper on our van to replace the one that was a casualty of last winter when Kalen scraped it on the giant pile of snow in our driveway as he was backing out and the whole side cracked and broke off! He also fixed our windshield wiper. So yeah, like I said, it was great to see him again. (It was also fun to visit with him!!!) Mom and I did our annual Black Friday shopping excursion and it took the entire day but I managed to knock out nearly all of my Christmas shopping this time, so it was totally worth the exhaustion and sore feet.

October

One really great thing happened this year with my babysitting schedule and that is that I have a day off every week! At least for now I don't have anyone coming on Wednesdays (unless there is a half day or a snow day). I was so excited for all the things I would be able to do with that one day but that one day FLY'S by so fast with appointments and errands that I don't usually get much else accomplished. However, I was so excited when Spencer's field trip which was scheduled for a Friday was rescheduled for a Wednesday and that meant I could come along as a chaperone. That day Kaya also wound up with a field trip (what are the odds???) so I had to choose between them, but since there wasn't room on Spencer's bus and chaperones had to drive, and there was room on Kaya's bus, Taylor (who still doesn't drive) wound up going with her on her trip and I went with Spencer. Both kids had tons of fun. Kaya went to a pumpkin patch/apple orchard and Spencer went to a farm day exhibition at the fairgrounds. 

They fed the kids lunch first.

Spencer and his best buddy.

Then they had us split into smaller groups to visit different areas all around the grounds. It was so funny to see how excited the kids got over all the farm animals. I sometimes forget how different it is for kids who don't grow up around that. They were totally fascinated.

Equally fascinating were the enormous pieces of machinery!

At one station the kids got to practice "milking" a cow and they each got a "milk mustache" sticker to put above their lips. Possibly the only "milk mustache" our allergic Spencer will ever have!

The kids had a fun time with Spirit Week at school. There was pajama day, Wildcat shirt day, etc. but I think our kids favorite was Nerd Day.

It took about a year longer than he had planned, but at long last Taylor finally, officially became an Eagle Scout! We are so proud of him and all his hard work. He had a great Court of Honor and we were really happy that we had some family in town for it (my dad, Timothy, and Susannah and her kids all came to visit for about ten days before taking my mom back to Utah with them).

We are so proud of his accomplishment!

Another exciting thing to happen in October was the re-opening of the Bohm Theater. It closed suddenly in 2008 and it seemed like just another blow for our already struggling town. But one thing that we have learned about Albion is that it doesn't go down without a fight. A group of citizens formed to figure out how to go about renovating it and bringing it back. It took a lot of years and a lot of fundraising and grant proposals, but it was worth the wait. Because of the historical preservation grant that they received, they had very strict guidelines requiring them to restore it to it's original historical grandeur.The completed project is absolutely stunning! Years ago when we first moved here and would go to the movies, we would look around and think how cool it would be if we had a bunch of money to fix the place up. We could always tell that it had once been an amazing place but time had definitely taken it's toll.

The night it reopened, we got to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony and watch as they lit up the new marquee and then we got to go in and enjoy and old Laurel and Hardy movie (which was the first movie ever shown in the Bohm when it first opened in 1929). It was just really amazing to sit in those plush reclining chairs and look around at the packed audience of community members and see something so fantastic happen. This, along with a new college president who is working hard to form a connection to the community and schools, as well as some new businesses opening or planning to open (like the proposed downtown hotel with boutique shops and ballroom and restaurant) seems to have brought an air of excitement and hope to this little place and it will be really fun to see how things unfold.

The marquee all lit up!

The ribbon cutting ceremony.

Another cool thing about that opening night was that it was also Taylor's first night at his new job! Finally, after months of looking hard (and sometimes not looking very hard), he finally found a way to earn some funds for his mission. I'm the one who found the job listing and made him call about it, so I pretty much take most of the credit for him getting the job, although his interview was pretty great from what I hear and the thank you note (which I made him write and deliver the next day) pretty much sealed the deal. It is a great job for him and he loves the people he works with.

And of course, it isn't October without Halloween. This year we decided to save some money and re-do one of our themes-- Harry Potter. Last time we did it, only the kids dressed up and Kaya wasn't even born yet, so it was almost like a brand new idea this time.

Last time Taylor dressed as Harry. This time Spencer (who was a dragon the first time) went as Harry. It was fitting since he has become a huge Harry Potter fan and has read the entire series just recently.

Last time Lynnsey went as Hermione and this time the costume was just the right size for Kaya to have a turn.

We added a new character this time--Luna Lovegood. The Bramhall's did this theme last year and were so generous to let us borrow their costumes. They sent the robe, wig and glasses and I hit the jackpot at Goodwill when I found a sweater and skirt to match.

Another new character this time was Severus Snape. Last time Kendall went as Dumbledore but the wig and beard had seen better days and the robes no longer fit, so we had fun putting this one together with the help of eBay and Goodwill.

Kalen and I got to dress up this time around as Hagrid and Professor McGonogall thanks to the Bramhall's costumes.

Taylor was a party pooper and wouldn't join in the theme this year. Instead he went with his old favorite, Indiana Jones.

We found another Harry at our branch trunk or treat!

Our monster car won 2nd place in the trunk decorating contest!

For the second year in a row now, our school has allowed the kids to wear costumes on Halloween. Since Kaya is going to outgrow this dress pretty soon, and I wanted someone to use it again, she decided to dress as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz for school before transforming into Hermione that night.

September

As it always does, summer ended way too quickly and it was time to get back to school and work and all the busyness that goes with it. 

Kendall began his freshman year at Marshall High School so we continue the schedule we had with Taylor last year with Kalen driving every morning to Marshall to get Kendall to early morning seminary. The only difference is that Kendall is not attending the math and science center so he spends his entire day in one school and is very happy with that decision. He is quickly making new friends (he says being short makes him really noticeable so people learned who he was right away). He is doing well so far in his classes--Spanish is his favorite and Geometry is not. He had a fun but exhausting time with marching band but was happy when he played at the last football game of the season so that his schedule would be a little more flexible.

 Lynnsey, Spencer, and Kaya are continuing together at Albion Community School and are all off to a good start.

 Spencer is in fourth grade this year and is having an amazing year. He has been in occupational therapy to help with Sensory Processing Disorder since April and it seems to have helped tremendously in the school setting. He is focused and happier and respectful of his teacher (who he adores) and the other students. He is making better friends this year and has actually been to several sleepovers! He even was awarded Student of the Month! He is academically at the top of his class and is especially talented at writing and reading. He read the entire Harry Potter series in less than three months and started a trend among his classmates who saw him enjoying them so much. He said there are five kids currently plowing through them in his class.

 Kaya is in first grade now and enjoying it most days. She has a great teacher that she really loves but has been a lot more emotional this year and seems to have developed a bit of a fear of failure. Her teacher says Kaya doesn't realize how smart she really is and often will be sad and not even want to try an assignment if she thinks she might not be able to do it. But she's making strides and her reading is improving tremendously. She even read a book to the class which she previously had been afraid to try. She is coping with the departure of her best friend who is moving away so that was pretty sad for her too.

 Lynnsey is in 6th grade this year and doing great! She is also top of the class academically and is really happy with the teacher she got. She wound up with several of her friends in the class too. This year she is doing the after school program a couple of days a week because they are offering dance classes which she has wanted to take for awhile now. She is doing ballet and jazz and enjoying both but especially the ballet.

 For Kalen's birthday I took him to see the Piano Guys in concert in Detroit. We were really wishing that we could take the entire family again this year but the tickets were so much more expensive that we just couldn't. We probably shouldn't have gone either but it was right on Kalen's birthday and the temptation was too great to pass up. It was so much fun! We went to dinner beforehand at a yummy barbecue place just down the road and then went to the concert. They just put on a fabulous show. Lots of it was similar to last year when we went but they had lots of new stuff too.

 Because they are so much more famous now, the only way to meet them after the show was if we purchased VIP tickets which we couldn't do so we knew we wouldn't be staying after this time. But after we were in our seats we turned around and once again the sound guys were right behind us just like last year. So at intermission Kalen and I went over and talked to Paul and Al (who Kaya said was her favorite Piano Guy and wanted me to say hi for her). They were really nice and took a minute to come talk to us and Al says he actually remembers Kaya from last year. I don't know if he actually does but maybe... So that was pretty cool. I'm so glad we splurged and went!

 We also enjoyed another Festival of the Forks this year. Taylor signed up to run in the 5K. The picture I got of him came out totally blurry, but he did great and won the first place medal for his age category.

Spencer tried to jump in and pretend like he was completing the race too.

The soccer club marched in the parade this year!

Kendall marched with the Marshall High School marching band.

And Lynnsey marched in the Albion Community school band.

 The highlight of the Festival this year was getting to tour the newly refurbished Bohm Theater. There was still just a little bit of work left to do with the balcony but we were able to walk around the lower part and sit in the cushy new chairs. It is seriously amazing. Every time I see it I just can't get over the transformation. Seeing something like this come back from such a poor state that it was closed for so many years is really huge for our community.

 After spending several hours downtown, we headed up to the soccer field for Lynnsey and Spencer's games. (Kaya's was postponed.) The kids all had a great soccer season this year. Lynnsey is still so much fun to watch--she is just graceful and talented out there. She loved that Kalen got to be her coach this season. And Spencer! Holy cow! That boy was a maniac on the field this fall. I could see it beginning during the spring season, but this season he just took off. He's so fast and plays his position incredibly. He seems to be able to anticipate where he needs to be on the field. He scored many goals this season and got in some valuable goalie practice. He always feels bad if a ball gets past him on goal, so that's not his favorite position but with some coaching from Kendall, he got a lot more comfortable. Kaya did great this season too. She was one of the youngest players on her team since she moved up to the next level, but she did great and learned a ton from her very patient coach.

Even though Kendall is too old to play on the kids teams now, they kept him busy as a linesman.