Winter 2018

I just really hate when I have such great intentions to post at least twice a month so that I can keep up and write a decent blog and then all of a sudden it's mid January of the following year and I realize that not only did I not post twice a month, but I didn't post at all. So here we go with another really fast year at a glance which I will just break up into seasons. And I can't make any promises that 2019 will be much better. I'm hoping I can keep up but things are really crazy right now with online classes at BYU-Idaho combined with going back to full time babysitting combined with being Young Women president in the branch. But I'm getting ahead of myself because none of those things were happening last year at this time.

January:

Last year at this time, I was taking classes but it was still the PathwayConnect program through BYU-I and I thought things were stressful then! Actually at that point I was taking a Book of Mormon class and a math class so I actually was kind of stressed--particularly over the math class. But I don't know if it was the fact that I could rewind the instructional videos as often as I needed to or if it was that it went way back to multiplication before building up rapidly to Algebra and Geometry stuff, but it made so much more sense to me and wound up being a really good class. In the end I got my first A in a math class since probably 7th grade!

Also, in January, Kaya was honored as one of four essay winners at Harrington Elementary for her essay on Martin Luther King, Jr. She was given a certificate at an assembly in school where she also had to read her essay in front of everyone. Then she was invited to a special dinner with a program afterward where the essay winners read their essays in front of the community. Then she was honored at the city council meeting. And then she had to read the essay at the school board meeting. And then she was invited to an NAACP meeting to present her essay one final time! By the end, she had the thing memorized and was happy to not have to read it ever again.

Lynnsey turned 15 on the 10th. Kendall made her a delicious cake and we had a nice little family party at home.

February:

Things started getting even busier in February. Kendall and Lynnsey had the opportunity to go with the marching band to New York City. I was just a little bit envious. They had a great time visiting different sites around the city like Ellis Island, Radio City Music Hall, Time's Square, and two Broadway plays (Phantom of the Opera and Spongebob Squarepants--both of which they loved including surprisingly the latter). 

Kendall and Lynnsey also both did solo and ensemble with band this month. It was Lynnsey's first time and they got a judge who was incredibly difficult and actually rather harsh with them. They did a great job from what I witnessed but the judge apparently didn't agree and ripped them to shreds very unconstructively. They felt lucky to get out of the experience with a 2. We checked the overall score sheet and the other flute judge was giving out tons of 1's but Lynnsey's had given out only two or three, with the majority scoring 2's or not even getting a score at all.

 Kendall and his group had a much more fair judge. They did a great job and scored a 1 which qualified them for state.

Lynnsey had her New Beginning's program with their tiny little young women group. I'm really wishing I had paid more attention to how the night went because now that I'm in charge this year, I'm feeling like I really don't know what the heck I'm doing. We sure loved Sister Betzold and all she did for the girls.

March:

Kendall and Lynnsey had such a great experience being involved in the Marshall High school production of The Little Mermaid. Kendall got the role he was hoping for, playing Grimmsby. Lynnsey got an ensemble role as one of the sea creatures. The auditorium was packed full for all three performances and it was probably the most successful play the school has ever done.

After one of the rehearsals, the seniors in the play were recognized and celebrated. It was quite a group and the theatre department is really suffering their absence this year!

 Also in March, the kids all had their band festival. Kendall in symphonic band, Lynnsey in concert band and Spencer in middle school band. All three bands did a phenomenal job and scored 1's.

 Kaya had a great time with her twice-weekly Girls on the Run meetings.

 I don't even know what this picture is from--maybe recess or something at Harrington, but I just love how happy everyone looks.

 Kendall had his choir festival as well with the Marshall Singers and they too did a great job, scoring straight 1's.

 Easter was in March. The Activity Day kids put on another Easter egg hunt and party and the kids had fun getting their faces painted like bunnies. We also had our annual egg hunt at home. I know the kids are getting too old for it, but they're always willing to go along since it means a bunch of candy!

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!