September

 September brought an end to summer vacation and the start to school.  To end the summer, Eden had a friend over for a play date and everyone but Kimball got involved.  I'm so glad Eden could make good friends at preschool.

Fort time with Juliana.

The family also went to the State Fair.  We hadn't gone the last two years so everyone was eager to go.  Unfortunately, it was a rainy day, but it didn't prevent the kids from having fun on the rides and eating the food.

The first day of school was September 7.  I always loved the first day of school as a student and I still love it as a mom!

Kimball is a sophomore in high school.  Rebecah is in 7th grade.

Lincoln and Annika are in 2nd grade and Eden is in Kindergarten! 

The little ones were much more excited about the start of school than the two older kids.  Eden had a slow transition to school.  It has taken her a good three weeks to start eating all of her lunch.  I think she was just nervous and unable to eat.  She enjoys school. although, I didn't mind the extra long hugs I received from her after school the first few days.  She has one preschool friend in her kindergarten class and she always gets so excited to see her preschool friends at school.  There are about 10 preschool friends at the school.

There is one preschool friend who ISN'T at our elementary school.  We were so happy to discover Rowan at the soccer fields, though!  Rowan's older brother joined Lincoln and Annika's soccer team this fall, so Eden and Rowan get to hang out at most of the games.  

I took the kids to the back to school barbecue.  I used to dread this annual activity because Joseph always seemed to be working and I hated hanging out in the crowd by myself while the kids were playing with friends.  The good news about having so many kids is that I have made friends with the parents of their friends so I have people to chat with at this activity and I don't dread it anymore.

Lincoln and Joseph went to an SU football game.  It was a long game for a 7 year old so they didn't stay the entire time.  Too bad Lincoln couldn't hold out until the end because I hear SU scored at the very end of the game clinching the win.  

Rebecah made the school soccer team and her coach asked if there were any siblings who wanted to be ball boy/girl for the home games.  Lincoln was SO excited to be a ball boy.  He has been able to help at one game, and he did a great job.  It rained pretty hard during the game and he was wet and cold by the time the game ended.  I was proud of him for sticking it out even though the weather wasn't ideal.

You can see the hint of a rainbow on the left side of this picture.

Annika almost quit soccer this year. She felt like she wasn't a good player because she wasn't scoring three goals each game like Lincoln was.  (The coach and I finally had to tell Lincoln that his cap each game is three goals and after he scores three goals he needs to pass so other kids can have a chance to score.)  Annika finally scored her first goal September 24th.  The smile on her face was priceless!  Scoring that goal has boosted her confidence so much.  Everyone just wants to feel like they are succeeding, and sadly, in sports you are only a success if you win.

While Joseph and Annika went mountain biking, Lincoln, Eden and I went to Green Lakes for a walk.  It was a beautiful day and the kids ran at least half of the trail.  

Lincoln having some fun at his church activities.

In other less exciting news... Annette's grandma died on September 19th.  She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer August 23rd and a few weeks later she was gone.  It has been tough.  Grandma will be missed greatly.

Kimball and Rebecah also sustained concussions this month...on the same day!  How crazy is that?!?  Kimball was playing football and the snap went crazy so he jumped on the ball so the other team wouldn't recover it.  He followed what the coaches always taught during practice to pounce on the ball and just lay there to decrease the chance of being tackled.  I guess the idea is if the player and ball are on the ground there's no need to tackle the player that's already down.  Well, the other team doesn't play by that rule and Kimball was tackled hard, resulting in a mild concussions.  Kimball was out of practice for six days and then did a five day "return to play" protocol in order to return to football practice and games.  Rebecah's concussion happened during practice.  The goalie punted the ball and Rebecah didn't see it and the ball just hit her head.  Since she was stationary her head took all of the movement (Kimball said it worked from a Physics standpoint.) and resulted in a concussion.  Rebecah's headaches lasted longer than Kimball's, but she is finally in the "return to play" phase and hopes to finally play in her soccer game on October 5th.  No more concussions!

October is now here and we are gearing up for birthday week!!

August

 It was a busy month!!  

We started the month at Grammy's house in St. Louis.  We tend to do the same activities each year when we visit because that is what the kids want to do, but we tried to spice things up a little this year. 

Our first outing was to Rock Roll Arena for roller skating.  I can't believe this place is still around.  I went skating here as a girl and I loved it.  Skating birthday parties were the best!  I can honestly say this place hasn't changed....from the turtle and gorilla outside the building to the smells, the fixtures on the walls, the songs and skating activities....all the same.  Skating didn't go as well as I hoped it would.  Fifteen minutes into our outing two large day care groups showed up with hoards of kids.  There was one little boy that was just too reckless on the rink.  He kept falling and when he would fall he would cause others to fall around him.  Unfortunately, I happened to be one of those who fell because try as I might, I couldn't avoid this kid.  I was too worried about falling and hurting him and not worried enough about falling and hurting myself.  I should have worried more about myself!  I ended up with a bruised nose, bruised knee caps and a chipped bone on my metacarpal head (knuckle) on my right hand.  A month later my injuries are still sore if pressed in the right way or if I move my hand muscles too much.  Because I fell, the kids weren't as interested in skating, but they made the best of it.

This gives you an idea of what my knees looked like for a few weeks.

Hanging out with Heather watching TV.

One of our favorite activities is bowling with the Colemans.  We signed up for the Kids Bowl Free program and we literally bowled for free.  It was supposed to be 2 free games and we pay for shoe rental, but the man working that day told me he was feeling nice and didn't make us pay at all....even for Chandra's adult games and shoes.  It was so nice of him that I took my kids bowling again the next day just so we could pay for shoe rental and give the bowling alley a little money.

Climbing Grammy's tree.

Eden and Kate with their matching shoes.  Kate Leigh, one of our cousins, lived with Grammy and Heather this summer helping them out.  It was SO fun to get to know Kate as an adult, and to talk with her about BYU.  I wish I knew my nieces and nephews better!

After church Chandra hosted a lunch for us in her beautiful home.  It was fun to chat with Joe and to see her new house. My kids loved playing with Christian and Ruby.  The Colemans are one of the highlights of our yearly St. Louis trips.  

We had ice cream at another childhood favorite of mine....Bob's Drive-In.  It is now one of my kids' favorites as well!

Every year I "take one for the team" and we visit a waterpark.  They love it.  I hate water and being wet.  It would be a miserable day for me if it weren't for Chandra.  We chat the hours away watching our kids and that makes the outing 100% better.  I just can't stop saying how much I love hanging out with Chandra during our visits!  

Our last outing was to the Arch.  It was the first time taking my kids to the Arch.  I grew up in St. Louis and we went to the Arch, but I never thought it was that exciting.  However, every year when people hear we have been to St. Louis, they ask the kids if we went to the Arch and it's always a 'no' answer.  This year that changed.  It was a beautiful morning at the Arch.  It wasn't overly hot and we could walk around the grounds and down to the river without dying in the heat.  For Kimball, it was the highlight of our trip.

Inside the museum. (Masks were required since it's a national park.) The museum is well done and very interactive--almost too interactive where we had a few tears over who got to do which kiosk!

There is a map of the United States, so we all stood where we live (or in my Mom's case, where she grew up). 

This picture of Kimball and Ruby speaks volumes.  A year ago Ruby was TERRIFIED of Kimball.  If he looked at her or spoke to her she would scream in terror.  She is a year older this year and was buddies with Kimball again, much to his relief!

Saying good-bye!  Ruby was sad we were leaving!

We were home just a few days from St. Louis when Rebecah left to spend a week at Girls Camp.  She was really hesitant to go and was afraid she wouldn't have fun, but she had a blast!  She said after the first hour she rarely thought of her family!  That's the way I wanted it!  I was so glad there was a camp FB page where I could find pictures of her having fun.

We went swimming with friends.

Kimball turned 15 on the 23rd.  He is definitely more man than child these days.  He wasn't too excited about his birthday.  I think he thought he wouldn't get any decent gifts, but boy did he underestimate me!  He was pleased with all of his gifts.  Hooray!  His favorite gifts were, sadly, not from Joseph and me, but from Joseph's co-workers!  One of the nurses Joseph works with sells sports cards and he and Joseph have talked about Kimball's sports card interest and his love of the sports teams in Cleveland, OH.  Chris brought Joseph two Tristan McKenzie rookie cards.  McKenzie is a pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians and Kimball has wanted a Tristan McKenzie card for a long time.  Now he has two.  He was SO surprised.  Kimball's other exciting present was a set of left-handed golf clubs from a doctor Joseph works with.  Joseph was chatting in the OR about taking Kimball golfing, but having a difficult time finding a course with left-handed clubs for Kimball.  The doctor piped up..."I might have a set of left-handed clubs in my garage from one of my sons.  I'll give them to your son."

Seeing those Tristan McKenzie cards!

Kimball had his favorite foods: cranberry white chocolate scones for breakfast, spaghetti carbonara for dinner and strawberry rhubarb crumble bars for dessert.  My rhubarb didn't do very well this year so we only had enough for 2 desserts and now we have to be content with no more rhubarb until next year!

Youth Temple Trip

I saw a former co-worker from my BYU days at a church meeting in Palmyra, NY.  We hadn't seen each other for 20 years and it was great to catch up.

Lincoln and Joseph went to the Speedway to see some lightning fast cars.  Lincoln loved it!

This month was a great way to end the summer.  Football practice has started.  Rebecah just made the school soccer team and the kids have their class and teacher assignments for school.  School starts September 7th and everyone will be in school.