The boys played flag football this year. They had a blast! They practiced here in town once or twice a week and we'd head to Billings on Saturday for their games. Then we'd go out to eat for lunch and do some shopping or site seeing. The boys did great and it was fun to see how much they improved over the season. By the end, they were taking down flags and running and catching like little pros.
The week of homecoming was fun! The kids enjoyed getting to go to the pep rally over on the football field where they made noise makers, the band played, they had some games and activities, and more. Then, after school, we helped Daddy with the float for the parade. All of the kids were on the hospital float, helping to throw out candy. They all had friends to hang out with who were also employees kids so they really enjoyed it. The theme was about getting the Tigers. So the hospital one had two giant stuffed tigers, one on a hospital bed and one in a wheelchair. It was pretty cute. Sydnie and I watched the parade and got some candy, which was all over and enjoyed the whole time. Then we got some pizza and a giant Cougar cookie for dinner and headed to the game. We watched part of it with all of us, but the youngers wanted to go so Dad went with Emma and Cal. They lost, but it was still a blast!
Of course, the TV is on all day Saturday catching up on football games. Our Wazzu Cougars have been doing awesome this year and it's been fun to watch them! BYU Cougars, well...they've been struggling a bit but it's all good.
We were able to do our first Just Serve service activity together. We cleaned up at Zoo Montana. It was a great morning and we can't wait to get out and serve more as a family with this new to us program! The kids loved seeing the animals as we went. Their favorite was the white wolf, which was howling up at the sky.
Emma started up wrestling in October. She surprised us all when she said she wanted to do it! We wrestle a lot at home for fun but assured her it was much different. She was determined and has been coming home each day telling us how much fun she's having at practice. There are 4 girls on the team and the coaches have been great to work with her. Many of these.kids have been wrestling for years, she is new at this but learning a lot and getting a little better each practice and each meet. Her meet that Columbus was hosting she won a round! It was awesome! We are proud of her. She's also been having fun with school. Her favorite class is Exploratory. First quarter she did art and came home with some great pieces! She likes to play sand art and make mini clothes with her fashion designer set she got for her birthday. She's been having some serious adolescent mood swings lately. And she is sweet as ever! She got to go to her first middle school dance for Halloween, where she dressed up as Princess Leah. We had to convince her to go, but she had a great time and was so glad she did.
Callahan was able to start up at gymnastics again when a spot opened up for him at Billings Gymnastics School. He was elated (though not elated by me insisting to take a picture on his first day) and has been loving being back. He only really did tumbling before, so he's in level 1/2 to learn the rings, parallel bars, and pommel horse. He loves the pommel horse best and they use a padded mushroom to teach them on. We even got to go to a mini meet they had. He did great! Even better he cheered for all of the boys in his class (and was the only one), didn't complain if he didn't agree with his scores (like a few were doing), and was the only one who got a perfect 9 (each event was judged on a scale from 0 to 9) on his tumbling. He works really hard and loves it. And his coach, Tucker, has been great! In his spare time, he loves reading graphic novels, hanging with buddies, playing his recorder through his mouth (and nose), and playing Roblox.
Lucy started taking Irish dance lessons at Ceili Gra Irish this fall. She was a little unsure but had a friend doing it so decided to do it. She is really enjoying it all and loves practicing and teaching me (and everyone else) all the moves she knows. She still tells everyone she wishes she were back in Scobey and has had a rough adjustment. She's making more friends now and getting involved, so though we all miss Scobey, hopefully it will be soon she loves it here as much as there. She's writing back and forth with a few of her friends from there, but also starting to have play dates with friends here.
Cov's really enjoyed participating in his first organized sport once he got going. He was really unsure about starting up and crying and screaming about going to the first game. But once he did it, he loved it! He really doesn't like trying new things or doing the unknown. It was the same way at school but he's flourishing and loving every minute and even got an award for the first quarter. His teacher was shocked to learn that he was so young. He always is cracking us up, or making us worry.
Sydnie has been getting into trouble lately. She's a mess maker and we try to give her plenty of things to sort and fill and dump, one of her favorite activities, but she always finds things to tear apart. ;) Luckily, she also likes to clean. If she finds a cleaning cloth around, she'll start wiping things down or grab the broom and start sweeping, or pull the clean dishes from the dishwasher. Her little teeth and grin are so killer and cute! Her new words are "please", "thanks" "hot". She loves monkeys and making monkey sounds. She enjoys drawing and doodling and will sit and do it for a long time. We tried paint with her a few times, which she really liked.
It was great to go to Parent Teacher conference to hear that the kids are all doing so well at school. They all have things they're working on improving, but their grades are looking well and they are adjusting socially really well too. So that makes me feel great! They also just got their pictures back. Cutest kids! I also had to go to a photo shoot with Miss Sydnie on the main street too.
Dave's been doing great at work and has had his share of challenges to work with there, but is glad to be here. It's a great hospital and great people here and we feel blessed to be around. I am just trying to get our house put together still and staying up on the laundry and cleaning every day. I did start volunteering in all of the elementary kids classes every other Wednesday for half the day. That's been good. Great being at the school with the kids and helping where I can.
We had no leaves to rake or play in at our house this year, so we had to hit up the park for that. We made piles and nests and crunched through with our feet and collected some leaves to make pictures with and threw the leaves up in the air - yipee!
We had some snow, first snow was on the last day of September! But then it warmed back up and was really nice for October and lots of November, too. But we had some snowy days here or there and the kids were ready to capitalize on that.
We had some visitors, which was fun...Jeff & Shirley came! It was a blast. We had a great time showing them around town, doing art work with them, talking, playing games, dance parties, going to Billings, and playing around. It was a great time! We sure do love our aunts and uncles!
We had the Primary program. The theme was "I am a Child of God" and I currently serve as the Primary chorister. The practice the day before was a mess, but after a few tweaks, we pulled it off seamless. The Primary President said she wanted to go through the program twice, I suggested only once, but she really thought we needed it. By the second practice after lunch, the kids were so wiggly and saying "blah blah blah" in the microphone and telling us how tired/legs hurt/hungry/bored they were. I told them that Jesus Christ felt all of those things in the Garden of Gethsemane. It says in the scriptures that He succors us because he's been there. He can help get us through. After that, they did pretty well. The actual program, the Spirit was so strong. These kids are special! We had a whopping 10 kids in our program, but they sang like there were 1,000! It was Emma's last program, we thought that last year, but they have them do it when they're 12 because they still go to Sharing and Singing time every week. She did awesome and gave several talks and sang a duet with Charles. The other kids also had 4 other part each. Callahan spoke of how he feels the Savior's love when he plays the piano. Lucy talked about how she knows she's a child of God because of all of the beautiful creations He's made for us. She also helped decorate the program cover and it turned out so nice. Cov talked about how he knows his family loves him because he gets lots of hugs. I am thankful to know of my spiritual heritage - that I am a Child of God! It makes all the difference in my life. I am thankful for that knowledge!
It's been a wonderful fall and we are looking forward to...next fall already again!
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