The Rest of November

I've had fun this year so far helping out with Ian and Seth's class parties.  I also go into Seth's class every other week and volunteer.  There are huge changes in our school district next year with two new high schools being built that is causing trickle down change for everyone.  6th graders are going to stay in the elementary school and 9th graders will now be in high school.  Luke will go to South Cache next year which will be 7th and 8th graders.  Wellsville Elementary is closing down and all of those kids will go to Willow Valley where Luke goes and is currently a middle school.  They are also changing the boundaries so Seth, Ian, and Leah will go to Willow Valley which will become the new Wellsville Elementary.  It has its pros and cons.  We have liked the last three years at Mountainside in Mendon.  It's a great school.  The new school is much closer and the kids won't have the long bus ride which is great.  They will get to meet all the kids in Wellsville that they don't know and we will feel more like a part of the town, but they will miss their Mendon friends until they seem them again in middle school.  Change is constant I guess.

Seth (and often Leah) are known for making lunch for us when we're having a work day outside.  They are a fan of the grape, cheese, cracker menu, but this deluxe one for Jer included a sandwich.  Seth is a great kid.  He can be as stubborn as a mule and is sometimes hypersensitive, but he's also sweet, caring, and mostly easy going.

Leah Turned Five!

It's hard to believe Leah turned five in November.  She gave me a run for my money over the summer and again over Christmas break (I think she likes structure), but I can honestly say that she has been nothing but a joy the last several months.  She is so smart, funny, and easy to please.  Some of her favorite words are:  actually, wonderful, and amazing.  She is so fun to spend time with and has become quite the daddy's girl lately.  She's also my little sidekick though and I'm so glad we still have next year to hang out together while the boys are at school.  She is excited for kindergarten, and we will register her in about a month.  

A few months ago while we were sitting around the dinner table eating beans Leah said, "this reminds me of that scripture."  We were all kind of clueless and she went on to say, "you know about the beans.  When ye are in the service of your fellow beans."  It was so cute!  To her beings were beans.  We all got a good laugh.  Leah is for the most part self-confident and sure of herself.  She is incredibly determined and hard working and feisty as all get out.  She got right on the two wheel bike we got for her birthday and rode away like it was no big deal.  I was so proud!  She had a party with some little friends from the ward, and we also celebrated with family and cake and ice cream.  At that one, she got her hair in the candles - twice, like actually caught it on fire - so that could have gone better!  Leah, you are one-of-a-kind, and we couldn't love you more!

Fall Soccer

All four kids played soccer this fall.  It was so crazy.  I am blocking out how crazy that was.  Leah loved her first practice and then hated it and says she no longer wants to play soccer.  We'll see.  Ian liked it and did an awesome job as goalie and started scoring some goals towards the end of the season.  He tried so hard.  Seth made a great little competitive team.  They won almost all of their games.  I'm not sure soccer will be his thing, but he had fun and played goalie most games.  Luke's team did really well for their first season together.  Luke is suddenly saying he wants to play tackle football in the fall.  Football is great.  I do hate to see him quit soccer though - especially before he has a chance to try football out.  I wish they didn't try to make soccer (and most other sports) a year round thing these days.  We'll see what he ends up doing once spring soccer's done.  He did have a fun season though with a great team and coaches.

Other September/October happenings...

Here are a bunch of miscellaneous September/October pictures.  This includes a trip Jer took to hunt a goat with his dad in the Frank Church wilderness, good times in the fall sunshine, wrestling for Seth and Ian, and of course the annual trip to White Pine which Ian went on for the first time this year. His brothers (and dad) did their best to scare him about mountain trolls and things of that sort, but he was a trooper and hiked like a champ.  They had beautiful weather this year!  You can also see my new bench that Jer had made out of the old Beaver chairlift chair we've hauled around for years (and moved four times)!  It's pretty awesome.