Beginning of November

Linq and Lytzi both decided to play little league basketball.  They only got a couple of weeks of practices and a couple of games in because of our November vacation but they enjoyed it while they were there.

The end of October brought a big scare to Cades family as little Hayzlee was diagnosed with Type1 diabetes.  She was very sick and in the hospital a while --such a hard thing for a little 7 year old girl but they are doing well learning to adjust to all of the things.  And what a blessing it happened when it did so that we were all still able to go on the cruise together!  In November is national diabetes awareness day so everyone dressed in blue to support our Hayze.

 

October Misc

One great thing about where we are living right now is that Linq has a couple of friends just down the road, they spent much of the fall meeting up after school or on the weekend to play at Chets house or search for Crawdads in the canal. I'm so happy they have each other.  His one buddy Benson got baptized and invited Linq to come, of course we couldn't miss it!

Laexin had been growing his hair out forever and we finally got it permed on conference weekend...we had a great weekend chilling and enjoying conference!  As always, Mag dog is the most spoiled in our house.

 

Friday, October 18th we woke up to our first SNOW!  I am NOT looking forward to the freezing winter, especially after our awesome winter in SC last year but the little kids were excited for snow, especially Linq.

I forced Loa to let me straighten her hair for Church one Sunday, I couldn't believe how long it is - she hates fixing her hair and basically thinks I'm always trying to torture her but once in a while she humors me and lets me do it.

The week of Halloween we had an activity with our boys where we played some Halloween games and made Homemade rootbeer - they loved playing with the dry ice.

Cross Country Sept.-Nov.

 Laexin has a love-hate relationship with this sport.  We talked him into doing it, mostly to be in good shape for the upcoming basketball season.  He LOVED the awesome kids he got to hang out with but HATED the running! His heart really wasn't in it most of the time, sometimes skipping practices and not wanting to go to meets  but he pushed through and ended up being a real asset to his team. They take the top 5 racers times into consideration for the all-around team points and he was the 5th racer.  The girls took districts and then 2nd at state and the boys ended up beating the odds against them and taking 3rd at state.  He was pretty disappointed saying he should've run faster even though he had his fastest time ever at the State meet in Boise.  I think the last few weeks of the season his heart was finally in it but he couldn't make up for the lost time from early in the season - hopefully he learned a valuable lesson from it all.

Homecoming Fun & Sept. happenings

The first part of September LeGrand was able to go to Texas and place 4 side-by-sides at the Oil plants. It was awesome to finally see something happening with this new business venture - I pray it continues to go well.  While he was away, it was Homecoming week which brought lots of fun activities for the Loa and Laexin...Loa played in the powder puff football game.

And Laexin got to play Powder Buff volleyball!

Then Laexin went to the dance with his awesome group of (mostly)cross country friends...he asked Cally Coleman- They are new to Grace, a great family that we are lucky enough to have in our ward also. Really great kids!  They had a good time running at a cross country meet in the morning, playing in the afternoon and going to the dance at night.

Beginning of Sept. Loa got her braces on for round 2 and hopefully the final round.

LeGrand and I had the privlege of helping clean the Pocatello temple.  I love these opportunities!  While we were in the chapel getting our assignments the worker said to make sure we took the time to enjoy the temple and recognize that you can have spiritual experiences and personal inspiration even while cleaning the temple.  I had one of the strongest amazing experiences while vacuuming the hallways on the second floor in front of the Celestial room.  I was just vacuuming away not really thinking about much when it came to my mind, so clear.  I could see the bottom part of the Saviors white robes and his feet walking those hallways.  The spirit was as strong as I've ever felt it, as if Christ himself were there and I recognized in that moment what a blessing it was to get to clean the Lords house, to vacuum the hallways where he walks.  I remember thinking, 'don't go' --I vacuumed there as long as I could because I didn't want the moment to end.  It was so special!

Me and the littles swung into the cemetery one day during harvest to finally take a minuet and check out Ed and Nancy's headstone.  I hope these kids know how much their Oma and Opa loved them!

Another thing I did during harvest with the help of the kids was to can tomato soup and salsa.  The balls had most of the veggies in their giant green-house garden going to waist and I couldn't help myself!  Then, Lytzi got a wild idea to give herself a haircut so she watched lots of YouTube videos and we successfully cut her hair, it turned out cute!

 

Activity Boys & Life lately

They called LeGrand and I to be Activity Boys Leaders (they also called me to be the primary chorister, I literally laughed out loud - I don't think I've ever felt more unqualified for a calling)  We went with the previous leaders on a little fishing trip to the Nichols pond in Lago, the boys had a great time and caught lots of fish!

Found these photos on my phone, not sure who took them or why but I'm glad they were captured.  This is just a peek into what our two-bedroom apartment-living life looks like these days.  I just try to be grateful we have a nice place to live that fits our needs, but somedays its tough.

 

Back to School 2024

It's no joke when they say, 'You'll blink and it'll be over'...here we are!  Senior, Freshman, 6th grade and 4th grade. Man we've had a crazy last few years and it really doesn't seem to be letting up.  For the most part all of the kids are happy to be going 'back to school' in Grace where things are familiar and comfortable. Laexin is happy to be in Grace doing all of the Senior things, Loa was the one who struggled the most in SC and was SO thrilled when we told her we were coming back  BUT  she isn't as confident now.  She is relieved to be where things are easy with friend and people she knows but she misses her SC church friends terribly and often voices her frustration of knowing that she was part of the reason we came back, she isn't so sure it was the best choice.  But the great thing is, everyone is learning lots of good life lessons in all of the change we have experienced.  Like, it isn't always 'greener' on the other side, and that the hard times lead to some of the greatest memories and friends of our lives and that 'coming back' isn't as great and easy as they thought it would be.  All hard lessons, but also good.  The two youngest are once again just going with the flow and happy to be wherever.