September 19th - November 6th

Here's what we've been up to the last couple of months...

* Celebrated Dad's Birthday! He turned 48 on the 21st of September. It fell on a Wednesday and a Rugby Game night. He (jokingly) stated that all he wanted for his birthday was to win all 4 Rugby matches (against Mountain View and Centennial) and.... WE DID!! It was a pretty awesome night! Then we came home and sang, opened presents and ate Crumbl Cookies and Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. Since he didn't even get home until close to 10pm, we had previously decided to celebrate with August, McKendra and the boys on Saturday evening (and Aubrie baked a delicious German Chocolate cake). The kids all surprised him with thoughtful gifts and he got lots of new Meridian Rugby gear (including a pair of bright  yellow Crocs!)

* After getting his Driving Permit back in January, Nathan was ready to get his License! He studied hard and took several practice tests online. He passed the driving Skills portion with no problem and although he was super nervous for the written test - he did great and passed!  After adding Nathan onto the car insurance as a new driver and seeing how much it was going to cost a month he started the hunt for a new job! He got several interviews and decided to accept a position with Wahooz to be on their Events Staff.

* Before the leaves started to change, McKendra really wanted to get some updated family pictures. We headed down to Albertson's Park and and were able to get so many cute ones!! Here are a few of my favorites!

* Of course life has been super busy with Rugby! Practice is everyday from 5-7 and games are every Wednesday (and sometimes an additional game day on Saturday). Since we're now part of the high school team, there are "extra" things that go along with that like decorating/riding on the float for the Homecoming Parade and team dinners each week. I've been taking over making the visuals for social media announcing the games. The season ended with the State Playoffs the middle of October. Out of the 10 teams competing, Meridian took 4th and the best part was - the girls played Varsity for the State games and earned their letter! The season was a highlight for our entire family and the girls made some great friendships and John enjoyed coaching! 

* When we weren't busy with Rugby, we had fun with Boise State Football games! With dad's surgery he didn't get to every one but several were attended! Mom went to one, the boys and Silas when to one and the girls went to one - although Aubrie was sick so Lexi invited a friend to go.  

* A big part of of these last 6 weeks has been helping dad recover from his Gallbladder surgery! We thought it was going to be a pretty straight forward (and easy!) surgery but boy were we wrong! He went in on Monday, October 3rd for the removal and everything went well! We got him home and thought he'd be feeling better within about 2 days. However, by Friday, when he wasn't feeling any better at all (in fact, he was feeling worse!) we knew something wasn't quite right. We called the surgeons office and they suggested that dad was just dehydrated and should go get some IV fluids to help him feel better. We ended up going to the ER and it's a good thing we did because it was determined that he had internal bleeding, an infection and a partially collapsed lung! No wonder he wasn't feeling any better! It ended taking him a full 4 weeks to recover (and he still is somewhat fatigued and tires easily!) but he seems to be doing much better these days! He took a month off of work and just finished his first week back.

* August's job as a 911 Dispatcher has been going very well! There is A LOT of training that goes into this job and there are several phases. He just finished the 2.5 month classroom portion and had a graduation. He was elected Class President which granted him the privilege of speaking at the ceremony. He did a nice job and we're all so proud of him and the hard work he's putting in! 

* Halloween landed on a Monday this year. The girls had decided to be the Twins from "Parent Trap" and even had a cute costume (although it didn't really look like a traditional "costume") and so an hour before heading out the door to Trick or Treat, they decided to switch things up and go as Scarecrows! They raided their closet and did their own make up and they were adorable! It was also super fun to see the little grandsons out trick or treating in the neighborhood! The last picture of Nathan over at the Bremer's for their yearly Halloween Dinner that they had earlier in the month. Lindsay invited him to attend with her.

 

* Of course the day that we've been anticipating finally arrived! November 1st - which meant that we could decorate for Christmas! As always, the girls were huge helps and did fantastic at treating the garland and setting up the tree! It always takes a few days to get it all done and cleaned back up but then we have the rest of the season to enjoy it! Yippee!! Christmas songs, Christmas movies and even Christmas Baking has begun!!

* Here are some additional pictures from the last 7 weeks...

Spiritually Speaking...

* General Conference! What an awesome weekend! The whole month leading up to Conference weekend, I followed a Conference Study Guide where I listened/studied a different talk each day from April's GC. It was really uplifting to go back and spend a day focused on a different talk. I would start off by refreshing myself with the questions that I had written down that corresponded with each talk. I was really inspired doing this that I decided to do this going forward with the October talks - except spend a week on each talk and pondering on the questions that I had written down. Some of the questions that I came up with for this session of conference were: (Eeeeks! couldn't find my notebook where I took my notes during Conference but will come back and update once I do!)

* Temple! We've had a youth Temple Trip and then also a time where dad and I have been able to attend. We need to get back into a better Temple habit! Also the Stake President called Ben in for a visit because he (the Stake Pres) has felt that Ben was ready to take out his Endowment and go through the Temple! With some of the aspects of Ben's mental illness, he's been a little leery of taking that next step in his eternal progression but he has a very strong testimony and faith in the Stake President as his Judge in Israel and is moving forward with getting a Temple Recommend!

* Grateful for the Power of the Priesthood! We've been privileged to utilize this power several times throughout these last few weeks. Dad was able to get 2 blessings during his recovery and both times he was promised that he would make a full recovery and be well - so that's what we put our faith in and moved forward! Ben also had a setback and was struggling... before we could get an appointment with the Psychiatrist, he was able to get a blessing from dad which helped! He was then able to get a medication adjustment and get regulated.