Another Bang!

 Erik started the school year off with a bang, also. His cross-country training started on the 2nd day of school, but I had been encouraging him to do some training over the summer with his friends, just so that running wouldn't be so painful that first day. They run on his soccer team, but it's a little different when you get to a meet and are expected to run 2 miles straight!

His first meet was the very next week. His extra training paid off! He came in 6th place at 12:35 (a major PR for him from last year) and 1st place for his school, Discovery. The next week, he came in 3rd place at 12:31 and first for Discovery, again! 

He's behind his coach with the bucket hat, on the left. 

Coming in strong!

He has been learning a lot from Austin and from his own experiences in xc. 

Soccer started well with a 9-1 blowout. This is the first time Erik has been playing Center Defensive Mid (as in midfield). He gets to run around more, which also helps with his running, and he still plays his aggressive defense that he's so good at. This year's team is a "trap" team or a supplementary team. Since a lot of Erik's teammates are Freshmen and had the opportunity to try out for the high school, they combined the teammates from his age group who either didn't make the high school team, didn't try out, or are 8th graders, like Erik. After the HS soccer season, around November, they'll go back to the teams they were divided into in early June. So, for now, Erik's with some guys he's never played with. They lost their second game, 6-1, but hopefully they can learn from that and improve. It's so up and down right now, or maybe it always is. I'm new to this level of soccer. 

He's in the black, flying through the air, after a big kick!

(I took more videos of him playing than pics, but they're not uploading properly. So I'll post more pics another day.)

It's his last year in middle school, and we already know all his teachers. Either Victoria, Austin, or Erik himself had them. In the late spring of this school year, he has the opportunity to go on 2 major field trips. One for the 8th-grade band members to Toronto and one to Washington DC for the 8th graders of the whole school. Both are amazing opportunities, as well as lucrative. So we're getting ready to work hard on those fundraisers and find additional ways for him to make money.

 Goooo Eagles! (Discovery Eagles)

Starting Out With a Bang!

 The school year has barely started, but high school xc has been going strong for a while. Austin actually had a meet 2 weeks into August, called Lamplighter, that was at 11 pm. The very first race had to start under the lights, so that meant that the last race was super late. It was a humid night, not to mention extremely late, but he still did pretty well. I think he was hoping to do better, but for the first meet of the season, 16:52, 22nd place, was pretty good. 

It's called Lamplighter because it's with lights!

Owen and Austin

Isaac just graduated in June, but was there to cheer on the team before going off to BYU I.

They did some more training for the rest of the summer, and he came out with a bang for the first official race of the season at Rambling Rock, an invitational, where our team hosted. He came in 4th place at 16:17, and his team came in 1st! They all did so well and are now #1 in their Region. JV came in 2nd, and the Freshmen came in 1st as well. 

He's leading the pack here.

Coming in for the finish.

Here's an article that we found on a Michigan running blog. On the site, the title is "Solid Like a Rock," and our mascot is a rock. 

http://michigancrosscountryspeedratings.com/

"Just comparing opening sequences, you can see the rise. Two years ago, Mercado debuted his career with a 19:54 here. He began to show his talent later in the fall, then in track, breaking 5:00 in the 1600m as a 9th grader. That translated to cross, where he was on the cusp of breaking 17:00 here a year ago. The cusp then became a consistent mark, as Mercado closed the year with six consecutive sub-17’s. Now a new level, a 16:17 that matches where he was late last season. He’s always kept the rock rolling, so look for more down the road."

The day I read the blog was the next Tuesday, which was the day of the first dual meet. Austin came in 4th again at 16:16. The amazing thing about that race was that it was against Brighton, who is #8 in the State, and Northville,  #1. We lost to Brighton by 1 point at this meet, and the 3 guys ahead of Austin were the top runners at Northville, and he was able to stay with them most of the time. Jack and Sam, his teammates who are just behind Austin, were with them for a good part of the race as well. Again, so proud of our team!!

Jack, Austin, and Sam.

This was part of the last mile. I didn't get a photo near the finish line.

Today, the invitational was the hardest course in the area because of all the turns, rocks, and hills. Austin has a plantar wart on his left front ball, which hurts a bit. Nevertheless, he came in with another PR at 16:14! And 4th place, again! The varsity came in 3rd, and JV came in 4th (Freshmen are all in the JV when they don't have a specific race for them.) Austin got a t-shirt for finishing in the top 10, plus he got to keep the team trophy this time. The team captain, Sahib, got to keep the first one. There's another dual meet this Tuesday. I'm assuming Austin is running in it. Last year, his coach usually had him skip the dual meets and only run the invitationals, where it counts the most, since Austin's talent was just budding, and he kept getting sick. Coach didn't want to overwork him. Now, he's pretty solid, though. Solid like a Rock! 

This is the team trophy from today, Austin's medal from today on the left, and his medal for his jacket from last week's meet on the right. I didn't go today because I was at Erik's game. Jason got a good video of Austin's name being called for his medal today. More about Erik's progress next time!

I keep reminding him, however, that he doesn't have to be the fastest or the best for us to support him and be super impressed. We love seeing him at this level, but things can change quickly in xc, and I don't want him to get discouraged or feel like he's letting us down if he has a bad race. Running as much as they do is no joke. And running a 5k in under 21 minutes is amazing! The fact that he has moved up so quickly just blows my mind! (BTW, he is currently #52 in the State of Michigan.)

I also need to add a little blip for his coach. At the end of the school year, his contract wasn't renewed because the athletic director thought he was "hard to work with". The examples he gave were that he asked for more money for uniforms for all the guys in the no-cut sports of track and xc (meaning lots of guys are on the team), and he told the AD that the mat for high jump and pole vault was unsafe because there was a crack in it. The AD also said that the track team didn't make enough progress. (They had more guys go to States for track last season than ever before!) So the AD didn't renew the contract, but he didn't follow the standards of hiring a new coach 2 weeks later (he hired him the very next day), nor did he alert anyone on the school board of what was going on (also against the standards). Well, when some of us parents got word of this (no complaints by Coach, btw), we fought and we fought hard! Coach was one of the best college coaches in the Midwest for guys and girls (sometimes ranked The Best) for close to 20 years! I could go on and on, but I won't. This is his retirement job, coaching the high schoolers, and as you can see, he's doing a fantastic job!

Go Rocks!

Another School Year

 We started school on Tuesday.  Austin's a junior, and Erik's an 8th grader, so this is Erik's last year in middle school.  Then we'll only have high schoolers and college students-so weird!

Kade started at Schoolcraft College the week before and is taking math, English, astronomy,  and weather/climate.  He's enjoying the flexibility of his classes that don't require him to be at school for 7-8 hours, and he has Fridays off. He's looking to go to OU for a meteorology degree in a couple of years.

Schoolcraft- here we come!

Austin has some good classes, which include AP economics and AP literature, along with chemistry, pre-calculus/trig, computer-integrated manufacturing (with the STEM academy), and orchestra. He loved that in his STEM class, they made origami balloons last week. 

Erik is taking Spanish this year, which will be great, so everyone will have at least some Spanish knowledge, as Victoria's immersed in it in Mexico.  He's also taking English, US history, algebra,  science, and band. His sweet science teacher remembers Victoria and said that she's praying for her on her mission. 

With Austin's new-to-him car (thanks, Grandma Mary Lou and Grandpa Dave), a 2006 Honda Accord, my driving load is lighter. With Jason back at work full-time, rather than working a few days a week from home, I can get Erik to all of his soccer obligations without stressing about getting Austin to where he needs to go as well.

Austin's car is on the left, Kade's car on the right. Tie Fighter and Peppa, as we call them. 

 

Red Bell will be a little different this year. We have smaller numbers at the school because free preschool is being offered in Michigan. I actually have a decent-sized class myself at 25, but the other pre-K class had a few of those. The bosses decided to combine them into mine, and now the Blue Room teacher and I are co-teaching in my class. While we have to adjust and figure out how to work together,  it's going to be pretty good because we still have an assistant,  so our ratio is great.  We'll utilize the Blue Room as our STEM, music, and indoor PE room. This next week is my week to bring down small groups for some fun music, science,  and movement activities. I'm looking forward to it!

Happy school year!

Memories

 I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to mostly hang around the house while Victoria was doing home MTC. I also wanted to make sure my other kids got out and did some fun activities besides play games and watch missionary approved movies, which we didn't do as much as we thought we would. I had my dad and Mary Lou and then my mom here to visit with, so that kept me occupied as well. 

Here's a bit into the non-missionary parts of the second half of our summer.

Kade's been working at Zumiez at the mall, which he does very well at, and is the top sales associate and "folder" (he does the best job at folding the pants, a trait he inherited from Jason, no doubt!) He's had plenty of time for friends and started at Schoolcraft College last week. 

Austin's had the most consistent morning schedule. He has been attending the xc team work-outs/runs every morning, minus Sundays, at 8am. He returns usually no earlier than 10, so he's pretty worn out when he arrives home. By the time he's replenished his calories and had downtime, it's the late afternoon when he usually hangs with friends or does a job for me. 

They had a pre-season meet, called Laamplighter, under the lights late at night. He did pretty good. Can't wait to see him in the season.

Erik's been up and down with his workout regimen in the morning, but he's been spending most of his afternoons with friends. They usually ride their bikes to someone's house to play basketball, soccer, and/or football. Sometimes they get to swim. He's also been attending a summer book club with some friends. 

Erik went to Cedar Point with Victoria and her friends, as I mentioned in a previous post. Austin went a separate time, though he didn't send me pics, and Kade went a separate time. All of them had a blast at that amusement park!

Kade and his friends at Cedar Point.

Here are a couple of other pics with fun memories. 

Lunch with Grandma Mary Lou and Grandpa Dave.

A walk with Victoria.

Downtown Plymouth visit.

A bike ride with my mom.

Last, but not least, we went to the Tree Runner, which is a high ropes course with some ziplines, about 30 minutes away. We were supposed to go to the Kish's lakehouse one more time for part of Labor Day, but between Kade's work and Austin's workouts, in preparation for the big upcoming meet, the timing didn't work out. So, Saturday after the workout, we went and enjoyed the challenging courses together. Jason much prefers something like that to Cedar Point, so I was glad we could all have fun doing something thrilling. 

Of course, it had to end with a "bang" when Austin, trying the hardest course, lost some footing at the hardest point and went face-first into a wooden plank piece where his foot was supposed to be. Kade got to witness that one, not me this time. There was a lot of blood. He has a couple of bandage strips with glue on his face that the doctor thought would heal the best. Luckily, he already got his school pics taken!

I am definitely ready to end this summer and get back to school. Between everything involved with graduation for Kade and prepping Victoria for the mission, and all the emotions involved with both, I'm ready to get back to my little 4-year-olds!

Set Apart

 The words "set apart" as a missionary make a lot of sense to me. Missionaries are set apart from everything else to fulfill what they are called to do- preach the gospel.  I've been surprised at how many people here, none of them members of our church,  are so receptive, supportive, and excited about the idea of Victoria serving a mission in Mexico. It's so great to see my friends and neighbors totally support her. 

She was set apart on Sunday, August 24, by President Montierth. My dad and Jason got to be in the circle. I have never heard the prayer for a missionary to be set apart before. It was so beautiful! I can see how they're blessed with the gift of tongues. 

Monday morning, she started her MTC training at home, in our basement. I wanted to be nearby for when she had breaks, so we mostly hung around the house. Since the Provo MTC stays on Mountain Time for all the missionaries there, Victoria and anyone else not in that time zone had to adjust. For us on Eastern Time, she didn't start until 10:30 am and finished at 11pm, with some breaks in between. Luckily, some of the breaks worked for our mealtimes, even if they weren't exactly the "mealtimes" for the schedule in Provo. We could still eat some meals together. 

Ready to start!

Break time! (Games with Austin during this break).

She liked the home MTC better than she thought she would. Most of her friends didn't like it because it reminded them too much of virtual learning. She seemed to enjoy it, especially when her district met with the Spanish tutor. She not only enjoyed starting Spanish, but she also enjoyed the tutor. Let's just say that her being almost 21 and most of the elders in her district have just graduated from high school, and some are barely 18, she's like the "abuela" of the group. But she loves it and is thriving. 

I liked practicing Spanish with her on her breaks. I could even help her put the prayer together in Spanish from my days of class at BYU when we had to pray in Spanish. (The tutor randomly called on the missionaries to pray in Spanish the first 2 days). Of course, he slowed down on that when they learned that most of the missionaries in her district know literally 0 Spanish. I'm not sure what languages they took in high school....

Before Grandpa Dave and Grandm Mary Lou left.

In the middle of her home MTC training, she had to fly to Orlando to visit the consulate for her Visa. She was supposed to get it in SLC on her way home after her semester at BYUI, but it fell through for some reason. They told her she could go in the middle of her home MTC training to get it, and the church paid for the flight, hotel, Uber, and food for her to do that. It was very long, 36-something hours for a short 1-hour or less visit to the consulate for fingerprints. She got exposed to a lot of Spanish on that little trip as everyone there spoke only Spanish, minus one other elder who was awaiting his time to be set apart, and one of the couples who works there and happens to be my stepdad, Jim's brother, and his wife. Small world!

Last temple visit with us and Grandma Pat.

Last Sunday.

Since she received her Visa only a week before she left for the MTC, which we knew just in time, she wasn't able to go to the Mexico City MTC, but had to go to the one in Provo. I think we were all slightly disappointed, but it turned out to be a good thing. It was a little easier to take her to the airport to fly to SLC than to Mexico. Even though we won't see her either way, just knowing she's back where she's been, just about, for the past 2 years, is comforting. Plus, she'll get to see General Authorities more often, who visit the Provo MTC all the time, and she was pretty stoked about the noise of the BYU football game last night. 

Taking her to the airport was hard, but I knew it would be and was prepared. We all got a special pass to walk back to the gate with her. It was a pretty busy morning at the airport, and Austin has a really big meet coming up, so he finally made it through security but had to turn around and go to practice before we made it back to the gate. It was nice to have everyone at the airport, though, even if it was only for a  short time. 

Bags are packed.

The Kish's came over her last night.

We showed them our camper that was set up for all of our company.

That's when we saw the rainbow.

He literally just made it through security and had to turn around. 

These two got to enjoy the last moments. 

Nos vemos, Hermana Mercado!