A Different, but Rewarding Week!

 My dad and stepmom got to finally come to visit us, after not having been here for about 18 months. With Covid, and Mary Lou's breast cancer, it made travel difficult for them. After flying Southwest and having a cancellation on one of their flights, they finally made it to our house 12 hours after they were originally supposed to (24 hours for them of being at an airport or in an airplane!)

Since they ended up coming Monday at 2 am and were planning on leaving Saturday afternoon, we convinced them to change their flight to Monday so we could spend at least a Sunday with them. The week was very full, as most of our weeks are, but even more full with some different things that aren't usually a weekly occurrence. 

Surprisingly enough, Monday evening wasn't too bad and we all got to go to the cider mill. It was the only time until Sunday that we were all together. 

Cider mill fun!

Didn't plan for this pic to turn out so well!

Tuesday was Austin's last cross country meet. It was all of the middle schools together for one final competition. Austin did well and we saw lots of his friends. It was fun for him to have Grandpa and Grandma, with Erik and me, to cheer him on. He has decided that cross country is not his favorite. He would rather sprint a much shorter distance than two miles, but it definitely helped with his soccer stamina. I'm glad he tried it and I think he'll like track better in the spring. 

Discovery Middle School Boys- Austin is 4th from the right.

They're off!

There were hills on the course, not during practice though!

These two boys are Austin's good friends from church, one from our ward and one from the Canton Ward. Both of their moms happen to be the Relief Society Presidents!

Austin's friends from elementary school, and still in middle school.

Wednesday was soccer practice for the boys, a dentist appointment for Victoria, and a filling for Kai. Many places to go, all around the same time!

Thursday I was in charge of leading Stride, the running group at Miller. Erik's main coach was out-of-town, so she asked me to lead it. I agreed, but knew that it would be tight since Austin and Kai had orthodontist appointments right beforehand and I had to talk to the orthodontist about Austin's loose tooth! (Turns out, it was not too loose, but normal since he is in braces. I had never noticed one so loose before, but they said being in braces makes the teeth more prone to be loose at times as they're moving. I was so relieved because I was kind of freaking out since it was a permanent one!) 

I made it to Stride in time and we even got Austin to his piano lesson and back in time. Luckily, my dad and Mary Lou could help with the driving since I had to be on parent-teacher conferences on Zoom for Austin during his lesson!

Friday was more restful for the adults, but Victoria still had dance, and Kai had color guard. 

We attended Erik's early-morning soccer game on Saturday, did some work projects through the morning, and then attended Austin's soccer game. We're glad Grandma and Grandpa were still here, since that was when they would have been gone. I think the main reason they needed to stay was for the Primary Program the next day during sacrament meeting. 

Erik is a serious player!

Jason plugged away and finished the floor for the sunroom!

Austin has been dubbed as one of the more aggressive players on his team. 

I don't know if it's because we didn't have an official Primary Program last year, or because the kids have all grown so much during Covid, or because this was the first Primary Program that Erik fully participated in, but it was the best, most Spirit-filled program we've ever had! Erik sang all the songs, read his lines, and even wore a suit to church! He also agreed to be one of the greeters before church and hand out programs. It was so nice to have our neighbor Barb there, as well as Grandparents in person and Grandparents on Zoom! My older three got to sing The Armies of Helaman at the end in a medley with the Primary and Youth for I Will Be What I Believe. It was so wonderful and touching. It was seriously one of the best sacrament meetings!

My little greeter! They got special face masks just for the program. They say " I Will Be What I Believe".

Austin takes passing the sacrament very seriously. So happy they were able to grow spiritually, even over the pandemic!

The boy who didn't like pictures!

The rest of the Sabbath was rainy and relaxing, just what we needed! My dad and Mary Lou left Monday afternoon, but it wasn't without another busy morning: Kai getting her wisdom teeth out! She's recovering very well, so I think she can go back to school tomorrow. It was quite the week for her with three appointments dealing with her teeth this past week! 

Puffy cheeks, but doing ok!

We're so glad we could share our busy week with Grandpa Dave and Grandma Mary Lou!

We enjoyed some games with Grandma and Grandpa. And we always have to get a pic of the look-alikes!

Lunch out!

Dancing Queen Birthday!

 Victoria has been very excited about her 17th birthday. One of the reasons being so that she could play Dancing Queen by Abba. She is our dancing queen. Always dancing, always moving. She hasn't changed much in that regard in her life, nor has she changed in her birthday expectations. 

She really loves celebrating her birthday and wants to make the very most of it. We did just that!

On Friday, there was no school, so she opted to have her party that day from 3-6. She has a new main group of friends she hangs out with now. They are her workout friends at the high school. Since she'll be doing track in the spring (somehow we'll fit that into the busy dance schedule then), she gets to work out with the off-season athletes at the gym after school. She goes on the days she doesn't have dance and she loves it! The workout is great, plus the camaraderie of a team. Her freshman year, we didn't know how busy she'd be with her classes in high school and with dance. Plus, that was when she joined the competition team for dance as well, so we didn't want her to do any other activities until we knew how busy she'd be. Then covid happened... After that, dance wasn't quite the same and last year's school year was not the greatest. So, having the chance to be on a team at the school, and she just found out that she made the competition team at dance again, brings her so much joy!

These new friends, and some older friends that have meshed with the new friends, came for the party and then they all went to the football game (Salem's Homecoming) afterward. The party was just hanging out, playing games like Twister, 3 Truths and a Lie, and I've Never, chatting, and eating tacos. They also played Donuts on a String. I served brownies for dessert so I could pre-cut them and have her blow out a candle on the one brownie. You know, covid safe!

Getting ready for the party in our new sunroom (it's almost done, just need to put the flooring in!)

Playing 3 Truths and a Lie on the trampoline.

The party people!

Dinner!

Donut on a string!

Brownies on our new deck!

Saturday was pretty much just getting ready for the Homecoming Dance, which I posted about last week. She had a fantastic time, but the cold she had been fighting off all week hit her hard that night and she didn't feel well when she returned or on Sunday. Grandma Pat was here, so that was a bonus "friend" for her to have around to talk to and to be part of the celebrations. Victoria loves all people, young and old. She always loves when people come to visit or when we visit others and she gets to be a part of their lives. 

Kai and Victoria, almost ready to go!

Victoria and Max now

Max and Victoria exactly 11 years ago!

We celebrated BYU with Grandma, even though we lost that game...

On Sunday, we had her requested Puerto Rican dinner that Jason prepared. Rice and gandules, pork, tostones, and veggies. She had to stay home from church because of the amount of coughing she was doing, so the day was restful and we even got to watch a religious family movie I Can Only Imagine (which was super good!).

She felt good enough to go to seminary and school on Monday, her birthday. So she ate her locs and bagels for breakfast and I sent her off with a yummy lunch and lots of cough drops. Since most of the school has the cold that she has, and we know it's not covid, I felt fine about her going. 

Mondays are busy with cross country for Austin, which I volunteer for on Mondays, and soccer for both boys. Instead of having everyone miss things for a family dinner, Victoria and I had planned for her to meet a few of her old besties in Downtown Plymouth for dinner at a delicious little diner called Simply Fresh. It's Mediterranean food! She was happy to hang out with her friends there, one of her favorite places to be! When we were done with soccer, she was back from her dinner so we could all have cake together. Lemon poppyseed bundt cake!

She loved her gifts and her time with friends and family. There's never a dull moment with Victoria around! I can't believe she's 17! 

Birthday gifts after school!

She blew out all 17 in one breath- she is full of hot air!!

HOCO!

 Homecoming, or HOCO, has been long-awaited in our house. Victoria got to go her freshman year, but that was it. You know, COVID.... A lot has changed since then. 

First, Kai is in the color guard, so she got to perform at the HOCO game. It's the same performance as before, so I won't post it, but she looked great, as usual. It was fun to support Salem HS at the game, even though we lost, but that wasn't a surprise.

I snapped this still photo, but you can hardly see her. She's holding the flag in the middle.

The next day was the HOCO dance. With our high school's unique 3-schools-on-one-campus situation, there are 3 HCOC games and dances, one each weekend. While the marching band/color guard perform at each game, they still have a competition to go to each Saturday.  That prevents them from being able to go to the Canton HCOC dance if that were someone's assigned school, or the Plymouth HOCO dance, if that were the assigned school.  What they do, is allow all the marching band to go to the Salem HOCO dance, which happens to be our assigned school.

 The color guard "Mom" planned a dinner at her house before the dance, so Kai got to take pictures with lots of friends there and eat dinner with them before being shuttled to the dance in a big van. So fun! She ended up at a restaurant with other friends after the dance, so that's where I picked her up when the night was over. She commented to me on how she has so many friends now in high school. From the Arts Academy, color guard/marching band, orchestra, and her oldies from middle school. She really feels the love from all her groups!

Kai's second from the end on the left.

Isa and Kai

The big color guard group and some dates. Kai is on the stairs behind the railing. You can just see her head!

Victoria surprised me last week by asking her old, but good friend Max to the dance at the football game. She had written on a poster, "I would be "bursting" with joy if you would to HOCO with me!" And she gave him some Startbursts. She showed it to him in front of her group of friends. I was so excited she had asked a date to the dance! Before he came to pick her up last night, she went with her girlfriends to take pictures in Downtown Plymouth, because that's the place to do that and she loves taking pics with her girlfriends! I know she and Max hung out with them at the dance, along with their various other friends. Taking the pics of her and Max beforehand was super fun! His mom, Melissa, is my good friend, and we loved snapping pics of them at the neighborhood park they used to play at when they were little.

Victoria is third from the right. 

Have you noticed the shoes? HOCO was outside on the football field and they didn't want the heels to ruin the turf, so no heels were allowed. Also, at the previous HOCOs the last two weeks, the kid's feet got very muddy. I don't know how they lucked out last night and weren't covered in mud because it's still very wet outside!

At Leann Park!

I think I had as much fun anticipating that night as my girls did, maybe more! It was a busy, but memorable weekend!

Getting ready!

I was so excited to take this pic of them, ready for homecoming!