Finding the Flow

 Life has started to resume more normally around here. I appreciate everyone's support and will continue to keep my blog posts about the activities and events my kids are doing. I will update about Kade's situation as needed.

Austin started freshman year and hit the ground running, pun intended. He's enjoying cross country and has a newfound love of keeping himself in good shape by getting good sleep, eating nutritious foods, and exercising. While we miss Victoria at times, we do not miss going to bed late with her due to all those late-night dance classes! Since Austin gets up, on his own, at 5 am every morning to make his egg sandwich and get ready for seminary, he goes to bed at 9 and the rest of us aren't far behind. It's great! Jason and I take turns driving him and will be starting a carpool with another family so we'll have even less driving to do, but we will still get up early. Going to bed early is extremely helpful for me! 

1st meet of the season and he made a PR- 19:54! Our JV rocked this meet and won by a long shot.

He's always fun to watch when he finishes. He kicks it into gear to make a big push at the end.

Yesterday's meet. It was much hotter and Austin has discovered that he runs better when it's cooler., but he still got his third-best time yesterday- 21:01!

Erik has adjusted well to getting up earlier for middle school and is also doing cross country, along with soccer, so he's pretty busy. Luckily, we have a carpool for his soccer practices. His xc practices and meets aren't as long or far away as Austin's, so they take up less time. It's good training for him to help with his soccer endurance. He's my one child who didn't want to take piano lessons, which Austin's still doing, nor be in the orchestra, which Austin and Kade are still involved in. Erik did, however, choose to play the trombone in the band and seems to enjoy that. His soccer team this season has moved up. In order to accommodate some players who needed a team, and to keep the members of our original team together, our coach decided to have us play at the U14-15 level. That means the boys are all older and bigger, and then there's Erik, whose birthday is at the end of the year, and is still 11, but he is a force to be reckoned with and can hold his own. Those boys, some of whom are taller than Jason, don't phase him one bit!

New uniforms this season.

He's on the left and he owns the ball in this pic.

He played tough D against those boys.

I love this pic of his first meet. Our friend Anna, just behind him, was determined to beat him, but she didn't!

Kade finally got back into full color guard rehearsals and even made it to the game on Friday and the competition yesterday. I volunteered for the pre-game pizza and t-shirt handout for the 8th-grade band students to join the high school marching band for the evening at band night on Friday. They performed Shake it Off. We didn't feel like going to the game on Friday, especially since our school wasn't playing and I would be volunteering the next day at the marching band competition hosted at our school, but I got to watch a few hours of their rehearsal and the run-through for the evening.

Kade is in the middle looking up at the flag.

Swinging 'round with a partner.

Since we were the host of the competition, we didn't receive a score last night, but the band performed really well and I think the performance is better this year than last year. It's going to be a great competition season! The performance is called Neo-Chroma. (I'll post a video after the season ends, as I am not allowed to yet.)

Kade starts off on the far-right platform where the Mona Lisa is. 

Victoria is living the college dream life. She goes to bed late because she hangs out with friends doing all sorts of fun activities, she makes it to all of her classes and even manages time to study for them, and she made a dance team to perform in November, some dances that she had to try out for each one individually. She's cooking and is really good at cleaning (sounds like one of the only ones who does in her apartment) and learning the life skills of living on her own. BYU I has been a great place for her!

Can you find her in this crowd?