Halloweekend

 My kids are growing up, so Halloween is less crazy for me. There were still lots of activities going on, but when they are more independent, everything is more manageable. 

Kai had a marching band trunk or treat last Wednesday right after practice. That was because they had practice till 6 on Halloween. Never fear, Kai still went from practice on Halloween to Lee's house (best marching band friend) to eat dinner and do a little trick-or-treating there. Kai was unable to go to the ward party on Saturday because of the Great Lakes Invitational that our high school hosted. I volunteered there earlier, selling hot chocolate, then went to the party, then back to the school with some friends from church who wanted to watch our band perform at the end. The host school performs last and is not judged, so there was no pressure, but it was a very good performance!

Kai's easy costume after practice.

Some dark pics at the performance.

Halloween night at Lee's- Kai's a vampire.

Kai made all the cupcakes for the ward party!

Austin had a party at his school Wednesday after school. I was thinking of volunteering for it, but he didn't want me to. I was fine with that because when I did before, the music was so loud in the gym, I thought my eardrums were going to burst! I didn't get any pics of him afterward, but I got his masked face before going to our ward party (where you can't wear masks). It didn't matter anyway since he was a part of the spook ally and was busy hiding under a table and reaching out to grab kids' ankles as one of the scares. He was pretty good at it! Interestingly enough, he decided not to trick-or-treat on Halloween and instead rode over to his friend's to pass out candy there. I'm sure they ate their fair share too!

Guess who Austin is? And we had to get Jacob in since he and Victoria were both cops!

Jason's awesome idea of a costume!

A Mongolian costume my mom and Jim made while on their mission in Geneva.

Austin's Halloween night.

Erik's Haunted Hallways (basically trick-or-treating in the hallways and all the teachers have a theme for their grade level hallway and they're always super good!) was on Thursday, the same night as his last soccer practice and almost the same time. He was so torn about which to go to, his last practice of the season, or his last Haunted Hallways at Miller Elementary. We ended up going to 40 minutes of practice, which was fun 4v4 scrimmages and his group won every time (so hopefully they didn't miss him when he left), then to the last 15 minutes of Haunted Hallways. The funniest thing was that in all the years (minus 3 years for covid) we have been going to Haunted Hallways at Miller, we always went when it started and had to wait in a very long line. It was always fine because we'd see friends in line, but it was a long wait! This time, we hardly had any wait and two kids actually came behind us and then Erik got some bonus candy when the event ended and some teachers wanted to get rid of the rest. Who would have thought that going at the end would turn out so well?

This wasn't his practice, but his last game on Saturday. It was very fitting for 2 days before Halloween!

Haunted Hallways

A classmate of Erik's was right behind us and her mom was in the car with her sleeping brother, so she got to go around with us!

At our ward party, Victoria's best friend was Yoshi, so perfect for Erik!

Parade!

No school events for Victoria, but she went to a party on Friday after dance practice and then on Saturday night after the ward party, which she was basically in charge of- really, she went to a real Haunted House with her senior friends. That was all in addition to her finishing up her application for BYU, which was due Tuesday, but we said it should be done by Monday, and her application to Grand Valley State University, since Michigan schools waived application fees through the 31st. It was a very busy weekend for her and Halloween afternoon. She was super stoked after she completed them both in time to go to another party on Halloween. 

She was a pirate for the party on Friday.

Decided to be a cop on Saturday (this may or may not be a dance costume that she received Friday night for competition, shhh!)

And comfy onesie for the party on Halloween after all that admissions work!

Victoria, taking charge at the board at Youth Night for the ward Halloween party.

So, that left Erik to trick-or-treat at home and he went with some friends from the neighborhood. When they tired after over an hour, and he was still wanting a bit more, I met him to complete his two hours of trick-or-treating! There was hardly anyone out that night, even though the weather was pretty warm. It rained a little, but it was nothing compared to years past. Jason and I got to relax on the porch and hand out candy to the few groups who came by. It was the first time I ever sat down to hand out candy! And the first time the weather permitted us to do so outside!

Looks like I won't be using my pumpkins for anything for us this time...

This squirrel has been loving it though!

Bonus treat for the weekend (besides Victoria completing her first and hardest applications): Erik's last Primary Program in sacrament meeting. He's the oldest in primary, followed by twins who are his best friends. They're December babies and those 3 little guys were narrators and sang out so well, low, and loud! They will move on to be Deacons in January, even though they will all have just turned 11. I have mixed feelings about my baby growing up! I'm just so glad he participated in his final Primary Program!

Improvement

 I have learned a lot over time about improvement. As time goes on and one continues to work hard at something, there will most likely be an improvement. Sometimes it takes longer to see, like a few years at least, or sometimes it will take a lot less time. 

I have seen some improvements in areas of our lives that are so rewarding to see! 

Jason works hard in our yard and our grass is definitely improving. Overseeding, fertilizing, mowing, and watering have taken high priority in his schedule. It has paid off!

Victoria's foot has been improving and from what she tells me, her jumps in dance and her throws at track are becoming even better than they were before her injury. I can't wait till competition season and track season to see the fruits of her labor!

Erik's soccer team, I just learned yesterday, is at level A, rather than level B like they were last season. Since they came in 2nd last season, they moved up a level. I had no idea till I overheard him and his friends discussing it at church yesterday. They're still at level B, so we won't be playing them this season, but probably next season since they're 1st at their level. That also explains the losses in the last few games. We've been playing so well, but are playing really hard teams, so we have lost the past 3 or 4 games. Those losses will help us improve next season!

Go Sharks!

Kai is in the second year of color guard and has already improved so much! There are some new tosses that she's learned with the flag that are really hard. Also, her confidence level is so much higher in her performances! I can see it in her moves and facial expressions. The best example of that is the competition from last weekend in Novi. I went up the 20 minutes to watch the performance and was so glad that I did. During the final section, Kai was the only color guard member on the field with the rest of the band, twirling her flag like a pro and performing her heart out. I wasn't planning on taking any pictures during that particular performance, so I didn't sit in a very good location for that. When I realized that she was performing a solo, I started snapping a few pics real quick. When I returned home, I exclaimed to Jason that I had no idea that she had a solo! When Kai returned a few hours later, she told us that the accidental solo she performed was because the rest of the color guard, minus her and another guard member, have a quick change, and apparently none of them got changed quickly enough. So Kai went out when they were supposed to and did her thing, all alone! The other member who didn't have a quick change is a freshman, so was a little nervous to go out without the others. I don't even know when the rest went out, but you couldn't tell that anything was unplanned. Kai did it with her head held high! They even got 3rd place last week! Two days ago, they came in second!

Here's when I realized she was the only one out there. I was in the very front, but had these bars in my way!

You can see her flag there on the left. She travels 30 yards through this section of the performance as well, so not only was she alone with her flag, but she went from the 20 to the 50 yard line!

I posted on social media about Austin's great improvement: the most improved cross-country male runner of all five middle schools! I knew he had been improving because at each meet he PR'd and the first one was a few minutes compared to last year. I was so proud of the effort he was putting into it. He set a good pace for each run and then would kick it in gear for the last leg to the finish line. After the district meet, I commented on how he was probably one of the most improved at Discovery Middle School (he has a friend who was always in the top 5 or 10 last year and is the very first this year, so I think he improved a lot as well). The day after the district meet, Victoria's history teacher, who is the high school cross country coach and knows all the stats, especially of the kids going to the high school next year, pulled her aside and told her that her brother was "the most improved male cross country runner this season"! He went from 106th place last year in the district meet to 17th this year.

It was a cold and wet day, so I didn't get many good shots during the race.

He also improved his hair! (We liked it before, but the perm is fun too!)

Everyone has done so well in keeping at their hobbies! So proud of everyone's efforts!

Fall Visit

 Fall is a great time to visit us in Michigan. Grandpa Dave and Grandma Mary Lou made another fall visit with us just recently. Besides celebrating Victoria's 18th birthday with us, we enjoyed a few other things with them here.

The kids actually had off of school on Friday, the 7th. It was a professional development day, so they got to chill with Grandma and Grandpa that morning while I went to work, as Red Bell doesn't usually get off on those PD days. I know they enjoyed relaxing, visiting, and Kai making waffles. When I returned, my dad and Mary Lou helped me take out the tomatoes, since we were going to have some freezing weather. They even got to take some green ones home and are now enjoying them as they ripen!

We went to a cider mill when everyone had their laundry done and things in order. Jason got to come with us because we left later than we had initially planned, due to the laundry that Victoria and Kai needed to do. This meant, unfortunately, that Kai couldn't join us because of plans made with friends for that evening. At least we were able to ride to Northville in one car! We even got to see the Downtown Northville skeleton display on the way back and the early Friday evening music that they were playing.

We used to go to this cider mill when the kids were little and they would play on this train.

Edward Scissorhands skeleton!

Spiderman skeleton at the top of the pole!

It was good to have downtime on Friday because Saturday started bright and early with Erik's soccer game in the cold. They played hard but unfortunately lost to their opponent who had a very lively coach and may not have let his team hear the end if they had lost to us. He was pretty brutal with his words!

He's a tough defender!

After lunch, we left for the invitational cross-country meet that Austin was participating in. That was a first for us and we had no idea what we were doing or where we were going. Plus, Austin was running as an individual because his school wasn't running in it, but it was highly encouraged by Salem High, where he'll be attending next year. Even though he was scrambling to find the right place to check in up to the last moment, he ran a fantastic race, shaving time off of his previous PR and feeling great doing it!

Austin's in the gray.

Always running in different middle schools as Owen, but they'll be together at Salem next year!

That evening was Victoria's party, which we left during part of for Kai's community performance with the marching band. It was fun to watch the progress they have made since the last one and as they prepared for their next competition. 

Sunday was a nice relaxing day with just church, and Monday Austin and Erik got McDonald's for dinner with Grandma and Grandpa. They were super excited about that! Then all of a sudden, Austin felt completely awful with aches and pains, ending up with a fever of 102.7! Since it came on so suddenly, we were a little afraid of what it could be, and getting the grandparents sick. He ended up missing 3 days of school as it developed into a double ear infection and he couldn't sleep well at night because of that. He actually got prescribed amoxicillin, surprisingly since they never do for ear infections anymore, and has been improving. 

Watching a football game!

Victoria's birthday was in the previous post and we enjoyed having Grandma and Grandpa here for that. On Wednesday we just walked around Downtown Plymouth a bit after I got off work to enjoy the pumpkin displays there before the next morning when they left. 

Grandpa's karate chop in Downtown Plymouth!

We're so glad we got to spend time with them!

Adulting

 Somehow, we made it to Victoria's 18th birthday. True her typical excitable, social, never-ending-need for fun personality, Victoria could not wait until she turned 18 and became an adult! She especially couldn't wait for her birthday party, which of course we still held - why stop when you love your friends so much?

It was a busy day for me, so she did the decorating and a lot of the cleaning and planning, though I helped plan a few games since we had to change the venue of the party.

We were originally planning on having it at the park, but with her high ankle sprain and the need to wear a boot, we didn't think running around the park and playing sports all evening long would be the best idea, so we changed it to our house.

It was made even more special by the fact that Grandpa Dave and Grandma Mary Lou happened to be in town for their yearly visit. (See more specific details in the next post on their visit).

We served pizza, all forms of spicy chips (Takis, Hot Cheetos, Jalapeno Potato Chips), carrots, grapes, Fresca, and brownies. The teens ate, chatted, played a few games, jumped on our trampoline, and then left for the park in our neighborhood (because why not?). During that time, I went with my Dad and Mary Lou and Jason to see Kai's community performance for the marching band. Austin and Erik were still at home to help "supervise". Though apparently there was some drama caused by some of the boys attending the party. Yes, you heard that right- drama from the boys, not the girls! I think the party overall was super fun, but the drama put a little damper on it and Victoria wasn't happy at church the next day. However, by the time Tuesday rolled around and she was an official "adult", things had been smoothed out and she felt much better. She also decided that since she was 18, she shouldn't let those younger friends of hers get under her skin so much.

On her birthday, she brought cinnamon rolls to seminary and enjoyed a delicious Puerto Rican dinner that Jason made. After school, Grandma Mary Lou and I accompanied her to Ulta for her free gift, where she got a bonus gift from Grandma as well. She went to dance class that evening to see her friends there, even though she wasn't quite ready to dance yet, due to her injury. She enjoyed all the cards and gifts that were sent by friends and loved ones. She really does love all her friends and family and considers everyone to be her favorite. That girl has a huge heart!

The miracle of her ankle sprain is this: she went to do baptisms at the temple the week before her birthday and immediately afterwards, felt a difference in her ankle, for the better. When she went there with her boot on, they told her she didn't need to get in the water, but she wanted to do the work for her ancestors and experience the blessings that come from that. The boot is removable, so it was easy for her to take it off. She hobbled in with difficulty, but when she came out, she could feel a difference. She still wore the boot and iced it as much as she could. Two days ago, just 10 days after attending the temple, I felt her leg and the lump is gone! It was still very prevalent 10 days earlier, but not now! We have a smaller wrap for her to wear now to make sure she doesn't reinjure it at track practice or dance, but we are so happy for the miracle of healing that came to her in the temple and as she continued to take care of herself. What a special birthday blessing!

I can't wait to see what is in store for her for the rest of her senior year and the next year or two as she begins a new chapter in her life. She's also excited to vote next month! Happy 18th Birthday, Victoria!

Before the party

Party Attendee's Shoes!

Birthday morning!

They got her a watch!

Nice perfume!

PR Pork!

Coupon for throwing shoes!

Discus bag

Kai got her a gift card and a candle.

Guess who can blow out 18 candles in one breath? This big-mouthed, large-lung beauty!

Doubles!