Celebrating 20!

 We celebrated Victoria on her half-birthday in April when she came home for spring break, and we celebrated with the Kish family just over a month before her birthday before she left for school. Her 20th birthday was on Friday, and we were more involved from a distance than we thought we would be. That was totally fine with me since it's still weird not having her here for big occasions like that.

(Flashback pics to September's celebration)

We opted for 2 candles because she blew the 20 out in April in one breath, so I didn't feel like putting 20 on again.

Sammy and Karyn think of Vicky as another member of their family:)

And of course, Susie does too!

Joe also does. We love this pic of him because he's actually very tall, but in this pic he looks like a short, goofy kid!

Joe let me take a picture of his plate. This is Victoria's favorite meal! Puerto Rican delish!

She had already been on our acute radar since the week before when she announced that she had a displaced rib. Yes, a displaced rib! I thought it had been from when she had a big fall in her tap class, which may have played a role in it, but I think the main cause was when someone cracked her back for her, who was not a chiropractor. After the pain kept increasing and causing more problems, she finally went to see a chiropractor who confirmed what her dance teacher thought- it was a rib out of place. The doc put it back in place and assured her that it happened more frequently than we might think, which made me feel better. He usually puts someone's rib back in place each day. I had no idea! She had to take it easy for some more time, and the pain still intensified, even after she went. I was thinking that she was going to be feeling well just in time for her birthday when she called Thursday night and told me she had just gone to the urgent care and had bronchitis! That day, she had problems breathing, kept coughing, was light-headed, and had a headache. They prescribed her with antibiotics and some steroids. When she returned to her apartment, she was exhausted and hungry but didn't have the energy to make something to eat. Jason and I decided to Door Dash her some groceries that evening so she could start her birthday off on a decent foot and not have to go back to the hospital because of dehydration or something. It was rewarding to pick out some of her favorite foods that would help her heal, like chicken noodle soup, clementines, popsicles, and cream cheese for her bagels. I got Austin to text her that she needed to use the lemons, honey, and cinnamon we were buying for her to make herself a lemon tea- something that he learned when he was sick was very soothing and healing. 

By the next morning, she was already improving and she had a lot less pain from her rib. She had to skip a few of her physically demanding classes but went to her kinesiology class. Her friends took her to dinner and she felt well enough for that, which I was so happy about. We're glad she was celebrated and is healing again. No more injuries or illnesses for a while now, please!

With her BYU-I friends!

Detroit Visit

 My dad and Mary Lou came for their yearly visit at the end of September into early October. As usual, we took them to a cider mill and some of the kids' events. 

Erik's ankle had been healing, and he was able to play in his first game since his injury. He played very well and had about five headers that game, so at least his head took a beating and not his ankle! He didn't have a XC meet while they were here since it was a by-week for Discovery. That was actually good so he could rest it more. He got a 5-second PR at his meet the day after they left and his ankle felt great!

We were excited for them to see Austin run in a tri-school meet, but we found out that the coach didn't want his top 8 runners running in that Tuesday meet. He wanted to save them for the Saturday qualifying meet for States, so they didn't get to see him run. (FYI: Austin got a 19-second PR on Saturday, coming in 19th out of 213 and second on our varsity with a time of 16:39. So good call Coach!)

The top 7. The 8th wasn't feeling well.

We all enjoyed visiting with them and getting our cinnamon donuts and cider. Kade got to bring his friend Isa along for that.

Cheers!

Big kids on the little cider mill toys!

For something different this time, I took my dad and Mary Lou to Detroit one day after work. We had to do what all Detroiters do and tested the Coney Dogs at Lafayette Coney Island and American Coney Island. The two were opened by brothers, right next door to each other in 1917 and 1924. The coney dogs are slightly different and depending on who you talk to, everyone has a strong opinion on which is better. A coney dog is a hot dog with a special chili on it, then mustard, followed by diced onions. You can order a few other options off the menu, but we opted to split two coney dogs at each place to see what we liked best, which was American. The mustard was less spicy, which I didn't mind, but my dad and Mary Lou didn't like it as much. The onions weren't as strong either, which is the reason I liked it better at American. There are other differences in the chili and dogs themselves, but I couldn't really tell. It was a fun experiment.

We walked over to the Detroit River afterward. That reminded me that I never posted the pics of our Stake activity in Detroit over Labor Day weekend. (We got a private cruise on the river on the Diamond Belle and the guide pointed out some landmarks and history on both the American and Canadian sides. Most of which I have forgotten, except that the only floating US post office in the country is on that river with its own zip code. It delivers mail traveling the Great Lakes that come through the Detroit River port.)

We're glad Grandpa and Grandma Anderson came to visit!

The cats had fun too!

Notice the 2 cats watching Grandma make sandwiches...

(Photo dump from the river cruise over Labor Day).

Detroit

Bridge to Canada

Cobo Center

Detroit

Canadian side

The floating USPS!

We Now Own Crutches

 You would think we would have picked up crutches sometime in the past 10 years when there were a lot of injuries occurring here,  but no, we didn't. Victoria and Kade both borrowed them for a short time. It was for Kade's knee and Victoria's ankle, but they were never told they needed them, we just borrowed them because it would help the healing process go more quickly. We own a pair now, and luckily, the few days Erik used them were sufficient. And we have crutches to lend out!

Here's the story. 

Remember Erik's last game of the season in June? He had injured his ankle pretty badly. The coach had to carry him off the field. We declared it sprained, without seeing a doctor, because it didn't have any outward signs of a break and he ended up walking on it okay. Jason got him a brace to wear at try-outs for Plymouth Reign, which he didn't play as well because of his injury, but it eventually healed. 

Well, last week at school he played soccer and I guess he rolled that same ankle, though that was news to me as he never mentioned it until Monday when he did the same thing at soccer practice. Tuesday was his xc meet and the terrain was a little rough, so by the end, he was in a lot of pain. I had to help him limp back to the car. When we got home, he was writhing in pain and I couldn't get him out of the car. I was starving, so I finally convinced him to let me help him out so we could eat. I called Jason as well and we decided I should take him to the urgent care after we ate. Since it was in the evening and they were closing in a couple hours, the backups were there. After his x-ray, they told me that it looked like the growth plate had been separated, but he couldn't tell for sure. He would call us at 8 when they closed after the other tech got a look at it. In the meantime, after watching Erik limp on it, he declared they wrap it with the hard brace and Erik get crutches. If it wasn't actually broken, we could take the hard brace off and wrap it in whatever we liked. 

He finished the meet, even in pain!

He got to ride in a wheelchair at the UC.

And we still can't see the braces on his teeth here...

I went to my first night of tap class directly afterward, so Jason took the call. It isn't broken, but Erik used the crutches the next few days at school to make sure he stayed off his ankle and could rest it. We also got this nice brace that he's been able to use without the crutches now. We're hoping if he stays off it for this week, he'll be able to go back to some soccer and xc again. Luckily, kids heal so quickly! I just hope he doesn't reinjure it again!

Here's his new brace. It's pretty good.

A Lot Can Happen in a Week!

 Last weekend Victoria was still here,  Kade wasn't planning on going to Homecoming, Austin was on JV, Erik's soccer team was down, and everyone was healthy.

This weekend, Victoria is back in Idaho, Kade went to the HOCO dance last night, Austin ran for Varsity yesterday, Erik's team was ahead and played much better (though it ended in a tie), and everyone, except me, has a big bad cough (it's pretty much what goes around at the beginning of each school year- we call it the PCEP Plague.)

Victoria worked her last day at Red Bell on Thursday when I was there too. We didn't work in the same room, but I saw her around, which was fun. It was a little sad when she said goodbye after spending over a month with some of those kids. She has grown a lot as an employee at Red Bell. She has been getting over her cough for a few weeks now, so I don't think she had the PCEP Plague. 

Last day!

Downtown Plymouth Dairy King!

The Kishs came over last Sunday for dinner.

Kade went with his best senior friends to the homecoming dance last night. He had stayed home from school Friday when he had the worst of the "plague", but was feeling a little better yesterday afternoon, which was good since we had just bought tickets a few days earlier. They went to Applebee's beforehand and about 4 additional kids came over afterward to hang out in our basement and eat popcorn and chips. It was a happening night since Jason and Erik were watching the BYU and Nebraska games and Austin was out at a friend's watching the BYU game. I was in bed!

Lookin' good!

Austin was promoted to run with Varsity since he had the 4th fastest time in the team, among Varsity and JV, from last week. Since he woke up still sounding awful from his cough, Jason and I fully expected him not to set a PR. I thought he might have an okay race, but I didn't think he could go faster than last week. I was at Erik's game at 1:20 in the afternoon in the 82-degree weather with sunshine and high humidity, thinking, "There's no way Austin's going to do well with his cough and this extreme heat" during the moment he started running. Less than 20 minutes later, Jason texted me that Austin had come in sub 17! His time was 16:57, whereas last week it was 17:12. The amount of time he cut-off again is unbelievable! He was the second of our varsity runners to come in and is now the 3rd fastest runner on the team. He placed 21st overall in the meet out of 157. They're Division 1. I'm totally shocked he did that. I'll now put my plug in for healthy eating: he has been so mindful in his eating lately that I think it's really making a big difference. He needs a tad more sleep, but it's not bad for a 15-year-old boy who goes to early morning seminary!

It was a tough course, too!

He's right behind Jack, another freakishly fast Sophmore. 

Getting their medals.

Erik's game was also in that heat and he has a small cough, but not near as bad as Austin or Jason (who of course has the worst cough). He played really well in their first game, not counting the cup from last week. The team worked well together and scored their 3 points right at the beginning. Unfortunately, the opposing team caught up by the very end, but I think the boys felt more confident since their last game. Thanks to Jason, Erik has been eating some little hamburger patties, which will definitely help him grow more and gain more strength for his xc and soccer. Erik has liked sausage patties for a while (thanks McDonald's) and Jason has been formulating a plan to make a look-alike patty out of ground beef that has a similar flavor to what Erik likes in the sausage patty, making it healthier for him and something he can eat more often. Another benefit to Austin's improvement in running and his change in eating habits is that Erik is noticing. While he is still pretty particular with what he eats, he wants to eat more of his favorites that are more nutritious, like eggs and my smoothies with spinach in them. Look out world, here comes Erik!

(I don't have pics of Erik's game, but I do have some of his first xc meet!)

Erik came in 14th place on his first xc meet for the season.

His time was 14:46 for 2 miles. Here he is passing the one in the yellow just before the finish line!

Back to School 2024-2025

This summer flew by. Before we knew it, we were back in school! And now it's Kade's senior year! Austin is a sophomore and Erik is in 7th grade. This is my 8th year teaching at Red Bell. I'm going in 15 minutes earlier this year since I have a lot of early drop-offs in my class and they're a young group. This week has been fun going back to Red Bell because Victoria is still here and she's been working many morning shifts there, so I get to see her on the playground sometimes! She's worked some afternoon shifts as well and it's fun discussing the students from my class that she works with in the afternoon. The most interesting thing we had to discuss this week was one of my students told another one about a gun his dad has. We actually reported it to my boss because of the nature of the conversation, who then got the police involved. They had to go into the family's home to make sure it is locked up properly. The next day, the kid who talked about his dad's gun, hit the same student on the face with a pan from the sandbox, during Victoria's afternoon shift. It was quite the first week! We also had plenty of sweet moments and lots of growth already!

Kade will probably start working at Red Bell after school after Victoria leaves this week. Then he and I can discuss all the preschool drama! Kade is taking fun classes from honors zoology to a sketch class. He's in his 7th year of the orchestra, my kid to last the longest there! He's hoping to join the electrical orchestra and be in the pit for the school spring play. Here are some of my favorite senior pics of him. 

Some of the seniors like to get a child's backpack for their senior year.

Austin practiced hard over the summer for cross country and it has shown! In the first meet of the season, two weeks ago, he hit a PR of 17:41 on his 5k, coming in 3rd, just behind his best friend, Owen. For today's meet, Owen and Austin were to be the fastest in the JV race. Well, Austin surprised everyone by leading the entire JV race and coming in first, 30 seconds before the second-place finisher! Owen still did really well, but he didn't beat his PR. He came in 3rd. Austin beat his PR by 29 seconds! He ran it in 17:12! Victoria and I had to sprint back and forth to make sure we saw him, especially at the big sledding hill they ran up twice! It was very exciting. Austin's got some good classes as well, including Spanish, finally!

2 weeks ago. Max, Owen, and Austin for most of the race. 

5 Salem boys are up on the screen, making up the top 7! Today's meet had 7 Salem boys in the top 10!

Here's where Austin started to break away more, at the base of the hill the first time. 

He was way ahead of everyone the rest of the time. 

The second time up the hill.

Coming in for the finish!

He soaked it all in!

Owen, Austin, Sam, and Max. All such good friends and really good runners!

Erik made the travel team for soccer for the Plymouth Reign club, so that'll keep him busy, especially since he'll be doing cross country through his school as well. He has a tournament this weekend and so far his team isn't doing great, but they're new together, and young, so they'll get better! And it's one of the best soccer clubs in our area. He's going to continue playing the trombone in the band and his science teacher is already excited about his help with the other students in their tectonics unit as the students need a basic understanding of geography for that. She told me he would be bored, since he not only knows the continents and oceans, which is all they need to know, but also every single other country in the world! (plus their flags and their surrounding countries and many of their capitals...) 

Erik's in the middle, defending those guys in red. 

He had just kicked the ball here.

We have loved having Victoria here when school started, last year she was already in Idaho by now. She's got a fun semester ahead with classes such as a kinesiology class and a choreography class. She's got great friends and roommates and is loving living in an apartment! We'll miss her when she leaves in 6 days. 

We'll post this on FB when she actually starts school.

Jason is still doing his thing with Ford and he was really helpful today for the xc meet. He went really early to set up our generator for the music and microphone since our team was hosting. Then he went on to take Erik to his two games today, an hour and a half away. Way to jump right in! 

Happy School Year!

FYI, Erik now has braces, since these were taken, but he hasn't let me take a picture of them yet....