Halloween

The kids squeezed in some pumpkin carving just before Halloween. Aubrey and her friends dressed up as Disney characters and princesses, more “essence of” or “inspired by” princess versions than full-on costumes. I snapped a quick photo before she left for the party—Aubrey as Anna from Frozen. Eric , Leah, and Miles came over for the evening. Grant went out in the neighborhood, twinning with Miles as Hogwarts students (Greg and Eric braved the rain with them), and Grant went back out later when a group of friends came to our door and snagged him. Miles helped me hand out candy again this year. It’s one of his favorite things to do.

Grant West O 8th Grade Volleyball

Grant enjoyed his first volleyball experience, except for the silly rules that were put in place, preventing boys from playing in the front row and only two boys being allowed on the court at a time. Why make it co-ed, if you're not going to allow both to play?? That was frustrating for him (and for us), but turns out, he's a pretty good volleyball player! His team really wasn't very talented or experienced (a couple of the kids had never played a sport before), but they had some successes and had fun. The school was short-handed when it came to referee's, so Greg reluctantly filled in a couple times. We were glad when they found some refs, and he could just spectate!

During the last week of the season, they had a students vs. parents game. Greg represented for us.

CBU Happenings

Loved getting photos from Penny during her visit to CBU. The kids all got together at Kari, Kylee, and Julia's apartment, and had pizza (supplied by the generous visitors). 

Shauna visited at one point, too. These kids get a lot of visitors! 

Kari called and told us about her trip to Joshua Tree National Park with friends. She got attacked by a cactus. We hear from the kids every other week or so, sometimes once a week on Sundays and love getting glimpses into their lives through social media and BeReal photos. Kari even made it in a CommLife Instagram post. :-)

I got a middle of the night phone call from Joel about six weeks in. He was feeling sad and homesick and couldn't sleep, and so I talked with him and prayed with him, assuring him that it was normal to feel lonely, even with friends from home and cousins nearby. It's a big change to move away from home and go away to college. Praying he will settle in and feel more comfortable there soon. 

Josiah Queen Concert

Greg won serious dad (and husband) points yesterday. He drove Aubrey and five friends up to Monroe, WA (a three and a half hour drive) for the Josiah Queen concert Aubrey begged to go to when tickets went on sale months ago. He waited in the parking lot as they stood outside in the rain in line, retrieved their umbrella and blanket once the line was moving, bought pizza for them to have when it was over, and drove them all the way back home last night. 🥰 The girls had a blast! 

Funny Kids

This series of texts in our family group chat had us laughing out loud. Joel started it with his photo of "maybe Kari." Kari sent the photo of Joel and her text a couple hours later. Too funny!

We hear that they don't see a ton of each other on campus, but I love that they're both there and love when I get a photo with evidence that they do see each other sometimes.  

Fall Happenings

Beautiful fall weekend! A stop at Bushue’s for cider slushies and donuts, a bunch of house work/laundry/errands (got the kids’ school photos in their frames—only one more for Aubrey 🥲), a walk with Rachael (defended ourselves with sticks because of loose dogs) and lots of water polo. Church tomorrow and more polo. 🥰 We’re soaking up the sun before the rain arrives!