What a month it's been! Hard to put into words the gratitude in my heart for the glorious trip Blake and I were able to go on with my family to Spain, France and Italy! So grateful to my parents for planning and funding the travel and then so incredibly grateful to Nancy for watching over the kids while we were away. It was seriously just what Blake and I needed at this stage in life when we are so busy. I loved seeing Blake in his element- in Italy... conversing with our tour guides and enjoying the Italian foods and sights.
Along with our once in a lifetime trip, the month also brought about plenty of after school surf days for Grant, soccer tournaments for the boys, endless hours of dance for Anna, a new job for Dane at North County Soccer park as a soccer coach for kids, cleaning and organizing tasks around the house, a beautiful Steinway piano we inherited from Ed and Geraldine, which is the absolute joy of my life currently; boating trips to San Vicente, Poway High dance clinics for Anna and after parties at our house for Grant's friends. Life has been a bit bumpy for our baby girls this month! Anna absolutely detests school and feels overwhelmed in every way by the higher level of academic expectation. The stress has even spilled over onto her feelings about dance and the heavy commitment she's made there. For the first time, she questions her decision to be on dance team. Evelyn also decided to take a small break from her studies and work full time for this semester while she contemplates what she'd like to pursue in the future. These things may not seem monumental, but it's been downright torture for me to watch my two girls struggle in different ways and especially in Evelyn's case to step back and allow her to make the decisions she needs to make for her life even though it would not be what I would choose for her. But such is life and overall, despite the bumps, we are so blessed and I am constantly filled with gratitude for the opportunity to have these incredible relationships with my family and extended family and to experience the wide range of challenges and blessings that comes with the territory.
Ok, now on to the monthly highlights!
This month has been full of soccer tournaments and league games as Dane is full steam ahead into the season. Love that my friend Jen captures these amazing shots of Dane on the field. So proud of my boy for finding a job that he loves at NCSP working with children and teaching soccer. There truly could not be a better job for Dane as he adores children and he is so patient with them, not to mention a great teacher. Dane went to homecoming with all his soccer buddies this month and they had a great time. Often the group will go out to eat- that's the thing they do these days! They also spend the night at our house here and there and watch a lot of sporting events. Good group of kids. Dane started a business this month with his friend Jarron. They thrift clothes and then resell them on tik Tok. They are also bought their own heat press and are attempting to start their own clothing line! Dane spends a LOT of time working on the business. It's really fun to see him excited about it and working hard. Dane is pleasant 100 percent of the time and such a joy to our family. It's hard to imagine how quickly time is flying by. The thought of Dane growing up and heading off... wow! I'm definitely not ready for that.
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As previously mentioned, Ev has been busy looking for a job. She's applied so many places with no luck which is a huge bummer but we are holding out hope that she'll get a job very soon! In her spare time up in Utah, she enjoys drawing, walking, spending time with Emma- they enjoy concerts together and this month drove to Provo Canyon to see the beautiful changing leaves. She is working hard to find herself and trust herself and I love watching her grow and mature. I don't have many worries for Evelyn's future. I know she'll figure it out, the hard part on my end is being patient while she does it! I love this meme that perfectly describes the path that needs to unfold. It will all work out! And most times, the obstacle IS the way! So I'm praying for all good things to come her way.
Never has Anna had a day of struggle in her entire little life, so yes... this month has been tricky as she's learned to navigate middle school with quite a few demanding teachers and a rigorous academic expectation. I am so proud of Anna for trying hard every day to reset her attitude and mindset and to go forward as best she can while we figure out a few ways to make life a little more manageable at school. She is an incredible advocate for herself and I love that she goes to the counselor when she's overwhelmed to talk about it all. She is sitting next to a peer who is very helpful to her in her two hardest classes and that's been a blessing. She has SO MANY friends and a thriving social life, which is not always the case for most middle school kids. So- lots of things are going right, despite this obstacle she's facing. And she's dancing all the time. Loved watching her perform at the Poway High football game in the advanced group! She is such a beautiful little dancer and it's SO fun to watch her doing her thing. In her limited spare time- Anna wants to hang out with her friends- Kate in particular, but also her middle school group: Silver, Afton, Adele, and Scarlett. They go all over the place together- walking home from school in a big group. Last month's jaunt to the rodeo was not her favorite though, she was way too sad for the animals!
But she just loves to hang out with people and will spend countless hours with Kate making up tiktok dances, playing with Sophie, pretending to be pregnant-see picture below, hehe, pretending to own a coffee shop, watching Kate and Alexa on TV, painting her nails and leaving a disaster wherever she goes. Ha! She loves little kids and all the youngins' like to come sit with her in church . She goes through her clothes and finds little girls to give her stuff to - like Hadley and Taylor who inherited all of her swimsuits! She is DEAD set on getting a dog and in the meantime has been puppy sitting for the Sattleys which brings her a great amount of joy. Loves to take good care of Louie and was devastated for him when he was shaved earlier this month due to way too many mats in his hair. She loves to help me organize and this month it was fun to clean out her room with Jessica! We took out all the toys and all of the "you are my sunshine" signs and added a more mature feel to the room. When we left for our trip a few weeks ago, it just so happened that Anna had a fever and needed to stay home from school. It was so sad for her and for me! She didn't want to miss the big football game or school! But her friends came over and heart-attacked the front door and then gave her hugs and helped her know she was so loved even if she couldn't go out. She will make it through this tricky time! We just need to take it day by day and eventually she will feel comfortable with her new life. Change is hard!
EUROPE TRIP:
This trip was planned for May 2020 but then Covid struck so it was postponed. Now after three years, we were so excited to be able to take off on this adventure of a lifetime. The travelers consisted of all my siblings, their spouses and then my Mom and Dad who planned the whole thing. SO SADLY, the day before the trip, Jason's gallbladder became infected and he needed to have surgery so he and Jamie were not able to come. It was heartbreaking for all of us and not the best way to start the trip- that's for sure. But we pressed ahead and began in Barcelona, Spain for a day and a half! LOVED touring the city and churches and shops and eating tapas and together on a rooftop diner! It was beautiful in every way and a country I'd always wanted to see-- it did not disappoint. Next, we boarded our cruise and headed off to Mallorca for the day where we toured the most incredible churches, wandered around the beautiful city streets, enjoyed the views from up top and walked the entire way back to the ship rather than take the bus. It was a beautiful day. Dinners on the ship were incredible. Of course the food was always delicious but also just sitting and visiting with our siblings and parents was so much fun. Loved the shows- Hairspray, Flight- Dare to Dream and the game shows in the lounge. Michelle and Mike even competed on "Finish that lyric"and Michelle won, Mike was runner up! It was so fun. We loved the big slides, the boardwalk, the pizzeria, the windjammer buffet, the ice skating show and water show! Just so many fun things to do on the ship and the company was the best. After Mallorca, we traveled to Marsailles and Provence, France for the day and then off to Italy! First stop Florence to see the David and to be quite impressed by all of the gorgeous sites the city held. It was beyond beautiful and Blake's favorite day of the trip- my second favorite. Rome was next and a dream for me! I loved seeing the Coliseum, and more importantly the Vatican! The Sistine Chapel and the works of Michaelangelo! It was the best day full of so many incredible sites and food and the best tour guide. Loved our day in Rome- this was my favorite part of the trip. Our last stop was to Capri, Naples and Pompei-- a lot to do in one day, but a very beautiful experience. Loved the romantic setting of Capri and even bought a lemon perfume to remind me of our trip as Capri is known for their lemons. Pompei was also incredible to view and one of my favorite highlights. Overall, the trip was amazing in every way . We were so grateful to my parents for making it happen and also SO grateful to Nancy for coming down to take care of the kids for 9 full days! That's a lot to give up in life and she always does it with so much love and kindness and generosity. The kids had the best time with Grandma, shopping, eating out, running to various activities, getting nails done, surfing and everything in between. Without Nancy, these experiences wouldn't be possible. I really am so grateful to her!
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Besides our trip, keeping me busy this month: Our dear friend Robert Miner got married to Amanda and I held her bridal shower here in my home. Love Robert so much and very excited for his new life with Amanda and 5 new kids!
We also enjoyed Labor Day weekend boating with the Matters and then having a enjoying the day at the Judds for a big barbecue all afternoon. Very fun day.
Had the best birthday ever with a morning hike with Jessica along with my favorite pumpkin bars- a whole sheet which I've been eating for every meal since, because it is my favorite food! ha! The piano tuner came to tune up the piano and that was such a joy! I love having our new piano and playing it as often as I can. It has been the most amazing thing! Every time I see it, I'm beyond thrilled and just feel so blessed as the piano is very sentimental and also just an incredible piece to view! After the piano tune up, my friends threw me a birthday luncheon at Elizabeth Judd's house and it was just so sweet with all my favorite foods and a beautiful birthday cake made by Nikki! The kids wrote kind card and took amazing care of me, we met Blake for dinner at the Stand and had a really fun evening together. It was a perfect day.
Let's see.... we've done a lot of cleaning and reorganizing this month. Jessica has been helping me a ton. I've cleaned up my desk, the pantry, fridge, freezer, Anna's room, AND while I was away- Jessica came over and cleaned out my hoarders closet!!!!! The one in the back of the house with all the various party supplies. I've been to o overwhelmed to THINK of cleaning that closet out and I just could hardly believe Jess did that for me for my birthday gift! It was SO amazing. She also helped me re-arrange the furniture in the two front rooms to fit the piano and I love the new arrangement. It's been a lot of work but I'm so happy with how everything currently looks.
And speaking of Halloween... I stopped into Michaels last week to see their halloween decor and found the scariest little baby head spider along with mini baby heads that just creeped me out. They were 60 percent off so I decided to grab a few and scare the kids. Haha!
Still loving singing time, though I know my time is running out and that makes me very sad!!!! I treasure every week with those kiddos now that I know it's coming to a close.... so sad! Still working with clients on the side to teach executive functioning skills and stress coping techniques. Loving that. I've also been working on a curriculum for 6-8th grade girls to boost self confidence and coping skills. We meet at the Burkes every Wednesday morning (late start) and it 's been a true joy so far and something I really look forward to working on with Melanie. We hope to one day be able to go into the seminary classes and present small lesson plans that focus on various coping skills throughout the year. That is just a maybe right now, but would be fun if it worked out. Blake fixed my tooth! It is just a temporary fix, but I'm thrilled to not have a gaping hole in my smile and so grateful to Blake for spending so much time fixing it up. Funny but not funny night this month when I told every living soul that Blake and I were going on a date night to see Nate Bergatzke (a wonderful comedian) perform! The kids were excited for us to go out (especially Anna) and Blake and I also were excited. But when the evening approached I realized.... wait, I don't think I've seen the tickets in my in box. And only realized I hadn't finished the transaction, only began the process..... and of course being the night of, the show sold out. We were disappointed, but Anna made it a special night regardless. She turned on a movie and brought in snacks. It was a really fun date night relaxing in our room!
