Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is hands-down one of my very favorite holidays. I truly believe that a thankful person cannot help but be happy, and that it is impossible to be truly happy without a grateful heart. How awesome to have an entire day dedicated to this virtue! We were certainly blessed this Thanksgiving by the hospitality and company of good friends, following J's participation in his first Turkey Bowl!

Awesomeness

Congratulations to M for her induction into the National Math Honor Society, and for earning Highest Honors due to last year's academic successes! Congratulations to J as well for his Term 1 Honor Roll award, and for earning his 7th Boy Scout Merit Badge!

Below is a sampling of M's artwork, created with chalk pastels in her 2nd block Drawing & Painting class:

The New School Year Off & Running!

We definitely had a running start to the school year, packed with new classes, new milestones, and a lot of actual running! J started 7th grade and M began her Sophomore year. Perhaps the funnest part of the new school year for all of us was attending many of the Fall sporting events, including soccer games, football games and cross county meets. This kept us busy and happy. M had a great XC season, beating her personal record, running varsity in three meets, and positioning herself in the top 10 on her team.

It was a treat revisiting the lake one more time on a perfect Labor Day; it felt like a gift to have that one last shot of summer! Here, M and a group of friends are jumping off of an esplanade, and Marc shows of his flip!

M got her driver's permit! She was SO excited to get behind the wheel :)

Homecomings, October 12 & 26

 J's 13th brithday! He shared it with Homecoming festivities, and so had his party the following weekend. Friends joined him for some airsofting, pizza, cake and a trip to the "Field of Screams" where they shot glow-in-the-dark paintballs at zombies!

Boy Scout Court of Honor, where J earned 2nd Class!!

Summer's End

Summer is gone and nothing's going to bring it back, but we have lots of great memories and the excitement of a new school year and a new season to celebrate! The last half of summer found M & J having outdoor adventures at Camps Tuckahoe and Liahona, plus a three-day trip to Williamsburg with close friends. It rounded up with temple trips, parties and a day-trip to Ocean City. Marc spent nearly two weeks in Italy and Spain, attending meetings, giving talks and enjoying the scenery. He also spent a week in Telluride, Colorado. My main job was to prepare for all of these adventures and then to miss my family while they were away! But, there was also a little quiet time, a spa day and some more river tubing. My favorite part of summer was seeing my children grow from their many experiences, and watching them better discover their own strengths and talents. Enjoying the sunshine, water sports and time with friends was the icing on the cake :)

 Girls' Camp, July 15-19 & Scout Camp, July 29-August 3

Williamsburg, VA, July 21-23

Girls' Day Out Temple Trips

Parties!! July 27 & August 13
Farewell Hunter & Dallen!

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Ocean City, MD, August 14

Cathedral in Milan, Italy, August 17-28

Telluride, Colorado, August 5-9

The Social Bridge

The Town of Telluride

 

An Old Mining Structure

Midsummer Update

We're about to the halfway point of our summer vacation, and this seems like a good time to record some of our memorable happenings. Summer is truly a gift! Our school year is so busy and summer is our time to play hard and simply enjoy being together as a family, as well as with friends. Writing these memories down and attaching a few pictures somehow makes going back to school a little easier as we realize that it wasn't all just a dream. Summer really happened (and is thankfully still going strong, for now)!

On the last day of school, we hosted a party for the youth from church. There were basketball, ice cream, a bonfire, a movie and plenty of social time. The very next day, we were honored to have my brother, Mike, come and visit from Seattle. We spent a long day in Gettysburg reacquainting ourselves with the happenings of that historic 3-day battle. I think we all felt a reverence for those who fought and made the ultimate sacrifice to shape our nation into what it is today.

Our family "staycation" adventures this summer have mostly centered around friends, and we all agree that friends made our family time all the better! So far, we enjoyed a day rafting, a dinner party and ice blocking, a river tubing trip, an incredible day at the lake (floating, swimming, cliff jumping, great food, fireworks and perfect company), a visit from some far-away friends, missionary farewells and lots of movies.

The kids have also had their own adventures, including sushi making, youth conference and a week of EFY at SVU for M, and basketball camp and a GEMS (science) internship for J. The adventures continue as M & J will have camping experiences and a trip to Bush Gardens, and as Marc embarks on a trip to Europe. But here are a few snapshots of the fun thus far:

Crashing on the way home from Gettysburg, June 15 (sweet:)

Rafting & lunch on Black Hill Lake, June 19

Youth Conference MTC, June 27-29

River Tubing in Harper's Ferry, July 2

Lake Linganore, July 4

Sushi Making, July 5

EFY bound, July 8

Amazing Acedemics

How can a mom not be extremely proud at the end of the school year when both of her children earned cumulative 4.0 GPAs?

Even with honors classes, every single letter on J's report card for the entire year is an "A" and he aced every single CRES as well, with a perfect 100 on his History CRES. And, I happen to know (insider knowledge) that he earned the very top score in his entire grade on an important reading assessment, and was 11th in the comparable math assessment. Talk about WOW! He accomplished all of this while staying active in Boy Scouts, hiking and earning merit badges, with lots of basketball and piano practicing on the side.

M's weighted GPA is a 4.6, and this is in addition to early morning seminary at 6:15 each day AND all three seasons of sports until 5:30 each evening. She never missed a day of seminary unless she was sick, and she read the entire New Testament. She also stayed active in her church youth group, serving as her Mia Maid class president. And she continued her piano studies, with a beautiful school recital featuring one of her original compositions.

It wasn't easy! There were lots of early mornings and some very, very late nights for both. Sprinkle in weeknight and Saturday Cross Country and Track meets for M and numerous campouts and a 20 mile hike for J and you have a recipe for intense! This year's final report cards represent incredible hard work, dedication and committment with a whole lot of fun and great memories mixed in. I couldn't be happier with the efforts and accomplishments of my wonderful children :)

~ Gushing Mother

Color Run

What do you call a 5K where they spray you with paint after each kilometer? It's a Color Run, of course!