Mid December mayhem

We had a friends cookie party on the 9th. Pete was off at basketball tryouts, and Kendal chose homework over others, so just Alice and I went. She had a blast with her buddies and eating all of the treats. Unfortunately, she ended up with a stomach bug just over a day later. I had to keep her home from school on Casey's birthday. I spent my odd day at home organizing Christmas while Alice slept the morning away. 

I was able to bake Casey surprise cupcakes that Kendal and Pete delivered to Casey at school the morning of his birthday. Poor Casey has had mostly early morning practices this last month. It's a pain, but he puts up with it and it means he's home in the afternoons (that aren't game days). Casey had a very easy going evening on his birthday. Pete was at tryouts, Alice not feeling great, and Kendal off playing the piano for a church party so Casey went and got us takeout that we enjoyed together since going out wasn't an option that night. We all ate cake later with the kids to celebrate him though. We love him so very much and he definitely is the favorite around here with our kids! 

                                        

Alice got to go to her Activity Day's Christmas party on the 12th. They exchanged special gifts they made one another, played games, and then went caroling to people in our ward. Alice has missed her activities the previous month due to her basketball practice schedule, so she was thrilled to make it to this one. 

Pete put himself out there and tried out again this year for basketball. He didn't make the team, but the Coach likes him and asked him to be a manager for the team. Pete happily said yes because Austin is on the team and he can still go and help / pal around. Pete will be a good help to the team and I hope it's a good experience for him. Pete got to hang out with friends for a holiday movie night on the 12th. 

Alice had her tournament on the morning of the 13th. Her team was down a couple of players, and one left part way through the game so while they held their own for quite a bit of the game, they couldn't keep it up and didn't get to continue past round one. 

Kendal spent that morning helping with the Santa breakfast that BPA put on. She was the "elf" that helped with the line of kids wanting to meet the Santa that was there. Alice chose not to go because she didn't want to talk to Santa (She chose that two other times as well.)  

The afternoon of the 13th we went out to Raft River for the rest of the weekend to spend time with family. We missed out on the Web party, but had a blast with all of the cousins for the rest of the weekend. It was a crowded and noisy house but the kids had a wonderful time together!! Saturday the adults went out to eat in Burley while all 19 grandkids had part of the  evening to themselves at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We crammed in the house for the night filling every nook and cranny we could. Sunday we added a lot of kids to the primary and YW/YM. After church we got in a few family pictures for Cheryl's wall and then ate and had our Christmas party / present exchange. The kids did t-shirts this year and there was so many fun ones! It's always a great time with the Darrington clan and we wish we could see more of Cody, Mia, and their kids, but we'll take what we can get. 

 

between all of the holiday / season hustle and bustle I managed to get a night out for book club. We bedazzled books and chatted the evening away. 

 Kendal had her winter piano recital on the 18th. She's been working so hard on her piece and played it beautifully that night. She's had piano seminar this past semester and has really burst into playing more and more songs by sight and enjoying tinkering around on the piano more. I love that she has this amazing talent and know it's a blessing in her life (it for sure is a blessing to our family / home)!

We had dress up week the last week before break. I was lame and didn't get pictures. Alice had an elf day, a reindeer day we all had an ugly sweater day, and PJ days as well. School is absolute chaos before the holiday break but we made it through. Kendal had a couple of finals to grumble about and Pete had a couple of tests as well since their semester ends the week we get back from Christmas break. 

Casey's had a lot of games the last few weeks with his team. I was able to abandon the kids one night and go and watch his team play. He's got a rough group this year as well as being low in numbers so they haven't won a game so far, but he's proud of the work their putting in and continues to raise them up and Coach them to the best of his abilities! 

The 21st was the Christmas program. Kendal was chorister for the day and lead six songs. She said her arms were sore after a few songs, but she's learning and doing really well in her calling. We were also blessed to go and be apart of Kendal's patriarchal blessing that afternoon. I had tears streaming down my face from the blessing listening to the promises and blessings for Kendal's life was so special and moments like that make me realize how close I am to this young lady growing up and taking on the world in a couple of years.

Thanksgiving into December

 We had the week off of school for Thanksgiving break. Casey had practice for a few days.On Monday we put up the tree, put up our new tree downstairs, and put up lights on the tree out front of the house. Tuesday we got our early Christmas present of a new Washer and Dryer! (We'd "fixed" our dryer twice without much success and our washer wouldn't work on most of the modes it was put on so it was long overdue.) 

(The second the Santa hat came out of the Holiday box, it's been almost a constant on Alice's head this last month. ; ) 

Thanksgiving morning we went out to Rupert so Kendal and Pete could run the Turkey Trot with Vanessa and their kids. It was a nice sunny morning which made for a decent run for the kids. Afterwards we drove the "back roads route" to Raft River. Along the way we stopped and did a bunch of Geocache sites! We had a wonderful afternoon at Kenny and Cheryl's. We ate a great dinner, and played games together the rest of the day. We stayed overnight and came home the next day getting in a bit of Black Friday Shopping. 

Dec. 1st we had our annual Christmas PJ night. I love that we do this at the beginning of the month so the kids can enjoy them all month long! 

I got a new toy at work that re-bonds books back together. I've been geeking out about this machine and am so happy to have it in the library to help mend books better and quicker than ever! 

 

I had a staff party on the 5th with the middle school staff. Casey was stuck at games that night and couldn't come. It was food, an ornament exchange, and a lot of funny stories from people. We're lucky to work where we do and with the people we do. 

Alice had a basketball game on the 6th. Her team pulled out a win despite their main scorer having a broken arm! Alice played great and has been really getting the hang of defense / the game towards the end of her season. 

We ran into the Spear family at the Turkey Trot and scheduled a dinner and game night for the seventh. It was great catching up with each other and letting our kids get reacquainted. We had a fun night of games as well! 

Sweet 16!

Our Beautiful Kendal is 16 years old! I hoped to post closer to her birthday, but was down and out this week so a late post it is. Kendal continues to thrive at school. She seeks perfection for herself and her school work and puts in a lot of work to make sure her grades continue to stay good. Kendal puts more pressure on herself than she should, but she just keeps running on that energy and we're doing our best to support and ease her worries. Kendal has joined BPA and a medical type group this year in school. She also continues to help out with the schools SOS program. Kendal continues to be our vivacious reader and still consumes books like they're air. She even chose a shopping spree to Barnes and Noble over anything else for her birthday. Kendal continues to enjoy running and has found such a great group of friends among the Cross Country team.  Kendal spends most weekends busy or with friends at some point. She's a busy lady when it comes to her social calendar, partly because her friend groups vary so much because she gets along with so many people and they all like her. Kendal is thriving in her piano. Her skills and difficulty levels continue to grow and as she's been taking piano seminar this Semester at school she's been able to devote more time to growing her talent. 

16 hasn't come with the typical things for Kendal. She's been driving since spring of last year with her official license at the beginning of this year. She lost any night time restrictions though on her birthday (so she can drive herself to and from friends houses!). Kendal went on her first date before 16 as well when she went to homecoming. She's definitely not all about boys and dating right now and that's fine with us. Kendal is not a girly girl in any sense, but chooses her own style and her own way of doing things and I love that she's her own person without letting the worlds standards or pressures influence who she is or what she does. 

Kendal's 16 words from this years birthday card: She is loving, kind, has a heart of gold, cozy seeker, strong, resilient, radiant, sweet, genuine, fantasy chaser, book lover, intelligent, musical, talented, loyal, and beautiful inside and out. 

Kendal you're becoming a truly remarkable young woman. We love you so very much! 

Kendal had a very easy going birthday. She had a friends lunch out to chick fill a for incentive lunch the Thursday before her birthday with Netta and Alycin. The day before her birthday Alexis and Becca took her into twin for Ice Cream and a look around Barnes and Noble. Saturday we spent the day with my parents and took it easy. That evening we took Kendal out to Cafe Rio for dinner and then over to Barnes and Noble for her birthday spree. She had five minutes to look and think about her choices and one minute to pick. She was sweet and tried not to go nuts being worried she was spending to much, so I made her add a set she really wants last minute to tip the deal to a level of awesome! 

 

Kendal's current favorites! 

Kendals favorite activities: Running or Reading

Favorite food: tacos

Favorite treat: Twix or sour candy

Favorite subject in school: social studies / math

Favorite book: Powerless or Inheritance games

When I grow up I want to be: Something in the medical field.

November run down

 Alice started basketball at the beginning of the month. Her team is on the timid side so being aggressive on the court is not their strong suit. They lost their first two games. The first one by quite a bit, the second only by 4 points and they won yesterday's game with a score of 12 to 8. Alice is not a go getter on the court, but she's improving in skills just like her teammates. She did a good job on defense yesterday in her game. Alice's team named themselves the Pink Bows.

                                     

Kendal had her Cross Country Banquet night a couple of weeks ago. She was recognized for her hard work and made the 200 mile club this year. 

Pete has been doing open gym sessions for basketball the last three weeks. He's hoping to make the 8th grade team this year. Kendal started winter track this past week. Coach Welch gave them a schedule to follow and she's doing good so far. 

Casey's had two weeks worth of games. Unfortunately his first two games came with him being sick and miserable so he was just trying to make it through those days and support his girls / the teams to the best he could. This week they had one game cancelled due to player illness and then they played Thursday with a small team. 

Kendal and Pete got to go to the Burley Temple open house a couple of weeks ago. It's a fairly small temple, but still beautiful inside and out. 

My parents were able to come up on the 14th. They went through the Temple on their way here and then spent Kendal's birthday weekend with us. They got to see Alice play basketball and then spent some time with us Saturday and Sunday morning they went to church with us. 

Pete got to go to a Friendsgiving on the 15th and then he spent time at Ryder and Gunners for the afternoon. He's got such a fun possy of friends. 

As I said above Casey got hit hard on the 14th with the Flu, he had a really rough weekend, and spent this last week still getting over and through his sickness. It hit me during church last week and after my parents left on Sunday I ended up putting myself to bed and spent the afternoon feeling so crummy. Alice joined me that evening feeling crummy so I put in a sub for Monday. Little did I know that I would be spending the next few days feeling miserable and getting worse. I hit a point where I couldn't handle the migraines so Casey took me to the Dr on Wednesday where I was diagnosed with Influenza (which Casey probably had as well). Thankfully the medicine prescribed helped and I managed to go to work for the last two days of the week. (Was I 100% - nope probably 25% on Thursday and 50% on Friday, but I managed.) 

Yesterday Casey took Kendal and Pete down to Pocatello to see the boys football team compete for the State Championship for the first time in 44 years! The team came up short, but they gave it their best. 

Districts, Tubbs Tradition, and Halloween

 Kendal had her district meet on the 22nd. She ended up not feeling great during her run so it wasn't the finish she hoped for. The girls also came just short of going to State this year (minus CC who got in the top 8 runners and qualified to go to state on her own). The boys got second so they made it to State. Kendal worked really hard this year in cross country. Kendal found times where she felt amazing about her efforts and times as well as meets she fell short of her goals this season. We're proud of her hard work and dedication to all that she's done this year! 

David, Anica and their boys came up for the weekend of the 25th. Casey, Kendal, and Pete were off at a football game / play that night so Alice and I entertained them for a while. Saturday morning we went on our annual visit to Tubbs Berry Farm. It's become tradition and the kids always have fun. We hit up everything we could (duck runs, slides, foosball area, apple shooting, paintball shooting, wagon ride, tractor ride, kids area and most of all the maze. We split into two teams. David and Anica had Pete, Isaac, and Emmett with them while Casey and I had Kendal, Elliot, and Alice on ours. Davids crew made it out first, but didn't get all of the punches, while our group was thorough and found the punches and then made it out. That evening Kendal was off to her friend's birthday party while the rest of us played the night away here at home. The next day was our Primary Program. David, Anica, and the boys stayed to watch the program before heading home. Alice's group did a song instead of parts. I teared up a few times listening to the sweet voices of our primary kids!

This last week we had parent teacher conferences. Alice's was the week before. She's got great scores in school and is doing well in her class. Kendal's conferences were on Monday. Casey went over before his open gym and talked with her teachers. She continues to be a bright student with a lot of potential in school / life. Casey and I were stuck at school for 12 hours on Tuesday thanks to our conferences. We talked with Pete's teachers as well and they praised his hard work this year. He's pulling all A's right now! Thanks to it being a conference week we had Friday off of school so Halloween turned into an errand and pumpkin carving day before the night of fun. Kendal went as a pirate with her friend Alycin, then hung out for a while. Pete and Austin took Alice out trick or treating in Ballards Way. They came home and had a movie night afterwards which was fun.

Pete carved a shilouete of Perry the Platypus (his costume), Kendal a house, and Alice a stage with a her character - Zoey from K-Pop. .. . 

Casey and Alice start their basketball season this week, and Kendal will be starting winter track soon. (We'll see if we can get Pete to join in ; ).