Tuesday, November 30, 2021

November

 November seemed to pass so quickly!  Here are a few snapshots from our November.

The kids are loving their school, and really feeling connected, which is so fun for my mama heart to see!  I am so grateful that I have gotten to be involved quite a bit at their school (which is the main reason why I work part-time)!  A few events from this month included Service Day, where I got to help pack meals for Feed My Starving Children with Summer's class in the morning, and then help with the elementary packing event for local service workers in the afternoon.  I got to be there for Larkyn's "Special Person's Day presentation", and I get to volunteer multiple times a week in 4th grade, helping with reading groups. Also included is a picture of Summer on the day she got her cheerleading uniform.  We are looking forward to watching her cheer at her first game next week! 












Colton has been keeping busy with basketball twice a week, and also fitting in some winter soccer training when he can.  He has been learning about the solar system, and he decided he wanted to set his alarm for 2:50am and get up and see the lunar eclipse this month.  He took this picture :)


Our leaves fell really late this year, but getting them cleaned up was a family affair, with lots of fun besides!  We built a giant leaf pile/fort.  Colton also mowed/bagged round 2 and 3 of the leaves all by himself!  He is getting to be a huge help in the yard!



Meanwhile, Summer enjoyed her first youth group retreat up at Trout Lake Camp.  Here she is pictured with two of her closest friends!


All three kids were (literally!) so excited to get their COVID shots when kids under 12 were finally allowed.  I have never seen kids so excited to get shots!  We were able to get in sooner than scheduled, thanks to our pharmacist friend who texted that they had 3 extra doses at the end of the night.  Larkyn was already showered and in her jammies and Colton was still sweaty from soccer practice but we headed over anyway when we got the text!


We said goodbye to our neighbor, Mary this month after a battle with cancer. :(


We got to see Teddy's first kindergarten concert!


We had a fun Thanksgiving in Fergus Falls, celebrating with Paul's family!  We went hunting, skiing/snowboarding, saw family, and ate lots of great food!  The kids each picked to make a favorite thing to bring to our feast.... Colton picked pumpkin pie, Summer picked corn bread, and Larkyn picked banana bread.  :)






We celebrate the actual Thanksgiving Day at Paul's Uncle's house.


I walked along pheasant hunting....but it sure was cold!



The boys got 3 pheasants!

Grandma had lots of fun crafts!

Grandma and Grandpa gave the kids an early Christmas present - their first lesson on the slopes!  The girls learned to ski and Colton learned to snowboard.  They all did great!  Here are some videos:




On Sunday we gathered at my cousin's house with family from my side.  A special treat was my dad and my uncle playing songs with Colton and Summer (two trombones and two trumpets!).


As we prepare for Christmas, it is strong on my heart and mind to keep Christ as the center and the reason why we celebrate.  We are continuing to do our Jesse Tree advent countdown, as we remember how God prepared from the beginning, to send his Son to save us.  We are so grateful for the REASON we celebrate.







As a family, we have been loving watching "The Chosen", an amazing series about the unlikely people Jesus called.  If you haven't checked it out, its actually an app, and you can stream it from your phone.  I cannot say enough good things about it!  It is so, so good!  It shows how Jesus chose the not-perfect people, and how he loves us in spite of all of our mistakes, and it puts the stories of Jesus into such a relateable story with people like us.  What a perfect reminder as we head into this Christmas season that Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us!