November Happenings

Brenna's artwork from school was chosen for display at the district offices (rainbow cowboy boots).

We visited the stunning San Antonio temple. I am sort of glad our temple in Houston is closed, otherwise who knows if we would have taken the time to visit this beautiful place.

 The girls climbed on some rocks while Russ was taking his turn inside the temple.

We have contemplated taking the girls camping some time, but thought we'd start out small with a little nature walk. If their reaction to the experience is an indicator, we won't be camping any time soon. :)

But I had a good time. And these purple berries that we saw all along the trail were so lovely.

Mischievous McKell stole Brenna's glasses and tried them on. (She's really cute.)

Halloween

I was thinking I had posted about happenings up through Thanksgiving . . . but apparently I haven't even covered Halloween yet (sorry, Aunt Janet!)

So, here's what went down at our house for Halloween in 2017:

We visited our tiny local pumpkin patch. (And my girls are getting REALLY tall!)

We attended our annual church Halloween party and trunk-or-treat. 

Kaylee dressed as "USA", a character featured in a Studio C comedy sketch.

Ashlyn went as "Evie" from the Disney movie "Descendants". 

Brenna was the Shopkin "Apple Blossom".

And McKell chose to be a Rock Star (which is the same costume Kaylee chose 7 years ago when she was 5).

We carved our family pumpkin. We chose to make it into a witch this year.

And on Halloween night the girls did about 20 minutes of trick-or-treating before they got drenched by the rain. :( Better luck next year, I guess!

Harvey Clean-Up

Anyone who reads this has already heard our stories about the hurricane and our clean-up experiences, so I won't re-tell all of that here. Below are a few pictures though.

Kaylee and Russ with other Stake volunteers.

The work crew I was on, along with the homeowners we were helping.

Russ took the rest of the pictures. They don't really need captions. So much destroyed in these homes.

You can get an idea about how high the water was if you look at all the debris caught in the trees and even on the telephone wires.

One of the crews Russ and Kaylee were on, along with the homeowner.

Back to School 2017

Here are the First Day of School pictures from 2017 (on the L) and 2016. Guess they all grew a bit during the past year.

McKell is now in full-day Kindergarten at Bowen Elementary. I hesitated to send her this year since she literally turned 5 on the first day of school. She has adjusted pretty well to the rigorous schedule, and is making good progress academically. She frequently asks about when her next day off school is though. Her teacher, Mrs. Stanfield, has been at the school teaching Kinder for a few years now. 

     

Brenna is in 2nd Grade at Bowen Elementary. She continues to do exceptionally well in her reading and writing. She gets a bit frustrated with Math, but is able to be successful when she calms down and finds a little extra patience. She loves her teacher, Mrs. Wilder, who is in her 24th year of teaching (all at this school). Ashlyn also had Mrs. Wilder when she was in 1st grade. When Ashlyn saw the classroom was decorated in Harry Potter style she thought it wouldn't be too bad to return to Elementary School.

     

Ashlyn is in 5th grade and moved on from Elementary to Rayburn Intermediate School this year (5th & 6th grade). She has 6 different classes, of varying lengths. She has really connected with a few of her teachers, and is particularly enjoying her Kickstart (martial arts) class (PE credit). She gets a little overwhelmed with a big school filled with so many kids, but she is finding her way and doing well.

     

Kaylee is in 7th grade at Davila Middle School (7th & 8th grade). She is in her second year of the Inquire Program (specifically for high achievers). She thinks her teachers give way too much homework, but her Mom thinks part of the problem is her obsessive need to go the extra mile on all assigments. She has a great group of friends and is involved in NJHS and student council.

     

FIVE

Our "baby" turned five on August 21st, which also happened to be the first day of school this year. So, she spent her special day at a "really, really, really, really, really, really, really looong" (her words) day of kindergarten.

We did some celebrating a few days early. Her birthday was Monday, but on Saturday she had her morning donut date with Russ. And that afternoon we all went to the movie theater to see Despicable Me 3.

Here she is with her Elena of Avalor cake.

McKell is definitely a little ray of sunshine in our home. She is generally so happy and easy going, and a favorite playmate for all the other girls. She keeps us laughing with her facial expressions and the adorable things she says.