I think I say every month was so busy, but I just don't realize it until I go back and look at all the pictures I take. September felt especially busy with cheer, cross country, guitar, a road trip to Idaho and Homecoming. Phew!
Each football game gets more fun as we sit with friends and watch the game and the cheerleaders and try to keep tabs on our teens as they deal with the ins and outs of being a teenager at a football game.
Just as one game was starting and I was watching Aliza, I suddenly saw my parents walking out onto the track right towards her. I felt all sorts of confused as the why they were at a Michigan high school football on a random Friday night. They walked right up to Aliza and she was just as surprised as we were. They slowly made their way through the crowds and we flagged them down to come sit with us. They had just decided to get in their car and drive 10 hours to come watch her cheer. It was such a fun surprise!
Then it was time to say goodbye to Carmen as she was leaving for BYUI. The only thing she wanted for her goodbye was fireworks! And boy did David deliver. We invited friends and neighbors over to watch the fireworks and give finals hugs to Carmen the night before she left. I didn't get many pictures because I was so worried about catching the neighborhood on fire the whole time!
The next morning we were up bright and early to give hugs and kisses to our sweet girl. I didn't feel too emotional at this point because I was the one driving with her to help her get settled in. There was a lot of emotions going around though. Some sad and some excited for her to be expanding her horizon.
I think the hardest goodbye for Carmen was with her cat Jet and of course Koda.
I loved this sequence of photos as the hug just grew bigger and bigger.
And then we were off to the Wild West! We really took our time getting there and stopped at the most random of places. I think Carmen was just anxious to get there, but we had a grand time seeing things we'd never normally stop at. We really hoped to see a giant sunflower field and even took some random dirt roads through Nebraska to find one, but it was pretty much dead.
When I desperately needed a potty break and there was nothing for miles and miles, I stopped at the most random side of the road spot that seemed to have enough coverage to go pee. What we thought was a little pullout on the side of the highway turned out to actually be really cool. We realized it was part of the Mormon Trail and you could actually still see the tracks the handcarts had make in the land as they continuously passed over the hills. We took a random hike to the top of some hills to see the entire view of the area. While it wasn't Virginia gorgeous, it had it own kind of beauty. We were so glad that we made that stop.
We took another little detour to see Devils Tower. When we arrived there was a pretty ominous storm what was rolling towards us. But we decided to take a walk out to the tower. I think the storm made it more stunning that it perhaps really is. Something about those clouds and the way to sun was shinning through them made for a beautiful site. As the wind picked up we decided to get out of there and on our way back to the main road stopped at a tiny little shop for some ice cream. There was a really old gentleman inside who slowly scooped our cones as the storm blew in and we were suddenly stuck waiting out the storm. But we were back on the road in no time and made another crazy detour to see.....
...Carhenge! This is a replica of England's Stonehenge, but made from cars. The storm was rolling towards us again and it was absolutely freezing there. We were the only people there too. It was a fun stop, but not one that I would normally go out of the way to see.
The entire drive Carmen kept mentioning how she wanted to get some cowboy boots. So one night we stopped in Wyoming for the night and the next morning went to this huge Western wear store to get some boots. This took way longer than it should have, but she ended up with some cute boots!
A trip west wouldn't be complete without a stop in Jackson Hole. We spent another night here and had fun walking through the town. The plan was to spend the next day in Teton National Park, but Carmen was very antsy and ready to be in Rexburg and new we were so close at this point. So we left early the next morning.
We pulled into Rexburg a day early, so we made a Costco run and walked campus to get familiar with where her classes were. Then it was finally move in day. No one can adequately describe how crazy that day is, you just have to experience it. There are parents and kids and boxes and so much stuff! Luckily her room roommate wasn't there yet, so we had lots of rooms to spread out and get settled in. She's in an apartment with 8 girls. They all worked together to figure out how to organize the kitchen and common spaces.
Then it was time to say goodbye for real. I wasn't really looking forward to this moment, but she was feeling really settled in and enjoying getting to know her roommates. So I knew it was time to leave.
We took a few last pictures and she walked me to the car and we hugged and I left. And then I pulled over because I was balling my eyes out! Dang, it was hard to leave her there. I just pray that it's a great experience for her. I adored my time Rexburg so many years ago and I hope that she too will have good experiences.
And she even sent me a first day of school picture!
And here she is already having fun at the sand dunes with her roommates. I think she's going to be just fine.
Dallin has been working to perfect his chocolate chip cookies and this time he's added ice cream! I hope this kid keeps baking and cooking the way he has been.
He made these steaks while I was gone to Idaho and I'm so sad I missed out.
And him and his friend Clark have been dying to make these dino chicken nuggets and it finally happened. While they didn't look too much like dinosaurs, they tasted amazing.
Once again David is coaching Dallin's soccer team. I can't tell who loves it more.
Lining up for another cross country race. He told me that every time he's on the line he's thinking about how awful the next few minutes are going to be. But once he's done, he's all smile and can't wait to race again.
His good buddies Eli and Tristan are also on the team with him.
And Dallin's decided to play trumpet this year, which made me so proud because I too was a middle school trumpet player.
Next we are on to Homecoming! Just because these pictures are at the end of the post doesn't mean they were from just the last few days of the month. These pictures took place scattered in among all the other things this month. Charlotte was elected to student government this year and these kids were in charge of creating the Freshman Class float for the Homecoming Parade. Our house got volunteered since we have a truck and trailer and pole barn to build the float. At first I was not excited about the whole thing, but it turned out to be super fun and a lot of hard work. There were quite a few brainstorming meetings before anything really took place. And then several day of kids gathering material. Oh, it had to be Chewbacca themed, have a mechanical part and some other requirements I can't remember right now.
Oh and look, there's Poppy! Remember my parents surprise visit? Well it happened to be the first weekend we were working on the float and we put him right to work. He didn't realize what he had gotten himself into. The kids built a score board first, using their graduating year as the score 20 to 27.
They literally ate pizza every night the last week trying to get this float done. It was long late hours every day.
Building that Chewbacca was a feat in itself. Now they just had to figure out how to make his arms move for the mechanical requirement. Luckily someones dad showed with all the right things to work some magic!
I was able to grab this picture Friday morning of these great kids having seminary at our house. They were really showing their school spirit.
Then we had to actually get the float to the parade. David drove the truck pulling the trailer while me and Chewy rode in my car.
Everything was looking amazing...until it wasn't. Just moments after snapping this pictures the entire back gate of the trailer came smashing down, the score board when flying across the road right in front of me. All the lights were being pulled off and the decorations were being torn apart and strewn all over the road. David pulled over and I quickly jumped out and starting gathering as much stuff as I could and throwing it all in my car. Traffic was backed up on both sides of the road as they all watched me scramble to try to save as much as I could.
I wasn't sure we could ever recover the float. After I made a quick trip to the Dollar General and a lot of repair work, theses kids managed to salvage most of the things. I left them to the repairs while Dallin and I went to find a good spot along the parade route to watch.
And here they came! They loved throwing candy out to all the kids. Charlotte had so much fun with this and certainly learned a lot about team work, meeting requirements and making deadlines, even if it meant really late nights.
There's Chewbacca shooting down our opponents on the football field.
Then it was game time and Aliza was so amazing to watch cheer. The energy was high at the game and they even won!
Oh and the float got to make one more appearance by driving around the track at the game. I think they got 2nd place.
And if that wasn't all enough, David and I got to chaperone the Homecoming dance after the game. I was spent!
