Life just keeps on movin' here at the Kessel household! Funny how time is, it just keeps moving whether you are ready for it to or not. In the last month, we decorated the house for Halloween, attended our school carnival (a.k.a. Hogwarts Night), completed fall soccer season, had our first broken arm, attended Mike's captain's badge pinning ceremony, went to the Living Planet Aquarium with Kessel grandparents, watched the girls Halloween dance recital, attended stake conference and went trick or treating.
It's been such a fun and happy month. Fall is my favorite time of year and Halloween just might be my most favoritest holiday.
Miggy putting up my bats
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| Michaela has joined the school choir (and is loving it) and performed at Hogwarts Night. |
Emily with her teacher at Hogwarts Night. We love Mrs. Thill!
Attending the boys' last soccer games wore Cap out.
Two days after Jake's last soccer game he was playing goalkeeper in our backyard, blocked a shot and suffered a right radial buckle fracture. Only four weeks in a cast, then two weeks of being careful. No bike riding, pogo sticking, skateboarding, scootering and trampoline jumping for six weeks. Kinda tough for our active, no fear child. He can, however, still play soccer with the cast.
Mike and I had the opportunity to attend the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team game against Switzerland. It was a blast!
Our selfie. We also got on the Megatron and kissed for the audience to see.
Caleb had a mini concert for orchestra. They are working super hard.
(Caleb is in the far left.)
I'm excited to see their Christmas concert.
Living Planet Aquarium
Just because these two make us all so happy.
How can you not smile when you look at this photo?!
Mike being sworn in as captain at a Sandy City council meeting
Me pinning on his captain's badge.
Retired captain and newly sworn in captain.
Grateful Mike's parents were here visiting and got to attend the ceremony.
Me and the Cap'
At the girls' recital. It so fun to watch!
Emily: black cat; Michaela: vampire
The day before Halloween, I was asked to speak at Stake Conference--a large church meeting comprising of about 5000 people from our area. I was pretty nervous (thankfully, I didn't faint) but it was a great honor to be able to do this. Mike, the kids, and my Mom came early and had good seats (thanks to my Mom) and the kids behaved very well throughout the two hour meeting. It was a day filled with joy. I am so grateful for our family--for our faith and the peace and focus it brings to our lives.
Stake Conference Flyer
Emily, our black cat, in the school Halloween parade.
Michaela in the school parade.
She said she wasn't allowed to stop for pictures.
She was a vampire because she is too old for princesses now.
Jake in the parade, giving high five's, of course. So, Jake.
He is Link from Zelda.
Caleb, a mummy. The first year he didn't trick or treat with us but went with his friends.
I'm a little sad about this rite of passage. It's all happening too fast.
Let me divert here for a moment. Mike and I are terribly proud of this young man and the friends he has chosen to associate with. They were invited to a party where some of the other kids didn't make the best choice. Caleb and two friends stood up and told them they weren't going to join in and walked away. Caleb and these two friends were then wrongfully accused of joining in, but went back to the people that accused them and apologized all on their own to help the situation be resolved. How can I not feel hopeful about our future generation when I know that these boys are going to be in it?
Uncle Phil and Aunt Lisa and kids joined us this year.
Jake and cousin Harrison.
Trick or treating at the Fullmer's house.
As you can see, it was a month packed with lots of activities. All the kids are doing well in school. We switched elementary schools this year to simplify our lives so we didn't spend so much time in the car and on homework. I still feel good about the change even though it's difficult to leave such good friends and faculty at Harvest. I often remind myself, when we say "No" to one activity we are always saying "Yes" to something else. In this case, we said to "No" to learning Spanish and "Yes" to developing our roots deeper in our neighborhood, "Yes" to less stress, "Yes" to being able to do other extracurricular activities and thus greater happiness. I'm grateful for our extended family on both sides. Their love and support are what makes our lives that much richer. Glad that Tim and Diane could come and spend two weeks with us. They are always such a great help. We hope everyone had a marvelous Halloween!
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