Fall!

Wow! I can't believe it's fall already! The school year just began and we are as busy as ever.



Jacob and I have been working on a Habitat for Humanity house that Wal-Mart is sponsoring and it has been really fun. A TON of tiring days but so worth the effort. I truly believe in paying it forward and giving all that you can to those around you. We have been blessed with so many great people in our lives who have helped us through out our life that it is a good feeling to be able to do a little something for someone else. We have met the lady who is getting the house and she is so grateful for all of the help. She is a fantastic lady and deserves to have a house of her own. The house is scheduled to be done some time at the end of the month.




AnnaLisa started her Junior year and is taking some really hard classes. She comes home from school and does nothing but homework pretty much all night. This is saying something because school comes very easy for her and she usually can get her work done in class. She was just accepted into the National Honor Society and is pretty excited about that. She has also decided to play powder puff football! YIKES!! Their game was Wednesday night. It was Junior's vs Senior's. The ref took Anna out of the second quarter for supposedly punching a girl in the face. Anna didn't hit her but she did block her and the girl tripped over her own two feet. Junior's won in the last 46 seconds of the game. They scored a touch down to tie the game and then the field goal! Ya for us. She had so much fun. I wish there were more than one game. Anna got an electric guitar for her birthday in March and has been playing it non stop all summer. She has never had a formal lesson but she is teaching herself how to play thanks to some friends and ultimateguitar.com (thanks Eric!)




Lacey is a Sophomore. Both of them are taking early morning seminary since there aren't enough kids in the area to have it as a class at the high school. So we arise bright and early at 4:45 AM (yes I said AM) and get them off to their class. I am so proud that they are willing to do this. They say they are really enjoying it. It is the funnest part of their day. Lacey is still in the marching band and went to Adrian College this summer for a week full of marching and learning new positions. They have over 130 students in their band. This years theme is "Broadway" so all of the songs come from musicals. Her favorite is "The Music Man" and was excited when she learned they would be playing "76 Trombones". She is so talented when it comes to music. I hope she will stay with it.




Kiersten is still playing the flute and will be performing with the high school marching band next month as an introduction to the program at the high school. She is going to start playing her violin again in the Mason Symphonic Orchestra which should keep her pretty busy. She is ruler of the roost at the middle school this year and is really enjoying every minute of it. She has found a new love for books that I am thankful for but sometimes I wish she would put them down for just a little bit. Many times over the summer she would stay up late at night and keep on reading.



Whitney is in 6th grade and just moved up to the middle school. She started playing the saxophone and is really loving it. She practices every night without me having to remind her. I have a feeling she will be like her other sisters as well. She is making great strides with her education and is a fabulous kid to have in our family. She will be turning 12 on the 13th and we be joining the rest of her sisters in mutual shortly. (Man I am getting too old)





Sadee has been hanging out and having fun. She just started the 3rd grade and is loving it. Over the summer she taught herself how to follow her hands down into a back bend and then kick her feet over and stand up without any help. She loves to jump on the tramp and do front flips. She hasn't attempted the back flip yet. She attended a cheer camp last week and cheered at the high school football game on Friday. I wasn't there to watch because I was in Texas but Jacob said she had tons of fun and loved every minute of it. Her birthday was on the first and she turned 8. (Our last child to be baptized) I am kind of sad about that. We are entering into a new era of our lives and it is kind of hard to leave the old one behind. We made her cake and it took us 3 hours to frost it. It is detailed down to the fur on the spider. It was so much fun to make. Anna, Lacey and I took turn's frosting because our hands kept cramping up.

Yesterday I started harvesting our garden. We had 18 pumpkins that I cut up steamed and pureed so I could make Pumpkin pies, cookies and breads for a very long time. I didn't know if it would actually work but it turned out great. I did however kill my blender which I am not happy about. Today it is carrot time. We have carrot's coming out of our ears so I will be chopping for quite a while. We have had fresh salsa for weeks now and I think I am salsa'd out! I am grateful that we took the time to plant a garden even if some of it didn't make it through the summer. It is well worth the effort and teaches your kids about hard work and being self sufficient. You can bet that if there ever comes a time when we can't buy food at the store our kids will know how to plant and grow their own food.