Let's just jump right in, shall we . . .
(-:
September 21
For many years we enjoyed heading down to the Friday night marching band practice. Grab a pizza and make a little night of it. Kids watched a bit and ran around in the big field behind us a bit. As kids got older and the family changed, it got hard to find time for time/energy to make this trip. Until this year, YAY! This year we also knew someone in the band...we met their family when Lara started Kindergarten (15 years ago!!). We sat down, and BAM...she marched right in front of us, perfect!
I loved it, though I had to drag Liv and William...they were not thrilled, hmph!
September 22
Second fall event we used to do many years when everyone was younger and that I had to drag two unwilling kids along on this year. Hmph again. Glad we went this year and we'll probably be done with it from here on out, ah well. I got a great brat and sauerkraut meal out of it!
Hay ride!
Humoring me . . .
October 1
And then...on a Monday evening, Liv had her first ever volleyball practice, which she loved, loved, loved! She is really excited to be on this little rec and ed team with four of her classmates. Has had a blast learning and playing...getting ready for the 5th/6th grade school team next year!
October 12
I loved having my fresh-grown garlic stash around this summer so I upped the game for next season and read up on how to really grow garlic, getting them in the ground in early October. If all goes as planned, these should be ready to pick next June. I got them all tucked in now under a healthy bed of chopped leaves, ready for winter.
October 18
Stumbled on a great weekday, fall sale of one of the big indoor waterparks that I'm forgetting the name of right now. Perfect for the October Thursday/Friday break. We only stayed one night but, low and behold, ended up stumbling upon a few more school/church families there, one of them having a girl from Liv's class and another adult mom to chat with in the gigantic hot tub surrounded by 35 kids. Perfect!
This guy actually came along last minute too and scored a lot of great, focused, hands on 10&2, drive hours as he approaches the big 16 in a few more months! Look how thrilled I am to not be driving!
😀
😀
October 21
Then, YAY, this guy finally got his cast off and worked on getting his range of motion back for a few more weeks after that and was able to get back to practice. Notice, #51 on his first ever, full-season jersey...William chose to wear one of Ben's two hockey numbers. 💜💜
October 27
8:30a.m.
Finally! After having to sit out the first few games of the season with the broken arm he finally got to play. Back in my old neck of the woods none the less!
October 27
3:00p.m.
And later that day...Livia got to play her first ever volleyball game too!
Take a look at Liv's #4...that was assigned just by chance...and is Ben's other hockey number! You might recall (but likely not...(-:), that William was also randomly assigned #4 for his summer baseball team this past year too. So...right now, both Livia and William are playing sports in #51 and #4...Ben's numbers!
October 28
Carving day! It was a little light rainy and the pumpkins were a little HUGE so we carved right outside. Liv and I, the last two carvers, had a load of fun!
Livia had me google image pumpkin carving ideas.
She choose an owl the minute she saw it. She carved it all minus the little eyelash thingys.
Mine.
Eyebrows suggested by Livia.
Next year I'll try harder.
😉
October 31
I know it's "only" Halloween, but we always used to have so much fun with the night and all the kids, so I've been glad for Liv over these last few years that one of our close family friends has included us down in their neighborhood. This was actually the first year since the family broke that William came trick or treating, things just clicked together the night before having two of his good buddies looking for someone to join them. Perfect! Glad William could have a little carefree fun as he approaches aging out.
Liv's in the same class as the policeman, they've literally grown up together. It's usually the two of the them trick-or-treating together but the group grew a little this year and the girls and boys segregated themselves...naturally...
William chose to sort and bag his candy by color.
Made it difficult to snitch as the volume went down.
When there's only five reds in a bag, it sticks out when one's suddenly gone!
😋
Then, we turn the calendar to the first week in November. This year a second anniversary unbelievably. For me, I start feeling it's approach a bit in September, more in October and then I mostly recognize the first Tuesday of the November, election day, as the day Ben died more than the day of the date (this year, Thursday, the 8th). I think it's because I have such a strong time-line of his last year and a half, and especially his last two weeks, that I feel lead to the tragic choice he made that day. Such a heartbreaking and tragic story to tell, but one redeemed by the blood of Christ. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
February 2002 - Ben and Lara
This picture literally popped out of a bunch of papers I was shuffling through attempting to organize this week. Can't remember the day. This is one of my all time favorite Valentines pictures.
November 4
Sunday
Two years ago on this day Ben got to wake up on the beautiful campus of Concordia University, the end of a weekend of worship, service and fellowship with other Christian teens from all around the state. Including a good friend he grew up with since kindergarten and a loved Concordia graduate who chaperoned them and had spent their confirmation retreat weekend with them two years before this. This was his last weekend of a year and a half of such struggle, and he so wrestled with attending, not deciding until the Friday of this weekend to finally register. Two of my colleagues and I actually prayed on campus during work that day that he would attend, he came! I met a dad of one of the girl's Ben met that weekend just a few days later at Ben's viewing (what a horrible thing to have to write...), his daughter said Ben's kindness and conversation had such an impact on her that she insisted they drive the hours back to our town for the funeral.
November 6
I guess on November 6 I took a picture of the last remnants of my garage garden, one leak and two types of parsley...the only things that had beaten the frosts that came on hard this year. I believe God miraculously placed me back in our home, with Ben's little initials written on the garage shelf, and the bathroom sink he sat in in the living room before it was installed, as a place for great healing to take place. A place to nourish and grow my land, putting my heart and mind on these things I love, in a place I love. It gets me up, gets me going, is a place where tears can still flow, but a place of beauty and new life throughout all the growing seasons and a calm, quiet sanctuary of snow during the down season.
November 8
And then, November 8th, I had a slow morning before heading off to work and filled myself with my very last harvested delights of the season. Eggplant, garlic, leek and parsley...can't remember if I lucked out and had one of the neighbor's chicken's egg too. I was blessed today by heartfelt outreach by family and friends, so grateful.
November 17
Then...the day came to finish a trade with the neighbors. I was gifted with my brother's tractor when he moved and offered our old one up to my neighbors if they helped us take a scraggly old pine tree down. They took me up on it! The dad next door has so many fix-it, carpentry, electrical and outdoors skills of many kinds (former farm guy) and has been such a blessing and guide to Harrison. He really talked Harrison through the entire taking down of the tree, Harrison did it all! So awesome to listen to them work together a little as I was mostly prepping for Livia's birthday party this day. This pic is me peeking through my bedroom window.
Here's the up close and personal that our neighbor took.
💙
And with that...we've had the recap!
Took me a loonnnngggg time while half listening to a PBS cooking show, network news, some wipe out competition, sports recaps of the incredible 62-39 loss(!!) and couple really lame Christmas cartoons "streaming" on my network tv channels via the cable strung out the bay window to the antenna...
Oh...no pic yet but...
Was blessed with a full family Thanksgiving this year, all my kids, parents and all my sibs including the Texas family! My four sibs and I have one year where we're all in our forties, from 40-49, my sister alerted me as she was turning forty. It lasts from October to August. I can NOT believe I hadn't caught that in the 20's or 30's...well, I can kinda believe it...but anyhoo...I then somewhat insisted Texas come on up to Mi this fall so we could get a picture, and they did, yay! What a cool pic to get taken every decade.
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