Ellie's trip to Idaho to see Darby

 Ellie and her friends were super busy over the summer, so they didn't get to see each other like they had the summer before.  They were able to take advantage of a 4-day break in school that they had in October to go visit Darby.  This time, Ellie, Ava, and Lexi all went up to see Darby. While they were there, they went to the civil war football game (it was the rival school and they canceled school just for the prep for the football game!). They also hung out with Darby's friends.  They enjoyed seeing Idaho and feeling all the cool fall weather.

Just some photos

Sometimes, after all the posts have been done, there are some great photos left.

This was on our way to chaperone for Ellie's homecoming group.  This is the first time both of us had ever ridden the ferry in Galveston.

At the rodeo with Kayti to see Gwen Stefani.

Joe wore his seersucker suit to coordinate with my outfit.

We doubled on a date with the Millers.

At the Mean Girls play.

Doubled on a date with Taylor Evans and his fiance.  We went and saw the orchestra downtown.

Putting Adam's Aggie ring on him and celebrating his accomplishments!

Grandpa gave a talk and we went and watched.

 

Robotics

Nate tried out and made the robotics team for Grand Oaks.  They started with the Vex robot and Vex competitions.  They didn't win at any of the competitions, but they sure learned a lot and enjoyed competing.

In the fall, they got to go to a 2 day competition at Texas A&M Galveston.  

He definitely learned a lot and made new friends in Robotics!
 

Halloween 2022

 For Halloween Joe and I dressed up like his alter ego.  He kept calling us MAGA mormons, but it could also be called trailer trash or Joe's dream.  All are super offensive titles, but we were just being silly.

Macy got Adam to wear tights!

Nate and Will devised a plan to scare the neighbor kids.  One put this mask on and pretended to be a dummy with a sign that said "just take 1." When the kids would come up to take a candy, the dummy would move.  If they were an older kid, the other of them was hiding in the bushes in a ghillie suit and they would chase the kid away. They really scared a couple of kids and really enjoyed themselves.

Ellie had a couple of different parties that she went to.  One she wore a blow up cow costume. 

Another she and Faith went as Smurfs.

Ellie's 17th Birthday

 Ellie really wanted to have a little kid party for her birthday since she hadn't had a party in a few years.  She invited 10 of her friends and went to Urban Air trampoline park.  They had pizza and could play on the "zipline" and the trampolines.  She had a lot of fun!

Ellie is a joy to have in our life.  She is a peacemaker, and often will try to get us to play nice if we say anything that is less than kind to each other.  She works really hard to be the best at everything she does.  She has lots of friends, but she doesn't do friend drama.  If a friend starts drama with her, she quickly distances herself from them and starts to hang out with other friends.  She cares a lot about other people and listens well when they talk to her. She has good ideas and gives thoughtful advice to them.  She is a good sister to Nate, sometimes sitting with him at lunch (he comes and sits with her but same difference), and helping him to figure out how to grow up and navigate high school.  She's the best daughter anyone could have!

Marching Band

 Nate decided for his freshmen year to join band and play percussion.  He had been in percussion in 8th grade, so it wasn't his first year, but marching band was new at the high school.  He ended up getting assigned to the glockenspiel and played the ET multi 12, a couple of times in the performance and he often played by himself.  It was fun to watch and to watch him learn new things. 

We would go and watch him, but he would get really embarrassed when we would call him out from the audience and he could hear us.

Joe's 49th Birthday

Joe got the chance to go hang out with Margie, Bill, and Josh in Maine while Josh hunted a moose.  This happened to coincide with Joe's birthday, so he wasn't home to celebrate.  While he enjoyed the experience, it was a lot colder and more unpleasant than he thought it would be and he realized that he probably would never want to do a similar experience again. Luckily, Josh got a moose on the last day!

When Joe got home, we had birthday plans for him.  We had a taco pinata, birthday balloons and cake!

Joe was able to Steve and Mom during his trip out to Maine.  Unfortunately, shortly after he left, Steve and Mom got Covid and Steve didn't make it.  When Joe was hugging Steve goodbye, he had the feeling that this would be the last time that he saw him alive. It was good that Joe got a chance to see him so shortly before he passed away, but it was very heartbreaking.

Pinner's Conference, Smashing Pumpkins, being a Tourist

I got a chance to go on a short girls trip to Pinner's Conference.  We had a fun group, Julia, Aurora, Sara, and two women I met on the trip, Christine and Candace.

We went up Thursday night and stayed in a fun Airbnb with a hot tub.

At the conference, we did some fun painting classes, learned about cooking and bought some fun things from the booths.  

The next week, I was invited to go to a Smashing Pumpkins concert with Julia, Aurora, and Stephanie.  Jane's Addiction opened for them, but they weren't nearly as good as Smashing Pumpkins.