Homecoming 2014

 I've decided it doesn't matter how old a person gets, it's exciting to find something at your front door after a ring and run.  The younger kids were especially elated to see ALL the candy (which Tanner graciously shared evenly amongst his siblings).

Though too small to read, Annie's response to Tanner for the high school Homecoming Dance was cleverly crafted and scored points in a big way.

  This is the only picture of "Spirit Week" I thought to take but the four oldest children did their part to show school spirit throughout the week.  In addition to dressing up, spraying hair red, etc., they attended the Homecoming Parade and last night Aaron took some of them to the football game - victory!

The high school reversed the order of dance and game nights this year which complicated things a bit.  Tanner had a cross-country invitational on Friday afternoon - same day as the dance - which meant he had to miss the photo-scavenger hunt portion of the day-date.

He ran a great race and finished 34th out of 344 runners in the JV race.  

With schools from all over competing, the M. varsity boys took 1st place and won the entire meet.

Then, we cruised home so Tanner could shower and pick up Annie.

Tanner and Annie

 With a 24-hour notice, dance/dinner plans changed which allowed us to host the dinner for eight couples.  The group came to our place around 5:30pm to watch the video clips of their scavenger hunt while we quickly finished dinner preparations.  We marinated and grilled chicken (thanks Aaron, the BBQ-man) and I made a strawberry-spinach salad and peach dessert.  Tanner assigned various boys to bring fruit salad, chips, rolls, veggie tray, etc.  It came together beautifully and the kids had a fabulous time eating and laughing and having fun! 

 They were such a polite and impressive group of youth!  Some offered to help clean-up, others raved about the delicious chicken.  One boy commented about how "magical" the peach dessert was.

After dinner/dessert, the boys took their dates home to get ready for the dance. 

 Tanner made arrangements (with Aunt Julia) for pictures to be taken back at our place.  

Once again, he really helped the other guys look good and save money :).

 Annie and Tanner

 With three couples standing on the built-in bench in our music room, and five couples on the floor
(girls on stools), we managed to fit all sixteen of them in a group picture. Both the Homecoming Queen and 1st Attendant for Jr. class were in this group (Sophia & Haylee).

Aaron and I tried not to hover much but it was entertaining to watch their creativity come alive in front of the camera.  And thanks to Julia for staying up late enough to snap the shots!

 Back row: Tanner, Sam L. Daniel C.

Front row: Matt S., Jacob M., Taylor C., Kaden C., Daylen D.

Sophia H., McKenzie W., Annie S., Shayla B., Chloe W., Carli G., Haylee H., Abi Z.

We ran into a few of the kids' parents the next day and heard raving reviews about how well the evening went for everyone involved.  So glad they had such a fabulous time.  We're entering a new phase and I'm anticipating many more such events to come!