Homecoming Week & Stuff

Another month flying by...and September happens to be my most favorite one of the year.

Summer Bucket List complete.  

Monday night FHE treat at Kari Anne's - entire family!

Along with all of the reasons why I love this month (that I've posted in the past), there is a certain excitement surrounding the school activities that take place during the week of "homecoming".  Everything from the powder-puff games, the bonfire (HS only), dressing up each day of the week, the big school parade, the actual football game and of course, the Homecoming Dance.  

Whew!  It's been a wild week.

 Although Aaron and I were not home at the moment, we caught portions of Max's performance of a "singing-dancing-flying pig" jumping from a box thanks to FaceTime.  Chloe's answer to Tanner asking her to the dance was the most entertaining one yet.  And Max is an awesome little brother to carry it out!  Serious laughter that night.

 We inherited some pretty awesome school spirit attire when the Fuller's moved to Arizona and shared the love with us.  My boys wouldn't put on the cool hats/caps for the pic, but rest assured Amber went all out when she outfitted her children a few years back.  I'm glad there are cool moms out there that get into such stuff -- and even more glad to receive hand-me-downs!

Dressing up for Spirit Day

 Tanner (on the Spirit Bus - passing out candy), Brinley (orchestra float), and Anna (student council at middle school) were all in the parade.  This was the first year the elementary school students were bussed into town to watch the high school parade.  I sent ziplock baggies with Quinn and Elsie for their candy - and they were filled. 

 Though hard to see in this picture, Jantzen had me spray paint a red "M" on the back of his head for the school name.

 Anna's bun also received a new hair color for the day.

Friday afternoon I walked out to the garden and started picking loads of ripened tomatoes.  This season we have enjoyed our best tomato crop ever.  Brinley had already picked a large bowl full a few days earlier so I had my eye on making salsa but no time to take on the project.  Having more ambition that common sense and/or time, I committed myself to making salsa in between soccer games, meetings, play date pick-ups, etc.  That is NOT the way to make salsa and I knew better so the project took on an added measure of stress for me.  With Aaron out of town, the evenings and weekends are all the busier.  I literally didn't have a chunk of time at home to get the deed done until 8pm.  With the older four at the football game, I treated the younger two to ice cream and let them watch a movie while I finished with my crazy idea.  I knew there would be zero time on Saturday and the tomatoes needed my attention!

Saturday morning started soon enough.  Anna has never loved early mornings but she gets the job done during the school week.  Leaving the house by 7:45am for an away soccer game after being up super late the night before proved to be painful for all of us.  Somehow Quinn and Elsie sensed I was leaving and decided at the last minute they wanted to come along.  So much for having them stay behind to catch up on a little sleep themselves....

Anna - #10

We will soon be wrapping up another fall soccer season.  How fortunate for Anna that our favorite Coach Fullmer (Jantzen's former coach from a few years ago) now has a daughter playing.  It's been a fantastic season for Anna and the team has come along very well.  She had loads of fun canoeing, swimming, 4-wheeling at the team party held at the coach's house/property on Saturday afternoon.  They wanted to take advantage of the amazing weather (high 80's-low 90's) to play outside even though the season isn't over yet.

Jantzen - #17

Saturday afternoon it was Jantzen's turn to show his stuff on the field.  The teams were shifted around some and it's been a different experience this go around.  Jantzen has made the most of his time with Coach Strobel but really misses Coach Tiechert and some of his former teammates. We'll see what the spring season brings.  It's fun to watch when Jantzen plays with passion.

Most coaches want their players to the field at least 30-45 minutes before the start of the game.  Schedule and transportation issues require extra coordination with this added dimension.  For some reason, Quinn and Elsie did NOT want to attend another game (nor sit around 45 minutes before it even started) but they didn't have the option of staying home so I indulged them with a quick trip to a local museum we have never visited.

Okay, they must be my children.  They actually enjoyed it!

It helped that they had a treasure hunt paper to fill in as we explored the various displays.

Looking at old stuff can be so fascinating.  When I saw old records, tape cassettes, etc. in one area, I asked the kids what they thought the big black round thing could be.  No idea.  They were completely baffled when I explained how I listened to music with a record player when I was younger.  

Hmm, times have changed.

We spied their great-great-great grandfather Spori on the wall listing former presidents of the local university.  Quinn was quick to find his namesake...

Elsie insisted I take a picture of this miniature replica of an early settler, the Thomas E. Ricks home.

Before long, we realized it was time for Jantzen's soccer game to start so we finished up at the museum but not before running into new friends that recently moved here.  Elsie and Sage are in the same class at school and Sage knows Elsie's cousins in Hawaii.  Small world.

Old-fashioned cash register

Our home was the happening place on Saturday.  An energetic and fun-loving crowd of teenagers descended upon us at 2:30pm for their day date portion of the Homecoming Dance.  The rest of us were in and out with various commitments and did our best to stay out of the way.  The six couples were totally into the games and laughed themselves silly for hours.  In fact, I took Brinley, Anna and Elsie to the General Women's Meeting (6pm) before the guys took their dates home to get ready for the rest of the evening.  It worked out better for me that they were behind schedule for dinner since that, too, was at our house.  After the meeting, the girls and I cruised home to get everything set up and ready before the couples started arriving again.  

Tanner and Chloe

 Isaac's mom (Debbie) came to take pictures and brought the main course which was super helpful.  The other boys brought salad, rolls and drinks and Tanner (I) was responsible for dessert.  Thank you, Marie Callender (pies).  No time for homemade yumminess this go around!

Karli K., Annie S., Chloe W., Laura S., Kelsie H., Maryn T.

Isaac R., Sam L., Tanner, Logan G., Aldo, Matt S. 

Back: Karli, Chloe, Laura, Kelsie
Front: Annie, Maryn

Isaac, Logan, Sam, Tanner, Matt, Aldo - "The Lemon Pose"

The party slowed as the group left our place for the dance just after 9:30pm.  

Of course, the other kids were patiently waiting to eat the leftovers.  In all, it was another successful dating experience and everybody had fantastic time together.

Our action-packed weekend is over and I'm ready for Aaron to come home...