As I mentioned in a previous post, this was Matt’s last season with his competitive team. They started playing tournaments on the weekends right after Labor Day in September. He has been on this team since 4th grade. There have been lots of changes over the years but at the end of this season there were three boys, plus Matt, that were on the team when he started. Coach Jimmy was the head coach and there were several others that were awesome coaches. Coach Kent, Coach Uhl, Coach Robby. Ryan helped coach most of those years too. If he wasn’t actively coaching he filled in and was helping in some way. He had a hard time just sitting in the stands and watching. There were some tricky times but overall it was a great experience and I am really glad that Matthew was able to be a part of this team and make good friends. The boys and their families on the team were all good kids, good people. That makes a big difference when you are spending the whole weekend together for months at a time during Spring, Summer and Fall baseball. We traveled a few times and had good times and memories from that as well. We went to Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Gulf Shores. I have posted many pictures from his baseball over the years and that was another blessing from being on this team. There were several parents that great photography skills and they took so many pictures and shared them with everyone. I wouldn’t have very good pictures if it wasn’t for them. Matt had his arm back in top form for this last season. He had the highest batting average on the team most of the time. He hit triples and doubles pretty often and was robbed of a home run or two by inches several times. He had good plays at short stop. Watching the boys play and read each other from playing with each other for years was a lot of fun. I will miss it next Summer when it is time for baseball season to start. We all will.
At the end of the season we had one more get together at a restaurant to say good bye to everyone and give appreciation to the coaches and recognition to the boys for their hard work. It was a fun night. One of the parents made each of the boys a poster of them in their uniform for their rooms. There was a slide show of all the boys, and lots of pictures on the tables to look at while we visited and ate dinner. I am sure we will run into them and keep in touch over the years but it is an end of an era for sure. I have really come to love baseball and appreciate it. I love a quite baseball field in the morning with the sound of the team warming up and the sun shining on the grass.
Here are some pictures from the season.
Coach Jimmy and the original kids he started with. Matt, Aiden, Jake, and CamWe had lots of meals together between games.Lots of gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.Campbell had a tournament at the same place we were and came over when she was done.This is the day Matthew wore the wrong uniform. He called and told me he didn’t look like the other kids.This is the core group that we spent our weekends with.
Here are some cool action shots, thanks to our photography parents.
Turning a double play.
Running the bases, trying to catch Ramey.
Catching the pop fly.
Getting the out.
Making it look good. 🙂
This is getting on the field in position first.
Getting runs in. His speed was top notch this season too.
Beating the runner.
Crushing it.
And…stealing bases.
For one of the games we were so far ahead of the other team, the coach let everyone pick the position they wanted to try for a few innings. Matt went with pitching.
Since we were doing Matthew’s senior pictures it was a good time to update our family pictures too. The ones I had hanging on my wall were a few years old. Kids getting older and going through puberty make it looks like even longer. So we got everyone’s pictures taken. I think they turned out pretty wonderfully. I love my sweet family.
It was time to get Matthew’s Senior Pictures taken shortly after school started. He has to have his picture turned in by December 1st for the yearbook. I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get them scheduled and edited before the deadline. I wanted Summer/Fall pictures too. Matt doesn’t love taking pictures but he was a good sport about it for the most part. He tolerated three outfit changes and two separate sessions taking about two hours total. He doesn’t think they are that big of a deal and would have not done them at all but his mother is a picture taker and documenter so I wanted them and wouldn’t take no for an answer. They turned out great. I was very happy with them. I have such a handsome son. 😊 Matthew’s reaction didn’t include many words but I think he was happy with how they turned out too. Here they are!
September is one of my favorite months, and not just because it is my birthday. Its a little bit of a chill month. And usually the weather is beautiful, cooler and still pretty. Sometimes the leaves start changing at the end but this year was pretty warm so it was almost end of October before they started. Fall is just my favorite. I really like all the seasons and maybe they are all my favorite when they start, but I think Fall is my favorite right now…since it is Fall.
Per my request, Ryan took me to a Royals game with our friends the Gudjenov’s for my birthday. It was a great game, great company, fun environment and good food. Turning 43 wasn’t bad at all. I highly recommend it.
Emilee opted to not do softball for the Fall. She stuck with horse lessons and piano. She still loves horse riding and looks forward to her lesson every week. She is pushing to quit piano right now. I am letting her take a little break and then hoping she gets back into it.
Allison took a break from extra curricular activities for the first time…ever. She wants to start doing a weight training program but we are still discussing which one to do. She is going to help with wrestling at the middle school which starts mid October and is followed immediately by HS wrestling so she will be busy again before to long.
Of course football started. Matthew and Ryan both are in a few different fantasy football leagues. They love it and look forward to it all year. This picture is his school buddies that he does a league with each year. They get together and draft their teams and eat way to many donuts and junk food.
Homecoming was in September this year, I think it is a little early but nobody asked me. Matthew went to his last Homecoming with Campbell. Ramey and Ellie doubled with them. They took pictures while the sun was still up, then they changed into casual clothes and went to dinner at Taco Bell. Then it was off to the football game. Shortly before the game ended they went to change into their dance outfits again and then went back to the school for the dance. After the dance they hung out at Ellie’s house and played games. Matthew is still growing pretty fast and starting to put on weight too. The pants he is wearing he at the end of July for senior pics with Campbell. Just two months later he barely fit into them!
While Matthew was at his last Homecoming, Allison was at her first!! She went with a couple friends and had a fun time. We had pizza at out house for dinner and pre-game hanging out. She went to the football game with her friend Olivia and met other friends at the game. They came over to our house and got ready at half time and then I took them back to the dance. After the dance she spent the night at Olivia’s. Allison looked beautiful and so did her friends. I think they had a fun time at their first official high school dance.
Left to right-Olivia, Addie, Kylie and Allison
Each year at the high school they have FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). It is several school districts in the area that get together and do it and Spring Hill hosted this year. One of Matthew’s best friends, Ramey, spoke at it and several other people he knew participated in it. Matthew and Allison both went but this is the only picture I got from it. I am really glad Matthew has always picked good friends that have good morals and values. He has a great group of friends- boys and girls- that really support each other and are good kids.
I have mentioned before that we found some land and decided to build a house earlier this year. We were planning on living in our house until the new house was built and then sell. The market for selling houses has been crazy high and houses sell fast the past few months. We have been watching it and it hasn’t started to go down but it has definitely plateaued. That started making us nervous that by the time we were ready to sell our house next Spring our Fall the market would have dropped and we wouldn’t make as much equity as we wanted to. We talked about it with our realtor and thought about it for a few weeks. We decided we would regret it if we didn’t at least try and sell it this Fall and get what we want. If we didn’t get our asking price we wouldn’t sell and could try again in the Spring. If prices drop we at least tried. If we got what we were asking then we make a nice profit and finances are a little easier for the next year.
So September 6th we officially decided to put our house on the market ASAP. Pictures were scheduled to be taken on the 14th and it would list on the 16th. I immediately started ‘staging’ the house. We got a storage unit and packed all the clutter and things we won’t need for awhile away. About the second day into my week to prepare I got sick. It ended up being COVID. The first time I have had COVID to my knowledge. I would say my symptoms-flu like- were moderate. I didn’t really have time to be sick so I would clean, pack, and organize until I had to rest for bit then lay down for 20-30 minutes until I could work some more. It was pretty miserable. My family helped a little but Ryan was traveling a lot, the kids were at school and had after school activities so most of it was left to me. I got it done and pictures were taken and turned out great. We went live with our listing on a Friday. We had three showings schedule for that day. The night before Emilee said she wasn’t feeling well so she stayed home. She was much better Friday but I kept her home just in case. Friday when I was going through and making sure the house was ready to show to the people coming in less than an hour, I went into Matthew’s room and found him still in bed. He said he was sick. He had caught COVID from me like Emilee did. I told him he had to get up and we could go sleep at Grandpa’s for the day. He said he couldn’t move and he would just lay their quietly while people walk through. He was disappointed that was not an option. The two sicko’s and I made it to Grandma’s house. They were put in bed and confined to the basement. We got two good offers Friday. When one of the offers heard we had gotten another offer, they countered their own offer and raised it to an even better offer. We decided to accept it and took the house of the market and cancelled the rest of our showings that weekend. Keeping a house ‘show ready’ with three kids and a big picture not detail oriented husband is not easy. It was a huge blessing to sell it so quickly. I can’t imagine having to do it for weeks or months.
It was mid September when we sold it. We had until November 1st to move out. I had looked at a few apartments and houses to rent in anticipation of selling our house. Ryan and I went and looked at a few of them that same weekend. We wanted to stay fairly close to were we were at and pay less than our current mortgage. We were a little concerned when we saw the first few in the price range we wanted to stay. We ended up finding one that was three miles from our old house and had just had a lot of updates and you could tell the owners take good care of it. We applied to rent and by the middle of the following week we were approved and could move in October 1st.
I have cropped these photos many times and they still keep the black around them. I can’t figure out how to get rid of it. I wanted to put some of the pictures from our house in here to help us remember.
We decided to stay in our home as long as possible. When I wasn’t working or doing the usual kids activities or maintaining our own house, laundry and meals I spent the rest of my time cleaning the rental and taking car loads of things over. It was helpful to have more time to go through everything and really get rid of things that we didn’t need or box things up in storage that we can live without for a year. We had some friends help us load the smaller items and boxes in a U-haul a week before the movers came and brought the bigger furniture and heavy items. Ryan was traveling a lot for work so most of it I did on my own. It was very stressful and I was exhausted non-stop. I wanted to enjoy the last few weeks in our house too. I did my best to remind myself to not be grumpy when I was tired and help the kids enjoy their last month too. It was a good house for us. Despite the builder ripping out the staircase the day before we moved in and taking a year to fix things that were screwed up on or never finished in the first place, it was a great home for us. We lived there 7 1/2 years. Lots of memories and growing up with our kids happened there. We put a lot of work into it. We didn’t think we would ever move so we made it our forever home.
All of our belongings were moved in on Friday October 28th and we started sleeping at the rental then. I also had the Primary Sacrament Program to practice and do that weekend so we didn’t get much unpacking done. Ryan had the idea to eat one last family dinner together at the house on Saturday night. It was a really nice evening. Allison and I got Subway and everyone else got sushi. We met at the house and had a nice meal together. Ryan had told everyone to think of some of their favorite memories to share with each other. Once we started sharing we started remembering more and more things. We talked about Christmas mornings, nerf gun games we played, Easter egg hunts, things that got broken (some that Ryan and I knew about, some we didn’t), funny moments-Allison ‘accidentally’ calling 911. Allison evacuating the family including the guinea pigs when the fire alarm went off. Dad responding to a question of Emilee’s over the Alexa and farting, Alexa catching it and announcing his answer and his fart to the whole house. Matthew hiding under his bathroom sink in the cabinet for over an hour and the rest of us not being able to find him. We had a really nice night reminiscing and remembering the good times and memories we made together.
We still owned the house until November first so we decided to do one more of the traditions we had started in our home. Each year for Halloween since we moved in the McDonald family has come over on Halloween to celebrate with us. We have pizza and witch’s brew (home made root beer with dry ice) for dinner. Then the kids get in their costumes, we leave a bowl of candy on the porch and we go trick or treating. The past couple years Ross and Lauren have joined us as well. Over the years we have had 2-3 groups that form based on how fast they move between houses. This year the older girls went on their own. The dads followed the faster group of middle aged kids, and the moms went with Linnea the youngest. She makes it around the little block of streets and then is done. We can then go home and hand out any candy that is left and warm up and relax at the house until the other groups make it back. As they trickle in there is a giant candy swap in the living room. Sometimes we play a game, or sometimes we just visit until its time to go home.
Cousin pumpkin carvingLeah’s is the flower, the one eye monster is Jovee’sAllison’s pumpkinEmilee’s pumpkinStitch and the Pink StitchTrojan, Strawberry Shortcake, Violet from Unfortuanate Events, Vampire, Amelia Earheart
There was no furniture (or kitchen supplies) in the house this year so we ate pizza but bought root beer instead of making it. The empty living room was loved by all of the kids because they could really spread out for the candy swap. It was a fun night and a good way to have our last night in that house. When we loaded the last few things into the car to leave for the last time Ryan and I walked through the house one more time and turned off the lights for the last time. It was a little sad but we are excited to start the next adventure in our lives.
Somehow on google maps our house pulls up as Matthew Terry’s house. I am sure it will get changed at some point but I took a picture for nostalgia purposes.
We have 11 months left on the lease at our rental. They are pouring the foundation for our new house any day now. Hopefully between now and then we have a finished house to move into. We hope it will be our last move- EVER and we want to make it so that it will fit our lives from now, until we are empty nesters, until are kids come visit with their own families and until we are old and want to just stay at home, until we don’t need a home anymore.
We have been keeping an eye out for a good car for Matthew to use. Right now a used car is worth a lot more than it actually is worth so it is hard to find a decent reliable car for a decent price. Kenny said he would find us one, he is a mechanic so he knows a lot more about cars than we do. He found us one and Ryan and I decided to make a weekend of it to go out to Florida and bring it home. We flew out on Labor Day weekend. We spent a few hours in Tampa and had lunch with my parents and the French’s. Then we began our trek home.
Halfway through its final drive from Florida to Kansas, unbeknownst to us, it would never complete a drive again without some mechanical issues.
It felt like we were in college again, going on a trip and not knowing if we would make it in our 2011 well used Hyundai Sonata. About 20 minutes into our drive the check engine light came on. We called Kenny and he said if it wasn’t flashing and it seemed to be driving ok then we could keep going. So we did. The first night we stopped in Atlanta Georgia. The next day we drove a couple hours to Nashville Tennessee. Ryan had been there for work before and thought it was a fun place. I have wanted to go but never been. Once we got there we checked into a hotel right across from the Country Music Hall of Fame Museum. We spent the rest of the day exploring Nashville.
We went through the museum which was ok. I like country music but I am not a crazy fan of anyone in particular. We also went on a tour of Studio C. It is one of the original recording studios from the 1940’s. It was pretty cool. Hundreds of singers had recorded there over the years. Including Elvis Presley. The last part of the tour was in a room that he recorded a lot of his hits in. They told us about a typical recording session with him and his band. There was a broken cabinet that Elvis kicked one night and a panel came off. The piano was original too. I thought is was a cool tour. The rest of the evening we wandered around and did a little shopping. I wanted to find some cowboy boots but didn’t have any luck. It is a very friendly town. Of course at night there is endless live music to listen to. It was pretty awesome. It was all kinds of music too, not just country. There was a lot of talent.
Elvis played this piano a lot.Many famous artists including Elvis stood on this spot to record.
The next morning we drove the rest of the way home. We dropped the car off at the mechanic we use to figure out why the engine light was on. I scheduled a detail for it because it was pretty gross inside and we looked forward to having a third car and driver to get people all the places we seem to need to go.
Fast forward six weeks and we found ourselves trading the Sonata in for a newer car that actually works. After getting it back from the mechanic, we found ourselves in a very frustrating and irritating cycle of getting the car from the mechanic, paying a couple hundred dollars to fix something then bringing it home to have it break again within two days and be taken in for another week to be fixed. It would randomly die sometimes. One of those times Matthew was backing out of our driveway and it died. He had no power steering or breaks and our driveway is a hill so he continued to roll when died. He rolled right into our neighbors nanny’s car. That was kind of the last straw for me. It is stressful enough to put your son who has basically no driving experience in a car and send him off on his own. To send him in a car I didn’t trust and proved many times it could create dangerous situations was nerve racking. On top of that, we were in the process of selling our house (more on that later) and by November 1st Matthew would be the girls and his ride to and from school so we had to have a working reliable safe car for him.
The car Matthew rolled into when his died unexpectedly. It looks like it isn’t that bad but that stupid dent cost more than $5000 to fix.
I decided to go through a dealership. I know I pay more money that way but if something goes crazy wrong I know where to go and have some sort of warranty and accountability with it, unlike a private seller. After some research I found a 2015 Honda Accord. They were willing to take the Sonata for more then a few other car places had offered me for it so that was nice. I did not want to sell it privately or have it sitting around reminding me how stupid it was, I didn’t have the time or patience for that. Two birds with one stone. We didn’t tell Matthew because we didn’t know if we were actually going to find a car or not. It was a nice surprise for him. He loves it and it has been so helpful for him to be able to get himself places and sometimes the girls. Game changer.
The new car. Matthew said he will probably name it but he hasn’t decided on one yet.
The other day when I was making dinner Allison came home and gave me a hug then asked if I could break a $5 bill for her. I found my purse and gave her the requested 4 one dollar bills and 4 quarters. She then put $2.50 on the counter and told me that was my share then started to head outside. I told her to come back and explain when she was talking about. She said that she had sold a bag of chocolate chips to someone at school for $5. Since the bag only cost $3 (I do remember her asking me how much I spent on a bag of chocolate chips a day or so previously) she had made $2 and since she used my chocolate chips she split the money with me.
This girl and her ways of coming up with how to make a dollar continue to amaze me. Between her work ethic, drive, creativity, and love of money she will take care of herself just fine. She has already run a successful slime and key chain business. Also her dog walking business. She is currently trying to convince the gym she does gymnastics at to hire her to help do odd jobs around the gym. Meanwhile, Matthew asked two companies for an application, doesn’t fill them out or turn them in and acts like he has done all he possibly can to get a job but there aren’t any available.
Anyway, back to my share of the chocolate chip profit. I told her that I love her ability to come up with ways to make money but while she did make a two dollar profit, as she did not buy the chips in the first place, instead of my share being $2.50 it would actually be $4. She was not as excited about that but followed the math. I told her I would split it with her this time but to stop selling my groceries. Funny girl.
Time seems to be flying by at a rapid pace again. September and October seemed to go by so fast.
Matthew had a busy month. When I was looking at the picture to add to this post I should have titled it Matthew’s busy September. Everyone was busy and had things going on. I guess we just photographed more of Matthew’s.
Matthew crammed in as much baseball as he could in September and October. The weather was pretty cooperative. He is on the same team but there were a lot of changes and the new group of boys is pretty fun to watch. They all mix well together.
Division 1 Champs
Out!
Firebird Baseball Cluc
Celebrating a big win!
Out!
Out!
Allison came up with another creative way to get her energy out. This is a video she sent me the other day.
We went to several High School Football games this past month too. Some at our school, some to watch other kids we know play for their school. One of those was Homecoming. Matthew and Campbell took pictures together before the game, then they changed and met their friends at the game. After the game they changed again (Matthew in the back of our car) and a group of them went to the dance together.
Next on Matthew’s list was a Temple trip and a camping trip with the Young Men in our ward. They went to a lake and did some swimming, biking, hiking, fishing, and eating smore’s. Matthew and his friend Carter are really into fishing now. They try and go at least once a week. I’m glad he has a fun hobby to do with a good buddy.
Emilee tried volleyball this year, and we are very happy to say that she loved it! She looked forward to practices, we didn’t have to drag her and she was excited enough about her games that she kept track of them herself. I am very glad we found a new talent for her to develop. Her dad is over the moon excited. She has lost two pairs of knee pads already but if she keeps enjoying it I can get her another pair.
She also loves drawing and wanted me to capture this master piece of me to share on my blog.
For my birthday this year everyone was sick or quarantining in case they got sick. That was not the original plan but that is what happened. So we put a little pin in my birthday and bumped it out a week and a half until everyone was better. Ryan cooked me many yummy meals- spaghetti and meatballs, steak, and my favorite chocolate layered cream cheese cake. Ryan remembered to cook the crust this year. Allison made me a cute birthday sign and the kids got me a sweet gift basket with lots of fun surprises in it.
Ryan decided to surprise me for my birthday with a trip to Chicago. He confirmed my availability without setting of any suspicion. Then he booked our hotel and flights. He even checked my email and filed the flight information into another folder so I wouldn’t see the confirmation. He was pretty proud of himself and I had no idea. Unfortunately, he was unable to out think all of the Google software data gathering (straight up snooping) even though he hid the emails, my calendar found them and the next time I checked my calendar a little message popped up asking me if I wanted to add my flight to Chicago to the calendar. I tried to act like I didn’t know but when Ryan straight up asked me if I knew I told him my calendar betrayed him.
As I said we ended up having to postpone the trip a bit but shortly after my birthday, we flew to Chicago and spent a long weekend there. We had a fun time with each other. We stayed at the Palmer Hotel. When we got there we decided to go to the Magic Show that the hotel is apparently famous for and has been showing since the 80’s. It was pretty fun. I love stuff like that. During the day we toured the city by foot, subway, or boat. In the evenings we went to shows. We ended up doing two different magic shows, a comedy show, and an old timey piano bar that played requests. The atmosphere was early 1900’s but the music was modern. In the mornings we slept in as long as we wanted. Glorious. It was a great weekend and I’m glad we squeezed it in because it is trade show season for Ryan at work now and since we have been back it seems like I haven’t seen him for a few weeks. We pass each other on the way to work or taking the kids somewhere, one of us is asleep before the other gets home and one of us is at work or taking Matthew to seminary before the other one is awake.
The Field Museum
These chandeliers were so cool looking.
The Bean
Can you see us in the reflection?
Awesome sky lines
Beautiful architecture
The top of that building looks like a Roman Temple.
The Corn Cobbs of Chicago.
Chicago Skyline
Hard to tell there is a river right in front of us.
This is the river by the building with flag hanging on it.
Part of the raised subway. Some of the subway was underground, some above the traffic.
That is the library.
You know you are in the city when there is pigeons walking around like they own the place.
You think it is just a regular old building but they were all so different and unique.
The name of this boat is The Summer of George. Ryan was quite excited.
Well, I crossed into the next decade of my life! It is a little weird. I remember my Grandma June in her 40’s. I remember my mom’s 40th birthday, several of my aunts. For a while as a kid, all adults were in their 40’s. Now I am. So far when I have entered a new decade it hasn’t bothered me. It bothers Ryan and he is two years older so maybe I have a few years to prepare myself because he does it first.
There was a bit of a minor mid life crisis for Ryan. It is part of the reason he now drives a Tesla. I think I feel it a little bit too. It is hard to explain. I am not panicking about my age but I feel like I have moved into a different stage of my life. I find myself thinking and considering things differently then I used to. I’ve noticed it enough in myself to say that there is definitely something to a ‘mid life crisis’. It didn’t happen over night of course, I feel like the past year or two I noticed a few subtle shifts and changes in myself. Here are some of my thoughts as a 40 for one month year old.
Emotionally and socially I have become more comfortable with myself and settled more into knowing what I am and want. I definitely feel plenty comfortable cutting out the crap and negativity I don’t want in my life. I am a people pleaser and I still like to please people but I am much better at not expensing my desires and wants ALL the time. My confidence has increased, would be a good way to say it in one sentence. I have solid friendships that are into their second decade. For me this is quite a feat since until 2008 I moved a minimum of every 2 years my whole life. I can be social or be alone-by myself or in a group. I am comfortable with myself and I know more of what I want and don’t want to spend my time doing and who I want to spend that time with.
I am no longer the young person in the room in anyone’s opinion. I have enough life experience to not be ‘just a baby’ or ‘just getting started’ or whatever else other people say. Instead people ask me how I did it when I was younger. In my head I’m thinking, “When did I not become younger?” I know enough to know I don’t know it all or even very much. I realize all the things ‘I will get to someday’ are going to be off the table at some point instead of forever available. Youth and health are not a given and guaranteed permanence. When I see someone the age of 30 they look young, 25 year old’s barely look like adults and 18 or younger look like a baby.
Physically my hair, skin, nails, and a dozen other things have changed a bit at some point in the last few years. I get a glimpse of what ‘old’ people mean when they say ‘my (fill in the blank) isn’t like it used to be’. Instead of my hair just being healthy and shiny, I have to condition it more or pick a new style because it is thinning. Instead of washing my face and throwing on a little moisturizer I have to use a toners and serums and twenty other products to help maintain, shape, elasticity, smoothness and firmness and whatever other properties my skin maintained on it own until now. Moisturizer is now bought in bulk. It is like magic that you start noticing aches and pains when you exercise…or don’t exercise.
I can see how these things and more cause someone to want to do a dramatic change around this time in their life, whether it is plastic surgery, or a trip, or buying something extravagant. I get it. Maybe in five or ten years my thoughts and opinions will change-actually I am sure they will but for now my plan in to live and enjoy my confident 40 self and age naturally and gracefully with the aid of topical creams. 😂
As I mentioned earlier, Ryan’s mid life crisis manifested as a new car. Mine will be manifesting itself in 25 days and I am VERY excited! Stay tuned!
My mom sent me a card with this button in it. I forgot I had it on and wore it to the grocery store.
