Well, I don't really know where to begin because it feels like I am very behind. Sooo, I will just say the month of December was BUSY! I think I also need to talk about Thanksgiving. Here are some updates for the past month and a half!

Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving, we went to Brad and Diane's house. Most of Josh's family was there except for Heather's family, who went to Ben's side this year. It was a good, but short, little gathering. Josh's grandma Park started going through some health issues in November (more on this later) and Diane basically ate and then was like, "Well, I have to go visit my mom now," and then we all were kind of like, "Umm.. ok bye," and then we all left. But! In the hour and a half that we were there, Gabe called! He called at about 3:00 Idaho time, so we all got to talk to him for a minute. He talked to Carter (who is getting ready to leave on his mission to Georgia in a few weeks now!) and Brennen, who is starting his papers and should have his call in the next month or two! Gabe said he had a Thanksgiving dinner with his favorite family, the "Daguimar family" (in the Aranjuez ward). They are sweet to him. 

December fun

At the junior high, there's always a lot of fun in December. I had to participate in the annual teacher Hope Squad games again this year. They always somehow rope me into it. This year, it came down to 8 teachers, and then down to 3 teachers (me, Mrs. Hassard, and Mr. DeGraw.) The day of the assembly, we had to do a big obstacle course in the gym in front of everyone. It started with doing a puzzle, then cornhole, then balancing a basketball, throwing ping pong balls into a bucket, shooting nerf guns, etc! In the end, I came out victorious and I am not the CHAMPION and current holder of the belt and robe. Next year, I will probably have to do it again. It was fun to win this year again since Avery was there. All the 8th graders made me cute signs and I felt very loved. 

Grandma Park passed away

In  the early hours of Wednesday, December 17, only 3 weeks after her 95th birthday, Josh's grandma Carol Park passed away. She had been in decent health up until about early November. She had gone to the hospital for a couple days, then went home and seemed like she was better, then got worse again. So then they had her on home hospice for about the last two weeks of her life. I don't know the for sure cause, but I think it started with her heart and then just went downhill from there. We were luckily able to attend her funeral on Saturday, December 20th, right before heading to Wisconsin two days later. It was a very nice funeral with TONS of family. We filled the whole church! They said every single one of her 35 grandchildren were in attendance, including one that flew in from China. It was fun to hear all the stories about her life, including all the things that made her swear! ;)

Christmas in Wisconsin

We flew out of SLC on December 22 for our Wisconsin trip! I personally thought it was a lot of fun and I was glad we went. Josh got pretty sick of Jesse and Rachel, but oh well, he can deal with it for a few days. When we first got there, we spent the night at Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells. It was super fun and Caleb and Avery did every single indoor waterslide. Then on Christmas Eve day, we drove to Fondy and went straight to Rachel's house (my old childhood home).

We had dinner there for Christmas Eve and we opened the presents from my mom and grandma. It was mostly money, but they did get a few things. Avery got some ear buds, a little blue tooth speaker, an ornament, a travel jewelry box, and a couple other small things (and money). Caleb got the game Cards Against Humanity and some other little stuff. They both used their money over the next few days to go shopping. We had a blast playing Cards Against Humanity with my grandma Dahlke. We were dying laughing!

On Christmas Day, we stayed at my mom and Jesse's house all day. All the Dahlke relatives came over, except for my cousin Jenna and her family. It was fun to see everyone again. At one point, as I sat around the table in the sun room with my cousins Melissa, Michelle, Nick, and Branden, we were asking each other what age we all wanted to retire at, and Melissa says, "This is crazy. Why are we talking about retirement?! Shouldn't we be still playing with the big pillows upstairs in grandma's rec room and making a fort under the pool table?!" I agree. It seems almost creepy how fast the years have gone. We had so many fun times at the farm, especially at Christmas. We reminisced about the HUGE piles of presents that grandma would have under the tree, so many that you could barely squeeze past to go down the hallway to the bathroom! Those were the good old days.

Gabe also got to call on Christmas and talk for about an hour! Some of the relatives had already left, but he said hi to my grandma, my mom, and everyone in our family. He said his day was good, but that Christmas isn't as big of a celebration in Spain until Jan. 5, when they celebrate Three Kings Day. He said they were at a family's house for Christmas Eve dinner, but it was some friends they are teaching who are from South America (where they celebrate Christmas more like we do!) He seemed happy and content. He was excited to tell us about a 15-year-old named Miguel who they had found that day and were now teaching about the church.

The next few days were spent eating, shopping, playing games, eating more, and just relaxing. Josh and Caleb were able to go to the Packers/Ravens game at Lambeau. It was a loss for the Packers, but Caleb likes the Ravens and they still had fun. We had found tickets online for $280 for the both of them, so we figured $140 wasn't too bad for a once in a lifetime experience. They sat by some fun drunk ladies who had known my grandpa Bestor, so that was funny! 

We also went roller skating, bowling, and out to dinner a lot. I was a fun week and I was happy to spend a Christmas in Wisconsin for the first time in about the last 16-17 years!

New Years Eve

We had just gotten home from WI in the late evening on December 30, so the next day was New Year's Eve. Me, Caleb, and Avery were mostly excited to watch the final episode of Stranger Things. Sadly, it was kind of a letdown. Then, at about 9:00, Josh and I dropped off Avery and Briella at the junior high for the multi-stake New Years party/dance. It was Avery's first church dance, and she was not that impressed. lol She said she got asked to dance and she said no. So then we had to have a chat about the courage it takes boys to ask you dance, and how you should try to be nice and say yes. Me and Josh went out to Cody and Lindsey's house and played some games with them and Bradee and Krystal Klassen. We left right around midnight and drove back to get Avery and Briella and take Briella home. Caleb was out at his girlfriend, Rachel's, house from about 9pm to 1am. They have been kind of a thing since October, but lately it seems like it might be cooling off. Tine will tell...

Back to School / January stuff

So now we are back at it with school! It's been a pretty good year so far and it's kind of hard to believe that this year of Avery being in my class (a year that I kind of looked forward with excitement) is already half over! She has grown up a lot since Gabe left on his mission. I kind of told him before he left that he wouldn't even recognize her when he got back, and it's kind of true. She has grown at least 4 inches and is like, a teenage girl now, now a little girl. 

I have still been teaching part-time this school year and it sounds like that might also be the case for next year, which I'm fine with. Now that I'm used to it, it will probably be hard to go back to full-time (if they ever even offer to me again!) Truth be told though, I'm kind of content. I wouldn't mind teaching at the high school once Avery is done with the junior high next year anyways. 

A few other things that I forgot to mention are:

Caleb got his wisdom teeth out

Avery and I went and saw Wicked 2

We have had barely ANY show, but he has still gone snowboarding about 5 times

Caleb and Darcy Mawlam went to the Winter Formal in December

Caleb's Football awards banquet (his last high school football activity ever)

Gabe is still in Valdemoro, but just found out he is getting transferred to GRANADA!

Avery is still taking piano from Claire and had her Christmas piano recital

Avery also had her Christmas orchestra concert in December

Josh is busy hiring lots of new people at the police department this week

Well, my hands are sick of typing so that's all for now!

Well, the two biggest things I have to write about from this past month are Halloween and the end of Caleb's high school football career.

This year, it seemed like we got invited to more Halloween festivities than ever before. There's this lady named Krystal Klassen that is a mom of one of my former students and she has a son that plays baseball with Cody and Lindsey Summer's son. Her husband is also the principal at the high school. Anyways, she puts on this huge scavenger hunt that goes all around town and it's for married couples to just compete in groups and have fun with other couples. We got invited this year (last year was the first time she had ever done it) and it was so fun! We got put in a group with Cody and Lindsey Summers and Travis and Mindy Schwab. We didn't win, but it was still so fun. We dressed as prison inmates and Josh wore his police uniform. At one point, a bystander at Broulims saw Travis Schwab running around the school district office, and she called the police because she thought he was an actual criminal. lol We had been waiting for Josh as he ran into the police department to get something, but then the rest of us drove over there and found Travis talking to the actual cops. lol Josh was there to tell them to stand down. The evening ended back at the Klassen's house and we had some dinner and it was a fun night!

Then, the next Friday, we got invited to Clint and Lauren's Halloween party. It was fun, but probably not quite as fun because we didn't really know the other couples there. It was a lot of her high school friends and me and Josh were like, the old people there. We played some games and ate some snacks and then came home. We dressed as Ariel and Prince Eric for that one.

Then it was actually Halloween! We always have fun at the junior high on Halloween. It was awesome because Halloween was actually on a Friday this year, which I think it should be every single year. Then it's a shorter day of school and we end with the fun assembly, and then everyone goes home and gets out trick-or-treating and gets to sleep in the next day and hopefully come down from their sugar high in the care of their parents and not their teachers! The English department dressed up as villians, and I was Mother Gothel from Tangled. Avery and her friends were rappers. She went trick-or-treating with Briella and Phoebe and some other kids up on the hill.

The other thing that was happening on Halloween night was a football game! This was such a weird thing because I can't remember ever having a football game on Halloween, but it was awesome! It was their first playoff game and they were hosting Boise at Bobcat stadium! So, we got Avery situated with her friends trick-or-treating, and then we went over to the stadium for the game! We won 17-14 and advanced in the next round of playoffs! 

We also had senior night somewhere in there. I think it was actually the week before Halloween. It was probably the coldest night of football all season (except for when we went to Coeur D' Alene - which I'll get to next!) I was wearing my friend, Ashley's, heated vest and I was so grateful for that! We walked out onto the field with Caleb at the start of the game and the cheerleaders gave him a candy lei and a gift bag. The moms had decided to do personalized blankets, so the gift bag had the blanket and some other little treats. They won their game that night pretty easily and we all thought, "This is the last home game!" but then we ended up having home field advantage for that first playoff game against Boise, and then THAT Halloween game ended up actually being Caleb's last home game.

After the Halloween night win, that ended up pushing us into the second round of playoffs, but that meant we had to travel all the way up to Coeur D' Alene! On Friday, November 7, we left at about 8:00 in the morning and drove the seven hours there! I got a sub and Avery skipped school. We got to the hotel at about 4:00 and Josh took a nap and Avery and I did a little shopping! She got some shirts and a bracelet and some other stuff, so she felt like the trip was worth it. Then we went to the game and watched Madison play the worst game of the season. :( It was actually soooo bad. I think we lost 43-14 or something like that. It was crazy because most people said Madison was actually favored to win it by the stats! I don't know what happened, but just nothing went our way. So many fumbles and turnovers. It was a sad way for those seniors to end their high school football careers, but oh well. If they would have won, they would have played the next week, and it would've been pretty tough to play either Timberline or Rocky Mountain. Tomorrow is the state championship game and it's Rigby vs. Timberline. On the one hand, I really don't want Rigby to win again because the are so annoying. On the other hand, it's also nice when a team from east Idaho wins instead of Boise. So we shall see...

Other than that, it's the end of trimester one at school today! It was the attendance final today, so it was a pretty low key day. I went to the school from about 8:00 - noon and Avery came with for a little bit. Josh brought her over there at about 9:30 because she was just bored at home. I worked on my seating charts for tri 2, which starts on Monday, and a bunch of other stuff.

In other news, I booked our flights to SPAIN!! I was able to find some pretty good deals on the flights, so I figured I might as well do it and then we can plan! So we have that to look forward to in 2026! 

Also, Avery finished up tennis lessons with Briella in mid-October and had her Halloween orchestra concert! Gabe is just living the missionary life in Aranjuez in his piso with four other elders! He's with Elder Taylor officially, but they are also training Elder Plewe and they still have those other two that are living with them too (Brinkerhoff and Stucki).

That's all for now! Here are some pictures!

 On Wednesday, September 24th, Grandma Sue flew into Idaho Falls! She spent the next week here while we were off of school for spud harvest break, and it was awesome having her visit. We went shopping on Thursday, went to Caleb's football game against Thunder Ridge on Friday (Bobcats won by a lot), and then my brother, Aaron, and his con Colter came to visit on Saturday and Sunday. While they were here, Josh was on his bike ride to Utah, so they didn't get a chance to really see him, but it was still fun. We mostly just hung out at our house, played Cover Your Assets, and chatted. While they were visiting, we kind of tentatively planned out a lake house trip at the end of July next summer in Wisconsin. 

Aaron and Colter left on Sunday afternoon (we didn't go to church), and then my mom left on Wednesday afternoon. We also went to Fat Cats and went mini golfing, played some arcade games, went out to dinner at Red 8 (twice) and had lots of fun just hanging out! I wish she lived in Rexburg. Maybe someday...

While grandma was here, two big things in the world happened. 1) President Russell M. Nelson (our prophet) passed away at the age of 101. That was already a sad day. Then, the next day, someone drove into an lds church building in Michigan and started shooting, killing 4 people and injuring others. It was all over the news. Nothing like that has ever happened in one of our churches before, so everyone (even non-LDS people) were shocked. I guess the guy was a veteran and had some PTSD issues. It was very sad. They General Conference was only a few days later, so it kind of left the church leadership scrambling probably. Dallin H. Oaks spoke at conference, and he is going to become the next prophet/president of the church.

After spud harvest was over, we went back to school on October 6th and got back into the school year swing of things. Our lives have been busy going to Caleb's football games every Friday night, taking Avery to tennis on Tuesdays and Thursdays and piano on Mondays with Claire, and just doing other random things here and there. 

The weather has been beautiful and the trees have been showing off their oranges and yellows. It hasn't snowed here yet, but it has been rainy this weekend and it snowed un the mountains. I am NOT ready for snow, but Caleb is counting down the days until Targhee opens so he can start snowboarding all the time. He has been kind of getting sick of football lately to be honest, but it's sad for us to think that he only probably has 2 or 3 games left. They really haven't had a bad season, but they've lost a total of 3 games (Rigby, Hillcrest, and Skyline) but those three loses combined were by a total of SIX points. They lost to Hillcrest and Skyline both by ONE point, and they just played Rigby and lost by 4 points. It was such a good game too. I thought we would get creamed, but we were ahead for a lot of the game. I think the Rigby fans were shaking in their boots. A turnover in the 4th quarter basically cost us the game. It was so sad. 

Senior night is this coming Friday, so I will have more pictures to post then, but here are some football ones I have for now!

Also, Gabe is back in his first area of Aranjuez and is a zone leader and is training a greenie (Elder Plewe) with his other zone leader companion (Elder Taylor). They have been pretty busy he says, and are teaching at least two lessons a day in Valdemoro. He gets transfer news this coming week, but I really think he will probably stay there at least one more since he is only halfway through training a greenie.

Here are some pictures!