I feel like there's be a lot since I last wrote! I actually just went back and read my last few posts, and I was like, "Whoa... it's been a while!" The good news is, I will say that in many ways, life has gotten a little better in the past two months. I feel like with time, we have all slowly been adjusting to life without Gabe, which is still so sad, but I think with time it's just starting to feel more normal for him to be out of the home. I still hate it and wish he was here, but at least I'm starting to get into a routine and I don't immediately go into shock every morning when I wake up and remember he's not sleeping in his bed right down the hall. I have officially turned his room into a "Gabe shrine." lol I hung his big bulletin board (that we had used for people predicting his mission call place on a map) up on his wall above his bed. I printed a bunch of pictures from the MTC and a few once he arrived in Spain the first couple weeks, so it's covered with pictures of him. Then I hung two pictures of him in front of the temple on either side of that. It was kind of fun because we had two rounds of guests come in the last couple of months. One weekend we had Chris and his twin boys, Easton and Indie, some visit and they stayed in Gabe's room. I think they were kind of looking for Gabe and asking where my kids were, and then Chris said they went into Gabe's room (where we had an extra air mattress and stuff set up for them to sleep) and one of his boys said, "That guy!" and pointed to the pictures of Gabe. "Where is he?" Awwww.... Chris had to explain how he was gone for two years in Spain on a mission! How sad. :(
Chris Ensign and the twins visit
We had a lot of fun with Chris and his twins going to Caleb's football game on Friday night (the won), then going to this little fishing pond. Cody and Lindsey and their boys knew this family had had a private pond, so they came with us and all the little boys fished and it was really fun. They caught lots! Then we went to Freddy's for lunch and Chris and his boys drove back to Utah by about 2:00 in the afternoon.
Grandma Sue and Brayden visit
Then, a week later, my mom and Brayden came to visit. I actually LOVED having them here. I truly think my overall mental health would be better if my mom lived out here in Rexburg. I would also take Brayden. Now Rachel... I'm not so sure... lol She would need to have a job to keep her busy and maybe find a good guy to take care of her. Then it would be okay. Otherwise she might be sitting at my house everyday like she was when we lived in Wisconsin when Gabe and Caleb were little! But I loved having my mom and Brayden here from Friday afternoon to Tuesday morning. We went to Caleb's playoff football game on Friday night, which was really nice because it was right across the street and they played Capitol (a Boise team) and won! Then on Saturday, Avery's orchestra teacher, Mrs. Loveland, was competing in this school district fundraiser called "Dancing with the Rexburg Stars." Avery and her fellow orchestra friends all played their violins and violas behind her as she danced to Texas Hold'em. It was really cute, and she ended up winning the whole thing!! I love her. She's the sweetest teacher ever, and I'm glad Aver had something to be involved in that night that my mom and Brayden could see. Then we went shopping on Saturday (just my mom and I) and Josh took Caleb, Brayden, and Avery to the Gravity Factory, which was nice to have some alone time with my mom. Sunday, we went to church. Monday, Gabe called and we Facetimed and talked with him throughout the day. That was fun because my mom got to talk with him too! Then Tuesday there was no school because it was election day! Well, it was a "virtual day" but I didn't assign anything new because I'm a nice teacher. lol But TRUMP WON!! Whoohoo! He beat Kamala Harris by a landslide!! My mom and Brayden flew out in the early afternoon and got back to Wisconsin about 10pm. We didn't know Trump had won yet at that point, but as we were going to bed, it was starting to look like he would. We just didn't want to celebrate too soon though because in 2020 it looked like he was going to win too, and then "suddenly" all these "mail-in" votes started showing up in all the swing states, and somehow Joe Biden won. (It was very controversial...) So, we were happy to see that Trump won in all the swing states (Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio... and more) and I was messaging Gabe updates on Facebook messenger all evening long (while he was asleep in Spain) so when he woke up he could see that Trump won!
Caleb's Football Season
Anyways, I feel bad that I haven't written a lot of Caleb's football season. It was the best one I can remember Madison having in a long time, but sadly, it is over now. Caleb started as center probably 80 percent of the time. Teagan Haderlie, a senior, also played center. They went 8-1 in the regular season (losing only to Rigby). Then in the playoffs, their first game was at home against Capitol (that was the one my mom and Brayden were at). Then their second playoff game was in Boise against Eagle, which honestly was so controversial. We even had a better record than them, and that game should've been played at home, and in retrospect, I really think we would've won if that game was at home. But we drove down to Boise on Friday at about noon, right as soon as I was done. We took Avery out two hours early. Caleb had already rode down on the bus. The game started at about 6:30 and we dominated in the first half. We were up 13-0. Then it was like, all of a sudden, Eagle realized, "Oh crap! We are gonna lose!" and someone paid off the refs. It was like any call that could be called against us, was. We ended up losing 16-22. It was so sad. But in the end, we were still all really proud of the boys and their amazing season. Hopefully next year is just as good, or better, for Caleb's senior year. He loved playing with Bryce Dredge, Cary Fa, Barkley Beck, Rex Salas, and Teagan Hadelie, and more, and he's sad that they are graduating, but hopefully they get some good sophomores and juniors that can pull up. I'm sad that his football season is over because I've loved going to his games every weekend for the past 2.5 months, but he's pretty excited to have some snowboarding time. Hopefully he doesn't hurt himself again like he did last winter in January!
Avery's piano, viola, and tumbling
Avery has also been doing some new things this fall. I got her starting piano lessons with Claire, so she goes over there every Monday at 4:30. I think she could be really good if she decides to stick with it! There's a little Christmas piano recital coming up that Claire is having all her students perform in. Avery is not thrilled, but Claire keeps telling her, "You're doing it. No is not an option." lol It's probably good for Avery that Claire is like that. She needs to be put in her place! Avery has also started a tumbling class on Wednesday evenings at 6:00. Her friend, Olivia, is in that too. I think it's just good for Avery to get out of the house. Who knows if she will ever do anything like cheer with it, but it's just good for her to get out and meet new people I think. I still wish she would do volleyball or that they had a tennis club going on right now with indoor lessons! She would be great at that. She's kind of going through a rough time right now with her moods (which means we are ALL going through a rough time right now with her moods... :{ And I literally pray all the time that she just grows out of it. My boys never went through this as age twelve with all the hormones and bad attitudes about school, so I don't even know what to do. I just feel like she suddenly went from being a sweet, fun girl to being a moody, hormonal, grumpy preteen. She was honestly good until like, the end of the last school year. Then this summer, she started her period (right around her 12th birthday) and we have been on a roller-coaster ever since. (I hope someday she reads this and is like, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that... I was crazy.") So with Gabe (my best conversationalist and hang out partner over the summer) leaving, and then Avery turning into a moody monster, it's been a really hard past few months. July to now has been rooouuugh. But hopefully, we are starting to get a little better. I know that Gabe is doing well and overall he's really liking Spain, so that's good.
Gabe's past 2.5 months in Aranjeuz, Spain
Gabe is almost at the end of his second "transfer" (set of 6 weeks) with Elder Bright. They had told them when they first arrived in Spain that they would most likely stay in one area with the same companion for "two transfers", so we kind of were expecting until around Thanksgiving. That gave me some peace of mind because he really liked Elder Bright right from the start and he liked the apartment they were in, and everything seemed pretty comfortable. They've had one baptism while he's been there in Aranjuez and they love going to a few different member's houses for meals. It seems like they have member meals about once or twice a week. So, not a crazy amount, but it's still fun. Gabe is saying that he thinks Elder Bright might get transferred away from Aranjuez and then Gabe would get a new companion, so I just hope and pray it's someone good! Elder Bright occasionally has little quiet spells Gabe was saying, but like 90 percent of the time it's really good and they have fun. Hopefully he feels like that with his next companion! Oh, and I can't believe I almost forgot to write about this! It was so heavy on my mind for a month, and then it ended! Guess what! Gabe and Sophia are no more!! I guess she wrote him kind of a terse email about a month ago saying she didn't think they should write anymore and se said, "It's not that it make me sad. I've just moved on." I think he was okay about it after a couple of days. However, apparently his friend, Noah, is taking her to the winter formal, so he's like of like, "Wait... what? Did my friend actually steal my girl?" Who knows. I'm just happy about it because I think he will be a better missionary without worrying about a dumb girl. Claire and I even went out to celebrate! lol So there's that! (I am keeping the pictures and info on Gabe at a minimum because I literally have a whole separate book for him! lol)
Life at the junior high
Other than that, I've just been busy with school! It's almost the end of the first trimester already! I've really liked all the kids in my classes this tri. Maybe Heavenly Father knew I needed a good group to get me through this hard couple of months! We have finals next week and then we will start trimester two and have Thanksgiving break! I feel like the school year has been going really fast this year, probably because I am only there part-time! lol I really do like the extra free time some days, and then other days I'm like, "Yeah, I might as well just be full-time." The difference in pay is pretty big too. It's like I went from making $3300 on my monthly paycheck to $1975, but I'm still at school most days until about 2:00. So it's like, for an extra couple hours, I'd be making $1300 more a month! I probably will teach full-time again next year. I was even wondering if they would ask me to come back to full-time for second and third trimester, but they have budget constraints, so I don't think they can change me at this point. We are just all going to have super full classes! Which, I always have, so it's no change for me! lol
Halloween
I forgot about Halloween! Honestly, I was a little depressed on Halloween this year. The day was fun because I was at the junior high and that's always fun. I dressed up as the Trunchbull from Matilda! We had the Halloween assembly and Caleb even left the high school early and came over for that at 2:30! Sidi and all the 9th grade football boys were grandmas, which won them the costume contest. But then in the evening, Caleb left to go with Lexie and some other people to the Haunted forest. Sidenote - Caleb went to the Halloween dance with Katelyn Sharp and liked her for about a week. Then he moved on to liking Lexie, but now just last night he said he likes Sarah Cameron... so who knows. Anyways, Avery went out trick-or-treating around the neighborhood with Olivia, Espyn, Nora, and some other friends. She wore he last year's Little Red Riding Hood costume to school, and then wore a black hoodie and black pants with some glowsticks taped to it when she went trick-or-treating. It was pretty boring just staying home with Josh while he watched football and I handed out candy! Claire and her family stopped over for a little bit. But I'm already looking forward to the day when I can be the grandma and take the little kids trick-or-treating again!
Anyways, Josh and Caleb went up to his parents' house this morning (Saturday) to get firewood for Jack and Shannon because Jack has been in the hospital with heart problems. I don't know what's going to happen with that. I guess Jack has always suspected he would have problems because his dad died young from heart problems, but now that it's happening, it's like, "Whoa... this really came on fast!" He's currently in the hospital in Idaho Falls. Shannon has been down there pretty much the past week with him. It was Orrin's 18th birthday on Thursday too, so that sucks. The older girls have been coming to visit. I think Lori came from Boise, Maddie from Blackfoot, and I think Ellie lives here in Rexburg. It's just crappy that their family is going through this. Hopefully they can get Jack on some good meds and he can have another ten years of life at least!
Well, I better get out of bed and either go get groceries, plan my Sunday school lesson for the teenagers tomorrow, or fold some laundry! It seems there's always something to do, but it's good for me to stay busy! Here are some pictures!
