October 2023 Part 3: Michael's Birthday

Michael turned 14 in October. How did this happen? He got his present from Grandma early, so he spent his last day as a thirteen-year-old putting it together. 

I made sure to get one final photo with my 13-year-old. 

Michael is the only one in our family who doesn't love eating out, so I made dinner. I think I made Schwarma seasoned turkey over turmeric rice because it's one of his favorite meals, but I'm not sure. 

He didn't want cake, so I made cheesecake. 

We had to do all the birthday things before Rachel had to go to dance, but I don't think Michael was sad to have cheesecake, ice cream, and presents early. 

We got him a scroll saw, and he was pretty excited to get his first power tool. 

So excited that he needed to pose with it. 

And then go try it out. 

We asked him what he wanted to do for a birthday party, and he decided he didn't want one, thinking that maybe he was too old for such things. Instead, he wanted to go to the BYU Store, so Brian took him. 

His love of wood and working is something Brian and I share with him. We all love smelling wood and turning it into something amazing. 

Michael seemed to really like his scroll saw, and he's constantly out in the garage. We even came home a few times to find him and his friends gathered around the scroll saw where he cut out their football jersey numbers for them. We love that he's gotten back in touch with his creative side, especially after he stepped away from his airplane and WWII obsession a year or two ago. 

We got to have family over to celebrate Michael's birthday too, and Michael was excited to show Papa his scroll saw. 

And Shayne too! 

For round two of celebrating his birthday, Michael wanted an ice cream cake. 

We all love having an excuse to have family over. 

And I always love when cousins are out playing in the yard. 

Michael is delightful. He has a great sense of humor and keeps us laughing. While he does have some teenage attitude, he is never embarrassed to be seen with us. He's got a sweet, kind heart, and is always quick to show compassion and care when someone is having a difficult time. We are so proud of him, and so grateful to have him in our family. 
 

October 2023 Part 2: Cornbelly's Thanksgiving Point

The original Cornbelly's location at Thanksgiving Point opened up in October, and we stole over there a couple of days in October. One of those days, we got lucky to have Michael hang with us again. He was a good sport about posing for pictures. 

We have him doing this same cut-out photo from when he was three. I can't even believe how fast time has gone! 

We did the hay pull together. 

And the ring thing. 

I didn't think it was possible to actually hook the ring, but Brian did it, so it obviously is. Either that or he used magic. 

We walked through a bubble storm. 

And Michael danced in it with me--well, sort of. 

He posed with this sweet car. 

We met up with Rachel, Skyler, and Gabe and then we got to take a few pictures of them. 

And Michael even posed with them. 

Those paying attention know how important these tractor wheels have become. We ALWAYS take a picture in front of them. 

Michael's almost taller than the tire! I can't even believe this. 

The kids enjoyed going on this ride. 

And about dinner time, Danny arrived, so Michael ditched us, but we got to take photos of the other three. 

Lea and Shayne came too, and we had fun doing things with them. 

 We had a mini double date when all the kids headed off to do fun things without us. We played corn hole and mini golf, and just had a blast. Even though it gets a little crazy, I really love October, and I love going to Cornbelly's with my family. 

October 2023 Part 1: Our Crazy October Saturdays

For the Fall 2023, we tried this crazy thing: Let's let Gabe do two sports! So, he gave tackle football a shot (we thought it would be a good outlet for his aggression), and he continued with soccer. So, with Michael and Gabe both in tackle football, and Gabe in soccer, our Saturdays in October were pretty nuts--just like I probably mentioned in our September posts. The saddest part of this is that my nephew, Elijah, was baptized on one of those Saturdays, and we couldn't make it to be there in person, though we did get to watch on a video call. Thank goodness for technology!

At one of the games, Gabe got to be a captain. He's #15. 

I'm amazed by how well some of these kids can play football. My science teacher brother told me that kids are incapable of tracking a football and catching it at this age, but I saw so much evidence to the contrary. It's always funny to see these kids whose helmets are almost bigger than they are trying to play this complicated sport. 

He did so great this season. He was super busy trying to get to two practices and Let's Play Music on Thursdays. 

Here he is with his coaches. 

And with me. 

During one of the Saturdays, there was a solar eclipse. We were outside the zone where you could really see it, but we were able to see part of it. So, during Gabe's soccer game, we pulled out our glasses to check out what was happening. 

Eclipses are so cool, but nothing compares to being in the path of totality. We're so glad that we got a chance to experience the one in Idaho several years ago. 

Gabe got to play goalie one game, and his team did such a good job keeping the ball on the other end of the field that Gabe must have gotten a little bored down there. 

Rachel got dragged to a lot of games. She mostly read books or played in the grass, but hey, she was there! 

Here's Gabe's team. 

 One of those Saturdays in October, Rachel's dance studio complicated things a little bit by having pictures. Here's our sweet girl in her costume from last year. 

And here's her tiny team: Rachel, Lindsey, (not sure because she quit not long after this picture), Zelda, and Bliss. 

Michael did great this season in Football, but apparently we didn't take any pictures of him during October. He was a lot of fun to watch. 

We're so proud of all our kids and the hard work they put into their sports.