So, another school year started. For the most part, the kids were tired of the summer and ready to go back. I think we were all ready for them to go back! This year Tess is a Senior and she is very busy being Seminary President, playing on the Waterford Varsity volleyball team, being the assistant yearbook editor and being part of two chorus groups. Oh yeah, and she is also taking classes, doing homework and trying to get good grades! Oh, the life of a senior . . . one last year to fit it all in.
This year Madeleine is in 9th grade -- a Freshman in the upper school -- Elliot is in 6th grade in middle school and Clark is in 3rd grade -- our only kid left in lower school. Phillip is back down at BYU studying Graphic Design and Loren is home with us this semester working full time at Einstein Bagels as a shift manager, saving money for more school. We all seem to have settled down to a basic routine now and the days seems to go by quickly. It is hard to believe that October is over already.
The volleyball season was great this year with Madeleine playing on the 9th grade team and Tess playing on the Varsity team. Now that Madeleine is in high school, the girls got to play the same schedule this year which has been fun for them. This past weekend was the State Volleyball Tournament at UVSC. Our varsity team took 5th place out of the 16 teams in our region. Not too bad. . . . Tess got to bring the team to their final victory by serving the last 2 points.
Fall is my very favorite time of year -- especially for traveling back east. So, this past month I took a trip to see my good friend Melora Collette in Bedford, New Hampshire for a few days. We had a fun time driving up to Maine to see a very foggy lighthouse, driving to see the leaves changing colors and doing a little shopping. Of course, we got a few movies in as well, along with a lot of talking.
At the end of my stay there, I flew to Pittsburgh where Alan joined me to spend a few days with my brother Matt and his wife Elasha and their kids. Matt is doing his Radiology residency there and it was fun to see where they will be living out the next few years of their life. We also got to see my newest niece, Anna, who was born last June. Since Kirtland, Ohio is relatively close, we took a day trip to see the Temple and the other church sites. On the way home we stopped to visit my Aunt Erva -- my Grandma Morgan's sister who lives in Kingsville, Ohio, about an hour away from Kirtland. She was very happy to have us come by. We also got to go in the hospital where Matt works and see where he does the real work in the real world -- pondering various individuals' brain and body scans. Very cool.
We had only been back a day or so when we learned that Alan's grandmother, Louise Edwards, had passed away. She was being buried in Chehalis, Washington, so the next weekend Alan and I flew up to Seattle for her graveside service. We had been expecting rain and umbrellas, and instead we got glorious sunshine and a beautiful fall day. The service was very simple and very nice -- Alan's mom gave a great tribute and his dad dedicated the grave. It was great to see all of Alan's siblings and cousins -- kind of a mini reunion!
The month comes to a close with Halloween. I had fun making ghosts with my little cub scouts and of course all my kids had fun carving their pumpkins -- we've come a long way from just painting pumpkins! When it came to the candy, I pulled out all of my favorite candy bars, hid them away, and then gave all the rest of it to the trick-or-treaters -- perfect!