As always, some of us are excited for school to start and some of us aren't. Clark was especially excited this year as he is starting middle school and is entering the life of lockers, many teachers and keeping himself organized. He is doing a great job and seems to already have it all under control. Madeleine and Elliot of course had to basically resign themselves to going back to school. Actually they both really enjoy school; it's just all the homework that they dislike so much.
Elliot spent the first couple of weeks collecting bugs for Mr. Bromley's biology class. We were all on the lookout and I even caught one in a store parking lot with a grocery bag and a stick – true parental dedication!
Also keeping Elliot busy was his eagle project of collecting money to purchase supplies to make birthday party kits for the kids at the Christmas Box House – a temporary home for abused children. He collected nearly $900 and was able to make 24 kits instead of the planned 12. We were also able to buy 12 piñatas, candy and a bat, with some money left over for several pairs of jeans and sweatshirts. It was great to have the scouts and their leaders over here to assemble all the kits. Later that week I took him to deliver everything to the Christmas Box House. They were so excited to have had him do this project and it turned out to be pretty fun for him as well.
Chorale
Alan and I are excited to be singing again with our chorale group. We meet every Thursday evening which can be a little tricky with church stuff and soccer stuff. But it is fun to spend the evening singing with so many talented people. Of course it is a little weird to be singing all Christmas songs, but you've got to start early, if you are going to have everything learned and memorized by the beginning of December!
Dejunking and Food Storage
September was also a busy month of dejunking (mostly the garage) and working on getting our food storage caught up. I'm always in the mood in the fall – I feel like a squirrel gathering nuts for the winter!
BYU Football
Fall also puts us all in the mood for football. We have already enjoyed several BYU football games – all in pretty nice weather too! I have to confess though that I am a fair weather fan, so maybe Elliot will get to go with his Dad to some of the next games. I guess you could call him a bad weather fan – he knows he gets to go if it is raining, freezing, or snowing – he is truly more dedicated than I am!
This year Clark decided to join the middle school soccer team. It has been great for him and he is really enjoying it. Often they have him be the goalie, which always makes me nervous. Either he is really bored because our team is down scoring at the other end, or the pressure is really on him with their team trying to score on us!
Elder Brown
Phillip is doing great in Spain. He is now a district leader and a trainer with a new mission companion, Elder Harper from North Carolina. They had a baptism recently and have several investigators which is good, except the many of the investigators are from Nigeria and need to be taught in English, which is surprising difficult apparently for these American Spanish-speaking missionaries.
BYU Students
Loren and Tess have also started a new semester at BYU. They each have some new roommates which shakes things up a bit and is fun. Apparently one of Loren's roommates is from Brazil, is 6'7" tall and is on the men's volleyball team.
Tess is continuing to work as a receptionist/secretary in the French Department, but Loren who has been working in the food services department is now beginning a new job at the MTC as a teacher in the Referral Center. They are both very busy with school, work and social lives and we miss them a ton, but what a great opportunity for them!