How's school going?

LOVE the fall colors here! And, no, these are not Photoshopped!

Yes, it is early for Tay!

Katie - 1st day of school

Brian - first day of 7th grade

I can't tell you where the first few months of school has gone! I thought things would slow down once school started so that I could keep up with our blog - no, that hasn't happened! I'm happy to say though that school is going really well for the kids! I thought I'd give a quick recap of each of the kids and what they are up to -

Taylor - quite a few firsts for him this year. He is in 9th grade (officially high school, though he won't go to the high school until next year). He started seminary this year - after about 3 weeks he started feeling a little better about getting up. He (and his parents) were a bit tired at first! He is enjoying his teacher and class and can really feel a difference this year having that extra spiritual boost in the morning. We have a great car pool where we only have to drive every four weeks! Love it! He is taking some harder classes as well - his first AP (Human Geography) and Pre-AP Literature - he is enjoying them but has learned that there is more work involved. He also started his foreign language (Spanish) and loves to teach us new words! He just finished running with the high school cross country team and really enjoyed that! His best time for the 5K was 20 minutes! Last week he also ran his first 1/2 marathon in 1:49! He has been busy finishing up his eagle project - he will be glad to have that behind him! Many hours have been put into the project - I will post on that when he is finished! He will also start drivers ed next week! As you can see this year is bringing a lot of changes for Taylor! We are very proud of you Taylor and look forward to seeing all that you will accomplish this year!

Brian - Brian is in the 7th grade this year - his second year at the middle school. He is a very happy kid and is really enjoying his classes. His favorite class is science - (they made fake blood and wounds for Halloween!) and his favorite teacher is Ms. Crane in literature. His grades are awesome and we love that he does all his homework without being asked! He enjoys playing with friends and loves scouts. He is looking forward to trying out for baseball this spring and training for track. He was just called as the Deacon's quorum president! We are proud of you Brian!

Katie - Katie is in the 5th grade this year and her last at elementary school! I'm so sad about that! All three kids went through the same school - we will miss it next year! Her teacher is Mr. Betlach (her first male teacher - she spent the first few weeks of school telling me about all the differences between male and female teachers - I don't think she left anything out!) She really enjoys him and likes the kids in her class (although she does not have close friends in her class, the other teacher they switch with has good friends in it and she sees them often). She also loves school and takes her work seriously. She has more homework this year but is glad that it is everyday instead of a packet to finish in a week. She always put it off until the last minute! She continues to take piano and has a recital in one month. We are looking forward to seeing her perform. She loves her friends and is constantly working on things for them. She has had a few close friends move but still manages to stay happy. She is also singing with the honor choir again this year and really enjoys that! Good job Kate!

Aaron and I are also busy - we have to schedule time to see each other! We just got done organizing a district wide merit badge clinic here in Maple Valley for the Boy Scouts. We had a record number of boys come (160 total!) - we offered 10 merit badges and are grateful for the counselors and their time! In September Aaron help to organize our Stake day of Service - A LOT of time went into that! But all the projects worked out and the cities were very grateful for all that was done! Aaron is also heavily involved in volunteering for the Maple Valley fire department and really enjoys that. We are headed off to Disneyland in a few days and look forward to getting away and playing! I'll post on that soon!