Soccer Continues!

Plastic cups stuck in the fence,
announcing "Senior Night '18!"

Hola!

Just had to give a "Soccer Update" for Kara. Her Wayland Varsity girls' soccer team season finished about a week ago.

Individual posters with soccer pics...

LAST HOME GAME. We had a lovely "Senior Night" 2 weekends ago, where they honor the seniors at the last home game. At halftime, the families go out on the field, and the girls are presented with roses and a certificate, and the presenter says nice things about the seniors. This year the presenter was Alan, one of the Dad's, who has actually coached many of these girls (including Kara) since Elementary School in town soccer. He's awesome, and it was very cool.

Okay I forgot to take a cake picture until it was
almost DARK, for Pete's sake...
the photo in the middle is of all the seniors
gathered around "The Rock" in front of the school,
with "2018 Seniors" painted on it. Very cute.

The rest of the team makes posters for each senior, and they decorate the bleachers, and there's cake. It's a nice evening. (And the girls ALSO won the game! Ha. That always makes it a great Senior Night!)

Of course, that was 2 days after Frank had left for India so he couldn't go. But knowing he'd be gone, I had previously had a parent take a picture of the 3 of us:

After Kara sees the photo she says,
"But I had already taken off my shin guards..."

TOURNAMENT. So here's the process: They take the 16 teams to "Tournament." These teams either have the best records, or if they simply have a certain number of wins, or something. Anyway there are 2 ways to go to "Tournament," and 16 teams go.

 Wayland eeeeeeked in, at #16. So they got to go to "tournament." Yaaaay!

The lame part was, at #16, they were bracketed to play the NUMBER ONE TEAM, right off the bat. Blah! The "worst" record team against the "best" record team! That's just how they set up the brackets. "Sorry girls, but have fun anyway...you'll probably lose..."

Well guess what: Last Friday, #16 Wayland BEAT the #1 team, 4-1! Yaaaaaayy! That was an amazing shocker, and they were so excited to continue.

The next game was last night, Tuesday 7 November. And guess what again: Wayland WON, 3-0! Woo-hoo! It was freezing and raining. Awful. And they passed the ball great, had a lot of shots on goal, and played great as a team, and they won.

So, here's the Shout Out to Kara, and the team is so happy and excited to continue. Next game tomorrow, Thursday 9 Nov.

I really just wanted you to know that it is a big deal to go to "tournament" at ALL, and this is a great way to end the season as a senior. Whether they win, and continue to the finals, or if they lose tomorrow afternoon and they're finished for this year, they have worked really hard and improved a lot. GOOOOO KARA!!!! :) :) :)

Kari

Halloween and India

Hola--
Well surprise, it's a new month! Our October has been so beautiful. We had lots of days in the 70's, and even the 80's some of the time. If people came to visit in October THIS year, they'd say "Wow, it's so nice in the fall here!"

Usually I'm shivering, but even for Kara's soccer games, we've had really great weather.

yep, mornings are cold: maybe 45 degrees here?!

HALLOWEEN. We had a rather quiet Halloween here at the house, not many Trick-or-Treaters. But traditionally at the high school, the seniors get to dress up for the day. The kids are usually pretty funny or creative.

They do costumes in groups... one group was the "Magic School Bus," all with yellow cardboard buses around them.

I liked the hats--down to the details
of the ribbons coming out the top!

There were "The Incredibles," in red tights and capes and masks. Another group dressed in gold, including spraying their faces and hair gold, and were "Trophy Statues:" a golden baseball player, a golden ballerina, etc. Clever. Kara and friends were "Hershey Kisses," wearing everything silver and a ribbon out the top of the hats they made. They handed out Chocolate kisses, too :) :) It was a fun day for them!

Frank has been in India this week. Yep, the other side of the world, just about! They are 9 AND A HALF hours ahead of us, isn't that funny! He went out a few days before the conference started, so he could be a tourist. He sent some photos via Snapchat, and I screen-shotted them. If I can transfer them to the computer, I can post them.

**If you click on the photo, it is bigger...

He started out being able to see the Taj Mahal, so that is in the background on a few of these pics.

It's a very crowded country, and also polluted. I think those photos you see of the Taj Mahal with a clear blue sky behind it, were taken by people who live there. They wait for the ONE or TWO clear days of the year, and take postcard-worthy pics of it!

He also got to see a game of cricket--India played New Zealand. I've never seen cricket!

Fort he visited on Saturday

Inside the fort

Cricket Game

Cricket w/co-workers--I'm laughing at the
photo-bombers, top right, sticking his tongue out

Overall things have gone smoothly so far. Sleep is pretty mixed up, of course, and there are a LOT of people, and a lot of poverty everywhere you look. You have to avoid the water, but the hotels have a never-ending supply of bottled water.

workers hanging on the outer wall of the hotel--!!

Well this is just a smattering. Time to get on with the OTHER parts of the day! Frank gets back to Boston Sunday evening.

Have a great rest of the week!
Kari

Candy, Colors and Card

Teresa and Kara SEVEN years ago,
can you believe that! Ha.
The best part is coming in after trick-or-treating
and counting out the good stuff...

Hola, Familia--

October 12 already! I went to the grocery store this morning and there is a LOT of candy on the shelves. Wowie.

SUNNY WEATHER. We've had some lovely summer-like weather the past 2 weeks, and for that I am extremely grateful! This week is more like "fall." The leaves are starting to change and the drive around town gets prettier as the month progresses.

CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES. Teresa's mission home sent out a blanket email, saying it was easier to send one to everyone than answer parent questions individually. There are 4 wildfires going on right now in the Roseville Mission. Ugh! So sad...something like But the missionaries are fine. They said last night they had 4 missionaries and a senior couple stay the night in a different place, but those were the only ones that have been affected. Teresa just left the Chico/Paradise area, and the map shows one near there. Now she's further south, though. Nofires near Auburn.

Got a flu shot yesterday. Shots still hurt, and I'm not a little kid! Blah.

Tuesday's game (blue shoes
make it easy to tell people
where she is on the field!

DRIBBLE AND PASS. Kara is still enjoying the soccer season. I'm happy for the delayed fall, mostly because we've been able to watch soccer games in sunshine and light jackets or shirt sleeves! (Watch, now that I said that, it will snow at the next one...)

They sold frozen cookie dough as a fundraiser, and we got it yesterday. Now I'll have to make some...white chocolate/macadamia nut cookies. (Sigh...such a sacrifice, supporting the soccer team) :) :)

Our goalie was kept a little too busy this game...

SCUBA CLASS. David's fun class this term has been scuba diving! We told him how Kris got certified at BYU, and he looked into it. His Wednesday class finished the classroom and swimming pool training, and yesterday they drove to some hot springs, roughly 90 minutes away, for the "open water dive." He got a temporary card until his real one comes in the mail. Yay, David!

Watching the BYU women's volleyball team play right now...college vball is so awesome! They're winning against Portland.

My blog time is up! Hope you are having a great week.

Love, Kari

Soccer, School and Skylines

internet photo...I should
try one of these, though... :)

Hello, Family!!

Somehow September not only started, but is half over...?!? Not quite sure how that happened. I stay on top of Teresa's blog, then I forget about our family one.

School has started, as of last week. Usually we start right after Labor Day, and that's what we did this year. Kara is a SENIOR, can you believe that!! I did get a photo before she jumped in the car that first morning. They write on their windows so the school had lots of "2018" on lots of windows that first day.

Kara's "First Day" as a SENIOR!

I am tutoring 2 days at 2 different elementary schools, like I have in the past. Basically 1 day at each Elementary School. We need to do a little more testing, with new kids, but the schedule is under way.

Kara has started soccer, and they won their game last night! She plays defense on the varsity team, and will play about 2 games a week, now, for the next 2 months. I got a couple of pictures of her playing yesterday...

David "stopped in" for a few days, then he was off again to BYU! He had a wonderful collection of experiences this summer, in and around Milan, and then Eastern Europe. He finished in London, one of my very favorite places. Classes have started for him in Provo. Hi and Bye--Can't wait to see you at Christmas, David!

Frank is in NYC for part of this week.

forming a 'wall' for a corner kick

Frank was not doing anything
glamorous--just meetings. This is
from a couple of years ago...But
I really do need to get back there,
to take some more pics :)

Hurricane Irma went through David and Diane's backyard...well maybe not exactly, but MUCH TOO CLOSE at any rate! They spent the week securing their house, then drove a LOT of hours to get to Dot's, (family member in Valdosta, GA)...yes, where they helped her prepared HER house for the same storm, and then it passed by HER house! Ugh. Unpredictable storm path, of course.

Internet Photo but I don't know how ANY trees
survive wind like that :(

But, she reports that they are home now, and did not get flooded. They lost a few tiles on the roof, and they also lost their banana tree in the backyard. Bummer, but we are relieved that's "all" it was.

(also Internet photo. Awesome Monument!)

I'm listening to a book on cd, on my way to school and all around town, about Abraham Lincoln's speeches and his path to President. Much of my knowledge of him centers around him as President, the Civil War and the Gettysburg Address. He actually had a career before that, too! Ha. Very interesting.

I've been trying to average 10K steps a day, to stay healthy and be part of an exercise plan with Frank's work.

We've had some beautiful days this week! Sunny and high 70s, for temps. THAT's why I'm trying to get in my 10,000 steps a day :) :)

Hope your week is going well! I'll sign off with a couple of pics I took this month, simply For Your Enjoyment:

One of the yards that backs up to the trail
I walk...next to the RR tracks,
which take us to the library

Wayland Library -- this is the "short end,"
by the parking lot. Love the ivy on the walls!

Sum-Sum-Summertime

Before the trip: still clean!

Hello!
Just looking at the date of the last post, of our family blog. It's not only August, but it's August 10th already!

I think of the beginning of July, and the last post...Frank had just hurt his knee and had stitches. It is better than it was, by far. But he did get a "knot" on his kneecap right under the cut, and the Dr. said that may take another month or so to dissipate. Our bodies are wonderful and amazing, and also confusing sometimes.

Taking a water/lunch break!

Park City (Utah) was awesome--it's a beautiful area for a family reunion. I was so happy to be able to see my mom and siblings, and many of their families for a whole WEEK!

All the cousins bent over backwards to make it there even for a short time, and I was so thankful they did. For about a 20-hour window, we had 26 of our possible 30 family members there! Of course still missing the 4, and happy to see the 26.

V for Victory! (Sorry, Kim and Sheree got a little blocked
on this...the camera was balanced on an ATV and there
was nobody standing at the camera to check...!)

Here are some ATV highlights. **If you click on the picture, it should be bigger on your screen.**

Puddle to drive through!

We also had a cool boat/jetski day, took a beautiful hike, and went to Olympic Park Village.

Our last day before flying back, we had some time (our flight wouldn't leave until about midnight that night), so went to a cool dinosaur museum and lunch with Kris, Avery and Mom.

Let's drive through it again...and again! ha.

AFTERNOON ENTERTAINMENT. Then bowling at the BYU Wilkinson Center, and to Wonder Woman. If you haven't seen it, it was a good show! You don't have to know any of the story before going in. The whole thing is a flashback, with Wonder Woman TELLING her story. It's a movie with a good story, with entertaining action. We liked it!

That's a sheet of white icing,
being poured on them
as they pass through
 on the conveyor belt!

KRISPY KREME...Orem has a Krispy Kreme, and all the Krispy Kremes nationwide have a red logo on the outside of the building. When that logo lights up, that means the donuts are being made and are available to be eaten hot, and ultra-fresh! So, Kara has the app (who knew there was an app, right...) that shows when those "fresh" red lights go on. Then you know when the Krispy Kremes are hot. We went in to have an ultra-fresh donut. So cool to see them being made. (Internet photo but that's exactly what it looked like!)

HUMIDITY. After an all-night flight (eeeeeww), we got back to Boston and the T-H-I-C-K A--I-R of New England. It is dry in the west, and your hair behaves. Not so in Massachusetts. It's waaaaay humid out here!

CAMPING. Kara spent the next week as a Youth Counselor at YW Camp! She was over the 1st year girls, and they had a grand time. That's Kara's 6th year at camp: 4 years of her own certification, and 2 years as a "YCL."



Now, August is upon us and we are counting down our summer. Wait! Don't leave, Summer! We still have 3 1/2 weeks!! I am SO loving the warmth: I am comfortable wearing shorts or capris, and bare feet. LOVE THAT!! :) :) :)

FROGGIE. Hope your August is off to a good start. I'll leave you with the frog Kara caught in the backyard before she mowed last week.

Kari