Leaves are Coming and Other Such Nonsense

Well my goal was to NOT wait as long to post on the blog...September and October are pretty packed for us, so the days run together just a little bit.

CRISP DAYS.  We have had some gorgeous fall weather!  Sunny, and highs in the low or mid 70's.  Then it will rain, of course, but then the sun is back!  We are enjoying these days before...

LEAF SEASON.  Yes, it's coming, like it or not.  Soon we will have leaves on our lawn.  LOTS of leaves.  Not joking.  LOTS.

SOCCER.  Between the 2 teams she is on, Kara had 4 games last week.

VOLLEYBALL.  Teresa had 3 games last week.  Just to educate you on volleyball terminology: there are 5 "sets" in a "game." The first 4 "sets" are to 25 points.  If they play a fifth "set," it's only to 15 points.  The varsity team plays until a team wins 3 out of 5 sets, and that team wins the game.

Here is Teresa playing last week:

BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHTS.  High school's was last week, so we got to listen to all of Teresa's teachers explain what to expect in their class this term.  This week we will go to the Middle School, for Kara's 8th grade teachers to tell us about THEIR classes :)

(Side note: usually in my life, I am more than ready to move on to the next stage, even before the one I'm in is over.  Impatience is my bane, opposite of boon...new vocab word for me tonight...example: I was very ready to be finished with the elementary school!  It was fine and all, but I had had 2 years of keeping up with 3 different schools, their emails, calendars, fund-raisers...ugh.  So, I was ready for Kara to move beyond elementary school.

BUT, the Middle School here is quite stellar.  The teachers, the field trips, the clubs, the philosophy, the music program...I really love it all.  I will be sad, at the end of this year, to be finished with the Middle School.)

SKYPING with DAVID.  Another highlight for my week!  We skype David on the weekends.  He has been practicing with the Ultimate Frisbee team, and this weekend they had a tournament in Logan, UT.  That's north of Provo a couple of hours. It's almost to the Idaho border, but still in Utah.
  The whole team stayed with one of the players' aunts.  She fed them a lot of lazagna, and allowed 20 college boys to crash on the floor of her basement.  It sounded like a fun weekend.  Well, for the team, at least...I don't know about for that aunt?!?! It was SO nice that she took care of them!

That's the scoop for this Sunday!  Hope your weekend was wonderful.

Kari

Fall Schedule and KaBOOM!

Hola!

"are you finished with the pictures, already?"

At the end of each August, I feel my blood pressure rise just a little.  Something inside gets nervous, and I'm not sure why...

At that point, summer may be winding down some, but it has been such a NICE season.  WE plan the activities, and fewer outside forces TELL us what the calendar events will be.

FALL BEGINS.  Now, I remember!  We are very decidedly back into the swing of fall.  School, soccer, volleyball, piano lessons, youth nights, seminary, church calendar.  Whew! :)

smallest soccer team member

SPORTS.  Teresa and Kara seem to like their teachers, and they definitely like the sports teams.  Teresa is on the varsity volleyball team at the high school, and they won their first 3 matches!  (Each time, they play until one team wins 3 of 5 games. That's a "match.")

Kara is on two soccer teams: the town team and the school team.  That means lots of games.

KaBOOM!  Here's a cool thing, we got to participate in.  There is an organization called KaBOOM! who builds playgrounds all over the nation.  They choose big cities, and research to find neighborhoods where there may not be any playgrounds, to help children stay healthy and happy by being able to PLAY.

green pieces of slide

So Waltham is just 2 towns over from us, and this time KaBOOM! joined with Brandeis University and Bentley University.  The New England Patriots, and United Health Care were also big sponsors.  Frank and I joined with other community or college student volunteers, to build this playground.  We had a Prep Day on Saturday. 

our missionaries helped too: center w/shovel

The big semi truck came with all of the supplies, which we inventoried and put into small groups, so on Build Day each group could puzzle-piece their section together.

On Build Day, it was this amazingly organized process.  Almost none of the volunteers had done this before.  But they put us into groups, and each group followed step-by-step instructions for their part of the playground.  Then all the pieces slowly came together.

our part: steps w/yellow railings

From a dirt field with holes, to a complete playground with planters, benches, a stage and a very cool play structure, in just 6 HOURS.  It was a really fun thing to be a part of.

here is the whole section of steps we "made"

VIDEO.  I came home today and got a link to this Playground Build video:


THE BEST PART: watch the video, and hit 'pause' at 1:02 minutes or 1:03 minutes.  I am in the lower left corner, back to the camera, sitting on the ground.  Trying to figure out the yellow railings for our part, the steps! Ha.

I have been too distracted lately to finish this post, but I really am going to send it.  Have a great week!

Kari

Labor Day and Back to School

Hola!

Well it's hard to know what day it is.  Labor Day weekend is behind us, and then school started Tuesday.  Wednesdays are always "short" days (students are dismissed 1 hour early on Wednesdays in this district), and tomorrow NO school, for Rosh Hashanah!  Here are a few of last week's highlights:

TRY to STRETCH IT.  We tried so hard, to make summer last just a l-i-t-t-l-e--b-i-t--l-o-n-g-e-r!!!  But alas, Labor Day came...and went.  We had dinner at a friend's house, and learned how to play Ticket to Ride.  And, I made deviled eggs!

WICKED.  The musical came to Boston, and Frank and I had our belated anniversary date.  What a clever and fun show!

KARA's HATS.  At girl's camp, there is always a service component.  They have a chance to write letters to missionaries, or contribute in some way to a local charity organization.  This year the girls learned to "loom-knit," and make newborn baby hats.  Kara liked making these so much, she continued when she got back from camp!  These are the ones she has made so far.

6 FLAGS.  We can't finish a summer without a trip to Six Flags!  Well, actually, we have before.  But this time, we "had" to go, since Kara had a trip coming, that we already paid for 4 months ago.  Her music group was going to perform and go to 6 Flags last May, and the weather was very rainy so they gave them vouchers to use by Labor Day.

So I took Kara and Amanda, one of her friends from school, to the amusement park and water park.  You may think that "perfect weather" means sunshine and warm temperatures.  But in the case of an amusement park, the definition of "perfect weather" changes dramatically.  What you really want, at Six Flags, is short lines.  What keeps the crowds away?  Clouds and rain, of course!  So when we woke up and it was overcast... chance of thunderstorms... we went anyway.  This time, we took a chance and won :)  Short lines and cool temperatures...it was just about perfect.  The girls met their goal of riding each of the 12 roller coasters, multiple times in many cases.  It was a good day.

GAS HEAT.  Last thing, I'll highlight our "final" home project.  We switched over from oil heat to gas.  Once again, it turned into more of an ordeal than we thought.  But the end result is a more efficient heater, will be a good one.  Maybe I can put in photos of before and after.

Well, just the "before" now...We're still working on making it a better room!  But BEFORE, it was this monstrous oil tank and an elephant of a furnace.  From 1950, when the house was built.  Really, it's the original...

"They don't make them like that anymore," is a common statement from people who come to do work on the house.

Time to take Teresa to volleyball!  Have a great weekend :)

Kari

Off to College!

Hi, again--

I had to come home and post!  We just took David to the airport, and he's in the air flying right now.

Ready or not! (David is ready...Mom? maybe not)

Our alarms went off at 3:45 a.m., so we could be in the car driving at 4:15 a.m.  His flight was at 6:00, and we got him there on time.  Yessssss :)

The only thing was, they changed the flight, to one that left at 7:50, so we could ACTUALLY have slept another hour or so.  Ugh! :(

Cheering Squad to send him off :)

one big suitcase...that is all.

But that's okay.  David amazes me just a little...I went into his room last night, as he was finishing packing, and I looked around.  He had ONE big suitcase with him! And a rolling carry-on, and a messenger bag with his laptop in it.  That's all.

Telling a story?!

We did ship one box of bedding out, ahead of him a week ago, so he can make up his bed and sleep there tomorrow night.  But he fit all of his clothes, shoes and jacket included, plus a desk lamp, into that one big suitcase.  I mean, we even told him he could take two big suitcases.  He didn't need them.

Early smiles -- a little groggy maybe

Teresa opted not to have the early wake-up call.  She said her goodbyes the night before.  So Frank and I, Kara and Angela got up and drove with him to the airport.  After David checked in, the man at the counter said the other counter would give us a pass to go to the gate with him.  It turns out, they would only give us ONE pass.  So we went closer to the security line, then we parked ourselves on a row of benches to wait awhile.

Gourmet Breakfast, Airport Style

Some of the waiting included breakfast, and of course his last breakfast in Boston, for awhile, should be from Dunkin Donuts, right??  (They're everywhere here!)  We had bagel sandwiches and donuts.

Frank and I have so many great memories of college.  It's a transition time for all of us, but exciting for sure.  Good Luck David, and have so much fun :)

Kari

P.S.  He just called, and the day went off without a hitch!  No delays, and he took the Skytram in Dallas to catch the second leg of the flight.  Landed, retrieved his luggage, and found Suzanna.  He'll stay at their house tonight, and check in to his dorm tomorrow.  A good day for him!

I Blinked

Hola, Familia!

The month has been a whirlwind, but that's what summer is all about, right!  (The post title, "I Blinked," means that the month flew by.  "I blinked, and August was over!")

Never mind those relaxing-sitting-on-the-beach commercials for tropical vacations...THIS summer, at least :)  We still have 1 week of summer left until school starts, and we're milking every second for all it's worth!  A few things August had going for it:

SOCCER CAMP.  Kara had not one, but two soccer camps.  One of them was in Cape Cod (I know, Poor Girl, right...)  Almost her whole soccer team went.  2 team members have family summer houses on "The Cape," so the 14 girls who w
ent split up between those houses.  Soccer Camp was from 9a.m-noon each morning, and the rest of the time they spent at the beach, eating, sleeping, playing.  A week-long slumber party, more or less.  She had such a good time.


YOUNG WOMEN's CHURCH CAMP.  Both Kara and Teresa look forward to church camp each year.  This year Teresa was a "YCL," or "Youth Camp Leader."  Kara was a 2nd year camper.

I spent roughly 2 of the camp days on the "cook team," prepping meals, serving them, cleaning up, and starting over again for the next meal.  I have new respect, now, for the people who plan and prepare meals for 100+ youth at a time!  It is quite a process.

FOSTERING a PUPPY.  Teresa puts in hours of volunteer time with Save-A-Dog, a dog rescue organization about 5 miles from us.  We fostered a puppy for a weekend, until her adoptive family was ready to take her.  A good reminder to me, how nice it is to enjoy someone ELSE's dog, and then give her back to them!  "Eden" was a cutie.  She was some kind of a lab mix.

Teresa serving, taken last fall

VOLLEYBALL.  High school volleyball has started up for Teresa.  Tryouts were last Thursday, Friday, and now Monday and Tuesday of this week.

GETTING DAVID READY FOR BYU.  The time has come!  David finished up his internship last week, and has had a few days to see friends and say goodbye to them as they head off to school.  His big day is tomorrow (Tuesday), yes, now less than 24 hours away.  We asked him, if he wanted Frank or I to fly out with him, and he thought about it briefly.  "No," he said, "you don't have to go."

So we will get up at a ridiculous time Tuesday morning to put him on a 6 a.m. flight!  We sent out a box of bedding last week, and our friends Lee & Suzanna who live just 2 towns away from Provo will pick him up in Salt Lake City.  He'll stay with them for one night, then go to BYU to check into his dorm on Wednesday.  He is pretty excited.

furnace...  water heater...

LAST UPGRADE.  Today and tomorrow we have a crew here, changing over the house's heating system from oil to gas.  (This photo is from the Internet. You get the idea...)
This concludes about 5 big projects, starting last March, which have made up "Round 2" of our home improvements.  I'll highlight them in another post.  Round 1 was five years ago, right when we moved into the house.  Two rounds is enough, I think.  Forever.  Bleh.

The calendar marches forward!  Have a wonderful week!  Kari

Quebec, Canada

Bonjour!

We returned a few days ago from Montreal and Quebec City, in Canada.  Actually in "Quebec," which is also the province.  They speak more French there, we found out, than they do in Paris-- (what?)  Yes, they actually cater more to English-speakers in Paris than in Montreal.

(NOTE: if you single-click on the photos, you can see them bigger.  Much better, if you can get it to work on your computer.)

Beautiful, beautiful.  What a nice place!  And for the most part, there ARE a lot of English-speakers.  We attended church Sunday, and listened to the service in French.  It's kind of cool, though, when you see it in print or hear certain words, you can find similarities to English words, and "kind of" figure out what some things mean.

BASILICA.  Montreal has a grand and ornate cathedral downtown.  Downtown Montreal does feel European, with cobblestone streets and outdoor markets.  Here is one of the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal.

OLYMPICS 1976.  They had the Olympics in Montreal.  Remember this gymnast?

BOTANICAL GARDENS.  Now they have turned the whole Olympic complex into beautiful botanical gardens.  Here are a few of the things we saw there.

INSECTARIUM.  Next to the Gardens was an Insectarium.  Thousands of insect specimens, some of them live.  Here are some of the non-live ones.

1 in 4 living creatures on this earth is a beetle!!!!!

 

Rhino beetle.  Wild, huh!

TOWER.  They also have this cool elevator-ride tower you can take to the top of the world, or close to it!  You can see great views of the city.

TEMPLE.  We stopped by the temple on our way out of town.  It wasn't open that day.

QUEBEC CITY.  This has a really pretty skyline and "old town" feel, again with the cobblestone streets.  We ate dinner at a cafe-type place, and our server offered to take our picture.  The photo itself turned out dark and grainy (I had taken it off of "automatic" and the settings were wrong for the lighting).  But I'm including it because I just noticed the guy at the table behind us.  HE wanted to be in our picture too!  See him?

Photo Bomb, I suppose... :)

 CIRCQUE du SOLEIL.  The unexpected surprise of the trip was to be told by the lady at the information booth was that the Cirque du Solei does a show every night in Quebec City.  Ticket holders get seats in this outdoor theater.  But if you're willing to stand in line and roll the dice on getting in or not, they let people stand and see the show for free.

So...there were a ridiculous number of people waiting for the free-standing-room-only spots.  Like 4,000. Really.  But we were amongst the first 1000, I would guess, that were allowed in.  The whole show was either up in the air over your head, or high on the stage in front of you so your view was awesome, no matter where you were!  So we stood.  It was a very fun show.

MONTMORENCY FALLS.  We hiked around and down the side of a pretty waterfall.  Their "Claim to Fame" is that it's 30 feet taller than Niagara Falls.

Also of note: Kara has braces now! Round 3 for the Whitesells.

Bonus: rainbow in the mist!

In the winter the spray freezes, and forms a huge ice-mountain.  We saw pictures of this.  But of course in August it's just spray.

ARTWORK.  Oh, and here is a great painting on the wall of a building, in downtown Quebec City!  Go ahead, click on it to enlarge it.  It's amazing. :)

 

So, that gives you a taste of our trip.  It's always a treat to have a change of pace in a different environment.  I am not a huge fan of loooooooooong road trips, but this was a good hop across the northern border.

Have a great week! Kari

4th of July in Boston

Hi again!

I have to post about the 4th of July week.  We had so much fun when Frank's family came to see us!

Just 3 days after we got back from Trek, we had family visitors.  That doesn't happen very often, so it was very exciting. :)  We also got to show off a few home projects that have just barely been completed.  I'll post "before" and "after" photos in another post.

Grammie D & Papa Dave, plus Dana, Andy and Nick came to see us!  We had to pick and choose some highlights, to give them a flavor of our fun area.

BOSTON FIREWORKS.  Of course we had to take the "T" (public transportation train) into Boston for the fireworks on the evening of the 4th.  If you've never seen this show, you need to!  Even if you watch it on t.v.  It's phenomenal.

This year did not disappoint, and we even had good weather for it!  Lots of police to keep things organized, and a pretty orderly exit on the trains, even at 11p.m.

KAYAKING to the NORTH BRIDGE.  It was pretty sweltering (low 90's, bout 70% humidity), but being on the water at least gives you the mental image of "coolness."  Maybe.  It's about a mile kayak trip from the rental place, to the North Bridge in Concord.  Yes, the bridge where the Revolutionary War started.  I never considered myself a real history buff, but this stuff kind of "grows on you" in New England.  It still amazes me that all these inexperienced, rough-around-the-edges common people pulled it together to fight against the very organized, experienced British soldiers.  Successfully.

WALDEN POND.  This is one of my new favorite places!  I just love Walden Pond.  It's a state park now, and a public swimming area.  They post a lifeguard by the roped-off area, and you can also go anywhere else on the lake, at your own risk.  I hiked around once while Kara & Nick were in the roped off area, then we hiked to a different section and they swam some.  It's such a peaceful place.

BUNKER HILL.  One more stop was the Bunker Hill Monument.  Like I said before, even if you're not a "history buff," you really do have to appreciate the people who were willing to sacrifice so much for a cause they so believed in.  If they hadn't done that, I would sure be living a different life than I live right now.

So, the 4th of July week was indeed a fun one.  This is a good place to celebrate the Independence of our country.  Even if you're not a "History Buff!"

Have a great week!  Kari