SEPTEMBER 2020

WEEK 1 (September 1st - 5th) - Ava wanted to get her hair all ready for its high school debut so she went and got lots more blond in it.  It turned out really pretty.

School started on September 2nd.  Ava and Kasen were ready and not even that nervous.  All the kids got their father's blessings the night before and they were ready for what was ahead.  They weren't as excited for the first day of school pictures I make them do every year - well Dallin was at least. 

WEEK 2 (September 6th - 12th) - Their first week of school was pretty exciting.  Kinsley had to get adjusted to logging in to the virtual academy.  Kasen had to get used to changing classes.  Ava had to orient herself with the big high school.  They all did great.  We decided to take the weekend and celebrate Ava's birthday with a little trip to Utah.  Dallin was so excited he woke up super early and came in on Saturday morning to ask if this was the day we were going on our adventure about 5x.

Our first stop was Brigham City to see the temple.  It was a very beautiful temple and right across the street was the tabernacle.  I'm not sure I have actually ever driven through the city of Brigham City before other than to stop and eat at Maddox.  The main street has big beautiful trees on both sides.  I thought it was pretty cool. It is amazing to think that the pioneers built that beautiful tabernacle without the modern machines we have today.

Next we continued on to Ogden to see Ava's first home.  We drive past the apartment complex all the time on the freeway and point and say, "Look Ava there is your 1st home".  This time we actually pulled off the exit and drove over to the building.  Things have changed a lot in that area.  There are townhomes and other buildings.  Our little apartment was at the back of the unit and looked out into nothing.  Now there are townhomes across from it. We then drove up to the Ogden temple.  It was very peaceful and quiet.  It is not the temple that was there 15 years ago because it was renovated since then but we told Ava it is her special temple.

The next day we took the kids to Lagoon.  The last time we had been to Lagoon Ava was just a little baby in a stroller and actually Jed wasn't even there - I went with my mom and sisters who were about 10 years old!  I remember because Ava had a little sun hat and they kept teasing me saying I put Ava in a pioneer bonnet. Lagoon was fairly empty and the lines for rides were non existent.  There are some benefits to covid I guess. We also went to the water park there which was a lot smaller than I remember.

On 9/11 we met at the park with the younger kids and walked down the street to get donuts at Sweet Surrender.  It was so fun to see all these cousins walking together and having these little conversations.

We also got a package from Grandma and Grandpa Foster this week.  They have been in Hawaii for about one month so far.  In the midst of the pandemic my mom started to have trouble breathing and felt like an elephant was sitting on her chest.  This really scared all of us because those are major warning signs of a heart attack.  She went to the hospital in Kiribati were they had been quarantined for 4 months.  The equipment showed severe damage to her heart.  The test results along with images were sent to the area mission doctor who was very concerned and told them they needed to get her to the hospital in Honolulu as quickly as possible.  This quickly as possible turned out to be quite the ordeal as Kiribati's borders were closed due to covid.  It took about 3 weeks but my parents were able to be flown out on a medical jet to Hawaii.  They had to jump through so many hoops and another couple missionary in their mission from Tonga couldn't get out to get the sick man back to his country.  He actually ended up dying before they would transport he and his wife home back to their country.  Then Tonga made the wife quarantine so she couldn't even go to her husband's funeral.  The rules and regulations with covid have taken away the common sense of everyone I swear.  Once in Hawaii my mom had test run - my dad was not allowed to enter the hospital - and the results from those tests showed that her heart was fine.  She had severe pneumonia in her left lung which were the dark images on her xrays.  After some rounds of medicine she was doing a lot better.  The problem now was how can we get back??  The government is not interested in them coming back.  So for two weeks they quarantined in Honolulu and then they were flown to the big island of Hawaii for the foreseeable future.  They are still doing all their mission responsibilities via zoom but it just isn't the same.  I'm not sure what or how long they will be in Hawaii.  They are trying to make the best of it and sent everyone some Hawaiian gifts in the meantime.

Jed has been going to Pocatello a few times a month to rope.  This week Kinsley and I went with him.  Kinsley enjoyed warming up the horses and watching with me.

 

Football games are in full swing now.  The games are every Saturday and the weather so far has been lovely to watch them in.  We went up to watch Heath play and that east wind through Ririe was so freezing cold we had to go get hot coco from Maverick.  Then by Kasen's game an hour later we were stripping of layers of clothes and I even got a sunburn through my rips in my jeans.  :)  The boys did so good in their games and they think they are professionals now.

Afterward, we took Ava out on a birthday date just me and her dad.  She had spent the day at the football games annotating her book she is reading for English.  We told her she could pick any activity to do together and she chose go to the library and the aquarium.  Not a big surprise there - books and sea animals.  Some things haven't changed in Ava's 15 years!  Then we took Ava to the Mongolian grill Jed and I went to on our first date after our missions.  It hadn't changed too much which is probably not a good thing!  We talked about all the ways we were so proud of Ava and all the things we have loved watching her do in the 15 years of life.  She is an absolutely amazing girl and a joy to have as your firstborn.  We feel so lucky to be blessed with Ava in our lives.

WEEK 3 (September 13th - 19th) -  Sunday was Ava's actual 15th birthday so we celebrated with breakfast in bed and some presents.  I found this cute necklace with the phrase from Avenger's End Game which she liked.  Jed dressed up in Kasen's Ironman helmet to give it to her.

Jake and Megan were coming up to see John and Coleen so we met them out there with brownies and ice cream for a bday celebration.

Then we got home in time for a Foster cousin celebration.  Ava picked out her bday cake this year.  She thought is was very funny to get the little kid unicorn cake since she is 15 now.  We are so blessed to have so many family to celebrate with and that love our kids.

A few days later Jed found a car in Rexburg he thought was a good deal and a good car to get for Ava.  It would have been fun to get it before her birthday, but she was pretty excited still when we showed it to her later in the week.  And by excited I mean ecstatic!

This week we also took a field trip with cousins to the Art Center in Idaho Falls.  They have free homeschool days so we played with all the exhibits inside.  It was a pretty small place, but they had a lot of fun things to do.  The theme was Pirates so every station had a pirate craft the kids could make.

Jed had been growing out his beard for so long it was starting to look pretty gross.  He finally trimmed it up and I have to say that it even made his face look thinner.  Also Ava had her first school project.  I swear she lives for these.  I also swear she puts 50x as much work into them as anyone else in school.  I can always really appreciate that about Ava.

This week was Homecoming week at Rigby High School.  The school board sent out an email at the beginning of the week cancelling the homecoming parade and pre-game activities for the week including the dance.  I guess there were so many parents that were upset by this and the school board received so much negative backlash that they changed their minds!  I guess in small towns people still have a say in how things are run.  So the homecoming parade was back on.  We didn't attend any of the other activities, but since Ava was in the parade for volleyball we wanted to go in and watch.  We found the best spot across the street from the old Presbyterian church.  There were hardly any people and it was nice and shady.  It was at the end of the parade route which was nice too because it was easy to find Ava afterward.

The Freshman volleyball team had a tournament all day on Friday & Saturday in Rexburg. They even ended up winning the whole tournament!  And Rigby ended up winning their Homecoming game.

WEEK 4 (September 20th - 26th) - While shopping this week I found a Spiderman costume at Sam's Club.  Dallin loves Spiderman so I thought he'd really like this costume.  I'm not sure how you wouldn't be so dang claustrophobic in that mask, but he has been "practice wearing" it ever since I brought it home.  This week we also started harvest dinners.  They are no joke and we are not sure what we are doing.  Thankfully Abby has been guiding me and Sydnee through the process and Josh delivers them everynight! I can't believe my mom has been doing these by herself for so long.

 Kasen's little Ririe football team has been beating everyone nearly every week.  Kasen has had some amazing interceptions and passes for touchdowns.  He is really enjoying it.  This week they had another great win at Thunder Ridge.

WEEK 5 (September 27th - 30th) - We are four weeks into the school year and Kinsley is enjoying her new-found freedom each day now that she is in virtual school and only doing school work a few hrs a day.  She and Dallin play outside for hours and I think Kinsley's cats also enjoy the extra attention.

John and Coleen are holding strong and haven't been sick yet.  We have been really extra careful to not see them too often or go over if anyone has a cough or sneeze.  I'm not sure why we went over this week but it is always nice to see them and spend time at their house.

Dallin's hair has gotten so long that I pulled it into a ponytail for fun this week.  He makes a cute little model.  Not sure Jed approved though.  Dallin and Jaxon have been taking music lessons this year and on the days when it is a parent-come-to-class day Kinsley babysits Stockton.  They have a great time.  Stocky calls her Klinsley.