My first goal of the season! (By Brendon)

Yeasterday I played my soccer game and made my first goal of the season! I was happy when i made the goal because i haven't made one forever. We lost 2 to 1 but it was still a good game.

September...

has been the busiest month of the year for us I believe.

Brendon & Caleb are playing fall soccer. They are still taking piano lessons also. They have a fall recital and will also be playing at a festival in October, so lots of practicing is going on (some of the time without us hounding them). This is their first year to get letter grades in school, so they are both really focusing on keeping all A's, which of course thrills us. So far so good...At this point they have very similar interests which is nice and limits the different things to do and places we go. I am sure this may change, but it is nice for now.

Trevin is playing flag football and soccer! He loves both for now, but will have to pick one or the other after this. We are way too busy going to non-stop practices. He is doing great in school also. He has been asking us for quite a while to learn to play the drums. We have stalled as of now, I am just not so sure I am ready for that added noise to this tiny house.

Meryn is the big 4 year old that we have not put in any activities, yet. She talks about wanting to do everything her brothers do. She looks up to all of them. She has had trouble saying some letters, so we took her to be evaluated at an early education center. She passed all the tests they did with her, with flying colors. They did notice the trouble she had with some of her letters. There is a class once a week to work on just that, so we will be getting her into that. She has become such a little mother lately. She's always trying to keep tabs on her brothers and keeps us up to date with what they're doing. I can see a lot of frustration in the future from the boys!

Greg is in the process of trying to get on a different department up in the Kansas City area. He has a pretty good lead on a department in Mission Kansas. He took a test and passed, which is a requirement now to get on most departments, so that is a huge hurdle. When you think of us you can pray for direction and wisdom during this time.

Football

Today was Trevin's (#9) first flag football game. None of the boys had played yet, so this has been a whole new experince. He has been a little apprehensive to play, but once he got out on the field, you could see how comfortable he was. He did excellent for his first time and nearly scored a touchdown. His brothers were jealous and want to start playing as well.

Meryn & Ella at the fair...

John, Melanie and I took Ella and Meryn to the fair this morning for dollar rides. They had a great time until the rain started and it dropped 10 degrees. But that made it easy to convince them to leave. It was a fun COLD day.

Birthday Pictures

We had a fun filled day, with 4 exhausted kids tonight. This morning Meryn wanted me to make her "beautiful". I used the hot rollers thinking I would just give some curls for the day, and boy did it ever. As much as I tried to brush it out, it just stayed as bouncy as ever and Meryn just loved it, so I guess thats all that matters.

Brendon, Caleb and Trevin had their first soccer games this morning. They all did a good job and were worn out after those. But that didn't stop our day of fun:) We took all the kids and John, Melanie and Ella to the state fair for several hours. It was packed and all you could do to get two strollers through the crowds plus keep an eye on three very excited boys wanting to get all the free stuff. We did manage:).

Tonight we had dinner at my parents and had a small party for Meryn. She picked out a princess theme and was very excited about the decorations and the heaping pile of presents. She loved them all and will have lots to do now while her brothers are at school. We are so grateful for Meryn and could not imagine life without her. She is such a fun, happy, loving, entertaining girl. We love you Meryn, Happy 4th Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MERYN

Wow 4 years old already. We love you Meryn!!!!

Busy

We're a little behind on what all has been going on here. Susan went to Kansas City for a few days to help out with her sisters new baby. For labor day, Johnny & Lisa and Phil & Julie came down. The kids had a lemonade stand and also sold watermelons. They also had tons of fun outdoors with the beautiful weather. Brendon, Caleb and Trevin all started soccer practice and will have their first game this Saturday. Tonight Trevin has his first practice for flag football. He is nervous because he hasn't played before and his friends all have. All 3 boys have always wanted to play football, but this is the first year we have done it. The twins won't be playing this season but we will see after that. It is tackle for their age and I am not sure how much they would actually like it. Meryn will turn 4 on Saturday. It is hard to believe our "baby" is growing up so fast. That's just a little look at what's been going on lately.