End of Summer and Some Family Gatherings

Before I move on to beginning of school posts, I must finish out the summer. We had one picture-worthy event from this summer that I haven't mentioned yet. There was Dress Like a Cow day for Chic-fil-a in July and we did it for free food! I thought that we'd just be given a basic chicken sandwich, but when we got there, we were pleasantly surprised that we were able to choose anything from the menu. It was awesome. We went with the Kasallis family, so the girls weren't too embarrassed to be the only ones dressed like cows. We actually saw a lot of people dressed as cows, so it was fun.

We even got to meet the chic-fil-a cow. They commented on our "zebra" impersonating a cow, but they still let her get her free meal. The girls even got to take pictures with the cow signs. 

It was a fun break to the rest of our busy summer schedule.

I really like taking pictures of my girls randomly; so one Sunday in July, we had extra time before we had to leave for church, so we did a quick photo shoot. I love having pretty pictures of my beautiful girls.

We also took a couple turns watching the Kasallis's dog, Roscoe. He's our buddy and when they moved from one neighborhood over to two houses down from us, Roscoe had a hard time adjusting. The Kasallis's went out of town, so two days in a row, Roscoe got out of their new backyard and walked to their old house. Tyler had to go get him both times. We kept an eye on him after that and even took a family walk with him once. I think a dog in our family may be in the future. I'm trying to hold off as long as possible though (I don't need another family member to clean up after), but the girls, and Tyler, really love dogs.

My parents stopped by our house twice during the summer before they left for China. They retired at the end of the last school year and are now teaching English in a Chinese university in Jinan, China. We are so excited for them to have this adventure, but it was hard saying goodbye. They stopped by the end of July on their trip around the US to see all the family one last time.

The very last weekend before school started, we ended up driving to Wichita Falls for a long weekend. It happened to be over Tyler's birthday, so after celebrating a day early with friends, we drove out to Wichita Falls to be there before his actual birthday. That way he didn't have to spend his birthday driving in the car all day. We went to Wichita Falls to participate in a baby shower for Matt and Taylor, my nephew and his wife. It was also going to be the last family get together before my parents left for China the following week. For Tyler's birthday, he got to go fishing (although he didn't catch any fish) and he and I went out for lunch which was fun. While fishing the girls ran around the lake and I took some pictures. They had an awesome y-shaped tree that was perfect for pictures.

Here are the girls with Rebecca on one of the bridges by the lake. We also took them across the street to a playground while the older kid stayed with Tyler and Paul to fish. My parents met us at the park and I had to get a picture of Grandma and Grandpa pushing the girls on the swings.

On Saturday, we had the baby shower at the log cabin at Lucy Park. We got there early so that we could take family pictures. Here are the ones I took of the individual families. First, Paul and Melody's family with Matt and Taylor and Grandpa and Grandma.

Next, we have Scott and Nevla and John and McKaye. 

I had to include this first picture because I can't look at it without seeing Tessa's evil-eye pose and laughing. So funny! I liked the lighting in front of the cabin, so I had them take more family pictures of us here. The girls were done by this point, so to get them to smile and have fun (and not suck their fingers or thumbs), we all made hearts with our hands.

 

Here's the good family picture that McKaye took for us on her high quality camera. I love it!

Here's the whole family. I thought it turned out so cute. I love my family so much!

This is where I found out the lighting was so great here. This picture with Nevla and Chloe and my girls is one of my all time favorite pictures ever. They all look so beautiful with perfect, happy smiles. 

I made Tyler take some pictures with just me and I finally got him to smile for one after a few silly faces. It didn't help that kids kept trying to photo bomb us from the window behind us. I still got a good one. Happy Birthday Tyler!

We took the girls down the parking lot to a playground, but we only stayed long enough to get hot and sweaty and messy and sticky after they talked Grandpa into buying them ice cream popsicles from the ice cream truck. Their favorite part was hopping into the back of Chloe's car to get a ride back up the parking lot to the cabin.

The baby shower went great. There were lots of people and a ton of yummy food. Matt and Taylor got so many cute things for baby Tye. I crocheted him a blanket using their nursery colors - orange, turquoise and gray. The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out, playing games, and helping Grandpa and Grandma with their final packing. We took a quick trip to Braum's at one point to get some yummy ice cream. I couldn't resist taking a picture because we took up an entire corner of their seating area. The girl cousins had a blast playing together in the hotel room. I took a quick picture before they fell asleep while they watched tv together.

After we drove back home to El Paso and after the girls started school, Grandpa and Grandma drove to El paso too to leave us my mom's car and to fly out of El Paso on their way to China. We enjoyed those last few days while they got their final bags packed and got ready to leave. Grandpa took some time to play with Taryn and her new playdoh one day while the older girls were at school. We're going to miss them so much. I drove them to the airport early Saturday morning on August 29th. I drove them in my mom's car and after saying our goodbyes with a few tears, I drove away. The hardest part and what I will remember the most about that time was the moment I drove away when the car indicated "phone disconnected" because I was too far away from my mom for the car to pick up her phone anymore. That's when I really started crying. We love them so much and are so proud of them. They'll do so great in China and I know they'll have such an awesome adventure!

I wish this is where I could finish this post, but there's more, and unfortunately it's sad. On September 14th, Taylor had her baby, four weeks early. Baby Tye had some breathing and heart problems and after some testing was diagnosed with Edward's Syndrome, which is like Downs Syndrome but with a lot more extensive medical problems. He was on machines for the first three days to help him breath, but after three and a half days, he passed away. We were so distraught when we heard. 

They had the funeral the following Monday, one week after he was born. We drove all day Sunday and stayed at Paul and Melody's in Wichita Falls with all my brothers. We got to skype with Grandma and Grandpa in China that night. It was great to see them and talk to them with all the family together, but it was sad too because they couldn't be there in person with us. Monday morning, we drove up to Oklahoma where they had the graveside service. It was so sad, but good too. The stories they shared and the love they felt for this baby after only having him for three days was so touching. They played songs that put their feelings into words and they had everyone sing Families Can Be Together Forever. The tiny casket was so small and watching Matt and his father-in-law fill the hole in with dirt after placing the casket down in was so heartbreaking. I just kept thinking no father should have to be burying his baby. I still cry just thinking about it. 

My girls had a hard time too, but we're glad that they were with us. They love Matt and Taylor too. We had some good conversations about church and heaven and where Baby Tye is now. Matt and Taylor were so strong. They talked about how much they had learned from Tye in their short time with him and how they know he's perfect now. They also plan to go to the temple soon so they can be sealed together and then have Tye sealed to them. Even when I hugged Matt, he kept telling me not to cry. I was just so glad that we could all be there to support them. After the luncheon, right before we left to drive home, Matt had all the boys in my family stand in the circle to give him a blessing. Paul gave the blessing, but I was touched like I always am to see Tyler in the circle with my three brothers. It's like I'm able to be a part of it through Tyler. It makes me so happy every time he stands in a circle for blessings in my family. I'm so thankful for Heavenly Father's plan and to know that we know Tye is in the celestial kingdom and he came to earth for his body, and that was all he needed and now he's perfect and with Heavenly Father again. I love my family and I love the gospel.

The "Y" of our Summer

The majority of our summer schedule was taken up by our YMCA membership. Between volleyball practices and games and ballet, gymnastics, and cheer classes, the Y has kept us super busy this summer. We started back in May so I included some of our first pictures then, but here is a recap of everything the girls have been doing at the Y this summer. Abby played on the 3rd and 4th grade volleyball team since it was her first time and she had just finished 4th grade. But since she had played some with me and her friends, she was one of the better players. She had a lot of fun. They were the Mustangs and had games every Saturday. 

They won their first game. I decided to take pictures of the score after both sets. The first score is 19-25 and the second is 11-25. Abby was the server who scored the last point to win their first set. And she returned the serve to win the second set and game. It was awesome - the best way to start out the season. They lost a few games through the season, but won the majority of them.

She had fun getting to know her teammates and making new friends. We have signed Abby up to play the next season which doesn't start until mid-September, but now that she's in 5th grade, she had to sign up for the older division, 5th-7th. We're hoping she can hang in there with the older, bigger girls, but she's excited to work hard and improve. Here's her Mustangs team with her coach, Cristina.

Most Saturdays, Tyler and I had to divide and conquer because Abby's volleyball games overlapped with the girls' cheer class and they were held at different locations. Sometimes we made it in time for Abby to join them like she did this day. Abby was a good base with the teacher, Miss Shannon, to let the littler girls be the top of the stunts.

At the end of June, the gymnastics program at the Y put on a show. Since all of our girls were in classes, they were all excited to perform and be a part of the show. Here's Taryn lining up with her class to show off some of the skills that they learned in the parent/child gymnastics class like forward rolls and table tops. Taryn was excited to get her certificate as you can tell from her pose. 

The older girls also showed some floor and beam skills from their gymnastics classes and then did all of the cheers and stunts that they had learned from their cheer class.

Our girls were 3 of the 4 girls who attended cheer, so they were the cheer performance. They did a great job yelling loudly and performing the stunts.

Aubrey has really improved on her gymnastics. She does cartwheels and backward rolls almost perfectly when she hadn't been able to do them at all before she started taking classes. The funny thing is she does left-handed cartwheels even though she's right-handed. I thought that was interesting, but she's really good at them now. Tessa has also greatly improved. She moved up to the Rollers class after one month in beginners and picked up their routines quickly too. Her class actually performed USGA Level 1 routines on the floor and beam. I didn't get any pictures since I was recording them, but we were so proud of her for performing in front of a large audience and for doing so well. 

Here's a final picture of all the participants. All of our girls had a lot of fun performing. This was pretty much the end of Abby's gymnastic classes. Once we started limiting their classes after we couldn't spend 5 days going to the Y every week, Abby backed down to only one class along with her volleyball. The other girls kept gymnastics, but slowly cut back on ballet by the end of the summer, but they enjoyed getting some basic training in a variety of classes.

Later in the summer, Taryn and Aubrey also signed up for an art class. Since we were there already for one of Tessa's gymnastic classes, it worked out that the art classes were at the same time. Taryn's class was called "sticky fingers" and they created something each week. Here are a few pictures of her creations. They made a crown from egg cartons and pipe cleaners that they painted themselves. And they made their own slime one week after finishing their crown (which Taryn is wearing in the picture). Aubrey's class was called "creative mess" and they made some art/abstract pictures using paint and other items one week, and they also made things like slime, play-doh, and bouncy balls. They really enjoyed the art classes.

One month Abby tried the Dance Fitness class. It was pretty much zumba for kids, but she liked it. It overlapped with the other girls' ballet classes, but they liked to join in with the dancing once they were done with ballet. I thought it looked really fun. I wanted to jump up and dance with them, but I figured they wouldn't like that too much. It was good exercise for them.

I took this picture of Tessa and Aubrey one day before they gymnastic classes because they had decided to wear their cowgirl boots to and from the Y that day. I thought it was hilarious, especially because the boots were too big for the girls, but they love wearing them anyway. Tessa was not very flexible when she started taking classes, although she picked up the tumbling skills quickly. However, with regular stretching at the Y and at home, by the end of the summer, she can do the splits almost all the way. This picture was taken around mid-August, but currently she can go even further. We are very impressed with her hard work and dedication.

The final Friday in August, which happened to also be our last week of YMCA classes, they held another performance show. We decided once school started our days would be too busy, so we stopped going to the Y, so this performance was the last hurrah for the girls until possibly next summer. It had more of a show feel because they moved all the equipment into the basketball court and even glittered all the girls' hair. 

I love the picture of Taryn because randomly, Tessa happened to be the one on the beam in the background during their warmup. I thought that was pretty cool. Grandma and Grandpa Black were in town that weekend right before they left for China, so they were able to be there in the audience. Abby took a selfie of us while we waited for the show to begin.

Aubrey and Taryn both performed with the intro class kids. They did rolls, cart wheels,and hand stands. They even took turns on the beam and vault. 

Here they are with the three coaches, Shannon, Malorie, and Melissa. We loved these ladies. They worked really well with the younger kids and they were so good themselves, able to show the older girls exactly what they were supposed to be doing. It was a great experience for all of our girls.

Tessa's Rollers group was the main event of the show. They each did their Level 1 routines on the floor and beam. They did a couple jumps on the vault too. Tessa was the first one on every event. She performed perfectly. I was so proud of her! Here she is warming up on the beam and waiting in line with Aubrey and her friend Georgia.

Here's their final bow and a group shot with the coaches.

There were also some performances by the more advanced Rollers 2 group, and an advanced tumbling class of three boys. They all performed really well and it was good for Tessa to see what the next level is if she keeps it up. Here are a couple shots with everyone who performed. It was a fun night.