October 2019 - Taryn's Birthday & Baptism, Performances, and Halloween

Taryn turned 8 on October 14th. She decided to wear a dress to school for picture day the week before her birthday. Her birthday this year was actually on the holiday, Columbus Day, so she didn’t have to go to school on her actual birthday. The Friday before her birthday, she gave out a prize bag to each of her classmates. We decided to do something different than donuts or cupcakes this year. Since Taryn’s birthday is close to Halloween, we put together treat bags that included skull rings, and rubber and glow in the dark creatures like bats, snakes, or spiders. The kids loved it.

Taryn had a cake made by Audrey during our Kasibbons Sunday dinner the night before her birthday. We had the Anderson family over to help celebrate her birthday and Taryn is even sporting the earrings that Presley made for her. On Taryn’s actual birthday, without school or work, we hung out as a family and went to a movie: Dora the Explorer.

 

The following weekend was Taryn’s baptism. I spent the month leading up to the baptism working on making Taryn’s baptism dress. She picked out the pattern and material herself and we loved how it turned out. We took pictures over a couple different evenings and these are some of our favorites. She wanted flowers in her background, so we drove around our neighborhood trying to find yards that had flowers, but in October, there were not very many, and the few that we liked, unfortunately, had too many Halloween decorations which we didn’t want in our pictures. Most of our favorites ended up being in our own front yard.

We tried another photoshoot in the Kasallis’s yard where we could spread out her full skirt all around her. I even took some with the sheer overlay behind her like a veil. I thought these were all very pretty pictures as well. I love this girl so much and we are so proud of her and the decision she made to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

These pictures were taken the morning of her baptism which was held on Saturday, October 19th. She planned her program picking her favorite songs to sing and she asked her grandmas to give the talks. At the General Conference a couple weeks before her baptism, it was announced that anyone who had previously been baptized could be a witness at a baptism. So Taryn could have asked even her big sisters to be witnesses at her baptism, but she had already asked both her grandpas to be the witnesses and she wanted to keep it that way.

Here are a couple of pictures with Taryn and her family. Taryn with Tyler and then Taryn with both of us. We love Taryn so much!

Taryn was so excited all day. Everyone just kept commenting about how happy she looked and you can see it in this first picture that I took after she got in the baptism jumpsuit. I also had to have one of Taryn and Tyler together in their baptismal clothes.

We were very excited to host some family that came into town for the baptism. Tara and Andrew and their family came all the way from Utah for Taryn’s special day. Grandma and Grandpa Gibbons also came from Utah and we were happy that they have been able to travel to all of the girls’ baptisms. Scott and Nevla and their family came up from San Antonio and my parents of course were there, so we had so much family in town which we loved. We were able to get this picture with most of the people who came to Taryn’s baptism. We had lots of family and friends from the ward who were there to support Taryn. 

After the baptism, we took a lot of family pictures. Here’s Taryn with both sets of grandparents.

 

Here’s the best picture we could get with Taryn and Grandma and Grandpa Gibbons and the Judd family. The cousins had so much fun playing together.

We also got one with our whole family. I can’t believe that our final family member has been baptized. I love my family. I also got a picture with Taryn and one of her primary teachers, Sis. Jansen. She was Taryn’s teacher a couple of years ago, but she’s been so sweet to Taryn since then, always giving her hugs and telling me and Taryn what a precious girl she is.

Taryn picked a musical number that she sang with her sisters and cousins. My dad accompanied them on the piano and they sounded so pretty. They sang Taryn’s favorite primary song, I’ll Walk with You. Here’s Taryn with our family and both sets of grandparents.

I love getting closeup pictures of the girls. Some of my favorites are when the girls snuggle with Tyler. We like to watch movies in our room and we always squeeze together in our room and on our bed to watch movies and have popcorn with junior mints. I thought they all looked so cute together so I had to take a picture.

Abby continued her high school volleyball season through October. They had a team bonding party at Izzy’s house where they ate dinner and played games. Abby really enjoyed getting to know these girls this year.

Abby’s team wore pink for October’s breast cancer awareness. I took a couple pictures during their big game against rival high school, Coronado. Here they are during their pre-game pep talk and then during one of their time outs. We ended up losing the game in three sets, but it was so close. It was a great game to watch.

Abby was a setter and worked hard all season, although this was one of the last games that Abby played in regularly. We still went to every one of Abby’s games to support her even if she didn’t play.

Another parent took these pictures at one of Abby’s games and I was so happy to get them. I love the closeups and the action shots. Here she is serving and setting. I love how determined she always looks when she plays. I also love this setting picture and how tone and awesome she looks.

  

Here’s another one of Abby running to pass the ball. We’re not really sure what happened between
Abby and her coach and why she wasn’t able to play half way through the season this year. The only thing the coach told her when she asked what she needed to do to be able to play more was that she needed more confidence in her playing, especially during high pressure games. Abby continued working hard at all of her practices, and she hopes to be better improved by next year. We had all of our family that came into town for Taryn’s baptism go to one of Abby’s games, but she didn’t get to play any of that game. She was happy that her family was there to show her support, but she was very sad that they didn’t actually get to see her play. However, it just gave her more determination to keep working hard to make it back on the court.

Tessa had multiple concerts in October. The orchestra had a concert and for one of their numbers, they asked the percussion section from the honor band to perform with them. So Tessa had multiple early morning rehearsals, and she got to play the triangle for the number. It made me giggle thinking about it because it’s so typical of percussion life. Her part was only about 16 measures, but she had to go to so many rehearsals and be there so early the day of the performance, but when it was her turn to play, she played it perfectly. I was so proud of her and loved showing off my percussionist by telling everyone about her triangle part. She did awesome!

October was also the last ward youth temple trip for the year. Tessa was able to go to Juarez for the first time and I went with them. The youth took their own names to do baptisms and Tessa was even able to be a witness for the first time too. It was a great experience for everyone. Tessa was able to do some names that Abby and I had printed as well, so we had a lot of family names that were taken care of that day. We took pictures outside the temple before driving back home. Here’s Tessa with her friend Olivia, and then one with me and Tessa. 

Here’s a picture of all of the youth who were able to attend the temple that morning. I love these pictures because you can see how the sun has just risen. We meet at 5:45 in the morning to drive down to Juarez so the kids can do baptisms starting at 6:30 am. So when we’re taking pictures before driving home, the sun has just started to rise. It makes for some beautiful, sunny pictures that I love.

At the end of October, the band had their first official concert and they got to dress up in their Halloween costumes for it. Tessa was excited to play and she played numbers on both the bells and the tympani. 

Also in October, Hornedo had their fall pep rally which is where the drum line had their first official performance for the school. Tessa was also honored for being a member of the cross country team. I was able to make it to the pep rally and take these pictures as they played while the students filed in.

 

The drum line played all of their numbers and then they played along with the band for a couple of their numbers during the pep rally. I actually came over from Lundy that day for the pep rally because I had just started working in the office at Lundy at the beginning of the month. I only work part time in the afternoons, but I love the ladies in the office and I love being at the school with the girls. I’m very excited to be working again. They are also very accommodating so I can have a flexible schedule to be able to attend school functions during the day like this one.

The pep rally happened to be the same weekend that Tara and her family were in town for Taryn’s baptism, so Tyler had a short day at work and they all showed up for the pep rally as well. I took this picture with my nephews, Parker and Grayson, while we cheered on Tessa and the band and cross country team.

Like I mentioned before, the cousins had such a fun time playing together even though my girls still had school while they were here. They played all evening long after Tara’s family explored El Paso during the days. We loved having them here and I’m glad I was able to get this picture of all the kids before they headed home after Taryn’s baptism.

These cute kids were walking around at church one Sunday, so I took this picture because they looked so good. Abby’s friend Sabrina came to church with us a couple weeks in a row and we love having her with us. So here’s Tessa, Taryn, AJ, Aubrey, Sabrina, and Abby.

And finally, on to Halloween. Tessa came up with her own idea for Halloween this year and wanted to be a bat. She found a little black dress and we made her bat ears and wings with a little fabric. I was very happy with how easy it was and we were both happy with how cute it turned out. Tessa invited two of her friends to our ward Halloween party so I took a picture of them while they hung out and did face painting for the little kids. 

 

Taryn wanted to be a witch and luckily we had a cute witch costume for her to use. She loved posing for her pictures and giving a scary witch face. She even got a spider painted on her face which is the best part of having a witch costume. Here’s a picture of her with her friend Ashleigh at the party.

Aubrey had multiple costumes this year, so for the ward party she dressed up as Miss USA. I thought she looked adorable and I was happy with the sash that I had made for her. She brought her friend Hattie to the ward party and they had a great time together and with their friends.

 

But for actual Halloween and trick or treating, Aubrey had borrowed this Jasmine costume from a friend. She looks so cute in it as well. Before the girls left for school on Halloween day, I had to get a picture of all four of them together. Abby put on Minnie Mouse ears even though she couldn’t decide on an actual costume to dress up in for school.

When I was taking individual pictures of each girl that morning, she didn’t want me to forget her even though she wasn’t dressed up. When I asked her what I would tell people if they asked what she was dressed up as, she just said “me,” or “a teenager.” That night, last minute, she put together an outfit all on her own that turned out really cute. For trick or treating she was actually dressed up as Arthur. I thought it was adorable and I was able to get this picture of Abby with her friend Braelinn and Ashleigh who jumped in at the last minute.

 

Finally, we took our annual mom picture as we walked around the neighborhood with the trick or treaters. It was chilly, but it’s always more fun when we’re together so I’m happy to call these ladies my friends. This is me with Niki, Kristina, and Jessica. Happy Halloween!

September 2019 - Fall Sports and Vice President

Tessa continued her Cross Country season through the month of September with a meet every week. Her second official meet was at a park on the Northeast. They marked off a path that went around some soccer and baseball fields, up and over a dirt hill, and then out and around a small pond area. It was definitely the most "cross-country" of any of her meets. The first picture is when she first started the race as they left the area where the crowds were cheering. The second picture is on her way back from going out and around the pond. You can see the dirt hill behind her that they had to race up and over twice. Tessa ended up 7th place in this race with a time of 17 minutes, 23 seconds. 

The following week, her meet was held at the park on High Ridge that we go to all the time. They raced around the park and up a path that took them on a hill path far from where they started. Here's the team of 7th grade girls as they prepared to start while talking to their coaches. The second picture is right after the gun shot that started the race. 

This is the dirt path that took their race up and along a ridge. I liked the picture because you can see all the tiny racers so far away with the beautiful sky and pretty landscape. Tessa's up there somewhere. The second picture was near the end of the trail as Tessa passed us and we cheered her on for the last half mile or so of the race. 

This was the finish line of the race as Tessa reached it. She ended up 8th place overall with a time of something around 17 minutes and 44 seconds. They didn't send out results for this meet, so I don't have the exact time, but only what my friends recorded on their stopwatch. They give medals to the top 10 every meet, so this is Tessa's third medal in three meets. 

The next week was the final meet of the season, the district meet. It was held at the park on the Northeast again, the same race path as two weeks ago. I took this picture at that final meet. Here's Tessa with Mireyda, Sofia, Elise, Ayla, and Isabella, some of her teammates.

Tessa was ready and raced with the same intensity that she always does, but it was against all the big schools in our district this time, instead of just a few of them. She stayed in the front of the pack but was still around 10-12th place as we watched her pass by us half way through the course. Counting as the 7th grade girls crossed the finish line, Tessa was 11th place. They only give 10 medals out, so Tessa finished the race a little heart broken and even started crying that she didn’t make the top 10. She was in the 17 minute time range again like all of her races. However, after some time passed, we found out that the top two girls who crossed the finish line in under 10 minutes had actually cut across the course, probably unintentionally; but in doing that, they were disqualified since they shortened the distance by quite a bit. So with their disqualification, Tessa actually finished 9th and was awarded one of the coveted medals. And with it being the district meet, the results were in and Tessa’s 7th grade girls team got 1st place overall in district, which is the trophy that Tessa is holding in the second picture. That is a team/school trophy, but the girls were able to hold it and take pictures with it before they headed home from the meet. 

Here is a final picture with the entire Hornedo Cross Country team after the district meet. Both 7th grade teams and the 8th grade girls team got 1st place in district. The 8th grade boys team placed 2nd.  We really liked the coaches and the experience that Tessa had with her first school sport. She’s very excited to do track in the spring and to do cross country next year.

Abby’s volleyball team continued their season through the month of September. They had games every week and sometimes twice a week. Abby really liked her teammates on the JV team. She was one of four freshman on the team and they played well together. Abby really liked her coach, but their first couple weeks of games and tournaments, their coach was with the Varsity team out of town, so they had fill in coaches that made it hard for them to really bond as a team. Here are a couple pictures of Abby on the court, setting.

At one of the out of town games, Abby’s JV team and the freshman team sat in the stands and cheered on the varsity team as they played. Abby was even leading some of the cheers. It was fun to see them enjoy their time together. Some of their team bonding included preparing a float for the high school homecoming parade. The volleyball teams decided to do a float from the 70s so they got together to tye-dye shirts. We laughed at how messy Abby was when she came home from that. She had dyed hands and legs because the girls didn’t think about using gloves when using the tye-dye ink. 

Their posters and shirts turned out and they had a fun time during the parade throwing out candy and being cheered on by the crowds. Tyler, the girls, and I watched the parade with a lot of families from our ward, so when the volleyball float passed by, there were a ton of people cheering for Abby. Her coach even asked unbelievably if we were all her family because there was such a large group cheering for her, but Abby had to explain that it was her church group and her family.

 

I recorded a lot of videos of Abby’s games, plays that she was involved in, so I didn’t take very many pictures this season. But I loved going to her games and watching her play. They had to stay after their games every time to help with the Varsity games, so I usually stayed as well and either watched the game or helped in the concession stand. Abby ended up as #4 this year on her team since as a freshman, she was one of the last girls to choose her jersey. But she was happy with her number and we knew the number didn’t really matter. Whether she’s number 6 or number 4 on the court, she’s always number one in our hearts.

Aubrey, now in 5th grade, started orchestra this year and plays the cello. She loves to play and to learn new things. Their orchestra teacher, Mrs. Cedillos, is amazing at her job teaching over 100 kids how to play instruments from scratch. Aubrey has picked it up pretty quickly, and she loves to show everyone at home the new song or tune she is learning on the cello. Our school has a family picnic at the beginning of the school year, and this year it overlapped with other activities so I wasn’t able to go. However, Aubrey and Taryn were able to go with the Kasallis boys and Grandma V, so she sent me this picture with Aubrey and two of her good friends from this year - Emma and Hattie. 

 

Another big event for Aubrey this year at school was running for student body government. As a fifth grader, Aubrey had the opportunity to run and she chose to run for Vice President. She made posters and designed and colored them herself. We took this cute picture so we could include it on her posters.

She also created this Descendants 3 inspired poster, which people loved because this movie had just come out this summer and all the kids her age had been talking about it. We even took Aubrey’s face and photoshopped it onto the min character’s body, so Aubrey was one of the characters from the movie on the poster. She wrote and practiced her own speech and had to stand up and deliver it in front of the entire 5th grade and she was voted in as Vice President. She was very excited and has taken her job very seriously as she helps the school counselor, goes to meetings, makes announcements, and helps out as a member of the Safety Patrol, and as a leader of their anti-bullying group, the PAW Pals. We’re so proud of Aubrey and all of her hard work as she completes her final year of elementary school.

Another experience for Tessa this fall has been her involvement in the Hornedo drum line. My dad helped again this year, and Tessa, who’s a member of the Honor band, was placed in the drum line as the top base drum. She loves it. They practiced for a couple of weeks during school, and their first big performance was during the HS band night. The high school marching band hosts the two feeder middle school bands and allows them to sit with them in the stands, and they play a song together on the field during half time. They practiced once before the game started and Tessa is straight back off the 40 yard line in the first picture. I took the second picture during the actual half time performance, from the back which was closer to where the drum line was playing. Tessa was right between the top two high school base drummers, and she was so happy to meet them and get treated so kindly by other girls in the high school drum line.

I was helping with waters after the practice and performance, so I got to be on the field with the band members. I took this picture of the Hornedo drum line while they waited their turns to go sit up in the stands with the high school band.

We got these pictures while they played in the stands. Tessa got to play along with some of the cadences and she said the girls who played the top two bass drums in the high school band were really nice to her, and she had a fun time. My dad, who was there to help Tessa’s drum line, took the second picture since he was able to get a little closer to where the band was sitting in the stands.

Tessa went to Hornedo on a Saturday in September to play during one of the 8th grade football games. It was really fun to hear them play and to hear the crowd cheer for them when they played during the timeouts. Tessa is the only girl in the percussion section again this year, so she’s the only girl in the drum line, but she doesn’t mind. She says all the boys are still really nice to her.

I recorded videos of their songs, but was able to grab these pictures as they played. Tessa has a solo in one of their songs and after missing it the first time, she didn’t ever miss it again; and it became my favorite one to hear because I loved hearing her play.

Since Logan Kasallis was on the 8th grade football team, I even had friends to sit with when I wasn’t taking pictures of Tessa. Grandma V took this picture of me and Audrey and her as we tried to stay in the shade while cheering on the football team. They walked over to where Tessa was playing on the side of the stands and cheered her on as well. It was a fun day.

Finally for one last picture in September. Abby went to her first high school homecoming dance. She went with this group of friends, mostly girls from church. She was so excited to go. She borrowed a dress from a volleyball teammate and then she met together with these girls the night of the dance to get ready together before heading to the dance. She said she had a lot of fun. I just wish that I had more pictures, but I’ll take what I can get, and I was happy to get this one of all the beautiful girls. I love that Abby is having such a great high school experience so far.