JJ--11 years old--worked really hard in his new school as he navigated being the new kid. He brought up both his math and reading state scores at the end of his 4th grade year in a big way. We were super proud! He was also 1 of 8 students in his entire school (K-12) who had perfect attendance from 2021-2022. That's a pretty big deal because so many students and teachers got sick with Covid that year. Realizing he's always a little low on monetary funds, he decided to sell the only thing he has a lot of...rocks! ;) And to our shock, he actually made close to $80 selling them! Thanks, in part, to the very generous people of the community.
He tried his hand at archery through 4H and did pretty well for a first-timer and plans to give it another "shot" in the spring.
He participated in his school's basketball camp during the summer and enjoyed it more than he thought he would. JJ has an old soul and finds himself drawn to the elderly. He befriended our neighbor, Dixie Brooks, right before we moved into our renovated house. Sadly, she passed away just a few months later. He met another elderly neighbor, Bill Early, down the street and they became fast friends. They enjoy long walks and talks as they stroll between our houses. We're grateful for their friendship.
JJ took a big leap out of his comfort zone and auditioned for the oral reading UIL event in 5th grade and made it! He eventually took 5th place (with no medal), but he had to beat out at least 18 other kiddos to get that slot. We were super excited with his success and he says he'll be trying out again next year. :) JJ was one of two narrators in his final Primary Program at church in November. He also had speaking parts in both the Veteran's Day and Christmas programs at school, but sadly, he got a horrible bout of strep throat the last week before Christmas break and missed all the amazing events and special activities, including the program (and ruined his perfect attendance streak).
Thanks to his siblings and cousins, he is learning how to play Dungeons and Dragons and he is getting into anime although he's not quite old enough to watch Demon Slayer or some of the other shows just yet. Fortunately, he is finally beginning to find some enjoyment in reading books, though it isn't the first thing he would choose to do in his free time. But we'll take it! He loves the Wings of Fire novels (and graphic novels) the best.
JJ continues to hone his craft as a two-handed bowler at youth league in Lubbock every Saturday morning--he has vastly improved his league average (he started out the year with games in the 50s and ended with breaking 100!), and is back to sporting his mullet.
Slowly, but surely he is adding a couple of new foods to his diet, which now includes...a little bit of chicken! Yay!!
Calvin--14 years old--had a busy year!! Most of it revolves around his sports. He bowled his first ever 500 series in March, he bowled his highest league game at 257, participated in a few tournaments in Lubbock and New Mexico earning him more scholarship money, and he joined a high school co-op bowling team in the fall. He and Cooper had the opportunity to bowl in an adult/youth city tournament together, and took 4th place out of 22+ teams, landing Calvin $200!
Calvin has a body built for track, so he gave it a whirl, but didn't find much enjoyment in it. He had his eyes set on tennis in high school with baseball as an add-on sport when he began his freshman year. Most of the fall was spent on tennis and early morning off-season training with the baseball team. At his first tennis match, he won 8-5, playing singles and had a great time.
As a newcomer to tennis, he still has many things to learn, but he's catching on quick and he loves Coach Hale and his teammates. Another huge perk is that he found a few other young men from tennis who have pulled him into their circle of friendship. They take turns hosting "bro night" where they go to each other's homes about once a month to battle in ping pong, nerf wars, and on the Switch complete with pizza or some other yummy food. We are thrilled he's found some solid friendships with good young men where he is accepted and valued for his standards.
Much to his delight, the pro bowlers were in Lubbock in the spring, so Calvin went with Jared in hopes of getting some pictures and signatures. And that he did! Jared said he was pretty nervous about asking them at first, but he eventually got up the nerve.
Calvin's approach to his school work is improving. He still has bouts of indifference and then he scrambles to make sure he's not failing before progress reports or report cards come out so he can keep playing sports (including bowling). But it's much better than it was. At the end of 8th grade, Calvin was honored as the recipient of 2 high school credits...Spanish 1 and Algebra 1. He is the only student in Snyder who earned the Algebra 1 credit while at the junior high and all because his principal drove him to the high school and back three times a week so he could participate in the class. He rocked his 8th grade state STAAR tests. He mastered all but one--history, which is a tough assessment from what we hear, but he passed it no problem. This summer, Calvin joined his dad, uncle, and cousin for a fishing trip to Minnesota. On the way there, they stopped in for a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. They had a blast!
This spring we learned that Calvin has mild scoliosis. Hopefully that won't keep him from doing the sports he loves. Snyder High School offers a program where Calvin could earn a law enforcement certificate through dual credits, but the only time the class was offered his freshman year, was in 8th period...during his athletics class. We counseled Calvin that he can always get what he needs for law enforcement later. Be a kid and enjoy being involved in sports. Even still, he received a "by invitation only" opportunity to go on a youth hunt with the local Game Wardens in December because I was fortunate enough to cross paths with our local game warden. It was a great opportunity and while no one shot anything that day, Calvin hopes to join them again in the future.
Calvin is really rounding out his interests...as his other electives include an all-boys choir, culinary arts, and automotive. He reported that I have taught him a lot about cooking and finding his way around a kitchen for which he is grateful as it gave him a big advantage in the culinary class. He has also decided he wants to continue taking all the automotive classes he can. He can see the value in knowing how to do basic car maintenance and beyond. Calvin made the age requirement this past year to attend the Pioneer Trek in June up in Ruidoso, NM. He had a great time...working hard, playing hard and... falling hard when he got dehydrated and needed IV fluids. Fortunately, it wasn't serious beyond that. One of the other few core families in our branch moved in June, so Calvin spent the last six months of the year as the lone member of Young Men at church, as his cousin Garrett left for college. While it's not ideal to be the only young man aged 11-18, we're grateful that he shows up every week to help prepare and pass the Sacrament. I love to see my boys honoring their priesthood responsibilities. Calvin has taken an increased interest in his appearance because he spends more time in the shower and bathroom primping than Karcyn and I do combined. We lovingly call him our diva. And even though he has no experience whatsoever, his buddies turn to him for relationship advice. Haha! All things considered, he actually gives pretty good counsel. ;)
Karcyn--16 years old--is already a junior in high school! Yikes! I'm not sure how that happened. She is in ALL honors classes and despite having restless legs at night and sleeping issues, she is still pulling all As and Bs. She is AMAZING! She began the year showing her broiler chickens and placed 7th out of about 14! We were super impressed with our little city girl!
And if that wasn't enough, Karcyn actually had to process her own dead chickens which, for her part, included breaking the wings and legs at the joints and then pulling the skin clean off! And she did it like it was no big deal. Mad respect right there! After having to get a new doctor when the previous one moved, we restarted the "why is she so tired" journey again and tried multiple solutions to no avail. The new doc finally decided in the summer that it was time to get a sleep study. We had already met our super high deductible for the year, so we were very happy to have this study paid for. Unfortunately, we couldn't get it set up until November, but Karcyn was diagnosed with sleep apnea. She has super small airways.
We were worried she wouldn't get a CPAP machine because that's not what they do for pediatric patients. But the ENT explained she's almost not a peds patient anymore and that he would like to try a CPAP machine to see how it goes. Because she was battling sleep issues, she decided it was probably best to not take on the added responsibility of raising chickens again for FFA. She is also not a licensed driver yet. But...truth be told...as her parent, I am quite alright with that. Let's wake her up and make sure she's alert before we get her behind the wheel! She doesn't have a lot of places she needs to go anyway. She gets dropped off at school on Jared's way to the clinic and she walks home every day. It's about a 20 minute walk home--uphill. :) Even if she needs a ride to work and back for awhile, this is where living in a small town has it's perks. Everything is pretty close! Karcyn also did the Pioneer Trek in Ruidoso, NM and had the best attitude. Her Ma and Pa loved having her in their family. It challenged her in many ways, but she never quit.
We took her in for a braces consultation in August and they ended up putting the top braces on right then. Poor thing. I couldn't even prepare her. We also learned she has two 12-year old molars that never came out, so those were extracted (along with her one and only wisdom tooth) right before Thanksgiving. She rocked that oral surgery. Because the drive home from Lubbock was so long, all of her anesthesia had worn off and she was a complete disappointment to her brothers who thought they'd get a laugh at her under the influence. :) Sadly, our piano lessons came to an end this summer, when our piano teacher moved away. However, Karcyn's braces took over that monthly funding anyway. Hopefully, my kids will continue to tinker on the piano and find joy in playing when they can. As a junior, Karcyn added Debate and Theater to her schedule. She began competing in the Domestic Extemporaneous (DX) events and medaled at her very first one!
She almost placed in one of the toughest competitions (she got 4th) but her computer never connected to the internet and she couldn't do any research. 4th place is pretty impressive under those crazy circumstances! In theater, she was cast as "Jenny" in the Winter Play that featured a handful of different scenes taking place at a mall during the holidays. She did a FANTASTIC job. She was totally meant for the stage! Her coach was blown away when Karcyn was the first student "off book" as a newcomer to theater. I hope she continues to participate in drama. She did, however, have to rework the script a little bit so that she wouldn't take the Lord's name in vain or use crude language. She told her coach that if the changes couldn't be made it was okay, but she wouldn't participate. He accepted her changes.
There isn't much opportunity to date in our part of west Texas, but Karcyn was asked to Homecoming (which only consists of going to the football game here in Snyder) by a young man from school. Unfortunately, his parents had to go out of town last minute. She was also asked out by another young man in December, but his family kept getting sick and they couldn't reschedule before the holidays were over. She's okay with not dating, but is excited when she is asked. It'll be interesting to see what dating experiences she will have in the future. Karcyn continues to write and illustrate stories and communicate with her friend, Ashley, two hours away, by FaceTime whenever she gets the chance. They were lucky enough to visit for a couple of days together after girls camp.
Cooper--20 years old--completed his full-time mission as a service missionary in the Lubbock area the middle of April (and loved serving in the temple the most). The remainder of the year was spent trying to figure out his sleep schedule and getting his sinus issues under control. He got a job at Whitewood Lanes in Lubbock, but after a couple weeks of driving 3 hours round trip with some late nights back-to-back, Cooper realized that job wasn't going to be in his best interest and put in his notice. It was the first job he's had since getting his narcolepsy diagnosis, so we expected that it would be a bit of trial and error for him to find the right work load and schedule that best fit his needs. He went to the same bowling tournaments that Calvin did and got some good experience. Cooper and Calvin dared each other to see who could stay outside the longest in a hailstorm we had in the spring. Cooper won. Crazy kids.
Jake and Trina drove through Snyder one night on their way to Houston, Jake wanted to watch "The Grudge" with Cooper and Calvin joined them, so the big boys had a bro night. I stuck around and laughed at their high-pitched squeals and jump scares.
A big highlight for Cooper was at the end of the summer when bowled in the BIG KAHUNA adult tournament at Whitewood Lanes in August. He got 4th place and earned $300!!
He was invited to help coach a high school bowling team in the fall and did that when he could. Another highlight was filming for his pro-bowler friends again (Packy Hanrahan and crew) when they were in Lubbock for a PBA tournament. Cooper has become a regular comic con go-er. He hit every Texas comic-con that he could. He took Calvin with him to one before a priesthood meeting in Lubbock and the two of them were mistaken as cosplaying Dean and Sam from Supernatural. Haha!
At the same comic con, Cooper got a pretty sweet deal on this very real Katana sword.
In September, Cooper went to see an ENT about his sinus issues and possibly starting on Dupixent--a new biologic drug for eczema and asthma that is showing success with sinus polyps. For the last 9 years, Cooper has done allergy shots, he's had sinus surgery, he uses nasal sprays and allergy meds and still gets constant sinus infections and flare ups. He's miserable and any kind of sleep he might get is now disrupted by his sleeping disorder. The ENT told Cooper he is the poster child for Dupixent and predicted it would be life changing. So they started the process to get him on that. However, it took FOUR long months to receive approval and get all the darn ducks in a row. We are hopeful this med will live up to the hype. If we can help Cooper get this underlying health issue cleared up, maybe the desired sleep schedule will follow. He broke his almost 3 year streak of being Covid-free in October. But that was a pretty long stretch to be untouched and fortunately, it was a very mild case. We felt very blessed to spend his 20th birthday with him at the temple.
Cooper has plans to get out west to work and eventually get to school. However, he wants/needs to save up some money first and we respect that. He started substitute teaching at Ira ISD (K-12) where JJ goes to school in December. Even though he sleeps at Karole's he spends a lot of his time at our house, when we get in a bind and need some help with an errand, he is very willing to pitch in and help.
JAKE and TRINA--23 years old and 24 years old respectively--spent the year as full-time students, Jake attending on campus and Trina online with BYU Pathway.
Jake has a great part-time job at a bowling alley and they are living in a lovely and spacious 2 bedroom apartment that is classified as affordable housing. It's a tremendous blessing for them so they can both continue their full-time student status. They've been able to sneak away and do a few quick trips to Las Vegas and they hiked the Narrows in Zion's National Park. Trina was hired to photograph several weddings this year, one of which was in Texas, so we got to see them when they drove to Houston and they even got to visit Cadillac Ranch during their trip, a spot we still haven't been to yet.
They have visited friends in Salt Lake City and got to see the Piano Guys live! Jake continues to follow severe weather and even caught three tornadoes on camera and landed himself on the local news because of it. They enjoy rock climbing and Jake has recently started bouldering with a local student group in his spare time. Trina is becoming a pro in the kitchen and loves to grow things. She has surrounded themselves with all sorts of plants and herbs in their apartment. They were excited (as were we) to fly back home for Christmas again...two years in a row!
JENN--45 years old--had a LOT of FIRSTS this year. *First long-term sub job for the semester as a secondary electives teacher at Ira. *First time moving into a newly renovated house. *First adult fall and rolled my ankle when I found where the sidewalk ends.
*First time seeing my friend, Kim Woodbury, after 19 years.
*First time having my parents visit us in Snyder. *First time having an electrophysiologist cardiologist tell me he wants to keep me from flatlining and inserted a loop recorder in my chest. *First time taking the first of three Texas teacher certification exams and passing it. *First time getting full-time glasses (and hating them). *First time almost stepping on a tarantula in the backyard. *First time accepting the assignment to be the camp cook for over 100 people at Girls Camp in Ruidoso, NM and having the best time!
*First time throwing axes at girls camp and getting a bullseye. *First time trying doTERRA essential oils and LOVING them! Wow...so many amazing uses and results! *First time visiting Myrtle Beach, Ft. Sumter, and parasailing.
*First time teaching temple prep with Jared. *First time getting a pacemaker when the loop recorder detected an AV block.
*First time writing and putting together a Primary Program. *First time saying goodbye to and losing a very special and sweet friend to cancer. *First time making pozole--and rocked it!
And I even had some "seconds" this year--*Second time being called as Primary President. *Second time being asked to fulfill a long-term teaching job. *Second time having ALL the kids home for Christmas.
JARED--49 years old--continued to settle himself into his new clinic working in internal medicine with his brother, Kevin. He managed to find a handful of times where he could go fishing here locally as well as on a big trip to Lake Vermillion in northern Minnesota with Kevin, Garrett, and Calvin. They caught small mouth bass and walleye. No trophies but still a great trip. Jared spent many Saturdays driving the boys up to Lubbock for bowling leagues, a commitment that doubled the time spent there each week when Calvin joined the high school league on Saturday afternoons. He started working out with Cooper at the hospital gym after work and is more than willing to watch Demon Slayer and other anime shows with the big kids. As Elders Quorum president, he works closely with the young missionaries in our branch and had them over for dinner every week for the first part of the year (they were also super happy to be guinea pigs and give feedback on possible meals for girls camp. :)
He has lost about 25-30 pounds since moving to Snyder and is starting to look for some bike rides he can do in the area. The one he has his eye on is called the Hotter than Hell 100 in Wichita Falls, TX. One of his pipe dreams is to train our pup Rolo for an agility contest. Haha! We all believe they would both be super successful! We are sure grateful for this hardworking guy who constantly gives, gives,
gives to our family.
ROLO--2 years old--is still warming hearts and licking faces everywhere. He's a good boy and brings more joy than anything to our lives.
In the spring, he needed to be groomed. Our regular groomer wasn't available, so we went with another one who said they could take off half an inch of fur. Cool. Probably wouldn't be very noticeable with as long as his majestic fur was at the time. Except when Jared went to pick our dog up, he couldn't find him! Rolo's fur was practically buzzed! Poor baby. We were all in shock! Like we screamed and then didn't know if we should laugh or cry, so we did a little of both. It was like he changed breeds!! But Rolo handled it well. After we were over the horror of his high and tight cut, it kind of grew on us. He was like a fuzzy stuffed teddy. We were worried his fur would grow back coarse and not soft like we're used to, but blessedly it didn't. So all was well!
Rolo's "full" name for the year is "Rolo Hoover Houdini Heathen Hough." He is Hoover because he inhales his dog food in mere seconds. He is Houdini because he has escaped from his dog crate in such a way that stumped Mom for many long, confusing minutes and finds the yard gates when they have blown open before we do. He is our heathen dog because every time we kneel in family prayer, he starts growling and trying to interfere with our reverent petition to the Lord. But we love him just the same. Rolo can still elevate himself off the floor vertically, about 3 feet or more when he jumps. When Jared gives the command, "Go!" Rolo indulges us by doing zoomies and doggy parkour and running around his "agility course" which includes our living room (around chairs and over couches), kitchen, and hallway. It's super entertaining!
Grandma Lee bought Rolo a pillow, just for him, and he loves it! ;)
This is an example of the loot that Rolo will find and drag under our bed into his secret lair. Silly, sneaky dog. Some of those stuffies are as big as he is.
In October, Rolo began repeated vomiting accompanied with diarrhea over the span of 24 hours and we couldn't figure out why. I took him to the vet and they were worried he might have Parvo, a very serious and sometimes deadly dog disease. Fortunately, he tested negative for that. But the vet kept him overnight to get him hydrated (doesn't take much to dehydrate a dog under 6 lbs.) and give him IV meds. Fortunately, he was getting much better and we could take him home the next afternoon. While we were waiting for him to be released, in walked a woman with a Pom who could have been a litter mate to Rolo. Her name is Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit McWilliams. It was so fun to interact with Honey, whose coloring (minus the black in her face and a slight tint of black in her fur coat) was super close to Rolo's. Their natures and mannerisms were so similar it was a bit surreal! Then they got to meet. It was really cute! JJ wanted to arrange play dates for them. Haha! Honey is a little bit younger and a bit bigger than Rolo...confirming to us that we got a runt, and love it! We are so grateful for this little womp rat. Rolo definitely completes our family!
No comments:
Post a Comment