No Shave November (2016)

Aly's Quote of the week: 

"It's No Shave November!  I was so excited that I started 2 weeks early!"  (Um . . . yeah . . .)

Despite Aly's injury, she continued to support her team.  She went to practice off and on (when she wasn't in physical therapy) to work on core, and went to a few of the meets as well.

She made some good friends in XC - and they aren't bad runners either! The girls team ended up taking state.  Way to go Ladies!

One thing about coming back to Florida - Aly is obsessed with going to the beach.  If it's over 60 degrees, she wants to be at the beach.   Not even to swim or anything, just to hang out because it's so. dang. gorgeous.  The water is still pretty decent temperature in November, and now that it's not so blazing hot outside it is very nice to just sit and relax.  (Notice Kylie is more than willing to jump in on the fun!)

Aly's also been hanging out with the young women in our ward as well.  With such warm weather this autumn, we were able to go boating in November - crazy!

It's been fun for me to get to know the girls and their personalities as I've begun working with them.  The lip sync we had was a hoot.

There was a multi-stake hoe down in November which was amazing as well. They had volleyball, frisbee, a firepit, hay rides, dinner, and a boot-scootin' dance to finish off the night.  Lotsa, lotsa fun.

Young Women in Excellence was also in November.  Aly's display was about reading the Book of Mormon and how it strengthened her testimony.  Analise displayed the family photo albums she and I worked on to bridge the gap between my scrap-booking days and my blog.  She helped me create a record of some of our family history.

The theme for the evening was "Night of the Stars" and it turned out beautifully.  Love those girls.

Lise's quotes of the week:

Lise (looking in my Panera bag for leftovers) - Ooh! You didn't eat your maggot!

Me - You mean my baguette?

Aly (while reading the war chapters in The Book of Mormon) - If the Book of Mormon were a movie, it would be rated 'R'.

Lise - 'R' for RIGHTEOUS!

Lise is still loving young women's.  In fact her personality is evolving into a true teenager.  We don't see the sweet, timid, shy little Lise much anymore - just the spunky, dramatic, creative, sarcastic, hilarious, "I'm too cool for you" Lise.  She is still a really good helper around the house - helping me cook and helping Kylie with her homework all the time - her moods just swing back and forth heavily these days. Oh, and she's also into pineapples.  (Thanks, Psych.)

Kylie quotes of the week:

Kylie - Um, Mom, when you say 'excuse me', does it make farts disappear?  

             (Ha! If only!)

Chris - Kylie, your awesome.

Kylie - Thanks.  I've been working on it.

Kylie got picked to be the kid scientist for her class one week.  She got to pick a science experiment to perform in front of the class.  She chose - rainbow bubbles.  We practiced at home first so she could do the whole experiment in front of the class by herself.  It was so cute seeing her in her lab coat and goggles.

In November Kylie also had to get a molar pulled due to some big cavity from last year and an infection that rotted away some of her tooth root.  She took it like a champ though and was very happy for the tooth fairy to show up.

Kate doesn't have a quote of the week.  Instead she has this picture.  Our return to Florida has brought on a return of Kater's bladder infections - Rrrgh!  But anywho, for a few weeks there Kate would be getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom - but not making it back to her bed.  We would find her asleep on the floor of her bedroom, in the hallway, and one morning  Aly found her on the bathroom floor when she came in to get ready for seminary.  It was quite the surprise! (Photo credit: Aly O'Gwin)

Kate is still loving Karate.  In November she moved up to Gold belt.  Way to go Kater!

She also had her Fall Party with her class.  I loved watching the kids try to play "Gourd Soccer"

And as for Chris, November was a big traveling month for him.  He was jumping all over the U.S. and down to Central and South America.  Here is a picture of him in Trinidad and Tobago.  You can also see Venezuela behind him across the bay.  Chris is doing a great job at keeping tabs on all the many missions his guys are doing all over the world, as well as meeting with dignitaries and officials to cut through the red tape which provides his guys the means to accomplish those missions. But man, traveling takes its toll on ya.  1/2 the time Chris is so jet lagged it's hard to tell which time zone his brain is in!  But no matter how exhausted he is, he always manages to keep going and give his all to his guys.  Love him for that.