Well, the rest of the month flew by, but we had some big things happen this month. So, I am going to try to go back and write a little bit about them.
Carlos got another coaching position at the high school. He is now the high school girls soccer team assistant coach. This actually happened back in August, however their games began in September.
Here is Jose and three of his friends after one of the girls soccer games. My husband said Jose and his friends are true fans š. They go to all the home games and the away games that are within 25 miles or so. All three of the boys in this picture are soccer players as well. I think it is awesome that they go out and support their soccer sistas!
Ashley turns 11
Ashley had a birthday this month. Sometimes it can be hard to find time to celebrate during the busy month of September, but we made it work. She had a good day!
We headed to a fun center for dinner and for some fun. I really like this picture of the 3 of us because we look really happy. It feels good to feel happy.
This is probably my favorite picture of Ashley that was taken on her birthday. (Photo credit to Grandma Sandy!) She looks so sweet and happy. She is at such a good age right now. Well, I have loved all of her ages and stages, but both Carlos and I have agreed that we are going to miss this age.
One last picture of Ashley opening her presents at home. What a nice big sister letting David help her. I love those cute little natural curls she gets around the sides of her face and by her ears.
A Visit From the Prophet
As you all know, my family and I are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Carlitos had the opportunity to go and listen to the Prophet (President of our church), Russell M. Nelson speak. Carlitos is pictured above with his friends Adam and Alex. Just look at all those people in the background, who came to hear the words of a prophet!
There were more than 49,000 people in attendance, who all gathered to hear a message of faith and hope. I’d say President Russell M. Nelson packed the house! It is just amazing to me, to see that many people gathered. I wish our whole family could have gone.
This picture and the one above are ones that I downloaded. I just wanted to be able to show how awesome this was. President Nelson’s wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, and his second counselor, President Henry B. Eyring, were there and spoke as well. President Nelson spoke of what he has learned in his 94 years.
Our beloved prophet told this to the people of the PNW, āIf I have learned anything in my life, it is that there is ultimate security and our only enduring happiness lies in holding onto the iron rod of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
The infield was filled with 2,000 teenage members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Mainly 15-18 year olds. I thought it was really cool that youth this age were treated specially and had the opportunity to sit closer.
Preschool
David started preschool this month! I can’t believe my little boy is in preschool!!!!!!!!!! He was excited and little nervous to go, but he did very well.
This little guy has my heart for sure! I walked him to his classroom and stayed there for a few minutes. When I was ready to leave, he gave me a thumbs up! I had cried a little bit earlier in the day, but only my eyes teared up a little as I left the classroom. He had cried a little earlier in the day too. He has the biggest heart at times. He said he cried because he was going to miss me, but also because he was worried about me because he knew I was going to miss him!Ā He is starting a new stage in his sweet little life….one that I am not sure that I am ready for, but I am sooooo thankful to be able to be a stay-at-home mom and watch him grow up. I am thankful that he has the opportunity to attend preschool too.
Basketball
Ashley joined the basketball team! She is the one in the bright green shirt. The team consists of 5th and 6th grade girls and will split into 2 teams before games begin. I am happy that Ashley was brave enough to try a new sport. I think she has been enjoying it so far. I can’t wait to see her play!
Surgery
In preparation for his mission, Carlitos had two surgical procedures done this month.
The first one was done at Children’s Hospital, which we are very thankful for the opportunity he has to recieve care there. He was having a T-tube placement in his right ear. His right ear is his better hearing ear, but he has eustachian tube dysfunction. TheseĀ are the little tubesĀ that run between your middle ears and the upper throat. They help with ear pressure and draining fluid from the middle ear. His doctor was also going to check his left ear (The one he had the cholesteatoma in) and take pictures of it, and see how it is doing. The middle ear is the part of the ear behind the ear drum. Surgery went well, however his doctor found that the cholesteatoma is beginning to grow back after almost 7 years since it was removed. I am thankful that his doctor was able to catch it. Carlitos will be having another surgery next month.
The 2nd surgery that Carlitos had this month was the removal of his wisdom teeth. He was so cute, he kept talking about soccer after waking up. Then after he would doze off and wake up again, he would talk about soccer again.Ā It was very important for him to let the doctor and nurses know that he coaches his sister’s soccer team, along side his dad. It was hard to understand him, but eventually we figured it out. He is a trooper!
Mission Call
Carlitos’ mission call came in the mail 3 days after he had his wisdom teeth taken out. He had been home from work and therefore was home when our mail came.
With our family’s busy schedule, it would be hard to find time to open the call while everyone was home, without it being too late at night or too early in the morning to have people over. The call arrived on a Monday, but the next free time we had was Saturday. Carlitos didn’t want to wait that long. We said a little prayer and then headed out to buy some supplies for our Family Home Evening – Mission Call Party!
Jose’s band teacher was kind enough to let him out of marching band practice a little early, without having to make it up. Our mission call party started at 7:30, but everyone knew that Carlitos would not be opening his call letter until the minute his brother walked through the door.
As people began gathering, they enjoyed eating and talking with one another. It was really nice to see all these people come out to our house on such short notice. I hope Carlitos knows just how much he is loved!
We also had a U.S. map and a world map up on the wall with little post it arrows available, for people to make guesses on “Where in the world Carlitos might go?”
We had guests write their name or initals on the post-it and their guess and try to stick it as close to the exact spot as possible.
We also had everyone write their guess on a pad of paper as well. For a keepsake for Carlitos.
We had some prizes for the closest guesses. We put together a basket for the closest guess and we had 2 small prizes for the next 2 closest guesses.
Here are the things we included in the main prize basket:
- Lindor Chocolates
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Red Licorice
- A couple smaller packages of candy / gum
- Package of cards
- Package of ink pens (Hopefully the winner will remember to write to Carlitos, while he is gone on his mission!)
- You can pretty much put whatever you would like in your basket. I tried to keep if friendly for all ages.
- We added a sign that says, “Where in the World is Carlos going?” and attached a little printout of a world map.
The other two prizes we had were boxes of gummy bears with little signs that said, “Bearly missed it!” We put some cute panda bear stickers on the signs.
As for food, we definately wanted to keep it simple! Since we didn’t have long to prepare.
To the left, you can see our missionary cupcakes. We just bought a 24 package of cupcakes, printed out these little “Elder” name tags and taped them on toothpicks. There you have some missionary cupcake toppers!
Here was our party food list:
- 2 already prepared meat, cheese and cracker platters
- 1 already prepared vegetable platter
- 1 already prepared fruit platter
- Missionary Cupcakes
- A few bags of chips
- Cookies
- A couple 12 packs of soda (different flavors)
- 24 pack of water bottles
Like I mentioned earlier, we kept it simple and we “bearly” had everything ready on time. Did I mention that my husband had to run two soccer practices that afternoon / evening, plus Jose’s marching band practice and Ashley’s basketball practice?? It turned out to be such a nice evening with family and friends. We ended up with 46 guesses on the maps. I must say, I made my guess towards the end of the the guessing, not to long before Carlitos was about to open his call. When I went to make my guess, I looked at both maps and this small voice in my head said, “Arizona.” I however saw that someone had already guessed that. Not knowing what to pick, I just closed my eyes, swirled my finger around and pointed at the map. My finger landed on South Carolina, so that was my guess. Now, I am sure you are wondering, “Where in the world is Carlitos going?” I bet those of you who read my blog already know….but just in case you don’t………
He has been called to serve in the Arizona, Phoenix mission and he will be teaching the gospel in American Sign Language!!!!!!! This is so awesome and amazing! You can really see how the Lord has his hand in things. With the trouble Carlos has had with his ears and hearing etc., he knows what it is like to be hard of hearing and I think he will have a soft spot in his heart for the ASL community of the Phoenix, Arizona area.