September 2025

 -Swinging through September-

This has been a happy month with lots of exciting activities!

First, I started the month by attending the temple in Lubbock. It was serene and beautiful!

Football/Marching Band season is in full swing.

It is so fun to see Sheri conducting at football games as well as at pep rallies!

She has even gone over to the junior high where Christian plays for the pep rallies there. It is so cool to see them together!

Here are a couple of short videos. Remember that this is still fairly early in the season.

Sheri had Senior Sunrise which is a tradition for the seniors in September. Here she is with her letterman (most of the patches so far are on it.)

This month Sheri has also been rehearsing for her upcoming role in The Brothers Grimm ballet that Lonestar Ballet is putting on. She was cast as Rapunzel and is excited to be a featured lead (in October). She was also able to participate in a local news commercial for the upcoming performance.

Christian is in the middle of cross country season as well as soccer season. He definitely gets his exercise with XC practice after school each day and soccer practice twice a week plus a weekend game! That doesn't even count his athletics class at school during the day!

Christian had his monthly appointment for his OIT allergy up dose. I am always so grateful that he has been tolerant of the increased dose! I definitely feel our prayers have been heard and answered!

On our way home we met up with Annie for a short hike. It was perfect!

Christian had his 13th birthday and is now an official teenager! We had friends over for cake and then we went to Amp'd. I had fun creating an Oreo cake.

Matt took advantage of being home (he is usually home Fridays through Mondays now) to enjoy playing and having fun with them! What a happy memory for them!

Matthew has been having a great time watching BYU football this season! We have had a strong team with a great freshman quarterback, Bear Bachmeier. Matt was able to get tickets to go to the BYU vs CU game in Boulder, CO. He was able to also get tickets for Christian, his mom, his brother (Jeff), Jennifer, Scott, and my dad. They had a great time!

Here are a few other highlights from the month:

We've been enjoying fresh fruits and vegetables from our garden. Here Matt made breakfast burritos with peppers, onions, cilantro, and tomatoes along with cantaloup, and grapes from the garden. The eggs are from our hens as well. We have also been enjoying lots of cucumbers, zucchinis, green beans, basil, sage, and sunflowers from our garden as well.

It's also tarantula season, though we have only seen a few.

Here Matt is being very brave after Sheri let one walk across her hand. Eve was watching by video call.

I got new glasses.

The kids' school had a bonfire and Christian played football with friends afterward.

Sheri had a horseback riding activity for Young Womens.

Christian went to the Homecoming dance with friends. Here he is being silly since he didn't have a date.

This kid cracks me up!

 A few other noteworthy events; Sheri played in a flute trio this month at church, and I drove through a major hail storm requiring a new windshield. I already needed a new one anyway. Unfortunately, I also have some hail damage on my van body. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

Here is what Eve has been up to.

She went hiking with her cousins before school started. She has been so happy to have her roommates back from their missions (Camille & Sabey). But also, now she has Ivy and Mary Jane, who are freshman at BYU, to do get togethers with. It is fun that each of Matt's siblings have a daughter attending BYU right now.

She went to the Orem temple. 

She has a Roc pass and can attend sporting events again.

They went to her favorite GF restaurant.

For her Forestry class she went to Yellowstone. Here are some of the animals that she spotted on her trip: 16 Grizzlies (with binoculars), 3 black bears, 11 wolves, antelope/pronghorns, elk, 2 moose, bison, mountain goats, mule/white tailed deer, cottontail rabbits, and chipmunks. Here are the birds she spotted: greater yellow legs, great blue herons, bald eagles, ospreys, and belted kingfishers.

 She also got in to a scuba diving class and has worked hard to learn to adjust her air pressure in order to descend to the depths required to be certified.

Eve found a dead butterfly and learned how to preserve it. She loves nature and the beauty it brings!

Near the end of the month BYU had their True Blue Foam event and Eve got to go with Mary Jane and Allison.

I am glad she has a good balance of learning, playing, and managing all the daily stuff!

Sterling is doing fine in Brazil. I'll let his updates give the details.  Here are some pics.

Near the end of the month Sterling got a new companion, Elder Soares and was moved to Samarita.

He will miss Sao Sebastian and all of the wonderful people he has met there, but is excited to serve in a new area as well.

Well, that about sums up our September! Life has been full of good things and we are very grateful!