Lydia had a messy fall. She had the unfortunate luck of contracting hand, foot, and mouth disease, which was going around the athletes using the weight room. It put her out of school and volleyball for a week. Then she had the worst migraine she had ever experienced. It took her to urgent care, the ER, through an MRI, and to a neurologist. It extended 10 days. Anyone who says a migraine is "just a headache" is very wrong. Thankfully, now she has some tools that are helping her keep migraines more manageable.
Despite the setbacks, Lydia pulled through in her classes and most of her extracurriculars. She had an exciting season of volleyball. To reveal the anticipated, it was probably her last. I need some time to put together her last volleyball video, and it will probably be this summer.
So when she had one well-thought-out birthday wish - two tickets to the Josiah Queen concert - which was in April - it was most certainly granted.
Lydia is very dedicated to school and committed to her plan. She balances her hard work with friends, church, and employment. There are mishaps and learning opportunities, but she takes it all with a steady and persistent nature. We are so proud of who she is and who she is becoming.
Moving on to November, we had Special Olympics flag football. Brett plays the quarterback.
We celebrated my mom's birthday right before they left for Texas for the winter. I love having them near us for half the year!
I have always wanted to see the northern lights, but even when they are visible in our area there is usually too much light pollution where I live, and it is past my bedtime. It was very exciting to see the northern lights from our own yard last fall! It was sweeping across the entire span of the sky, and the movement of the colors left me awe-struck!
For Thanksgiving, we went to Papa and Meemaw's. After a very hectic fall calendar, I loved heading up to the North Woods for a couple of days and having Meemaw host the holiday!
We had some fun things happen last fall. In September, my nephew Taylor celebrated his commitment to his partners in a backyard ceremony. In October, we kept our tradition of going to the pumpkin farm and picking pumpkins.
And we went on the southeast MN road trip I had been wanting to do over the summer. The weather cooperated, and fall was a perfect time to do it. I got to add four pins to my map: Rice Lake, Myre Big Island, Lake Louise, and Beaver Creek Valley.
Brett, Lydia, and I camped at Myre Big Island and rode our bikes into Albert Lea for breakfast at Perkins. Reggie had the opportunity to go to a Gopher's football game, so he joined us the next day. Then we traveled on to stay at Beaver Creek Valley. On the way home, we looped around Lacrosse and visited my brother-in-law's family. We didn't get to two more state parks I was hoping to see, but I won't mind doing another trip, and I will plan it for the fall!
Reggie's 10th grade season was a busy one. It started out with the Royal Maker. The Royal Maker was a 12-hour-long day of intense physical activity and competition. They were divided into schoolyard-picked teams of six, and at any time during the day if they wanted to quit, they would have to ring a bell. No one quit, and Reggie's team won! Their prize was going out for a steak dinner with one of the coaches.
Reggie played wide receiver on offense and safety and outside linebacker on defense. Reggie was on the dress list for both the 10th grade team (#18) and the varsity team (#19). That meant two games a week for the parents, too. There are rules about how much a high-schooler can play in a week - I think it is 6 quarters. He was 2nd or 3rd in the depth chart on varsity so he would play the full 10th grade game and sometimes barely see the field in varsity games. Toward the end of the season, there were so many injuries on the 10th grade team and JV team that they combined the two teams. Then, Reggie only played varsity and got a little more playing time.
For the last couple of years, we have played against our big rival, East Ridge, at TCO Stadium - the Vikings' practice field. This year was very fun because we won. 😉At the end of the night, the teams came together in the middle of the field, and there was a student-led prayer.
The Royals were co-section champs and lost to Moorhead in the quarterfinals of the postseason. Moorhead went on to play in the state championship game and fall to Edina.
