November

 Spencer completed the 8th level of Piano Syllabus at the end of October, but I forgot to take a picture of him that day. For this level, Spencer had to memorize and preform three pieces of music from three different genres in addition to playing another unmemorized one, sight reading, ear training, and playing randomly selected scales in front of an adjudicator. It was an intense hour of preforming that Spencer had been preparing for for about five months. He was a little nervous but mostly just excited to be finished with those three songs. Ha! This competitive piano program in addition to Junior Festival in the spring have been so good to really push and motivate Spencer to improve. Now that we know he'll be losing his beloved piano teacher in a few months, I am realizing just how blessed Spencer has been to take lessons from her for the past 5-6 years. We will really miss Sister Cichoski!!  

Fall in Oregon is always beautiful! And messy. But I don't mind the extra work because it provides an excuse for me to be outside in the fresh air. Sometimes I wish we lived on a farm because outdoor work is so fulfilling for me.

Cross Country awards night. Spencer's season didn't end the way he wanted it to, but he got stronger and faster and made some good friends. It's hard to read from this picture, but his first 5k time of the season was 18:23 and his PR was 17:14. That's a great improvement and we are proud of his hard work! We're so glad he is developing lifelong habits for exercise and that the cross country and track teams are such supportive groups. 

Spencer's last meet of the season was the Nike Cross National (NXR) meet in Boise over Veteran's Day weekend. It was optional, but since Alan was timing it this year and we have family to stay with in the area, we decided it would be fun to go. Alan drove out on Wednesday and the boys and I went on Friday. I hadn't driven that far by myself in a long time and was a little nervous, but it turned out totally fine. 

The meet was on Saturday but Spencer wanted to preview the course beforehand so we went straight there on Friday. Little did I know that thousands of other runners were doing the same thing. It took us a full hour to drive the 1/2 mile stretch of road to get into Eagle Island State Park. Spencer got out and just ran to the start line after awhile of crawling along. 

Mason and I found Alan after we finally parked and he took us on a tour of the course in a golf cart. It was rather bumpy and Mason loved it! Spencer went to dinner with his team after that and Mason and I went to Darwin and Debbie's house.

Spencer didn't have to be at the meet until almost noon on Saturday so we had some good time to hang out with Darwin and Debbie. Pretty sunrise from my early morning run:

Alan timed this huge meet from his trailer which was parked inside those tents in the background. You never know what kind of weather you'll get in November but we lucked out this year. It was a little breezy, but not really cold at all.

Team huddle before the meet. Spencer's team is the group in black.

Once again, Spencer didn't run his best. He finished with a time of 18:48. (I think he just really needed a break. Plus, I imagine that riding in a cramped car for 7 hours the day before, not eating normal foods, and running at a much higher elevation than you've trained in doesn't help you run faster.) He was glad for the experience though. It was so fun that Darwin, Debbie, and Geoff came to cheer him on! We don't get that kind of family support very often anymore so it's really special when we do.

Alan was pretty proud of this massive video board he helped set up.

I practiced with my camera some while Mason and I were waiting around after the race. 

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing at Darwin and Debbie's house. Mason had fun with the Little People garage that Alan played with as a kid. We went to Sacrament Meeting with Darwin and Debbie on Sunday morning and then drove back home. Alan got to come with us this time since he had ridden over with co-workers. It was a good, quick trip and I'm glad we went!

Mason decided he wanted to try playing Rec basketball this year. He REALLY wanted Alan to be his coach, but Alan's schedule just doesn't allow for it. Alan goes to practices as much as he can though and they've spent some time practicing in the driveway.

Mason loves to make his hair stand straight up like this when it gets long and he gets mad when I make him cut it. Haha!

Helping with Thanksgiving dinner! Since we always the get the entire week of Thanksgiving off school, the boys have plenty of time to help. Mason helped me make Grandma Larsen's strawberry Jello and Spencer helped with the pumpkin pie. We also made a chocolate chip granola pie.

We started Thanksgiving morning out with the Turkeython at Cook Park again. Spencer and I ran the 5k and Mason grudgingly ran the kid's race. Spencer got to lead the kid's race this year and was surprised at how fast some of those kids can go. Haha! It was a fun and cold event and I was super happy that Alan was all cleaned up and home by about 11 am!

The four of us had dinner at home and then went to my boss's house with the Gillice's and Plaster's for pie and games later that evening. We wound up staying until about 10 pm and had a lot of fun laughing and learning some new games with friends. Thanks for inviting us Ranell!

The boys really wanted to go to Brick's and Minifigs in Canby the day after Thanksgiving. I drove them all the way out there only to discover that the store was closed for renovations. They were super bummed. It was a sunny day so we decided to explore a park we hadn't ever been to in Canby while we were there. They were both still a little grumpy but I enjoyed the sunshine and managed to get a few smiles out of them. We even found a merry-go-round/arm breaker just like the one they had in St. Johns when I was a kid. This is one of those dangerous things that are hard to believe were totally ok 30 years ago. No one in my family was ever seriously injured but I'm sure that thing caused many concussions and broken arms over the years.

It's officially Christmas time as soon as Thanksgiving ends in my book. Mason and I went downtown to mail his letter to Santa and we put up our Christmas tree and outside lights that weekend. We wanted to enjoy them for as long as possible before leaving for AZ for Christmas.