September

Summer turned 15 this month

and finally got a cell phone.  

She really wanted an orange one... fish fish got her wish.

Her cousins (Sophie, Cozi and Coco) made her feel loved and slightly embarrassed 

bringing  50 "Summer heads" to school that day.

(Thanks to Cozi for texting me these 2 photos)

While we are on the subject of Summer....she made the freshman volleyball team this year

and we love watching her play.  Go #2! 

She plays back row defense.

She does a great job digging & passing...even with her eyes closed.

A fun fact about this team is that she has 3 Farnsworth cousins on it.
They get a lot of family support at their games.

Coco, "Mama and Papa" Farnsworth, Cozi, Summer, Sophie

Grandpa Jack

A little brotherly love.  

I don't think Cole gets much homework done at the games.

Moving on from volleyball...

Meg is a huge help in the kitchen and is developing a much greater skill set than her mother.  

I think this was the time she made a berry cream topping for her cupcakes.  They were a hit.

She is also constantly reading

She's the one that asked for a bookcase last Christmas.  Those shelves are filling up.

I am trying to talk her into starting a book club with her cousins that love to read. 

The only one that may read more than Meg right now is Isaac.
He is completely immersed in Harry Potter right now.

Isaac also just started volleyball and flag football.

 Cole kinda looks like a robot in these pics....dang allergies are getting to him.

Some good news.
The very strange single guy that lived next door to us-- moved out.
A family with 12 children moved in!  Prayers are answered.
Isaac now has a buddy---Ethan.

We will still grab my nephew (on the left)
 every chance we get, but it is so nice to have someone
right next door.

The day after the Homecoming dance, the MVT
 girls starting asking for Winter Formal.

Once a few girls start asking .... it snowballed.

 I liked this idea...probably because I got to help Cole 

eat my favorite kind of ice cream.
After some digging around, we found the name of his date on a stick.
We are working on a way to answer her.  Ike wants it to involve a fish, so he can get one for himself.
My poor kids just want anything to call their own.

Google+ Hangout
With half of my family living apart, we really miss getting together.
So we tried this out last Sunday night.  There are definitely a few
bugs in the system, but overall it works great.
We each took a turn giving an update and answering questions.
I loved every minute of it.

Homecoming Date

His first school dance/date.

Thank you for humoring your mother ...

...even throwing in a smile for the paparazzi 

(It's nice to have some happy cooperation)

Cole took the lovely Natalie Kempton to MVT Homecoming.

This was one of those "circle of life" experiences for me

Tom was very thorough with dating etiquette and then Cole got another dose from me.

We just couldn't pass up this perfect opportunity 

to teach our 16 year old how to be a good date.

Also, it was kind of hard for Tom and I not to micro-manage this first dance/ date--

 like the group size, dinner location, post-dance activity. 

We kept hoping he would ask for our "suggestions" ---nope.

However, after  some time passed we realized that this is the perfect time and way for Cole to learn.

The Group

It sure is a nice thing to really like your kid's friends.

This corsage picture cracks me up because it is my attempt to act like I had a game plan for pictures.

(I really didn't plan to be the photographer)

I really don't like to think up the poses and shots.  I prefer to capture a moment.

Shout out to my assistant that was helping me while getting eaten alive by mosquitos.