October recap

Jeremy pulled out the bow and arrows in October, which attracted the attention of the preschool neighbors.

They helped him retrieve arrows from the target.

Peter went to Homecoming with a group of friends.

Ruth learned to play volleyball this fall and loved it. She participated in only the practices to get a feel for the sport. She is looking forward to playing games next fall.

Ruth also sang in the choir at church.

Once again, she earned a sister-of-the-year award by going to countless football games in support of her brothers. Many of those games were played in the rain and/or cold.

Speaking of football (football pics are unavoidable in October!), Jeremy continued to have a great season. He made a huge impact for his team. Here he is blocking a guy twice his size.

After one of his games, he came to cheer on Derek.

We enjoyed a celebratory youth football homecoming.

Peter continued with his season as well.

He played a little defense in October.

He caused and recovered a fumble on one play!

Posing after a game with some teammates…

The team had some heartbreaking losses that left Peter feeling spent.

Thankfully, Dad was readily available for hugs and pep talks.

Aunt Judi had a knee replaced in October…but that didn’t stop her from being at the Friday night lights!

Friend Anthony came to a game. These guys have been buds for many years. It was fun to have him there.

We had a couple Derek sightings at Friday night games whenever he had a free night and a ride to WA.

Ruth did a cheer camp at WA and had the opportunity to cheer at one of the varsity football games. She was quite happy when she got the green light to participate this year!

Jim ended the JV season with the best JV football record in WA history.

We had the JV team over for movie night to watch Greater. Guys left with tears in their eyes.

Derek came home for a couple days during fall break. He helped Ruth get through her math facts practice–adding in some humor, of course.

He joined some football dudes at the Bears game.

And of course college football continued throughout October.

Wheaton won the Little Brass Bell rivalry with North Central College. I’ve been to many football games in my life, and that game was the most exciting one I’ve ever seen in person. Here are the freshmen with the bell.

Derek’s high school offensive line coach was in town for the game, and some of the Wheaton College players from WA reconnected with him.

There was another reunion of sorts when Wheaton JV played Olivet Nazarene JV one Monday night. It’s neat to see the bond these guys formed in high school continue on in college.

We can always count on the support of grandma and grandpa.

Ok. A few more things from October that were not football related. Ruth entered the world of double digit ages! And to celebrate, I took her to get her ears pierced. When she woke up on her birthday morning, she found one of her stuffed animals with her ears pierced, announcing that it was now Ruth’s turn.

She was over the moon excited, and almost three months later, the excitement has not waned.

We carved a family of pumpkins, even including the dog and piggies.

Speaking of the dog, Molly got into the dressing up part of the holiday this year.

Halloween brought not only freezing temperatures but also record snowfall. According to the National Weather Service, Halloween 2019 was the second snowiest halloween on record in Chicago. This did not deter Jeremy the ski bum (brilliant, no?) and Ruth the pioneer girl.