Fall Sports 2023

 Oh, Fall! What a busy, beautiful season. One highlight was watching the kids play their sports. Emma and I hustled all over the valley with her stroller in tow to support the older four in all their activities. John also was able to join us as his work schedule allowed. I loved Oregon’s beautiful weather and I loved cheering those sweet kids on from the sidelines!

Johnny

This year, Johnny played football with his middle school team. I was so proud him and how hard he worked! Every day he’d walk to the car after practice completely exhausted, but with the best attitude. I think participating really helped him make some good friends in middle school right out the gate. He also got to play with his best friend, Max. I always loved hearing his funny stories from the sidelines between plays. I can’t believe how much Johnny grew up over the football season, he is growing up to become quite the young man! 

Johnny on the school instagram account with friends.

Johnny and Max Cummings 

At the 8th grade football game against their rivals. Johnny said some girl drew on his face. The boy/girl interactions of middle school crack me up.

William and Matthew

This year Matthew and William played soccer in the Timbers league. They were on teams with their school friends and it made games and practices a lot more fun! They are both very talented soccer players and it is really entertaining  watching them play so competitively. Also this season, William got to play through the solar eclipse. They paused the game for a couple minutes so all the kids could watch it. (On a side note, Johnny went on a camp out to get better visualization of it…only to have the sky overcast where they were camping! So William felt pretty lucky!)

William (finally) got to play on the same team as his best friend, Luke Cummings!

The boys also participated in their school jog-a-thon. Johnny opted to be late to school so he could come watch his brothers and his friends that are still at the elementary school. It is such a fun event and I love watching the kids run their little hearts out. I feel such a sense of community when we participate in this even every year. Both boys ran the most laps for their prospective grades!

Talon, Deklan,William, Boone, Logan, Sam

Cate

Cate entered the world of high school sports this year as she participated in cross country. She is a phenomenal runner and incredible grit! We joked that I would be traveling sometimes a couple hours to watch two minutes of a twenty minute race, but I loved watching her run! Her fastest time for a 5k this year was 21:18. She was voted Rookie of the Year by her teammates and was the only freshman on varsity, clocking in as the second fastest runner for the girls!

Cate also participated in her school’s powder puff league which was so much fun for her to participate and for me to watch!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Cate running! It was pouring rain and you see her strength and determination so well here.

Roan and Cate after powder puff!

Cate and Aurora on the bus after a Portland Meet

We had quite a laugh comparing the amount of fabric in Johnny’s jersey compared to Cate’s.

This has nothing to do with sports, but Cate was elected as freshman class secretary! 

Emma and John soaking the rain watching Cate compete. Emma couldn’t have been happier.

The Last Couple Days of School

These pictures are out of order, but I wanted to document some moments from our last couple days of school!

For breakfast on the last day, the kids ate snails, haha! “Snailed it!” This is a clever idea I stole from Instagram.

Here they are all dressed for the last day! Cate is wearing her school’s sparrow shirt for the assembly (she isn’t quite dressed yet by the time the boys leave.)

On the last Wednesday of school, I took the boys to Red Robin for bottomless floats and fries.

On the last day of school we have a school bus cake. Everyone loves the tradition, but no one eats the cake, so I tried a giant cookie this year!

The last week of school is a giant picnic at the elementary school. Here is William with his friends.

The boys excited for their last day! I love this drive every morning. The sun is rising over the mountains gets me every time!

One of my favorite traditions is our “Be the Light Awards.” We talk about our family theme for the year a every child gets recognized for actions and mindset that really added light to the world, and where we saw growth. I am always filled with gratitude as we do this. All the kids are so happy for their siblings. The award winner has to give a speech about their award and it can a full spectrum of silly to quite touching. This year I had a stack of golden Pokémon cards, so every person got to choose a card after their speech—it was pretty cute watching them get so excited.

Cate got the “Lift Where you Stand” award, as well as the “Busy, Busy Bee.” This year was extremely stretching and she was exhausted after all her positive activities she’s involved in, but I was grateful she made time for valuable things by prioritizing family, church and her person relationship with Christ as she navigated middle school life. Also, so many times this year her teachers would write home and let me know different ways she’d elevate the people around her with kindness and awareness of others. I love that about her. She has such a steady confidence in what matter most.

Care all dressed for her last day of school.

The boys excited for their last day.

William really became accountable for his own school work this year, he also started owning up to his choices and emotions in a more mature way- he got the “Responsibility Boy” award. He was also recognized for being the baby-more master (long story), his sense of humor cracked us all up this year!

Matthew got “Mr. Cheerful” for self explanatory reasons—it is very fitting. He chooses to forgive, to look on the bright side, to be excited for whatever is happening. He also got “The Art Master” award because of his growth in art and drawing. Fine motor focus is not something he loves and starting kinder couldn’t even draw people. I loved seeing his art when he came home every day and probably have a box of Matthew’s kinder work, alone.

Our fireplace for the awards.

On the second to last day, they took flowers from our yard to teachers.

And back to awards…upside down, ha! Johnny was awarded the “Peacemaker” award. He is so good at standing up for the underdog in a way that builds friendships with everyone involved. He really cares about individuals and it shows when he helps others resolve conflict. This year Johnny rose to the occasion of being the oldest Brassell at school. It was so neat to watch his confidence grow. He has quite the sense of humor! He was a compassionate leader and stayed very aware of others which I think takes a lot of focus!

Cate on her last day again! Ha ha.

And boys on THEIR last day again. Being silly, or cool. Ha ha

Cate walking to school after I dropped her off.

Johnny and I picking up Cate from her last day.

On the last day of school we packed up the van took the kids camping out to the Oregon Caves with the Rices. What a great kick off to summer!!