Summer So Far

Oh, what a summer it has been! The month of June we mostly stuck around home besides a couple of camps for the kids, but now we are entering July we will be traveling quite a bit!

Some fun happenings so far this summer: 

• Cate played a summer basketball league with her high school team. Two practices a week, and a two round robin games both Tuesday and Thursday. It was delightful watching her game improve so much. Also seeing her bond with her teammates was incredibly sweet.
• On the topic of Cate, every morning she met up with the Cross Country team for summer runs. She is starting out the season in a pretty good spot, pacing her 80% miles at 6:50 minutes. Her highlight was running with some choir friends and singing “Carol of the Bells” in harmonies, ha!
• Johnny and William have spent plenty of time with their friends, the Cummings, who are back in town for the summer. Lots of swimming, Fortnite and silliness; all with Matthew in tow.
• Johnny kayaked the Rogue River with John one afternoon.
• Cate went on a daddy/daughter date with John and they practiced driving for a long time.
• Johnny went to Deacons camp. He rafted the Rogue, did some Axe throwing, pulled some pranks, went on hikes, and went to the temple.
• Every Wednesday, we pick up Johnny’s friend, Lucas and head to do baptisms at the temple.
• Matthew and William participated in football camp.
• I’ve made a goal to play a game with Matthew every day this summer, which is his favorite past time.
• Library runs!
• John and I motorcycled through the Applegate, and met up with our friends the Nevilles, for pizza. 
• Emma is in heaven toddling after her siblings all day long. 
• John has donated two cars in the charity and is currently working on a bus that was donated, hoping to sell it to raise some funds to fix donated cars. 
• John has been interviewing for foreign details to different countries for the year.
• Cate and I got to go to Girls Camp together. It was such an amazing experience to share! I love connecting with women from the stake.
• John took the boys and their friends to mill creek falls. 
• Spencer and Katelyn came to visit with cute baby James.
• The Cummings had a summer bash with inflatables and snow cones!
• We’ve made lots and lots of cookie batches. 
• John and I have been doing morning runs together.
• William gave his first sacrament meeting talk. 
• Our Venezuelan friends came and made arepas with us one Sunday. John was in heaven.
• The kids have gone boating a few times with youth groups and friends. 
• Matthew’s friend, Brooks got baptized!
• We went and played on the River and jumped off boulders into a watering hole, then picnicked with friends. 

All in all, it has been such a fun and packed summer and I have really enjoyed spending more time together as a family. I love seeing my kids together and we spend a lot of time laughing and talking and it definitely fills my bucket! 

 

Last Day of School 2024

  Whew. We made it through another school year! It’s a strange feeling waking up this first morning of summer and reminding myself that the instinct to dash around the house waking kids, packing lunches, signing homework sheets is no longer necessary. I’m also mourning the passing of time as I realize my children have all advanced to the next grade: what was our “normal”, in a single dismissal bell became our past. The last few weeks of school are chock full of fun festivities. From school picnics at the elementary school, to a lip sync battle at the middle school, and all the graduation hoopla at the high school. On the last day of school, I really tried to be present and savor the last moments of the school year. 

The kids all devoured their yearbooks, and it was fun seeing the events from the year the  searching for their pictures, their friends’ pictures, and reading what their friends signed. 

 I took advantage of that an unexpected window of time at home and did a full house clean while Emma slept. I also set up our “Be the Light Awards” ceremony. I was really grateful for that time to reset the house before everyone stampeded home, and we venture into summer. With 20 minutes to spare before I picked up William from school, I knelt down and prayed to Heavenly Father to watch over our home. With kids home more hours, I prayed that I would be strengthened and our house could a house of learning and joy and love. I also prayed that our kids would recognize the Holy Ghost more readily because of how our home feels. It was a very spiritually uplifting experience that I will hold on to as I navigate the chaos of Summer. 

Matthew got to go to his friend’s afterschool party so it was only William at the elementary school, then we scurried to the high school to pick up Cate. We had a window until Johnny’s dismissal so we went and grabbed Dutch bros smoothies with Cate’s gift card. Once we picked up Johnny (who took forever, he’s so social), we went to In and Out as a special treat! We then swung around and picked up Matthew and had our end of school celebration. The kids got the following awards:

Cate

The Perseverance Award

The Companion Award 

The Compassion Award 

Johnny

The Humorous Award

The Optimism Prime Award

The Leadership Award 

William

The Courageous Award

Sir Care-A-Lot Award 

The Self-Motivation Master

Matthew

Mr. Friendly Award

The Good Example Award

The Book Worm 

I presented their awards with the little excerpt I wrote about them and they gave their acceptance speeches and it was a really positive experience. The kids ate the school bus cookie and the snacks from their goody bags while we watched our traditional last day of school movie: The Goofy Movie. That night John took the boys to a friend’s house to watch the Celtics game and I took the girls to watch Cate’s basketball tournament games! We came home late and made mac and cheese, then everyone under 2 and over 15 and older crashed and went to sleep while the boys stayed up watching a movie. 

We did it.

Johnny walking into his last day of 7th grade! Johnny killed it this year. He played football, basketball and ran the 800m/threw discus in track. He played Superman in his lip sync battle at the school between teams. He loves the trumpet, often practicing in the band room during lunch. He even had a solo this year in one of his concerts! Johnny got the Bravery Award at the MACadamy awards (only 6 categories are given per team so it was a huge honor.) I couldn’t agree more with that recognition. Johnny really jumps in with two feet and leans into nerves. His best friend moved half way through the year and Johnny really put himself out there establishing a strong friend group at school. He was on the Math Team and joined conditioning club. This year, Johnny was known as the “big jelly fish” because of a hand shake he did with everyone, he is definitely a class clown with a pretty delightful sense of humor. What I love most about his humor is how he uses it to build others and create a happy environment for everyone. Johnny got straight A’s this year! If I needed to volunteer at the Elementary School, Johnny often would go with me so he could see some of his younger friends and enjoy the traditions there. He soon realized he had outgrown that school, but it was a bewildering experience- I don’t think he ever would have thought it possible. He has been serving as President of his Deacon’s class and has really taken the reigns in leadership. He will often go with his friend, Lucas to the temple to do early morning baptisms.

Cate, William and Matthew: the early morning crew. We would drive Cate to seminary at 7:15 am then swing the boys over to the Elementary school every morning. The last few months Cate has been the primary driver as she is trying to get her hours in.

Cate’s last day as a Freshman! Holy cow, it is crazy she has crossed off that first year of high school. I am really going to miss Freshman year! Yes, there was a lot, A LOT, of driving her around; but, I really enjoyed that time bonding together. Cate participated in varsity XC, JV basketball and JV softball.  She got the MVP award for XC too! She also participated in choir. She not only made all state choir, but also placed first at the conference solo/ensemble completion sending her and her friend, Roan to the state competition (placing 8), she has loved choir and I feel like watching her sing is her happiest most authentic version of herself! She was also Freshman Class secretary this year. As a member of Leadership she ran a lot of events and had a great head start getting involved in high school. She led her class to get 2nd place at the huge lip sync battle for the spirit cup. This was something very outside her comfort zone, but every day she went in at lunch teaching students the choreography and helping their class prepare. She also performed in a Poetry reading competition making it to conference finals.  Cate took all honors and AP classes this year and really worked hard to meet the demands of these challenging courses. I was really impressed with her work ethic, often coming home from practice and doing homework late into the night after practice and then waking up early to go to seminary or the temple. It has been an honor watching her navigate the throws of high school, she gives her best effort in every endeavor, and I feel like she planted some good seed this year.

The Brudders, the Brassell Boys of elementary school.

Matthew rocked 2nd grade this year! He had multiple play dates every week, and truly loves spending time with friends. Every month, the teachers high light a different quality and Matthew received the cooperation award in May for his good example and for jumping in and helping friends or his teacher in class. He won the Jog-a-thon for his grade! At recess he created a gang called The Bananas, and he was titled “The Banana King.” It cracked me up. I was able to volunteer a couple times in his classroom, and every time Emma was the most popular girl and he loved showing her off. Matthew played fall and spring soccer this year with a couple friends and every Wednesday they would come over and play all afternoon until practice. 

William this awesome in 4th grade and is ready to enter his last year in elementary! William played soccer and basketball this year. This is the year William was able to be a an original settler and he was assigned Peter Britt, which William loved since he was probably the most influential man of his time. He got to walk around and see where he worked, lived, and was buried. William plays soccer at recess. He is an independent worker and doesn’t need to be reminded to get homework done. He has a cute group of boys that he’s been lucky enough to have since kindergarten. This year also performed in the musical at the Peter Britt amphitheater, and he loved it. He made a few dioramas for school and it was fun to go and watch him present his information. 

Here is Emma at the elementary school picnic earlier this week. She has been my little buddy this year and I’m so grateful to have her joy in my life!

Jacksonville Elementary at the Britt!

Flash back to May 2019. Our family was still fairly new to the rogue valley and the Jacksonville community. People had been friendly and we were discovering the good things about our new home. It is a lot of work moving and integrating a family successfully to a new location. I remember feeling socially tired. The elementary school musical that year was Mary Poppins. The 4th graders, including Caity, were in the chorus in bowler hats, dressed up as bankers. Caity had been earnestly practicing all the songs and choreography and I can still picture her marching and singing “Precision and order…” with resolute exactness. She was so excited to be selected to “go fly a kite” and she really got into character miming wind. Anyway, a lot of build up leading to the musical. I remember walking up to the rehearsal in a field trip with Johnny and seeing the Brit Amphitheater decked out for the play and feeling floored. It was an incredible production. That evening it seemed all of Jacksonville gathered to celebrate its children and support this amazing program headed by Wendy Stanik. The weather was perfect, and the excitement was darling as parents talked about their kids’ parts. I remember sitting in the theater and looking at the swaying trees and thinking, “OK, this is my home now. I’m so grateful to be here.” It was a meaningful moment and ever since the Jacksonville Elementary Musical is one of my favorite traditions every year. I love that after a school year of volunteering and working within the school community, I get to see all my volunteer friends and families of my kids’ classmates. It is magical. 

Last year, Johnny played Mr. Salt in Willy Wonka. He was darling in his mustache and suit. 

This year, the musical was “Finding Nemo”. As a fourth grader, William got to be in the chorus as a turtle. It was delightful watching him do all the choreography and smile so big and look over at me at the parts he found funny. Again, the weather was perfect and it was so much fun seeing all the Jacksonville families that we’ve grown close to over the years. Katelyn, Spencer and James were also able to come! It was such a fun night, and I’m so grateful for the sacrifices made to pull it off.

 

 

Sleeping Baby Onboard

 I was rushing from dropping off William to pick up Cate, frantically calling John to see if he could pick up Johnny and his friend from football conditioning, only to realize we left Matthew behind at a friend’s house. By the time I realized Cate’s practice was running long I anxiously sped off to pick up William across town. I was overwhelmed and frustrated all the driving was not connecting smoothly. I felt panicky as I often do in these circumstances, then I looked in my rear view mirror to see sweet Emma asleep. Her dark eye lashes, rosebud lips, cherub cheeks, dimpled knuckles: a peacefulness washed over me. I checked in on her every few seconds and felt so much gratitude for her sweet pure soul and the goodness it brings to my life. What a blessing she is to me.

Valentine’s Day 2024

The pictures loaded in a random order, so bear with me! 

Valentine’s Day was a whirlwind of happenings here at the Brassell House. Between a high schooler, middle schooler, two elementary age kids, and a baby: we know how spread ourselves thin- ha! It was such a fun day. I’ll break it down by person.

Cate: made valentines for her friends at high school. She stapled Lindor chocolates to a heart she created on canva. She also wrote sweet notes to her closer friends. She said as much fun as it was passing them out, she ultimately felt pretty vulnerable at the end of the day. That was so relatable to me! She had basketball practice after school. Her coach gifted each girl a kind card and Dutch bros gift card. It made her night. He started out his cars with, “ I don’t want to be your valentine, I want to be your coach.” That made me laugh. From practice she went straight to a youth church activity she was supposed to plan with three other girls. No other girls showed up! Yikes. She handled it with stride and came home exhausted but happy how it turned out. I was so proud of her. High School has been demanding and she has kept a cool head, and I just love spending time with her as she re groups between things. Also, she is my ministering partner at church and she made our ladies heart shaped muffins with a little scripture attached and kind note. I thought that was fun. 

Johnny: started off the day with a bang at the dentist for a toothache! So that was pretty miserable, but we were able to figure out what is needed for his sore tooth, which was nice. Johnny and Cate took peanut butter cups to their teachers with notes that said “You butter believe I’m glad you’re my teacher!” Johnny wore his nicest button up shirt and khaki shorts so he could attend the Valentine’s Day social after school. The was a dance and carnival games. When the one slow song came on, he goofily danced with his friend, Truman, to avoid the girls. He came home from the dance and headed straight to church activities as well. 

William and Matthew: I found out Monday night they needed to make a valentines box for Wednesday. Keep in mind, Cate had an away basketball game (meaning 30 minutes away) both Monday and Tuesday, so we were on a time crunch! William wanted to make a tiger box to match his friend Grady. Matthew wanted to make a Creeper from Minecraft. After I spray-painted primer on the boxes, the boys took control and I think their boxes turned out so cute and it will be such a fun memory making them together. I feel like they would both like me to note: William’s was painted gold on the inside and Matthew’s was painted red (like an explosion in the mouth.) Their valentines were lego insects with an attached card. William and Matthew made sure to edit the wordage on some by crossing out “mine” with “a friend” so the recipient would know that all these boys wanted the recipient to "BE" was a friend and not "mine". Haha. They came home from school and we watched a the Little Mermaid, while they ate treats from school. They also freaked out when they saw a tackle box full of little treats from my mom. That was fun! William had basketball practice then headed straight for primary activities at the church with Matthew. 

Emma: explored the dentist's office, ran errands with mom, had a couple good naps, loved choosing treats from Grandma’s little treat bento box, took a nice long bubble bath while the kids were at church activities.