A Scholarship Award

November 1, 2018

Brinley applied for the Women's Energy Network scholarship.  She didn't really know much about it other than her cousin (CJ King) mentioned it to her.  She had to submit a transcript and a 500 word essay and then we attended a three hour banquet.  I was dying a little at the idea of a three hour banquet and instructional evening.  Brian traveled to Lubbock to watch Parker play and I saw Aubrey for about 10 minutes after school before we had to leave to the banquet.  Tanner was at school staying for tutoring and I had to call my dad to give him a ride home.  Every time we had a break I was fielding texts and trying to arrange rides to and from the Middle School playnight and checking in on Parker's game. Aubrey ended up at Avery's for the evening....love those McKowns!  It was a little complicated but things worked out.

Even though it was a long evening it was actually very interesting.  The women who put it on are all in STEM type fields.  Most of the women worked as chemical or mechanical engineers, teaching math or geologists.  They had a panel were they spoke about how they chose their field of study and a little about their careers and then they opened it up to questions from the floor.  They were very open about not knowing for sure what they might want to do and switching career paths.  The panel information alone was very enlightening I think for the high school girls who attended.  Next they had the parents at the back of the room visiting with Midland College and UTPB counselors while the girls rotated tables every 20 minutes for an hour.  Different professional women were sitting at separate tables telling more about their field and the girls could ask more questions.  I think the tables Brinley chose were geology, engineering and accounting.  After a short break it was time to award the scholarships.  They had $24,000 to award and I was so excited when Brinley's name was called for one of the highest scholarships given.  I was so happy for her and proud of her.  She has always worked very hard in school and it was nice to see that kind of recognition for her.  Thank you Women's Energy Network and Pioneer for making this award possible!

Woot woot!  So proud of our girl!

Super proud of these 1st cousins once removed for receiving the top two awards for the evening!  

Halloween Costumes

October 31, 2018

Aubrey had planned to dress up as pieces of fruit with a few of her friends for the Halloween Carnival at church.  When her friends weren't able to come, she decided she still wanted to be a strawberry and made her cute shirt and hat one night when Brian and I were at Tanner's football game.  

Brian kept teasing her about which fruit she wanted him to be.  She would roll her eyes and ignore him but he wouldn't let up.  I mentioned maybe I would be a fruit too and Aubrey was NOT impressed.  After she went to school one morning, Brinley was cracking up and said "y'all should totally do it."  

So....I made this fancy pineapple hat for Brian and we bought shirts at Hobby Lobby.  Later that evening, when Aubrey was nearby, I casually asked Brian if he was ready to work on his Halloween costume because we needed to get our shirts painted.  Aubrey froze.   I could tell she was still not really believing anything was going to happen but wasn't quite sure.  I wish we could have documented her face when Brian put on his pineapple hat and pulled out his yellow shirt.  It was hilarious!  

See Aub in the background eyeing us!

We teased her for awhile and she said "Fine!  I will just be something else for Halloween.  I'll be a M&M."  Brian and I were like "Perfect!  I will be an orange M&M.  I will be a yellow M&M!"  Aubrey was groaning and laughing and rolling her eyes.  She was 97% sure we were joking but that remaining 3% was giving her grief.  We had a fun time teasing her, but in the end we didn't crash her fruit costume party.

We had the Halloween carnival up at the church and Brian and I were both running a booth.  Can I just say it is so much easier to do this now that we have teens?  It's also kind of nice to have a little area amidst the chaos to hang out and enjoy the cute kiddos in their costumes.  Relief Society did the cake walk and we had lots of help from sisters in the ward baking and donating treats.  Brian was running the bean bag toss for the Young Men's booth.  The Elders Quorum (Bro. Atchley and Grandpa Vore) did the photo booth which is always a fan favorite.  Well, parent favorite for sure.  Bryn and Tanner ended up taking pictures there and I am glad to have them.

I love how Brother Atchley dressed up and I also love seeing my
dad in the background visiting and having fun with each family.

Morgan H and Brinley

Tanner, Lauren B, Brody C, Holden Vore and Gavin B (standing)

Haircuts and Crazy Schedules

October 29, 2018

Our lives or so busy each evening and with Parker and Tanner refereeing soccer each Saturday there just isn't a time to get haircuts.  Finally I decided to just take the boys out during school to take care of it.  The past few years we have had to resort to this method a few times.  The fun part is it was on Taco Villa Monday so they skipped their next class and joined Gram, Grandpa and 10+ other family members for lunch.

Tanner NEVER lets me take pictures of him...especially if he is in his football jersey.  I saw him coming down the hall and thought I could discretely get a photo....but he saw me and was annoyed!  Isn't he so handsome though?!

Sunday Night October 28, 2018

October 28, 2018

Sunday night gathering at Chris and Ang's.  Sadly the Birdies were not there.  They got together with a group of church friends for the evening.  Kerry dropped off Holden and we did have Grandma and Grandpa Honey for a bit. (Ang's parents)  We had a nice evening of visiting.  Two highlights: 1. Lincoln just being there.  It's so fun to have a baby present.  He is one and so cute just walking and jabbering and playing.  2. Megan, Adam and Charity sang/played their musical number that they did in their ward earlier in the day.  It was an arrangement of "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" and it was gorgeous.

Adam, Megan, Grandma Honey, Bryn, Bri & Parker

Aubrey, Lincoln, Grandpa Honey, Chris, & Charity

Ang, Chris, Grandpa and Grandma Vore