My Brother Jon

This Thanksgiving is unlike any other my family has celebrated. Today we are overwhelmingly thankful for my brother Jon. We will spend today thanking the Lord for his life and remembering the gift that he was to our family. Jon died on Friday, November 19th from an accidental overdose of prescription medication.

We'll remember him with a service at Faith Bible Church in The Woodlands, TX on Saturday, December 4th at 2pm.

Jon was a precious son to my parents, brother to Colin and me, an identical twin to Adam, an uncle to Cooper and a dad to Hudson. His smile lit up any room and everyone who knew him loved him.

We're thankful to have a family photo from his visit in October.

I'm grateful that Cooper knew and loved his Uncle Jon.

(Even though he still really can't tell the twins apart! When asked to identify people in our family photos, he calls Jon by his name and calls Adam "another Jon") : )

Although we're deeply grieved by the loss of Jon, we believe that he had placed his trust in Jesus and is with Him in heaven now. We believe that Jon is fully at peace, restored, and forgiven. We have hope that we will meet again someday. And we're grateful that our faith brings us peace in the midst of great sorrow.

Thank you for your prayers and outpouring of love for our family. This Thanksgiving, we have so very many things to be thankful for!

Painting

My artistic side just smiles when he asks to paint.

Fun Run!

There are many perks to being a kindergarten teacher. Today, the Boosterthon Fun Run climbed to the top of the list. In an effort to support our school, the "Bates Blast Off" spent 10 days collecting pledges, earning prizes, and getting ready for today's Fun Run. And it was SO MUCH FUN!

We got into the spirit by painting our faces and doing jumping jacks next to our desks for a warm up. Before we got to the park for the run, the kids were already proclaiming this as the best day of their lives. After just 5 years of life, it very well could have been. I'm telling you, we had some FUN!

What a FUN way to raise money for our school and build a sense of community! We ran around a 1/16th of a mile course to jammin' music for 30 minutes while parents cheered and waved signs. I felt like I was back at camp again. The Bates Blast Off team did so well and the kids couldn't have been more proud of their success. And I reveled in the opportunity to paint my face, wear a headband, and dance around like a maniac.

After 10 days of hype, I had to break the news that the Fun Run was over. There were a lot of really sad kids and I won't lie - we had a few criers. But it's a life lesson - All good things must come to an end...

Until next year Boosterthon!

Pumpkin Head

A redheaded kid with an orange shirt and a pumpkin... can you blame me for running for my camera?!

I asked him to hold the pumpkin in his lap - whoa!

And we couldn't leave out our favorite white kitty. Millions of pictures of her and Coops to follow.

One More

I had to add one last photo of Cooper in his Andy Dalton costume. I think he wore his TCU jersey every minute of the weekend when he wasn't in the bathtub! On Sunday we went out trick or treating in my parents' neighborhood and my little football player had such fun. This really was his first trick or treating experience and I was a little nervous. Anyone watch Parenthood? Think Max - We rehearsed his lines ("trick or treat" and "thank you ma'am/sir") and what to do (stay on the doormat, do not go in, do not ring the doorbell 20 times, etc...) and what to expect (kids running, people with masks, scary costumes) We had a few 'oops' moments - I had to pull him out of a few people's entryways and remind him that most people didn't want him to pet their dogs. But overall, he did well! And the best part is - he doesn't like candy was much as his mom, so he's very willing to share. Yay!