November - imagine a dragon, kelly thanksgiving

November was slowly busy if that makes sense. Something was happening every weekend. At school they were cramming to get to a stopping point in their studies for the long holiday weekend. Their was so many kids that came out for Drama this year they split it into two plays. 9th-12^th grades did Princess Bride showing the 8^th 9^th and 14^th . Its much more fun watching things when you know the kids and most of these kids I've had in primary or known for years. Ryan Bird was Fezzik, Macie was Buttercup. Peyton Smith was Vizzini. 5^Th -8^th grade did IMAGINE A DRAGON showing twice the week before Thanksgiving. It was nice to give the younger group bigger parts and more stage time. Axel was so excited. I was happily surprised he took it so seriously. He boldly stood to deliver each of his lines. No mic required for my kids. Katana as one of the oldest young actors was cool calm and collected. Even for her Solo song portion. “You wouldn't believe it but while you were gone. The dragon swooped by and settled down on the lawn And he roared a terrible roar and he hissed a terrible hiss and then he flew away but he left us this.....A DRAGON EGG!. Both productions were fabulous. Sometime in there I got ambitious and made tamales with the kids. Winter hit...I'm freezing! The boys had their annual Nerf Battle at activity days. And the months not over yet.

Thanksgiving was with the Kelly side. We rented School House Inn. A 5,500 sq. ft. historic school converted into a house it has a large kitchen, living room and original gym. It was perfect. The kids stayed up all night playing, watching movies, and talking. Zara was right there with them. Echo had this crazy idea to do team games. We spent months texting back and forth with our groups. Coming up with costumes, chants, banners, team names, call signs, intro dance etc. We had minute to win it games, volleyball and dodge-ball tournament and tug of war. THE OUTLAW COWBOY WIZARD GANG (or handicapped Harry Potter) won on presentation 2^nd overall. They did a pacific island war chant routine with a surprise ending. Malena was mortified to admit she put the tattoo on JD's behind for their end reveal. It was epic. I told Marc he was going to have to one up them if we wanted to win. We were happy with our 3^rd place tie with blue. Katana made Blues flag. She was so nervous but it turned out so good. They were OUTLANDISH HIGHLANDERS (or Braveheart wannabes). “Turris Fortis Mihi Deus” Latin for God is my strong tower. The motto from the Kelly Clan coat of arms. Zara was excited for team NEON ROSES (or pinkalicious). They were going for hippy tutu vibes. Preston wants it explicitly stated “that pink Won.” She packed all pink for all the days. Mace and I were PURPLE PEOPLE EATERS with the matching song by Sheb Wooley. (or team guy purple) One activity was to Lava Hot Springs was just 10 minutes up the road. We also hit Soda Springs geyser a short 15 minutes the other way. We sampled the water at Carbonated Springs. Axel almost died when he pushed his Dad in. Preston was pissed and left me to find my own way home. Marc freaked out once about food waste but surprisingly it was a fairly drama free weekend. Oh except for the bomb my Mom dropped right before we got there. Apparently they were in the hospital all weekend. My dad had a “mini heart attack.” Well after all the stress tests they did it wasn't his heart. Apparently he had better numbers than some 30 year old mountain climbers that come in. They called it a “Vasovagal Syncope” episode. AKA -A scary unknown. More tests to follow.