Our October

October 7th was "Bring your Bible to school day".  It was a nation wide event that all three of our kids participated in this year.

Sarah and Eric had a "Daddy Daughter Date night".  They spent time at the mall people watching, then went to Dairy Queen.

The kids really enjoyed playing some backyard volleyball this fall.  We practiced skills together and divided into small teams to play games.

Eric and I celebrated our 18th anniversary on October 4th.  He's still as handsome as ever.  I love him more each year.  He is my BFF and I want to hold his hand forever.

We celebrated by eating dinner at Stearman's and having Crumbl Cookies.

Phoebe had her first middle school choir concert in October.  Her group only sang one song, but it sounded great!

Lucy, our cat (below), likes to hang out with Phoebe after school.

Grandma Sharon made it to town to get to see Sarah play volleyball.

I found Lucy like this one afternoon (below)...all curled up at the top of her cat tower.

Boogie on the Blacktop was held at Silas's elementary school.  Each grade level performed a dance to a couple songs for the relatives that came to support them.  Below, with his friends - Owen, Tyson, Silas, Isaac, Arnez, and Alex.

The kids and I spent a fun day with our friends, Jenny, Haylee, and Gavin.  We started at the zoo looking at animals and cool light-up animals and bugs all over the zoo.

We got to see the baby Rhino running around his pen and trying to get his mama to play with him.

After the zoo, we headed to Freddy's for a late lunch together.

Then that evening, we met under the big top tent to play some hometown BINGO.  Below, Shawna, Phoebe, Haylee, and Ana.

Jenny was the big winner from our group!

We ended the fun day by attending the home varsity boys football game.  Silas and his Jr. Colt football team got to go on the field at halftime with their coaches to be recognized.

Phoebe and Sarah's volleyball teams played in end-of-season tournaments on the same Saturday in different towns.  To make matters even more chaotic, Silas had a football game that morning in an entirely different town than either of the volleyball tournaments.  We had to divide and conquer and call in Hendrickson kid fan reinforcements.... I went with Phoebe, Eric took Silas, and Popee and Nanee rearranged their schedule and were Sarah's number one fans that day.

Phoebe's team played in four matches to win the whole tournament.  They took first place out of sixteen teams!  It was a fun day for these "Hot Tamales".

Sarah's team didn't fair so well.  Sarah did have some great serves and saves.  We were so thankful Popee and Nanee could be there most of the day to cheer on her and her team for every match'game.

We were able to take a short trip to Branson to go to Silver Dollar City for the Pumpkin Nights Festival.

There were SO MANY pumpkins and Jack-O-Lanterns throughout the park.

We had a great time watching shows and riding some of our favorite rides at SDC.

There were some GIANT pumpkins.

As it started to get dark and we could see all the the Jack-O-Lanterns lit up we were amazed at the creativity.

We also got to see the Sights and Sounds Theater production of JESUS.  IT WAS SO GOOD!

Silas's class got to go on a field trip to the pumpkin patch.

On October 30th Popee and Nanee were able to come to Silas's last regular season football game against Circle.  It was a good game and Silas was glad to have them in the stands to cheer for him and his team.

The next day, Sunday, October 31st - Halloween... We were sitting in church waiting for service to start when Sarah got a call on her phone from my mom.  She had been trying to reach me but my phone was silenced and I hadn't seen the missed calls.  We answered and panic ensued (for me).  Dad was having a heart attack and had been taken by ambulance to the ER.  We immediately left church, went by home to grab some items, and headed to meet mom at the hospital.  Dad had a massive heart attack that morning.  thank God that EMTs arrived quickly and he was evaluated and life flighted to Topeka.  In Topeka he was taken straight to heart cath.  They found two 100% blockages.  They were able to go in through his right arm and place two stents in one and another in the other artery (3 stents).  His heart was also very out of rhythm, going from very fast to slow, and even stopping completely.  So, they placed him on a temporary pace maker to help with that.  They also sedated him and intubated him.  He was admitted to the ICU, where he spent two nights before being moved to a regular room to continue his recovery.  Lindsee was able to fly in to help.  So, Lindsee, Mom, and I stayed in Topeka for most of Dad's hospital duration.