2013 in Review

2013 In Review (just posted a year late!)

Emilie: Played both indoor and outdoor soccer.  She swam with the Barracuda swim team this past summer and then joined year round swim team for the first time and the team name for year round is Cape County Castaways, their colors are orange and blue with Emilie loves.  She was Vixen in the 2nd grade musical. 

Hyrum: Earned his Star Scout.  He was in the percussion group Shere Khan and was able to perform at the State Convention with the rest of his group.  He played indoor soccer.  The biggest event for him this year was playing the lead role of Robin Hood in the school play.  He also attended scout camp for the first time and made the discovery that mint lotion keeps the ticks away.  He became a Deacon at church. He also finally had his opportunity to attend Camp Lakewood with the gifted students, which both of his older siblings had done in the past.  Bryn got to attend as a chaperone and they had a great time up in the woods by a lake.  In the Fall of this year, he started Junior High where he joined BETA clug, served as a library leader, did mission possible team, and was Student of the Month in PE.  He played viola in orchestra and did percussion in band. He also joined year round swimming.

Reed: Played indoor soccer which he loves, and was a member of student senate. As part of senate, he helped with concessions, hanging a chandelier for a big dance, and Special Olympics.  He was a varsity swimmer on high school swim team and was all conference.  He also played on the tennis team.  He took German at school and then started learning Chinese. He also was a member of BETA club, FBLA, and the Chinese representative for World Language Club.  For Model United Nations, he represented the country of Bolivia.  He attended a Leadership Conference on scholarship at Westminster College.  He focused on percussion for music.  It was a big year of getting his driver's license and all A's at school.  He is ranked in the top 5 in his class.  He asked Jaycie to Winter Ball but it was cancelled due to bad weather.  He had the opportunity to attend EFY for the 2nd time.

Mallory: This was a very big year for Mallory as she graduated from Cape Central High School.  She received awards for 1st place in the region for Ceramics.  She had to have a tube put in one of her ears, like little kids do, because it filled with fluid in the inner ear and would not go away to the point that she couldn't hear.  She also was awarded a scholarship in music and cello to SEMO. In addition she had a Regents Scholarship and a Bright Flight Scholarship which would have totaled about $15000 had she gone to SEMO but she was accepted to BYU and felt good about her decision to go there.  She also was blessed with a great summer job at John's Pharmacy and and an anonymous scholarship for $5000 which allowed her to go to BYU.  As a Senior she was able to be part of the SEMO Symphony and shortly after graduation she was able to travel with them on a performance trip to Washinton DC and New York City.  She took a summer honors course at BYU and then started her Freshman year at BYU.  She lived on campus in Heritage Halls and was able to room with her cousin, Dominique Temple. She was blessed to get a job working at the BYU faculty center like her father had done before her so many years ago now. She dated a nice young man by the name of Kent Coble who served his mission in the Philippines. By the end of the year she was filling out her papers to serve a mission.

Kevin is an Associate Professor at SEMO and continued to serve as First Counselor in the Stake Presidency as well as early morning seminary teacher for Reed.  In addition, he served as Chair of the Compensation Committee and had 2 papers accepted for publication.

Brynda had fun attending the State Music Educator's Convention with her friend Kristin Condie and watching the kids perform with Shere Khan.  She was even able to sneak in a tour of Bride Cave which she enjoyed.  By a strange twist in circumstance she got got left underground for awhile by herself but she enjoyed it since she likes caves anyway.  She continued to teach gospel doctrine for the 3rd year  and she also continued to work as a volunteer with the ESL program at the Adult Learning Center.  She also helped at the Humane Society as a volunteer and helped with Nativities around the World at the Church. She was lucky to have a personal trainer who tried to help her get in shape.  

As a FAMILY: We enjoyed helping out at the Food Bank, Back packs for Fridays, and we also helped with Feed My Starving Children.  WE had our house for sale but it was not meant to be.  We also lost our dear neighbor Cleo.  We were blessed to make some new Chinese friends.  We all attended the Dice Tower Board Game Convention in Orlando, Florida which also serves as a back drop for yearly Dickson brother reunions.  All of us help work the convention.  On November 16th, we adopted a new family member! a dog named Charly!

Charly:  Charly was born July 8, 2008 and is 3/4 lab and 1/4 bull mastiff.  She weighs about 100 pounds and is an indoor dog.  Brynda met her when she was volunteering and quickly realized that Charly was fully trained and a wonderful dog.  She managed to convince Kevin to let her get a dog even though we had never had a dog before in all of our married life.  She has truly become a part of our family. 

Dickson Family 2012 in Review

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emilie (6): Played indoor and outdoor soccer, loved taking a tumbling class and does cartwheels all over the house, started 1st grade, is learning to read and loves books, lost all of her front teeth and had a nice toothless smile for a little while, loved being on Swim Team during the summer and learned all the different swim strokes, runs a mile every week with Marathon kids club

 

 

 

 

 

Hyrum (11): received his Arrow of Light and graduated to Boy Scouts, raced in Soap Box Derby, doing indoor soccer, running club, Drama Club, Mission Possible Team (a science-based club), Shere Khan (percussion ensemble), loves swimming, and was just selected to play Robin Hood in his school play in the Spring, he loves doing service and has participated in numerous community service projects

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reed (15): started High School this year, swam for the Gator Swim Team and placed 1st in Breaststroke at the Summer League Championships, got his braces off, started Seminary, is learning German, made First Alternate cello in District Honors Orchestra, also plays percussion in band and in a percussion ensemble, completed his last year of Mission Possible Team, ran Cross Country, plays indoor soccer, is also in BETA Club, German/French Club, and Student Senate, he is close to obtaining his Eagle Scout, just got his driving permit, loved EFY this past summer, and Youth Conference in Arkansas, worked as a soccer referee and as a library volunteer, he also enjoys playing piano in his free time, and he befriended a transfer student from China who he still keeps in touch with, his favorite activity is jet-skiing on the lake, Reed helped our neighbor when she fell and called for help and made her comfortable until help arrived

 

 

 

 

Mallory (17): is a Senior this year, completed 4 years of Varsity Cross Country and is now in her 4th year of Varsity Swim Team, First Chair Cello in Orchestra, Second chair for District Honors Orchestra, took the ACT and got a 31 with a perfect 36 in Reading and English, got her Driver’s License this past year (so glad she can drive to seminary now!), had her 5 wisdom teeth removed, National Honor Society, BETA club, Senior Class Representative in Student Senate, her Art work for large scale drawing was in the window display of the Arts Council downtown, also painted murals on a business wall and on her cousin’s wall, loves sculpting with clay, Participated in Model United Nations, State Music Festival, scratched cornea and switched to soft contacts, Enjoyed EFY again, received the Regent’s Scholarship to Southeast Missouri State University (full tuition), accepted to BYU-Idaho, and is hoping to go to BYU in the Fall and on a mission the year after

 

Brynda: is glad she is not still in high school, is in her 3rd year of teaching Gospel Doctrine at church, also recently called to help with 11 year old scouts, volunteers at her children’s schools and helps with community service projects, also volunteers weekly at the Adult Learning Center helping a Spanish woman to learn English, loves family history, was the Kindergarten Girls Soccer coordinator, was sad when her Chinese friend Jean went back to China, was a speaker at a 4 stake youth conference at Arkansas State University.

 

 

 

Kevin: has been married to Brynda for 19 years as of December! Finished his term as Faculty Senate Chair at Southeast Missouri State University where he is also an Associate Professor of Management, is 1st Counselor in the Stake Presidency of the Cape Girardeau Stake, was the commencement speaker at Metro Business College, recently saw Wicked at the Fox Theater with Brynda, drove the whole way on the trip out East mentioned below, was also a speaker at the above mentioned youth conference.

 

 

 

 

The family enjoyed traveling to see the Luke’s, Kirtland sites, Niagara Falls, Palmyra (the Hill Cumorah Pageant) and the Sacred Grove, and upstate New York to see Brynda’s Aunt Keta and family this past summer. Hopefully, we’ll be able to spend time with more family and friends this coming summer. Love, The Dicksons

2011 in Review

Kevin turned 40 this year. In the Spring, he began his term as Chair of the Faculty Senate for Southeast Missouri State University. As part of his responsibilities, he has traveled to Missouri’s capital, Jefferson City, a few times this year for meetings with the Governor and he has enjoyed getting to know many people at the University. In June, on our daughter’s 16th birthday, Kevin was released as Second Counselor in the Stake Presidency and called to be First Counselor in the Stake Presidency of the Cape Girardeau Stake.

Brynda (40) continues to be busy with four kids at four different schools, last school year and this school year. At church she teaches adult Sunday School and taught the New Testament this past year. She enjoyed helping Hyrum, along with the scouts and Optimist club, paint “Happy” the train at Arena Park. She also enjoyed volunteering at the Food bank of SE Missouri with her kids, then helping them again as backpacks were put together for school children to have food to bring home each weekend. In November, she enjoyed helping the youth sort the coats and winter clothes that would be given away on Thanksgiving to those in need. At the end of April, she found out that her friend Lisa Pocock Davis had become a health coach. Lisa convinced her to change her eating and get in shape through the Take shape for life program. Brynda lost 30 pounds and enjoyed having lots more energy to keep up with the busy kids. She and Hyrum recently enjoyed hiking 3 miles in Trail of Tears State Park with the Webelos and helping with Scouting for Food. This past semester she has been working out with a personal trainer 3 times a week. Brynda also serves as the Kindergarten Girls Coordinator for the local soccer league.

Mallory (16) was happy to get her braces off in February. She was busy this past year participating in Varsity Swimming, J.V. Scholar Bowl, Spanish Club, BETA club, early morning seminary, and Varsity Cross Country. She ran a 5K in March, then once Cross Country season started in the Fall, she was running 5 K’s all the time and feeling like she could have run farther. She had poetry and creative writing published in the competitive high school publication, Central Light, and competed at the State level for cello. She also received a special art award at the high school and was recognized by Jo Ann Emerson (our Congresswoman) as a Congressional Art Contest Award Winner. She enjoyed attending EFY in Provo during the summer and spending time with family in Idaho. She also loved girls’ camp where she was a youth leader and youth conference where she enjoyed getting to know a young man by the name of William. William took her on her first date in September. She also made it to Districts in Cross Country and was selected as one of the region’s top runners. In addition she made All-District Orchestra and added another bar to her academic letter for continuing to be on “A” honor roll. She’s taking college credits this year and is ready to get her license when mom and dad decide they can afford the insurance. Mallory’s friend, Liz, joined our church and Kevin had the privilege of baptizing her.

Reed (14) got braces in January. He played soccer and was running track but had to discontinue due to Sever’s Disease (pain in the heels associated with growing). He is probably about 5’10’’ now and wears shoes the same size as Kevin. Reed participates in BETA club and Art and Reading Club. He enjoyed helping during back to school registration. Reed attended high school Marching Band Camp. Then he took a refereeing class for soccer and became a referee for the local soccer league during the Fall Season. Currently, he is playing indoor soccer. He made Jr. High All-District Band in percussion. He also plays the cello and the piano. He met a visiting Chinese student at school this past semester and they quickly became good friends. Reed helped Ming with English and the transition to America. Ming even taught Reed about 35 words in Chinese. Sadly, Ming has to return to China this month.

Hyrum (10) enjoys running and designed the medal that was used at the end of Marathon Kids club. He graduated from Alma Schrader Elementary and started school at Central Middle School. He tried out for and made it into Drama Club and Shere Khan (a percussion group). He also enjoys running and went to Cross Country summer camp with Reed and belongs to Running Club at school. He enjoyed visiting Jefferson City for the state capitol tour. He and Kevin enjoyed an overnight stay at the Planetarium/Science Center with his gifted group at school. He helped Brynda pick blackberries and make them into blackberry jam this past summer. He got to attend a Cardinals games in St. Louis with our new friends the Condie’s who moved
here from San Antonio, Texas. He is taking piano lessons and playing indoor
soccer. He has developed an increased love of reading and continues to love
swimming.

Emilie (5) loves to play soccer and swim. She even won a ribbon in the summer league championships for back stroke. This was surprising as she is only 5 and had to swim in the 8 and under group. Emilie graduated from Pre-K at Blanchard Elementary and now attends Kindergarten at Alma Schrader which she has looked forward to for a number of years now. She thrives in school and enjoys being at the center of everything. She can officially do cartwheels now. She loves to color and draw and has set up her own little “office” in the basement

We enjoyed having Grandma Shana out during the summer and
were finally able to take her to visit Nauvoo and Carthage. While there, we
were able to see Kevin’s uncle (his dad’s identical twin) and aunt who are
serving a mission there. Kevin’s brothers along with their families and Tanya
were able to come out for the second annual Kevincon--days of game playing and a night floating on the lazy river at Cape Splash. We also enjoyed getting to know the Shahwan family that moved here this past summer from the country of Jordan. They opened a Mediterranean “Brick Oven” that we like to frequent. We also have enjoyed getting to know Ming’s mother “Jean” who is very loving and friendly. She played basketball with Reed, Ming, and a group of guys every Wednesday night. John Fournier, former chef of Gregory Peck, also gave us a fun cooking lesson at the Condie’s house. We also enjoyed Contra Dancing as a family.

We love our family and the many people who come into our
lives and become “family.” We’re thankful for the Savior not just at Christmas
but all year long. We have our house on the market as we are trying to buy a
slightly larger house. We’ll keep you posted if our address changes.

With love,
The Dickson family
(Kevin, Brynda, Mallory, Reed, Hyrum, and Emilie)

2010 in Review

Dear Family and Friends,

Is it just me or did this year go by even faster than normal? 2010 has been a busy year. As I look back over all the things we did I think maybe we need to consider doing much less…As a family, we enjoyed going on a trip to see the Cahokia Indian Mounds in Illinois and visiting the St. Louis Zoo where we were able to pet Sting Rays, my mom was here visiting and was able to go with us. Kevin’s brother Greg, and his other brother Vernon and family were able to come out and visit us in June for a fun week of cousins playing together and the rest of us fitting in as many board games as we could J. We also enjoyed having our friend Tanya out to visit twice from L.A.

In July, we visited our friends, the Busch's, in Atlanta, GA and then stayed in Orlando, Florida for a few days. We were able to spend some time with mission friends, Alex and Rosa Mancuso and their two daughters, and we were able to go to Disneyworld for the first time. Emilie loved seeing Buzz Lightyear and she hated Splash Mountain. Hyrum loved it all. Reed decided he did not like Space Mountain and Mallory decided she likes roller coasters after all. Kevin, Mallory, and Reed were able to go to the Orlando Temple with Kevin’s brother, Vernon, who is the Young Men’s President in his ward in Davie, Florida. We went down to Davie, Florida next to be with Vernon’s family and were able to play lots more games, visit the beach, and the Flamingo Gardens.

Recently, we had fun going to a university football game together and going to see Tangled 3D at the theater. On a sad note, our cat, Lexie, disappeared one April night and we have not seen her since. We think an owl got her as we spotted one the next day near our house.

Emilie turned 4 in February. She started Pre-K at Blanchard Elementary, since Alma Schrader is in the process of adding on and had less room this year. She played soccer in the spring and in the fall. She really got into it by fall and scored seven goals in one game. She and I attended the opening of the Cape Children’s Museum and she ended up on the front page of our local paper! She did swim team this past summer and learned how to swim then went on to compete in two swim meets, earning ribbons at both (it helps that they let you grab the lane line as needed at age four.)

Hyrum continues to love cub scouts and Explorers. He turned nine in April. He is in his final year at Alma Schrader, since he is in fourth grade. He loves participating in the fourth grade choir and helping with safety patrol. Just before his ninth birthday he got contacts which he likes better than glasses. He played soccer in the spring. He also had the opportunity to go to the City Museum in St. Louis for the first time and loved it. Half the time, I wasn’t sure if he was in the ceiling or under the tile floor—what a place that is! He ran weekly with Marathon Kids after school last school year and continues to do so this year. This past summer, Hyrum loved being on swim team and being in the soap box derby. On his practice run, a girl’s car ended up crossing in front of him near the end in a t-bone crash. It was scary and her car was done for the day with a cracked floor board and Hyrum’s car had to be put back together as he had lost a wheel and axle. He kept the bent axle as a prize. He and the girl had already been friends on swim team and became even better friends through their crash experience.

Reed enjoyed the last semester of middle school. He was in reading club, math Olympiad, triathlon kids club, and he was a finalist in the school’s Geography Bee. He made it to the final four in the chess club championships and enjoyed being a part of the percussion ensemble, Shere Khan. They traveled to Iowa City on tour. Reed got to play a lively Caribbean tune on the steel drum which he really liked. He also was able to go with his Explore Group to Camp Lakewood up near Potosi, MO. He learned team building skills and survival techniques. I enjoyed going too. He and I also joined the sixth grade on their end of the year zoo trip. He played soccer every season and continues to play on an indoor soccer team now that it is winter. In the spring, he played on an all star team. He qualified to go to the state track meet by winning first in more than one event at the Hershey’s track and field meet but we decided to skip this year. Reed started junior high as a seventh grader this past fall and recently turned thirteen. He is enjoying percussion and cello classes. He also participates in library leaders, reading club, BETA club, and Art club. He ran cross country for the junior high and ended up placing tenth in the Conference Meet. He recently received a full size marimba to practice on at home.

Mallory is fifteen and a sophomore in high school. This past summer she got her driver’s permit. She really likes driving and wants to take her dad’s Honda Civic as soon as she gets her license this coming summer. Mallory swam with the Gator swim team this past summer and worked as a volunteer at the Cape Girardeau Public Library. She continues to excel in orchestra (cello) and qualified for District Honors Orchestra. She has also continued to be in Spanish club and BETA club. She completed her second year as a Varsity Cross Country runner for the high school and is swimming for the high school for her second year. Mallory earned her Academic letter for being on the A honor roll both semesters of her freshman year. Mallory continues to attend early morning seminary and her Spanish teacher and Art teacher both told me that she is gifted in these areas when I attended parent-teacher conferences. She also is in Honors Chemistry, Honors English, and Honors Algebra II. She also joined Junior Varsity Scholar Bowl this year; so far they have won most of their meets.

Brynda (Me) can’t believe she will be 40 this month! Where do the years go? In May, I was released from being the Ward Relief Society President after only two years when Kevin received a new calling. Later, in May, I was called to be the Ward Gospel Doctrine teacher, and I have enjoyed getting an in-depth look at the Old Testament. In the spring, when I went to Camp Lakewood with Reed, I got to have fun doing archery and climbing a rock wall, only to make what felt like a suicidal jump to get back down again! I was feeling my age. I started working out four times a week from September until now, as a guinea pig for a student at the University training to be a personal trainer. I discovered after weeks of sore muscles that I do feel much better when I keep up a regular exercise routine. I have been getting a few white hairs so I had blond highlights added to mix in with them J.

Kevin has been almost as busy as the kids if that’s possible. In April, he was released from being first counselor in the Ward Bishopric to be called as second counselor in the Stake Presidency. Over Spring Break, Kevin went to Washington D.C. to take students to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a non-partisan policy think tank. He was elected Faculty Senate Chair-Elect at Southeast Missouri State University and will be the Faculty Senate Chair next year. He flew out to Los Angeles in October for the baby blessing of our new niece Charlotte Naida Dickson, Greg and Stephanie’s first child. He enjoyed spending the time with his family and friends out there, all 3 brothers were able to be there which doesn’t happen all that often with us all living in different time zones.

We wish you a Merry Christmas from our family during this special season in which we remember the birth of the Savior of the world.

Kevin, Brynda, Mallory, Reed, Hyrum, and Emilie