September 25

 School!

The 'lazy' days of summer are over and we are in full school swing.  Sam and Will are doing well at Green Canyon.  Mikey is holding down the fort at Mount Logan, and Abbie is missing her brothers at Hillcrest, but enjoying being the oldest in the school. 

We finished the summer with the fair.  That was a fun, if not busy, week.  It is fun watching the kids work hard and show off their goats, no matter how they ended up (sorry, Will, second to last!  after all that work helping your sister and brothers...)

We spent some time playing in the river

And learning new sports

One last hurrah before the start of school

School has started!  Will started the year off with Covid.  He missed the first 3 days.  He got 'really good' at darts and standing on his head.  Sam is doing well at high school.  He is trying to meet new people and make friends at a new school.  He is so glad to have his brother there, and his brother is so glad to have him there.  Can't you tell?

Will does a good job letting Sam come hang around him and his friends while he figures things out.  They have both been very busy.  Will decided he wanted to take APUSHistory, so he has had quite a bit of homework.  He's never really had to do homework before, so this is a new thing for him.  He's trying to keep up with his classes, FFA, Mountain Biking, selling corn, family and friends.  He's doing a good job.  It's hard being the oldest.  The other kids are lucky to be able to watch him and learn how to do it all.   

Abbie went to get her cast off the third day of school and the doc decided she still needed a cast on, for another 4 weeks, so she came home with a new cast on.  We had a trip planned to go to Fruita to mountain bike just a few days before this new cast was supposed to come off, so Reed took matters into his one hand.  He took Bubba's cast off before we left to Fruita (only 4 days before scheduled) so she was able to bike.  We went to Fruita and had a lot of fun biking around.

There has been a lot of mountain biking going on.  The kids have had their three races:  

1-Beaver Mountain:  Mikey's first race. He did great.  Started in 30 something and ended 15 ish.  We then headed down to Mikey's soccer game.  The big boys headed up to their race.  When we got up there to cheer them on, we learned that they had some bike probems and Will took Sam's bike, and Reed had to do some fixing to get Will's bike rideable for Sam.  They both had good attitudes about it and did well.  Will ended up losing both contacts and crashing twice.  I think he ended up 9th or 5th or something.  Sam did great.  He's in the fastest freshman group and ended up about 30th.  

2-Richfield:  We drove down the week before to pre-ride.  It's a fun course.  We rented a little house outside of Richfield and stayed the weekend.  It was a nice time.  The boys all did well. Mikey and Sam stayed about where they were and Will got 2nd.  Which somehow made him the points leader, so we had to stay for podiums and he got the leader jersey.  He doesn't love wearing it-it's like a big target, but that's ok.

3-Mantua:  Mikey rode early (as usual) and froze!  It was about 45 degrees when he rode, and it was chilly!  They all finished about the same place.  Mikey is done for the season, and super bummed about it.  He wishes he had more races.  He has been playing soccer as well, but had to miss quite a few practices because of Mountain Biking.

We have one more race for Sam and Will.  It is in Manti in two weeks.  Sam will probably qualify for state, but weirdly, Will won't, because he is in JVD. 

Abbie has been doing swim lessons-even with her cast on.  Thank goodness for a water proof cast!  She has been loving it.  She just finished one round and is ready for one more before she goes to the swim team.  It's fun to watch her move in the water!

The days have been so busy lately.  Once in a rare while, we are all home at the same time.  The other night the kids all went and picked out some beads at the store and came back and made bracelets.  I am trying to just enjoy these moments, as I know they are fleeting.  I sure love my little family.  I love watching these dang kids grow up and become adults.  It also makes me sad seeing them move on.  Maybe sad isn't the right word.  But man, time is fleeting.  

We went to Fruita one weekend between races.  It was the one weekend we thought we could go.  We have been busy and gone a lot, so I don't know how excited we were to go, but when we got there, it was wonderful.  

Friday was rainy in the morning, so we couldn't bike.  We drove through the Colorado National Monument and it was so pretty-especially after rain.  We got a ride in the afternoon.

Saturday we rode a couple of times.  The kids love the 18 road trails-we do cheat and shuttle the rides.  Abbie rode with Reed a couple of times and is getting much better.  Pretty soon I'm not going to be able to keep up with her. That night we went to eat at Mike's Famous Chicken and had a great surprise-the story is in the pictures below. 

Sunday-We did a quick morning ride and got back to the house in time to watch church then made the long drive home.  

In all these busy days, I do try to stop and enjoy the slower moments.  It is hard!  But I know times moves too fast.  And I do cherish these times with our kids in our home.  We sure are blessed to have these kids.  They are great kids and have taught us so much. It is rewarding, and scary, to watch them grow up and make decisions and move forward with life.  Man, I just love them. 

Summer

 Summer is finally here, and just like that, almost gone. We have had serval birthday's and lots of adventures.

Spent a day at Lagoon with my school

Mikey had a birthday.  Grandma's raspberry cake for the win.  Mikey spent a week at scout camp this summer and was lucky enough to go with Reed and his venturing scouts backpacking in the Tetons.  He had a blast, and of course kept up with the big, fast kids.  

Aunty Em ran with Bubba for the Girls on the Run 5k.  Emily is just the best.  She's always willing to support my kiddos in whatever they are doing

Several hikes.  This was Cotton Wood Canyon.  So green and pretty.

Lots of mountain biking.  This was in Park City.  This summer we have ridden in Park City, Corner Canyon, Mantua, Green (lots), Providence and Jardine Juniper.

Sam-Man turned 14 and wanted a berry pie.  He also won regionals in wrestling and took 2nd in NATIONALS!  The kid he wrestled was Captain America's little brother.  Sam did great.

Cabin time.  And of course there were rocks and sticks involved.  We have been able to spend several days at the cabin this summer.  It is the best up there.  Water time, movies, games and reading.  We even had summer rain a couple of times we were there.  

Biking with the girl.  This is in Mantua.  She was really starting to enjoy it and be really good at it when she fell off a horse at some horse riding lessons and broke her arm.  She broke both her radius and ulna and is now in a (waterproof) cast for 5 more weeks.  Such a bummer, but she's handling it like a champ.

Oh Willie. He did finally get his license a couple of months after he turned 16.  Now we see him less and he adventures more.  Watching your kids grow up is an interesting experience.  Bittersweet?  It's so great to watch them learn and grow, but bitter watching start to spread their wings and fly a bit. 

He spent a week this summer with Sam at a wrestling camp. They did well and had fun.  He also spent a week at Grandma and Grandpa Tanner's house, helping them with projects around the house and watching fun shows and eating good food.  He got to ride the shuttle home and thought that was an adventure. 

I love this kid!  Look at that smile.  We rented the waterslide for Abbie's birthday.  I don't think our boys stopped for 5 hours.  No time to eat or talk, just time to slide.

I love that Grandpa rode the slide-several times.  He's so great.  I love that he is always teaching my kids to be good humans.  Spending time with my parents is so valuable for my kids (and for me).  They have so much to offer and are willing to give up their time to be with family. 

The birthday girl!  She had a blast and thought this was the best birthday party ever.  She spent several weeks before her birthday making cookie dough and selling frozen dough to the neighbors.  She made quite a bit of money.  She was saving up for a hoverboard, in case she didn't get one for her birthday.  Thankfully, Grandma Edge got her one for her birthday. Now she has a wad of cash she isn't sure what to do with.  I'm sure she'll find something to spend it on.

Mikey spends all of his free time on his bike.  He has gotten fast-both up and down.  I am getting left behind on the trails, but that's ok.  I love to see them love something.

Happiest 10th birthday Bubba!  This is her Oreo ice cream cake.  She sure is wonderful.  We spent the last week with just me an her and she is so fun.  The boys were backpacking in the Tetons (seeing lots of wildlife-bears, coyotes, porcupine, little critters...) We played lots of games, 5 crowns being the favorite.  Baked.  Played at the cabin. Went swimming.  Watched 7 hours of Pride and Predjudice.  It was fun.

Sam and Mike rode their bikes down the hill at Grandma and Grandpa's house over and over and over.  

Sam is headed to Grandma and Grandpa Tanner's house next week to help them out with projects and just hang out.  He is excited to be an only child for a few days. 

Bees and goats,  All the kids have goats this year.  They are living at Cache High.  The fair is in less than a month.  The kids are trying to get their goats to behave.  Having some luck.  It's been harder having them at the school instead of our house.  

Will has been playing beekeeper this summer.  We also learned he is allergic.  He is getting venom shots now like Mikey.  He loves checking on his bees and keeping track of what is going on with them.  Bees are pretty amazing little creatures.