Time for another update and photo dump.

Ben is back on MT soil.  He ended up flying to Madrid for a week.  It was a good solo trip and he finally dipped his foot into international travel.  While gone this summer, he got to connect with family and it makes me so happy developing family relationships as an adult.  He is back at his former job, serving at a popular downtown restaurant.  He really enjoys it and is just so personable.  I am still not convinced he won't spread his wings next spring, but at least for this winter, he is close by.

Jacob finished up the fire season and decided wildland fire is not for him.  Too much downtime.  That kid doesn't like to sit still.  He and I road tripped down to Salt Lake City and he bought a truck in cash!  So proud of him and saving his money.  He spent almost every weekend out with his friends hunting in the eastern part of the state.  They had a great time, despite not getting anything significant. He recently went back down to Mexico with a friend and enjoyed a week of sun and food - he said he gained 8 pounds!  He recently started a full time job for a local elevator company.  He is a technician and enjoys the 4 - 10 hour days.  One perk of the job is that they have a sit down lunch every day at a restaurant, as well as all the normal benefits, that he has yet to fully realize.

Joseph is plugging along.  We just signed him up to take a trip with the school the summer of 2027 and they are headed to Italy.  It is a culture and cuisine trip - so a cooking class, learning to make mozzarella, etc.  So excited for him!  He started a new job this weekend, working at a local car dealership.  Pretty sure he will be a lube/tire technician so it will be nice for him to learn all things under the hood.  Just before school started he and I took a hot air balloon ride...fun to see things from the air while moving much slower than an airplane!

JR and I continue to plug along.  My work is very slow right now, but hoping it picks up in December.  He spent a week backpacking with a friend in the Wind River Range in September.  We have had several conversations recently and are thinking it might be time to move to another home in the valley within the next 12-18 months.  I actually talked with a realtor this week and he said that best time to list would be early March.  Not sure if we can swing it that quickly but something to at least shoot for.  God can certainly open the doors we need to make that happen.  We have not had a big goal in front of us in a long time, so it is exciting.  We also just booked our first every family vacation...a short 3 night cruise in January.  We are all interested in trying a cruise but were all apprehensive about a long cruise having never done one.  So we are trying it out in 2 months!

Now for the photo dump!

Summer is fading fast!!!  Two a days for Joseph and Football start on Friday.  School starts on Wed 8/27.  So thankful I have had the summer off to decompress and enjoy some things.

Jacob ended up on the Grand Canyon fire.  They worked 14 days straight, 16 hours.  Crazy hours.  He enjoyed it though and is still hoping to get on another fire in September.  I will add some pictures at the end, but he was not in the middle of things, more on the fringe of the fire.  They slept in tents and some times didn't shower for days at a time.  He is looking forward to some hunting in September and October and will stay with fire service if there is work, or will piece together some work.  He is making a few contacts for winter work, so we will see with that.  He still lives at home and I don't see that changing anytime soon.  He is hoping to buy a new truck sometime this fall!

Joseph.  We celebrated his 16th last week (this year they all turned 21, 18, 16).  He has had a quieter summer.  Spent some days working for JR but have not replaced his normal job, that he quit back in June.  Once football is over he will get another job - he is looking to save up for a motorcycle next fall.  (Him and I both took a motorcycle safety class and have gotten our motorcycle endorsement.  Not sure how much I will ride going forward, but looked at the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and connect with Joseph in his world.  I might buy his current bike but it would just be in town, running around.  I have no desire to get out on the open road and throttle it down.  I guess that could change.....

Benjamin.  He is currently in Austin for 6-8 weeks housesitting for my cousin.  He has always been intrigued with Austin and the opportunity arose for him to go down there for a short time and check things out.   He is in the heart of Austin!  He walked down to Zilker Park one night and saw a Blues Band.  He has been going to a gym, swimming at Barton Springs and enjoying the shopping.  Not sure yet which direction he will lean, Texas or Montana.

I actually drove down with Benjamin.  We first landed in Houston to see my dad and got to do some boating with my brother, as well as caught an Astros game.  Then we headed to Austin, where we had an impromptu gather with my brother, sister and mom.    Joseph flew down for the last 5 days so it was fun to run around my old stomping ground with my boys.  We hit top golf and the lake.  Joseph and I flew back together.  I was gone a total of 10 days.  

Prior to those 10 days, I hit the road with 3 college roommates.  We met up in Rapid City then journeyed over towards the Tetons and Yellowstone.  Then ended up in our area for 3 days.  Super fun to hang out with them!  Back to back trips, so I was gone for 19 days.  Was a lot of fun!  I also spent a night in Cody seeing my sister,

JR continues to plug away at work.  He is finishing up a big summer project and then preparing for an 8 day back packing trip with a friend in the Wind River Range in Wyoming.  He tries to get out every year around his birthday and get into nature.  Always helps to reset him!

I have found a flexible part time job that I am going to jump into.  It is at a rental car company so its close by and will be a more mobile job than my last one.  I see potential management opportunities maybe and some great growth in the company on the horizon.  I have told them I really want a flexible job that would allow me to be gone periodically as trips come up and they seem okay with that.  Hopefully a great fit that will allow me to still have some down time and take care of myself and things at home.

Here is a huge photo dump 

 Been a crazy 6 weeks!!

May 20th was my last day at work.  It was time to move on!  Not real sure what the plan is but have enjoyed the downtime and being around the house and seeing the boys more.  I have some odds and ends lined up but nothing steady and consistent.

Jacob has graduated!!  Last weekend my mom and sister were here and it was a nice weekend.

Joseph has bought a motorcycle.  We have had many conversations over this and we decided we can either walk along side him between now and when he is 18 and lay some groundwork around the bike or he would go buy one at 18 and we would have no say.  He has passed his written test and will take a riding course in July.  I actually signed up for the riding course this weekend so I can learn more about motorcycles!  He bought a Honda Grom that is a great beginner bike and he has done well with it so far.  (Motorcycle pictured is not the one he bought!!)

Over Memorial Day Joseph and I drove the Beartooth Highway (the pics with lots of snow on the side of the road are from that trip).  Was nice to get out and see everything on opening weekend.

Jacob finished up rugby.  His team got second in the state.  He had a really good season.

Jacob has started his new job doing Wildfire Mitigation (two days after graduation!!).  Looks like he might be getting sent off to a wildfire in the next couple of weeks.

Ben and some friends went turkey hunting!  He stays busy with serving at a downtown restaurant.  My mom, sister and I had breakfast their recently and loved watching him.  He just seemed like a natural and navigated all of it well - talking with customers, etc.

Jacob's last welding project at school was doing a bed (truck) frame for a friend (2 pics attached - super cool end result)

Joseph is in between jobs (hoping to start another one in next week or two) so will be helping JR a day or two a week.

Photo dump....sorry for random order!!