And they are off! 10th, 7th and 4th grade!



This will be the first year that Joseph gets letter grades. Jacob is slated to take English, Health, PE, Industrial Arts and Design, Science, Math and Social Studies.
Benjamin was very excited for the classes he got: Biology, Personal Finance, English, Strength/Conditioning, Welding, Wood Technology and Math!

Joseph had his first soccer practice yesterday. Jacob starts football next week. Benjamin survived 2 a days and will have practice every day after school until 6:30!

Here is to a wonderful school year!

Jacob completed his hunter safety, so he is good to hunt this fall. And since Joseph is 10, he can hunt with the apprentice program! We have the potential for a lot of meat this winter!



Our area has been having some earthquakes lately. They are not unusual, but they are often small and usually go undetected. However, we had one the other night that woke me up! It was a loud noise and the bed was shaking. Really strange! No one else in the house woke up, except Bree! Then a week later, we had another one, about 4.2, in the evening. I was fully awake and the noise and shaking were crazy. Concerns abound that if we had a 5.0 plus earthquake, the reservoir/dam south of us would break and we could end up with 15 feet of water. I am not an alarmist, but I think it is time to pull out my emergency stuff and go through it. I put a bag together quite a few years ago and really don't even remember what I have in it. I do know I probably need to set more dried food a side, since the boys are eating more now.

Benjamin has started 2 a days with football. He has practice 6 days a week, from 6:30-9am and from 4-6:30pm. So far he has gotten out of bed every morning. Looks like he might get some playing time on two different teams, froshmore and JV.

We are down to our last 7 days of summer. I have been working a lot but hoping to do less hours this week so we have more time to play!

This has become one of our favorite burger joints!  It has been in business for 60 plus years.  It is a walk up place and often times the line is 10 plus deep.  They have a single burger for 1.50 and go up to a quad burger.  Yes, my boys can easily eat the quad.

Ben has taken interest in a local pump track and become pretty good on his bike.

This kiddo has taken a ride in the 85 Toyota!  He nailed the stick shift.

We recently made his appointment to get his actual license. (They are several months out!) I love the date. My next birthday! No better way I would rather spend my birthday afternoon than taking him to get his license! Great present to myself.

Wende, a life long friend of mine (and college roommate our freshman year) and her family were in the area.  She has two boys, the same age as Benjamin and Joseph.  We met up with them at Yellowstone National Park.  Had a great time!  Sure wish we lived closer because the boys all got along great.

All five of the boys

Wende and I

We first met up at Old Faithful and it was very disappointing. I kept standing there saying 'there has to be more...'. We were stopped at one point in traffic due to one bison meandering down the road. The park ranger was trying to coax him off the road, but it was not happening! We also had car problems when we lost all our power steering fluid! Fortunately, we were in a parking lot right next to an auto repair place. I was able to buy the only two bottles of fluid they had! We kept topping it off and made it home without incident. Benjamin happened to be driving when we lost power and I think it kind of freaked him out.

Loved seeing all the elk at Mammoth.  Lounging is pretty much a daily occurrence there.  There were over 3 doz laying in the grass.

The biggest highlight for everyone was the Firehole Canyon.  The kids found some rapids that they would jump in and ride it down.  The current was pretty strong, so they had a great workout.

Contemplating taking the plunge.

Love this picture of Ben!!

One of the many falls in the park

These signs always crack me up!!!

Today we celebrate 10 years with this amazing kid!  Happy Birthday, Joseph.  This past year it has become evident that you are a planner and have a knack for details!  Your endless string of questions wears me out some days!  On one hand you have a sass about you and on the other hand, your tenderhearted compassion shines through!