Just for the record, I do not like snakes, of any kind.  However, I know that JR is very careful and loves to hunt them.  Joseph got in on the action the other day and shot a couple of them.  It is the time of year where they start migrating back to their dens, so they are easier to find in multiples.

The days have been so beautiful here!  Sleeping with open windows makes for some cool mornings, but oh so nice.

Travelled two hours away to a froshmore football game yesterday.  Jacob played the last 1.5 quarters.  Their team got blown out of the water, but Jacob did pretty well.  They had him on the defensive line!!!  He is not really build as a lineman, but he has proven himself to get in there and get the job done, plus he is faster than a lot of the bigger guys.  Coach told him he just needs to be prepared to play just about any position.  Guess it is nice he is versatile, but then he never can really hone his skill if he is all over the field.

I am in the process of turning my blog into a Word document and then will print it out at some point.  Wow, what a project.  First you copy and paste everything, then reformat font/size/pictures, then wrap text around pictures.  Have been poking around on how to print/bind it.  I want 4 copies, so its a huge undertaking.  I have 979 posts...maybe I can finish out the year with 1000 even!!!  Sure wish I had thought to do this when Ben was young, but started in when Jacob was about 1.  As I was going through the old posts, I came across one of Benjamin wearing a hilarious tie, that did not match his shirt.  I took a screen shot and sent it to him.  In the past when I have sent him pictures he has responded with "Mom".  This time, though, when he got home, he asked me to send him some more pictures of him.  Wow, he has taken an interest in this project.  I actually think it will be amazing because I have documented all our trips, sports, day to day life, etc.  Maybe I can have 2008-2015 done and formatted by the end of the year!  Would be nice to print volume 1 before I start working on volume 2 in case I want to do something different.  I anticipate it being 400 pages total????
 

With Jacob basically gone from 6am to 7:30 pm with workouts and football and then Ben is gone most evenings from 4-10pm on, I feel like I never see them all together.  So, they just hate it when I tell them we are gonna have some family time!  On Labor Day we hit the driving range  Benjamin has been out a handful of times and Jacob a few days prior actually played 9 holes with some friends.  (Over last 9 months or so one of JR's clients was downsizing and passed along two sets of decent and really nice clubs.  This was perfect because I have always said I want my boys to learn golf and basketball, because they both are great to play as you get older and a way to connect with other men).

Everyone ended up having a good time and was impressive to see what they all could do, especially Benjamin.  I even had a couple of good drives.  And the best part, Christmas and birthday ideas...tokens for baskets of balls!  Benjamin would really like to visit a Top Golf, so might go for a road trip sometime soon, if he ever gets two days off!

 

 A few pictures.....

I finally remembered to take a first day of school photo!  Ok, actually, they all leave at crazy times, so we actually took this one weekend.  Just seems to be how we roll now a days.  The excitement that comes from them all!  12th, 9th and 6th grade.

Yay, we actually have a recent family photo!  This was taken for our church directory.  It is interesting seeing the lines on the wall and the height of everyone.  I think we were all standing on the same level, so pretty accurate as to who is the tallest.  I have always said that Joseph would end up being the tallest...I guess we will know in 2-3 years!!  

Jacob has been cleared to start playing football!  Looks like given other injuries on the team, he could start at 1 of 6 positions! 

Joseph got fitted for contacts this week.  He has asked for a year and decided to let him give them a go!  The first 2 days went well, but he has struggled recently and decided he didn't want them.  Hopefully he will continue to practice and they will get easier and easier!

JR had a great backpacking trip last week to the Wind River Range.  He caught lots of fish.  The elusive golden trout was caught several times and he went on and on about how good the fish was over the fire.  (I guess there are game wardens that have never seen a golden trout).  This 48 mile hike might become his yearly trip!

Maybe a trip I make one year.....

 Benjamin, Jacob and I went to Seattle, the weekend before school started, to catch a pre season NFL game.  We decided the 4 words we would use to describe Seattle was: weed, homelessness, Tesla and hills.  I had no idea how hilly Seattle was, at least downtown!!  The boys were shocked at the amount of weed on the street and all the randomness of homelessness tents and all the Teslas, everywhere!!

(The pictures are random, can't seem to get them easily moved around)

We took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island and found a marina restaurant to eat at.  I think the boys really enjoyed the ferry ride and seeing the cars and how it all worked!

The fish market.  This display is front and center and while we were amazed at them throwing fish, Benjamin told me that he thought the front fish below was alive.  I told him no, it is clearly frozen.  Turns out the fish is on a line an employee can make it move to appear its alive...it sure scared one guest as they walked by it.

At the airport before leaving

I made sure to get a hotel room on a higher floor.  Being from MT, we don't have tall buildings and figured the boys would enjoy it.  We were on the 22nd floor.  Jacob immediately saw this as he first looked out our window....He was shocked at the mats and two huge stuffed animals.

The space needle!  We rode the monorail to the Space Needle and as we approached it, I was not sure if Benjamin would go up in it.  He was not sure if the structure was safe!  In the glass elevator up, he was not too sure.  I realized, that he has a fear of heights!  He finally relaxed a bit and we got a few pictures.

At the Public Market, just had to get a picture of a violin/trumpet playing cat!

On the light rail, from airport to hotel.  As we got off the plane, it was so nice not to have to worry about keeping up/watching the boys.  I told them this trip they have to watch out for me!!  Benjamin navigated us, on his own, from the airport terminal to our hotel.  That kid is ready to travel on his own.

Jacob loved leaning up against the glass and falling into the glass face first.

This glass floor was pretty cool!

A neat little garden we found on top of the Public Market.

We did an underground tour of Seattle.  I had no idea Seattle was originally built a whole level lower...quite the history of how that all happened!

On the ferry!

Really like this statue/monument

The view from the ferry

The boys enjoyed the game.  It was a beautiful evening and the stadium ended up being about 60-65% full.  The design of the stadium makes the noise of the fans incredibly loud.  Benjamin kept saying he would love to be there for a full stadium.  Before the game he managed to get down by the field and was seconds away from a photo with the mascot, before the mascot just ran off.  So bummed.

We enjoyed several things at the Public Market, mainly funnel cake donuts, crumpets, amazing bakery and I loved these!!!  Had to go back the second day and buy more of them!! I love some garlic!!!

Benjamin bought a jersey and was able to get one signature after the game.

All in all a great trip and was very thankful we did not have any issues with people on the streets.  Really wish we had time to go to the Museum of Flight!!  The great thing, it is a very easy flight, where we can arrive at 8:30am and fly out at 9:30 pm, so would be easy to head over for a day again!!

Just two pictures!!!

This was taken on August 10th and marks a very significant day for us!  We had a celebration dinner because we paid off the house that day!!!!  The boys still have no idea the significance of it all, but I wanted to make sure we did something big to remember it by.  (Went to a well known steakhouse and had a very underwhelming experience.....)

Old family photos have recently resurfaced and I was emailed this one.  I don't know that I ever saw it, but I loved it!!!  So many memories, of Labor Days hanging out and dove hunting with extended family!  I just had to make sure I had this picture saved somewhere, just brings a smile to my face!!!  (hats still make my ears stick out.... :-) )

 

So, it turns out Jacob has not been cleared to play football games yet and have full contact.  Wow, lesson learned.  Below are some pictures from a special testing session.  He was hooked up to a computer and it was able to measure force, power, etc.  Cole, who did the assessment, is not his regular PT.  But from what we understood Cole was the one who would clear Jacob, based on his performance/results.  Jacob went Aug 9 and at the end, I specifically asked Cole if he was comfortable, based on what he saw, for Jacob to play football.  He said that of course there is always the risk of injury but that he felt comfortable with Jacob playing football.  Two a days started Aug 13 and Jacob fully participated.  Then on Aug 19th, he finally went back to his regular therapists, who had the test results.  They told him they were not yet comfortable releasing him to play.  They said that Cole told them that we had directly asked him but he was not comfortable telling us the truth.  So, the day before the first full on scrimmage, we told the coach Jacob was not cleared yet to play.  So frustrating.  I appreciate them wanting him stronger, but the way everyone communicated with us or sometimes what they did not say and should have, led to false hopes.  His bone is fully healed but they are concerned for the strength and stability of the knee and hip to take a hit.  Jacob was incredibly frustrated but has realized it is what it is and we are hoping he gets cleared in time for the last 3-4 games.  (However, now, the insurance is denying any further PT.  The therapists are advocating for him and that he is not quite there to return to sports.  The insurance does not list returning to sports as a reason to extend therapy!!  The therapists were suppose to have a peer to peer call with them on Thursday.  I have not yet heard how it went.  If they still deny it, not sure the protocol for getting him cleared to play)

Very interesting, here he is connected to a long cable and had to sprint, full on for about 20 yards.

If I remember correctly, this is one he scored low on, getting the explosive power to jump sideways.

Doing reverse lunges.

The boys started school Thurs Aug 26th.  I have yet to get a first day of school picture.  Joseph leaves the house at 7:30 and I can't seem to get Benjamin ready by then to take a picture!  Still hopeful for one, maybe this weekend.