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!!

Spring has finally arrived.  Just the normal day to day stuff.  School and work on the weekdays and Rugby Saturdays, church and chilling on Sundays.

Lots of random pictures.  Some of Jacob's spring break trip - they had a great time and met 4 guys from Iowa...life long friends now.  Jacob's prom with his girlfriend Kaitlynn.  It was a cold rainy day!  JR and I went out to dinner with my boss and his family.  It was a swanky restaurant in a sky lodge that we are providing cleaning services for.  Crazy the money that is in our valley.  One picture of Bree.  I had taken her to the vet cause she was acting off.  She will be 10 next month!  Vet said other than needing to lose a little weight, she is very healthy!