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!