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.

 A cool, rainy day...perfect for a few projects!  Finally got the pictures off my phone!

The summer marches on for another week!!  Then it will be 6th, 9th and 12th.  Two in high school!  Crazy.

Benjamin has finally gotten on the line in the kitchen cooking.  He is doing saute and his sandwich shop job has taken back seat.  Still getting about 40 hours a week, not sure what the school year work schedule will look like.  His current class schedule Sports Medicine II, Welding III, English, Strength and Conditioning and currently CAD.  He thinks he needs an art of some kind to graduate, so hopefully he can get it sorted out.  I have always been amazed at the high school senior guys and how they just look so old and like men.  Well, that has been Benjamin this summer.  He has transformed into a man!  He is hoping to get his braces off soon and finally close the chapter on his jaw surgery almost a year ago.

Jacob has started football two a days.  That kid is rocking it.  He gets himself up by himself every morning at 5:30.  He is still slotted for QB.  I guess there are currently three QB options on the Froshmore team.  Will be fun to see how things shake out.  He will also be playing linebacker.  He has been lifting weights all summer and starting to fill out.  Jacob has recently dropped to PT once a week and has things scheduled through early October...so he plugs along.  It was exactly 6 months ago today!  We have purchased his ski pass for this coming year, so hoping for no drama this time around!!

Joseph still hangs out at the skate park and with neighbor friends.  He is doing another refresher 'summer school' right now, before things kick off next week.  His first year in middle school was last year, in 5th, but with Covid, it was anything but normal.  Excited for him to have a 'normal' year, switching classes, being able to roam outside during lunch and recess.

JR plugs along with all kinds of special projects.  He is going on his annual hiking trip to the Wind River Range, going with a friend, in early September.  Then he is hoping to do some Texas hog hunting later in September.

Benjamin, Jacob and I are headed to Seattle in a few days.  We are going to watch an NFL preseason game between Seahawks and Broncos.  We are staying in downtown and will hit all the popular spots.  A very short trip, just on the ground about 2 1/2 days!

Here are photos from camping trip last month.  It was just Jacob and I, along with a few other friends.

Below is a picture of bearproof box, that all food must be stored in!

The really really cold river....that's Jacob with the water splashing up his back.

I recently took Jacob and Joseph, and a friend each to a neighboring town an hour a way.  We made a day of it and went to a water park (every time I type that I have to remind myself that these water parks are nothing compared to what we have in Texas, but the kids here have no idea what they are missing).  We went to the skate park, a favorite local pizza buffet that the boys love, played at an amazing park and then finished the day off with a drive in movie!!

I am always amazed how much fun everyone seems to have when they put their devices down and go play.  So fun to watch the big kid game of tag.  I think there was a part of them that would have missed the drive in to keep playing!!

How smart is this?.....put workout equipment around the play equipment.  Parents can get a workout in while they are able to watch their kids.

The boys all sat in the back with the back opened up.  I managed to sit up front and found an amazing view through the side mirror.  (It was one of those action films, so not anything I was super interested in watching.)

Mid July, time marches on!!!

Benjamin continues to work 30-40 hours a week.  He works at a nice sit down restaurant and a sandwich shop.  Both of them have tried to get him to quit the other job and just work at one place.  The sandwich shop can offer morning hours, which he likes, but loved the kitchen experience of the restaurant.  He has been out paddle boarding and golfing lately!  One of JR's clients gave him a used set of nice golf clubs so I see the links/driving range becoming a more frequent thing.  We have started having senior year conversations and what things might look like going forward.  He is 100% undecided to what next year will hold.  The one thing he does know, it will not include traditional higher education, at least not for next year or two.  I totally agree and support him either working or finding a trade school, etc.  We recently celebrated his 17th bday! Can't believe it.  He and I have been trying to go out to eat once a week.  I told him his Senior year I would love to explore all the many eating options that our community has to offer.  (Eating out is not something we have ever done on a regular basis, so we could easily go every week and not hit the same restaurant twice.

Jacob has been involved in all things working out.  Still doing PT twice a week and morning workouts from 7-9 M-F at the high school.  There are not a lot of kids and I think he really enjoys working out along side some of the upper classmen.  There is a new coach this year doing the workouts and Jacob adores him.  Comes home every day talking about how he know just how to push athletes for more, encourage them.  I see him as a coach that will definitely build into Jacob's life through his high school years!  This next week, he will be working out 7-9, helping with younger football camps from 9-11 and 1-3, then participating in a high school camp from 5-7.  Makes for a very exhausted kid!  But the best kind of exhaustion.  I love watching him strive to get bigger and stronger.  Unfortunately, his vertical challenges (height) put him behind the 8 ball but I have just told him there are lots of amazing athletes that are well under 6 foot.  He just needs to work harder.  We have also had conversations about his friends who are choosing not to do workouts and how coaches see that and all the work and dedication that kids put in.  He has also been working with JR a few days and really helping him stay ahead of things.  And oh my word, we are starting to have driver's education conversations!!!!  He could start driving as early as September if we go the Driver's Ed route or next March, if we choose to bypass Driver's Ed.

Joseph!  He has found his second home at the skate park!  He will hop on his scooter and be gone for hours on end!  The sun, fresh air and exercise are amazing for him.  He enjoyed his few weeks of summer school (they ran it more like summer camp, but educational).  He has a 12th birthday coming up and discussions are underway as to what he wants to do.  He would love to go to a hotel for overnight, but holy cow, hotels are about 300 a night here!!!  Yikes!  For Christmas last year he just wanted money for extra curricular things (like pool, trampoline park) and he has just recently empties his money envelope.  Now comes the huge life lesson of you either find a way to make money or you don't get to go and play!  We recently got him a phone with restrictions on it.  As much as I wanted to wait a year or two, there is such a peace of mind knowing I can get a hold of him and him me.  I wonder how we ever survived without cell phones...ha.  Sure made life much simpler without them!!

JR has some long days this summer.  He has done a great job of slowly growing his clientele and, in my opinion, learning how to be competitive in this market.  Living in a resort town, service providers often charge 20-30% more than what he does and it is hard to wrap your mind around what people would pay for your service.  I have had several conversations recently where it is stated that people of higher income usually don't mind paying more because they feel like they get more, so they actually look for the higher priced services.  He has a long standing client who is almost fully moved into the new 10,000 square foot home he built and JR will begin to manage that.  It is crazy to think how someone could need that space, and three laundry rooms, but sounds like he basically built three wings so that when his two kids bring their families, everyone has their own private space! 

I have enjoyed voluntarily lowering my hours for the summer.  Of course the money is nice, but I need to be available to go and play with the boys too.  I have been meeting some friends up at the high school track 3 days a week at 5am for workouts!  I really love the early mornings and watching the sun come up, as long as I can get to bed early enough.  Since its summer I don't stress about the boys being up (they are old enough to manage their time, not that they always do, but if they choose to stay up until 2am and miss their early morning commitment, no better way to learn).  So, I have been getting in bed around 9. Sure is nice.  There have been few car rental turn overs this month.  I think there was such a frenzy on rental cars in June that dealerships, etc go smart and started renting vehicles, so market is somewhat saturated.  Again, sure don't mind a slower pace!

We have our annual camping trip this weekend but given schedules, location, etc it is looking very different this year.  I had hoped to borrow a friends camper but that fell through.  Joseph doesn't want to sleep in a tent, so just Jacob and I are going.  Really looking forward to just down time! Might get a hike in on Saturday.  There is no cell service so excited for Jacob as the weekend will be all about being a boy and exploring!

Here are a few pictures from recent outings.

JR and I took out the four wheeler one day.  Rode about an hour back.  Sure was beautiful and weird to see the new electric poles so far back.

Went skeet shooting recently with younger two.  Fortunately we all managed to hit one!!

 Oh my, it has been a long time since I posted!!

We are in full summer mode!  Benjamin is working both jobs and is enjoying the morning shift at the sandwich shop and his same evening shifts at the sit down restaurant.  Jacob continues therapy 2x a week.  He has already participated in a basketball camp and has plugged in with summer workouts at the high school.  The schools offered a 'catch up' summer school, so Joseph has been doing that every morning for the last two weeks.  It has been nice because it gets him up and out of the house early.

I have found a good balance with all my commitments.  I have decided to cut my hours back to 20-22 a week so I have time to breathe.  It is hard to work long stretches when the boys are home and I felt like all I was doing was working in between appointments, running kids, etc.  Trying to carve out some me time too.

After living in Montana for 23 years I finally broke down and bought a small window AC unit.  We only have one for our bedroom, because that is the only south facing room and the hottest.  I have tried to keep the set up pretty portable so I can easily remove it when it isn't 90 degrees!  The first day we had it in, it was amazing the difference.  I never really knew how hot things felt until we had the AC on with the door shut.  Walking from the hallway into the bedroom was a huge difference.  The boys actually enjoy hanging out in our bedroom now!!  (It reminds me of the Labor Day weekends we spent in Woodson growing up.  AC units on with doors closed and how great the rooms felt.)

Things have been really busy for JR.  He has occasionally recruited Jacob and Benjamin to help him out.  Bree enjoys going to work too.  She gets lots of running around time!

Really not much else going on!  I finally got a good phone now I just need to remember to take more pictures/videos!

 Summer is quickly approaching!  The boys get out June 8th!

Ben will be working 40 plus hours (he is not doing football this coming summer/school year).

Jacob hopefully will find a few shifts a week somewhere to work, doing a basketball camp and 1-2 football camps.  

Joseph has no plans for the summer.  I hope it includes lots of outside time with friends.

We recently purchased a new basketball hoop.  A nice one that has a break away rim, which means you can properly dunk on it.  It is nice to see the kids out front playing on it.  (Just wish our neighbors didn't have nice new vehicles that we have to constantly worry about hitting)  We also have an inflatable paddle board, just waiting for it to get warmer outside.  So lots of opportunities for exercise.

Jacob is currently doing a week of early morning spring football practices.  On Monday he goes for a special PT appointment where they will put him through a battery of tests to figure out where he is still weak, etc.  He also sees surgeon next week, so hopefully he will get a green light to do more workout type stuff.

I am gonna be really busy this summer!  I am back to unlimited hours with work and my Turo gig, has grown from 1 rental car to 4!!!  I am just about driving myself nuts, making sure systems are in place so as not to forget a car.  I am finishing up a financial coach class and excited to see if I can start working with people about being intentional with their money.  Still not sure if I would want to do it as a ministry or for a fee, but going through this class has made me realize even more that I am passionate about budgets, investing, freedom in being debt free, etc.  We live in such a consumer driven society and the borrower is truly slave to the lender.  Hoping to connect with people and help them understand their relationship with money and changes that could be made to make the relationship much better.

JRs work has been pretty quiet but getting busier.  He is going to Honduras to visit his parents the second week of June.  It is a quick 6 day trip.  So he will be trying to get ahead before he leaves.  He is bringing on a few new clients, which is great!

Ben and I recently took a day trip over to Billings...just for something different.  Always love going to the big sports store and getting some hands on practice!

They have a laser shooting range.  I performed very slowly and poorly!
 

My highlight of the trip though, was going to a jewelry store.  Benjamin is one that is beginning to love all things nice.  He has talked about Rolex watches before, but I had no idea how much he knew about them.  He wanted to go try one on.  Thankfully the sales person was very engaging and picked up on his huge interest.  It will be several years before he permanently gets to wear one but he said he wants to save.  The salesperson showed him another brand that was really nice and way cheaper.  I thought he might walk out with it, but didn't.  (He told me he wasn't that impulsive.)  I did not know that Rolexes are investments, they only get better with time.!?  

The look on his face when he had on the stores top of the line model.  Priceless.  There were two small Rolex gift books, so to speak, on the counter and he started flipping through the books and showing me all the pictures and what he loves about each style.  The salesman said "You can have those, if you want."  Benjamin just about fell over and asked if he was serious.  The guy said, "yep, we get a lot of them"  We immediately got to the car and he carefully wrapped up the two books.  

At one point we were looking at some lower end, nice women's watches and Ben asked me if I would ever wear one.  I jokingly said I would never wear a watch like that with sweats.  The salesperson asked why not.  I just kind of shrugged and told him I have never been one for finer things, so to speak.  I think he thought I was nuts, but watches just don't draw me in....I would rather spend my money on other things.  

Speaking of money, I am in the process of finishing up a Financial Coach Class.  Not sure what my long term intentions are with my training, but I do know that one of the things I am passionate about it finances and helping people learn their money behaviors and finding ways to control their money instead of it controlling them!

Jacob plods along with therapy!  I continue all things around the house while my work weeks are limited to 7 hours a week.  I managed to empty out my storage unit, so I can give up that monthly expense.  Did some more painting around the house.  Finishing up my last high school graduation t-shirt quilt for my niece.  Hard to believe, aside from my boys, all the other grand kids are out of high school.

No extra curriculars between now and the end of school, which is about 6 weeks away!  Hard to believe.  Really, no set plans for the summer either!  Hoping to do a few day/overnight trips with the boys and maybe a weekend of camping.  Jacob will start football 2 a days mid July.  (There are some local levies being voted on in a few weeks and if the levies don't pass, the school district will be cutting all extra curriculars/sports, except varsity football, volleyball and basketball.)  Ben is still undecided if he wants to play football his senior year.

JR recently bought this for the business!!

After talking about it for a few years, we took the plunge.  We might have to take it out on a few weekends too!  I told him it would be nice if he would move his fort to someplace that we could take this....we could get quite a few miles back then!!

Jbird continues to work hard at therapy.  

 He really has to focus on keeping his hips square and not letting his right knee roll in.  He has seen two different therapists and one wondered if there was some damage done to the MCL and the other wondered if maybe the hip was slightly tilted when they put the rod in.  He has a very slight tilt/limp when he walks so they are not sure where it is coming from.  I am hopeful it will work itself out and not something that was originally overlooked.

And guess what, today when I dropped him off at school.....

No crutch!!!  8 weeks to the day, he finally got cleared to leave the crutch at home!!!

Just a quick post!

Benjamin is finishing up a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math - I believe) and his project is finished!  Pretty cool!!!  We just need to take it to church one day so someone can hook it up to an amp and play it!!!  The base of the guitar came like that, but he had to do some sanding and then putting all the electrical stuff on it!!  He needs to sand down the frets a tiny bit, then I might try to tune it and see if I can pluck out a song

 Jacob was officially dismissed from one crutch today at PT.  Instead of two, he just uses one now!  He was so excited.  He has a free hand when he walks!  He has a follow up tomorrow with the surgeon.  He is hoping at PT next week to lose the second crutch.  It is just amazing to see how much he has had to relearn!

I continue on with all kinds of projects, hitting the gym, doctors appointments....

Hard to believe Easter is almost here.  The first quarter of 2021 is in the books!!!