Basketball season is over!  They got their first "W" on the last game of the season.  A nice note to go out on.  Jacob is in full swing rugby right now and really enjoying it.  They have a pretty good team and he is showing amazing talent out on the field even though he has never played.  He is now gearing up for hunting season and has already submitted an application for a job...will be cool to see where he lands.

Joseph is loving his independence and driving.  The school has hired a new football coach and things are gearing up on that front!  He is still keeping his options open but I hope he plays, just to be involved with something.

We still see Ben around 1-2 times a week...Sundays he always comes over for laundry :-).

On Valentine's Day Jacob showed up at my work at lunch and told me I had the rest of the day off (he had coordinated it with my boss).  He took me out to lunch.  He considered bowling or shooting pool but hard with a broken wrist, so we went shopping.  Always love hanging out with my boys!  Joseph brought me candy and flower later in the day!!!

Speaking of broken wrist, doc says it is healing nicely...I think it is taking longer than normal but I am also 10 years older than the last broken bone.

The ground is starting to thaw and I am very happy about it!   JR is beginning to think about his summer and hiking trips.  He hopes to go to Honduras in May.

This past weekend I went to Salt Lake (I love the shopping there) to watch a Rugby tourney Jacob was in.  Wet and cold.  Those guys were shivering.  Learning more about Rugby but a lot of nuances to the sport.  

Jacob leaves tomorrow for a week with friends (no parents) in Cancun.  He ironically arrives on his 18th birthday.  My boy is an adult!!!

Ben just recently got back from a long weekend in Texas - visiting my mom and they also saw some cousins in Austin.  

Just a few pictures

 Well, its 2025.  The holidays have come and gone.  I had a list of things I wanted to put on the blog and never did.  It was super busy at work and I found myself overwhelmed!  Last weekend, on the 11th, leaving a high school basketball game, I fell and broke my wrist, had my bday two days later, then surgery this past Friday.

So now I lay around w time on my hands but not much finger dexterity to type.  So here is a photo dump.  Pictures of outings, welding projects from Jacob, my injury, all randomness in the life of us!

Senior yr basketball for Jacob has been a struggle...still fighting for their first win.  Joseph got his license this past week!

Thanksgiving 2024 - Thankful for the big and the small

*Thankful for another year of amazing health for the whole family.

*Thankful for my warm bed - my electric blanket and weighted blanket - I take after my mom and have no problems sleeping in my little cocoon.

*Thankful for a very flexible job and all the young adults I work with - love being able to be an influence in their lives.

*Thankful for the resources to do some traveling.

*Thankful for our pull up bar - not because I can do pull ups but because it allows for some great stretching.

*Thankful I have discovered podcasts - so much learning at our fingertips.

*Thankful for JRM' amazing clients.

*Thankful for the beauty around me - with huge influx of people, easy to get frustrated and lose sight of what brings people here.

*Thankful for Amazon - its a mixed bag because it takes away from small businesses but it sure is nice to be able to find anything you need or want.

*Thankful for the hard times and the growth they can bring.

*Thankful that our cars continue to run and our home has been hugely maintenance free for 18 years.

*Thankful for our dog Bree - I love taking her to work with me.

*Thankful for all of Joseph's driver's ed driving time - he doesn't have a phone in front of him so some good conversations.

*Thankful for my fun, colorful jewelry that I make and the smile it brings to my face.

*Thankful for Bible Study Fellowship and the Revelation study - we serve an almighty, sovereign God.

 It has been a few quiet weeks!  I have loved having my weekends back.  Last weekend I tackled some of those huge time consuming projects and actually got a few completed!!!  It is amazing how long the evenings can be when you get home at 4 and have no other commitments that evening.

It has been full on hunting season around here.  JR, Jacob and Ben have all gotten bucks.  Among them all I think there are still 8-10 tags left!  We have finally gotten a big upright freezer.  Bree is still on a raw diet so I am enjoying not buying her meat!  All three bucks were harvested at the same 700 acre private land they hunt.  Joseph still has no interest in hunting!

Jacob has just decided to play basketball so mentally preparing for all the games!  He is also seriously looking at off season Rugby and Baseball with both active seasons being in the spring.  He is concerned that his bear hunting season won't happen but it's like I told him, he has the rest of his life to hunt.  If you are gonna go out big, do it your senior year.

Jacob recently, through a random connection, had an opportunity to go out with a buddy of his and the two of them assisted a Purple Heart recipient with a big horn sheep hunt.  Tags are a once in a lifetime opportunity and this gentleman - probably mid 30s had drawn a tag and had been out for most of the allotted 30 days.  He had not gotten an animal so the guy called Fish and Wildlife and a ranger knew Jacob's buddy's dad knew the area well..so made the connection.  He was gone 24 hours and said it was an amazing experience!  They ended up finding a ewe that the guy shot.  Due to his limitations, Jacob and Brayden rolled/carted the animal out.  The crazy thing, the guy is an outfitter up near Glacier and invited Jacob and Brayden up to duck hunt.  The connections that kid makes!

Ben stopped by recently and was eating some homemade cookies.  I asked him about them and he said "you don't know about Doris"?  He proceeded to tell me when he was doing utility work downtown this summer there was an 80 year old woman that always baked for the crew.  When the job wrapped up they swapped numbers and she said to text her whenever he wanted cookies.  He said he had called her once and that she had recently called him and said she had baked if he wanted to stop by...I think she loaded him up with a couple dozen cookies!

Joseph has started up football workouts.  Two mornings a week they are in the weight room.  Jacob takes him to the school and then Jacob heads to the gym!  Proud of both of them for continuing to get up early and get moving!  He has started working 2-3 more shifts a week, so enjoying more money coming in.  I still think that kid will have 15-20K by the time he graduates!  Although he did recently admit, he has locked up his debit card cause it is too easy to spend.  He even said with cash it hurts to watch it leave your hand......all three of the boys have learned that early. 

The snow has held off, yay!  So not looking forward to the snow.  One of these days I will have a car with a self starter on it!  

I think that is it for now!  Here are few pictures!

Oh my word...I thought it had been a few weeks since I posted, but it has been 6 weeks.  Football season takes it out of me!  Every weekend I was traveling either for Varsity/JV or Froshmore!!

Today we had our last game.  Varsity went 1-9 for the season but huge improvements seen.  Jacob had a good season with a hand full of touchdowns, a few interceptions and some big defensive plays.  He has visited I think 5 schools.  He is very indifferent on whether he played for a small school in the fall.  Not real sure the process from here, but he is okay if he doesn't play.

Joseph played about half the Junior Varsity games and all of the Froshmore games.  He told me today after the last game that he thinks he will be one of a handful of players to play all four years.  Excited that he is wanting to play all four years...more so it is wonderful to just be a part of something bigger than yourself. 

We played football for 9 weeks and every week was amazing weather, except one - which was rain and snow for 6 hours!  So thankful for great weather.

I will say there are some huge players at other schools.  6'4" 235 pounds.  You can train for skill, plays, etc but if you don't have the height or size, hard to get there anyway other than organically.  

The big news from the season, is our new head coach, Jeremy Curry, quit the day before our second to last game.  Very very controversial thing that I have no energy to get into...feel free to google his name.  It is a nightmare PR situation for the district!  Jacob was not "the" student but he was the first one to get to the two of them (read the articles and you will understand). 

Jacob is still on the fence about basketball (which starts in week or two) and Joseph is ready to get back to more work hours.  I am ready to have weekends back for a bit.

My mom was out for a week and joined in on the football action.  Always great to have her here.  Then a few days later, my sister, bro-in-law and two nieces came out for a few nights...they were here for the terrible football weather.

Here are lots of football pictures.