Whirlwind of Activities

With the start of school comes all the activities.  Maren decided to gove cross country a try.  She didn't love it, but she worked her tail off and got stronger.  It is really miserable watching these kids run in the afternoon heat each day, but they mostly just do it without complaining.  And I was proud of her for sticking it out.  

She loved running with her teamates and making new friends along the way.  A the end of the season her coach commented how she was always wanting to do more than he asked of the team.

Jacob was so excited to be back to school with his buddies this fall.  He loves to hang out and have fun with his friends and it is a bonus that they are all playing soccer this fall.  So there is a lot of carpooling going on.  Which is awesome for all involved, including me!

It was wierd having Jacobs soccer games be the only ones to watch this season.  He is a rock star as always, and played well.  His bike injury from earlier in the season left him so he couldn't play goalie for most of this season.  But he loved all the field time he got.

Spencer joined the middle school mountain biking team for the fall season, he liked biking, and was the best rider in the beginner group.  In the beginning they didn't split the kids into ability levels, and it was tough for the first few rides for him to keep up and not get overwhelmed, but once they divided up, he really learned a lot and had a fun time with his group.

He also branched out and started taking guitar lessons!  So fun.  I can't wait until he can play for us around the campfire while we are camping. 

And taking his music abilities a step further, he joined the middle school choir.  Now he can play and sing, around the campfire!  He really does have a nice voice, so I am not complaining.

And to round out his very un-Spencer like busy schedule, he also joined MESA at school.  He loves this and is excited to follow in Maren's footsteps and do it all 3 years of middle school.  He and his team totally had a blast with their boat building competition, but sadly did not succeed.  Actually, that is what I love about this program, while it is fun to win, they learn alot and when the activity is repeated the next year, they apply that knowledge and can do better.  You can always tell the older and more experienced teams from the younger ones, and it is fun to see the growth.

Amanda began the school year with a new haircut, wowza she is beautiful.  She started pratice for her final year of academic team and also started really getting things in order to start applying to colleges and such.  She is wanting to persue her music into college and that will require a lot of auditions, and travel, and lots of figuring out the best fit.  It is hard to believe this year is happening, and how many lasts there will be, but she is so ready to take her next steps in life. 

Her good friend Matthew invited her to Homecoming, they had a fun time.

Dave and I took advantage of a beautiful fall to really play hard together.  We got out mountain biking a lot, and did a lot of hard trails together. 

The Ribbon

Steve's loop

 County Line

 West Bench Trail

RAT trails

And it wouldn;t be fall without a hike to Lost lake with friends to see the fall colors.  The lake was so low this year, it was sad to see.  It is usually a brilliant blue, but all the algae made it look green.

 With growing kids to feed, I find canning to be a good way to keep a few staples on the shelves to have on hand when everyone eats all the fresh fruit I buy the day after I go to the store.  At least that is how it feels these days.  I am definately cooking for a crowd, and leftovers are a rarity around here anymore.  I am finding that I love the quiet afternoons to get food prepped before everone shows up after school and needs helps with homework or driven to their practices and lessons.  I love that the kids still like to eat healthy food most of the time and get excited when they see all the canning I have done for them.

 In my attempt to document more of our everyday lives, here is our everyday moment of the month.  We love to play family games on Sunday evening together as part of family night.  We don;t always get along, but we try, and we always have a yummy treat to make sure everyone at least has a happy tummy, and pear pie is one of the best!