August rolled around again, of course, and the fun had to come to sad end. Well sort of. School started, and that meant less family vacations, traveling, and pool days. But it also meant more friends, carpooling, homeowork, and my personal favorite more Dave and Natalie adventures!
But first we had to get the kids settled at school. Maren began her sophomore year in High School. She is taking lots of great classes, including her second year of Sign language, Drawing, and Tech Ed.
Spencer is a 7th grader at West Middle school. He is excited to get back to friends, not so much school and homework this year. He is taking Tech Ed, Choir, and Honors math this year. He is also involved in MESA after school, and continues to take guitar lessons.
Jacob is in the 4th grade with Mrs Trujillo,who he immediately liked a lot. He is loving getting back to learning, and friends, and anything keep him from being bored. He is the only kid I know who begs for the school year to start earlier, and wants more challenging work. He loves when he gets pulled to go the GT classroom for math, and loves to show off how fast he is with his multiplication facts.
And the biggest adjustment for us all was sending Amanda off to college this year. She spent the summer working for the Fruita parks and Rec department doing childcare, and trying to get her room sorted out. She isn't the most organized of my children, and had a lot to go through.
WE came home one weekend to her entire closet downstairs, as she was trying to figure out all she would want down in the AZ heat for the year.
And this was her room after she left, and had taken everything she needed for the year. I sure hope the boys don't want to move anytime soon!
Dave drove her down with the van full of all her stuff for her dorm room. It was sad to say goodbye, especially for her and Skai. She will miss her pup.
They stopped and spent a night at the Grand Canyon, because, well we are Gordons.
Random road trip picture along the way.
And at last they arrived. She has a roomate, and two suite mates seperated by a bathroom, and a common area in the dorm outside her room.
The before and after of setting up her dorm room.
She began her fist year at ASU, studying Oboe permormance, and probably something with English once they let her double major. She loves her classes, and the opportunity she has to work with Martin Schuring, the oboe professor that drew her to ASU in the first place. She is taking 20 credit hours this first semester, so hopefully she can keep herself organized, fed, and happy!
Back at home we settled into our routine of school and activities. We look forward the the bishops BBQ every year, I loved these pics of Spencer getting dunked by his little buddy Max.
WE did some grown up things, like get all of trees professionally trimmed.
And celebrated Marens 16th Birthday with her good friends Kylee, and Torry.
She requested a fun afternoon doing an escape room challenge. We loved it, even if we weren't very good at it.
I sure love this girl to pieces. She has had a hard summer and fall with a foot injury that has kept her from being as active as she likes to be. She also has struggled with friends and High school friend drama, but she continues to press on and not let it get her down. I love her happy smile, and infectious laugh. I can't believe my sweet little Maren is 16!!!
Jacob harvested huge cabbage he had planted last spring. Isn't he handsome? I love that sun bleached hair look he gets at the end of the summer.
We spent a weekend up at Rifle Falls, wth friends, which is always beautiful.
And I have been trying to get Jacobs buddy's out mountain biking a little here and there. He loves to go, and I love that his friends want to learn as well. So hey! Notice how green it is for August. It has been such a lush year for our desert.
And then there was this wreck. I was just heading home from a trip to sprouts to do my weekly grocery shop. I was stopped waiting for a pause to cross into traffic when the other two cars collided and then were pushed into me. I was very luckily not hurt at all, and neither were any others involved. The hardest part was giving my account of what happened to the officers, as it was very apparent that an older lady was at fault, and would likely loose her license over this. Such a sweet lady, even the other driver felt bad, and his car was basically totalled.
Dave and I love fall, as we are able to sneak away from the kids and fit in a few fun bike rides without the kids. We did a fun couple of rides up at Crested Butte one weekend, including a night away, and a big ride on the 401 trail, one that has been on the bucket list for a while.
I love it up there, even if the weather is iffy sometimes. We hid under these trees for a bit while it dumped for a bit.
Rain bike prints are the coolest.
Our trip wasn't void of challenges, as we got a flat tire going over Keebler Pass. I loved the
I guess if this is your view while you change a flat tire, you can't complain too much though!
This was all in preparation for the big ride I talked Dave into doing with me this fall. The whole Enchilada!!! This Monster in Moab is long, hard, and incredible beautiful. I loved it so much. And was excited to see that I could do it. I was glad Dave was able to do it with me. It is really fun to share this hobby together.
Moab riding never gets old!
I'm pretty sure this was out lunch break spot. It was the perfect place to stretch out and rest for a bit. This ride has it all, alpine, forests, and desert. It is so technical it leaves your shoulders aching, and arms quivering. But it is so rewarding and worth every mile. I really loved all of it except the part from the pass that has become quite rutted from too much love.
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