Picking choke cherries!

Friday night, when Carson was finished with football practice, we headed into Dry Head to pick choke cherries and have a picnic. We picked as fast as we could before it started getting dark and then we had a sandwich for dinner and headed back home. We picked almost a cooler full of them and can't wait to make jelly out of them!

As we were starting to drive out, Christian spotted a huge black bear in the bushes. We watched it as it ran off up the hill, and couldn't help but think about how close that bear probably was to us as we were picking choke cherries! We did spot some pretty fresh bear scat in the bushes we were picking on, but didn't think much of it...YIKES!

Super grainy, but here is the big ol' black bear we saw!

Boating

The Saturday after school started, we took the boat out for what we think will probably be the last time. Grandpa and Grandma Asay joined us about and hour after we got out there. The water was amazing the first hour or so then it got a little choppy. But, we took advantage of the nice water while we could and all skied (except for Landon).

Carson.

Travis hanging out with grandma and grandpa Asay

Landon took a turn kneeboarding.

A little bit tired!

Travis had lots of fun getting thrown around on the tube. He caught some great air a couple of times!

For whatever reason, Landon didn't want to ride the tube...even with Carson. We made him do it and he ended up liking it after we wouldn't let him get off.

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Doing some tricks.

Grandpa and grandma Asay had to head back before we were ready, so after we dropped them off at the dock, we went and let the boys cliff jump for a bit before we headed back in to go home.

Carson cliff jumping.

Travis, Landon and Carson heading up the cliff to jump. Landon isn't a fan of heights he mostly just hikes up and down and then jumps off a lower spot.

Watching the boys jump.

Travis getting ready to jump.

Love my boys!

Back to School

The kids started school Tuesday, August 22. They were all super excited for the first day...Travis even woke up before he had to. They had picked out their clothes the night before and made sure they had everything ready to go for the next day. Christian gave them each a father's blessing for family home evening the night before. I love that he does this for them each and every year.

 Carson: 6th grade

 Landon: Kindergarten

 Travis: 3rd grade

It's always a great way to start off a new school year. I drove them their first day. Carson starts earlier than the two little ones, so we dropped him off first and then headed to the elementary school. Both Travis and Landon spotted grandma Asay first thing and have her hugs and then were off with their friends! It sounds like they had great first days. Landon only goes for a half day for the first two weeks, which is so nice for them (and mom). He was mad when I picked him up after school because he wanted to ride the bus home. We made sure to walk over and make sure that he knew where to go get on the bus for when he got to ride it home. 

Landon and his cousin, Britt, who is also in his class.

Ready to go into school!

When I asked Carson what the best part of his first day was, he said "it was all good, but I can tell you what the worst part was." After football practice Tuesday, he went to unlock his lock to get changed after practice only to find out that he couldn't unlock his lock. A couple of his friends tried to help him along with his football coach. They weren't able to get it open, so they were going to have to use the bolt cutters to get it off. He was embarrassed and a little teary-eyed about the situation, but his coach was very reassuring that this happens every year and that he'd be ok. We went and bought a new lock that night and they cut it off the next morning. Come to find out, he was telling them his combination numbers (which were in his pants pocket...locked in the locker) backwards. He now has the combination in several places and I made sure to write it down at home so if this happens again, we can get it open. Lesson learned!

 After school, we had our annual Benchview Back to school bash. Our group is getting smaller and smaller each year. In fact, one of our neighbors is doing a breakfast another morning for the middle school and high school kids that don't get to attend the after school one because of sports practices. The kids enjoyed watermelon, cinnamon rolls, meat, cheese and crackers and homemade oreos for their treats.

Parker S., Owen W., Travis

Spencer W., Avery W., Kandace W., Alli W., Tyler W., and Gemma W. Landon was tired and grouchy and wouldn't be a part of the group picture. He acutally went back home shortly after this and didn't have any treats.

Solar Eclipse 2017

August 21, was a solar eclipse. It was truly so cool to experience. We were at about 97% totality, which was awesome! I wish, now, that we would have driven 2 hours to experience 100% totality, but what we saw was awesome. The library put on a little party at the park. They gave out eclipse glasses to the first 300 people, had cookies for the kids to decorate like the eclipse, games, food vendors, and drawings for prizes (Landon and Carson both won books). We got our glasses and the boys made a cookie and played a game and then we headed home to watch the eclipse...with all the mosquitoes! It was amazing to sit there and feel the temperature drop and the sky go dim. I actually thought it was going to get darker than it did, being at 97%, but it was still a neat experience. 

Making eclipse cookies

Watching the eclipse in the backyard.

The only picture I was able to get with my phone and special glasses.

Last Days of Summer Vacation

Here are a few things we did the last week before school started:

I decided this year that it would be fun to take each of the boys out for a one-on-one lunch before school starts. They each got to pick where they wanted to eat. Carson and Travis both choose to go to the 310 and Landon choose Minchows. It was so fun to get to be with each of them individually and chat about things with just them. 

Soccer started. It was really unorganized again this year and I don't think we will do it next year. I would rather spend my last week before school doing things we enjoy (like heading to the lake) instead of sitting and watching soccer. Travis and Landon are enjoying if for the most part.

Landon's first soccer game.

We made a trip up to Billings to do our school shopping. We had a pretty successful trip and were able to get most things. We only had to order Carson's football cleats and gym shoes. The clothes were pretty picked over already, but they managed to find some shirts they liked.

The Thursday before school started, each school had their registrations. We started at the elementary school. Travis and Landon both brought their school supplies to drop off in their classrooms and visit with their teachers. This year, Landon has Mrs. Hengesteg, who was the elementary art teacher for a couple of years before being moved to kindergarten (because of budget woes). We don't know much about her, but are excited to get to know her and I'm looking forward to getting to help in his classroom this year as much as possible.

Landon with Mrs. Hengesteg

 Travis has Mrs. J. May for 3rd grade this year (she was also Carson's 3rd grade teacher). He is super excited to be in her class!

Travis and Mrs. May

That afternoon was the middle school registration and orientation. This is the one that gets me...how can he be a middle schooler. The kids were put into groups and taken around the school by 8th graders with their schedules to find the rooms and meet their teachers. He got to practice his combination a bunch of times and even bought a Lovell Middle School Mustanges shirt. While the kids got a tour, the parents had a meeting to learn about the school and expectations. 

At his locker with his schedule and supplies all ready to go for the first day

Grandpa Asay's sweet corn finally came on and that meant time to pick corn! We picked our first batch of just over 1000 ears (1010 to be exact) to take the Blairs in Greybull. It was hot and the mosquitoes were terrible, but the boys didn't complain like they have in the past, but maybe that's because I threatened to take away a dollar from their end earnings every time I had to tell them to stop whining. They will be busy picking a couple nights each week.

 The boys had dentist appointments to get their their teeth cleaned. They all came away with no cavaties and Travis came away with two less teeth, but gained a 2 dollar bill. The dentist said he needed to pull two teeth to make room for the ones that were already coming in. One of the teeth he pulled was loose, but the other one was not and had another one trying to grow over the top of it. The dentist gave him a two dollar bill for the two teeth had to pull. Travis was a trooper and ended up getting two more dollars from the toothfairy and a pack of gum.

Speaking of teeth, Landon lost his second tooth, which was acutally the first one...the other one was knocked loose when he fell off a stool at grandma Asay's house. He was really kind of funny about it. He didn't want anyone but Carson to pull it out. He had tried a couple of times before he was successful. The boys stayed the night at grandma Foulger's the day he lost it (we had an early youth temple trip the next morning) and then the toothfairy forgot to visit the second night, but finally made it the third night with his dollar and pack of gum. No teeth in the front had kind of put a damper on his corn on the cob eating. He loves to eat corn off the cob, but this summer we will have to cut it off for him to enjoy!

We made a trip out to the lake with a group of friends for a lake day. It had been cooler most of the week, so when it finally was supposed to be warm the Friday before school started, we took advantage of the nice day and headed to the lake. The boys had a blast and could have stayed out there all day. We really need to make it a point to get out to the beach more often during the summer so they can play more.

Carson and Travis built lots of sand castles and dug holes to fill with water to make "hot tubs".

Landon and his cousin Britt working together to build up the sides of their hole.

After a long week, I went down stairs after lunch was over on Sunday to find two out of three boys asleep on the couch. They were worn out!