Travis turns 9!

On September 1st, Travis turned 9. His birthday always turns into a multi day celebration. We had a family party the Sunday before his birthday. We had everyone over for a bbq and dessert. He had requested a football party and wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, so we had some cupcakes done up in the shape of a football.

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Everyone brought a side to share and we had so much deliciousness for dinner!

His cake kind of lost some of it's shape in the car ride.

 He got some great gifts from his family members! He got some legos, a basketball, a nerf gun and a load of money!

Putting together one of his lego sets with the help of his cousin Chloe. These two are pretty good little friends!

 Friday was his actual birthday. We kicked off the day with the traditional birthday pancakes and some presents. We did presents in the morning this year because we were leaving for Jackson that evening as soon as Carson was done with football practice.

New shirt

The one thing he really wanted was a new big mountain bike. He was so excited and even had to go ride it before school started.

Travis, we are sure thankful that you joined our family 9 years ago. You are kind, determined, a hard worker,  competitive, imaginative and many other great things. At the age of 9, Travis loves:

*to read the Pursey Jackson series

*steak

*Playing sports

*is responsible for making his bed and cleaning up his room daily, emptying the dishwasher, and vacuuming

*the color green

*anything under armor

*being outside

*making sure his hair is just right

*clicking his tongue (really loud)

I love when he does his eye brow lift on one side!

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.