It was the second full week of school!

My internship (my job) ended at the end of July and now with Beth and Ben at school most of the day, I have a lot of time on my hands! I’m still doing homework, but the rest of my time I’ve been painting our kitchen cabinets sky blue! This is not a quick project! Two coats of primer before the paint and all those little ridges combine to make it very slow going. Still, I like how it’s looking and I do get to listen to books while I paint!

Bethany enjoyed school again this week! It’s really a beautiful miracle. She also tried out for the school play. She felt like she did really well and is looking forward to the fun that she’ll have! She was hoping for a speaking part and is disappointed that she only made ensemble, but it will still be fun, we hope. Beth also went to the football game on Friday night and the school dance afterward. Way to engage in the high school experience, right? She had a good time!

Ben’s feeling ok about school. He’s also practicing with the cross country team everyday afterschool and managed karate on Tuesday. He had another race Saturday morning. He didn’t do as well as the week before, but Kevin says he’s still running faster than Kevin’s ever managed to run that distance! Mariah is his assistant coach and so that makes it extra worthwhile to participate. He’s doing all the things but I’m not sure he’s really enjoying them. We will keep working on it!

Savannah got pretty sick this week and missed a lot of work. Poor kid! She was pretty miserable. She’s feeling better now and even worked the overtime day on Saturday. This coming week she needs to be there an hour earlier everyday—5:30am. Yikes!

Kevin bought a four-wheeler for our family this week! He decided that our anniversary 4-wheeling trip was so much fun that maybe we should own one ourselves! Now we do! Saturday afternoon, he and I went up in the mountains and we went for another ride. So so pretty!

It’s been a good week!

It was back to school this week!! Wednesday was Ben's first day of 9th grade (officially a high schooler but still at the junior high) and Bethany's first day of 11th grade. They are so old!! Ben has early morning seminary on A days so his first day of school started at 6:40am. He had high school cross country practice after school so he he didn't get home until 4:30. It was a very full day! Bethany was really worried about going back to school this year but ended up having a pretty good experience. Benjamin, on the other hand, reports feeling lonely at school and hasn't liked it at all. Interesting. We will see how they both feel after settling in a little bit more.

I went for a walk after they left for school and kept my eye on them! The junior high is in the front and the high school in the middle of this picture. What a view!

We wanted to do something fun on Tuesday as the last day of summer vacation, so we went to the nickel arcade! It was Beth's idea and Ben was willing. The two of them spent two hours playing games and earning tickets. It was fun to watch them hanging out together. We had a pizza and Kevin came for a little while, too!

 

On Saturday, Ben had his first cross country meet! It was the huge pre-region race. In a field of 200ish runners, Ben placed 112th. Pretty awesome especially for a freshman! It's a three mile race and he was pretty worn out at the end. It was fun watching him run, though!

Lyla enjoyed it, too!

Bethany had YW camp this week! It was the first time she's been to camp without me being one of the leaders which was a little weird for both of us! But she still had a super time. One of the leaders from our ward who Beth loves was also a camp nurse and she sent me regular updates on how Beth was doing which was great. Beth says she felt tired a lot, but she loved the canoeing and the zipline and being with the girls in the ward. We're all so glad she got to go!

Ben and I were pretty much just bored all week! I enjoyed it for the first couple of days since the week before had been so busy, but by the end, honestly, I was pretty miserable. Never fear. I will add more structure into my life next week. I've learned my lesson! Again. Ha ha.

Ben ended his week quite spectacularly! Ben earned his black belt at the end of this week! Actually, he earned it after seven years of grueling martial arts training. He is a true ninja rockstar!! Ben started the test yesterday by running 5 miles. Then he did push-ups, sit-ups, blocks, strikes, kicks, performed every form he's ever learned, did them all again with weapons including disarming someone with a gun and disarming someone with a knife, then showcased what he had learned by fighting with other black belts and fighting with multiple opponents. They finished everything up with board breaking seven different ways. Somewhere in there they had to answer questions from the board about their written applications and essays, as well. Crazy, right? The test lasted from 7:30 in the morning to 3:30 in the afternoon with only minimal breaks. Ben did, indeed, receive his black belt at the end and it's beautiful with blue embroidery that we are told says his name in Japanese. It's all so very impressive and we are so proud of his hard work.

Our ninja-star six years ago.

Ben's in black and red.

 We had a very busy week! 

Monday was Kevin's and my 30th wedding anniversary! Wow! That's a long time and a pretty great thing to be working on for so long. It feels good! I am so grateful for him and the life we have together. We will be going on a cruise later this fall, but to celebrate the actual day, we rented a four-wheeler and took the dirt road that comes up the back of the mountain where we live. Beautiful! What a view! We had a great ride. It seems a good metaphor for celebrating 30 years of marriage--it's a long ride with bumps and sharp turns but with beautiful vistas that you see best when you wait until you do the work to get to the top. I love that man. I love the things you learn from marriage. Life can be so good!

On Tuesday, we left for Palisade! It was our annual trip to our favorite summer camping/swimming spot! We always go with our friends, the Griggs and the Francoms. This year we added the Mohlmans and some Roylances. We missed Cali and Chey like crazy! Everyone else was there. Ammon even made it for the last day! We camped. We ate good food. We talked. We swam. We floated and talked while we floated. The teens hung out all day on paddle boards and the swim dock. We laughed at the antics of little Avery and Lyla. So so fun! So great to be together!

We came back late Thursday afternoon and my parents arrived that evening! It's always so good to see my mom and dad. They were the first of many guests because my niece, Mandy, got married on Saturday! On Friday and Saturday night, we had 17 people sleeping in our house! Crazy, right? I thought it was so cool that we could provide a place for so many and it has been great fun to be together! Friday, everyone who was here so far went to Mandy's bridal shower and we had great fun playing games and opening presents. That night was the wedding dinner which was at a park with pretty decorations and great food. Saturday morning was the sealing in the Timpanogos temple. Beautiful. Powerful. Always so amazing. We had a long break before the reception that night but we filled it with more visiting and helping where we could. The reception was that night in the groom's grandpa's backyard that had a view of the city. Amy decorated beautifully and had yummy food! There were great games and dancing! Everybody loved dancing and Avery never left the dance floor. She is a two-year old jazz star! We are so happy for Mandy and had a great time celebrating her wedding and being together!