Fall Fever

 

Our fall was filled with a lot of soccer and football.  We had so many practices and games, but the kids both had great seasons.  We were able to get to a couple of BSU games.  We always have so much fun cheering on the Broncos.  

Craig and I hiked another of the 12,000 peaks, Thompson Peak.  Well more accurately, Craig reached the very top as I was trying not to die.  Obviously I am not dramatic at all.  The first 5 miles of the hike were pretty normal and we made it to a gorgeous lake.  After the lake we made it up to the saddle, from there it didn't seem like there was any great way to make it to the top.  We knew you had to come from the back side, so we started heading that direction.  A group of teenage boys decided to go a higher route and we tried to go straight across a rock field.  The rocks continued to get smaller and there was nothing really to grab onto.  We eventually made it to kind of a cliff side and we thought we would be able to scramble up it, but neither of us found a good spot to go up.  Craig eventually makes it up after taking a few risky jumps and told me not to follow him.  So I started heading up farther hoping to find a better spot, I was moving very slowly and eventually my hands slipped (they were freezing cold) and I started falling down the rock field on my stomach.  It felt like i was sliding forever and I couldn't get a grip on anything.  There were a few choice words that came out of my mouth.  Craig wasn't able to see me from where he was but he could hear my screams.  Eventually I was able to get a hold of a stable rock and I just laid there freaking out for like 10 minutes.  Craig couldn't get down to help me, so I just told him to finish to the top and that I would slowing work my way down.  I was shaking pretty bad and it took me a while to get going again and I essentially slid down the rock field on my butt.  I then waited for Craig back at the saddle.  Craig said it was so beautiful at the top, but I didn't even care at that point because no joke I was fearing for my life an hour before, so I am counting it.  The hike back down was easy and I was glad to be back at the car.

The kids had a fun Halloween.  Brooklyn dressed up as a minion and McKay was a SWAT guy.  Brooklyn went to the middle school Halloween party with friends and then went trick-or-treating with Cadence.  McKay and I went trick-or-treating with cousins.  Both kids got loaded with so many full size candy bars and just candy in general.

We were only able to get up to the cabin once, because of the kids sports schedule, but it's always nice to be up there.  McKay tried out for a club basketball team.  It was a last minute decision, but we decided to have him go and just see and he ended up making the team and we decided to have him do it because his coach is the Eagle High School boys varsity basketball coach, so we figured it would be a great learning opportunity.  We also made a big decision as a family and found a lot in Eagle and decided to build a new home in the EagleRidge neighborhood.   We met with the builder and realtor and also with the design team to make all the choices for the house.  We made quite a few changes to the floor plan that we are very excited about.  We can't wait for the next steps of the process.

We finished off our fall season with Thanksgiving.  We ate Thanksgiving dinner with my side of the family, but spent plenty of time over the break with both sides of the family.  We definitely stayed busy this fall with the kids sports, church callings and the starting process of building a new home, but honestly I don't think we would know what to do with ourselves if we weren't busy.

Summer Fun!

 

We had a lot of fun this summer.  Lots of time spent at grandparents pools, up at the cabin, at the lake, with cousins and friends.  We stayed busy, that's for sure.  We started with memorial day here is Boise, we swam and bbq'd at Stan and Diane's. Craig's Grandpa Moss passed away in June and we were able to make it down to Utah for the funeral.  It was a beautiful service and it was great to see so much of his family.

This summer I decided to put on a Speed and Agility camp for our kids and their friends.  I needed our kids to work on their speed over the summer and I figured they would be more likely to do it if they had other kids around.  It turned out well and I think I had more fun than the kids.  Brooklyn and I also taught swim lessons in my mom's pool.  Brooklyn wanted to start learning so I had her help me out with a couple of classes.  We made it up to Lucky Peak a few times with my mom and sisters.  The kids both did well with their water skiing and had fun tubing.  Brooklyn even tried slalom skiing and almost got up.

For our anniversary at the end of June Craig and I hiked one of the Boise Grand Slam peaks, Kepros mtn. It was about a 9.5 mile hike and now we just have one left to finish off the Grand Slam.  The kids headed up to McCall with Mark and Paige for the weekend, which was very kind of them and the kids had a blast.

4th of July was a blast, like always.  We stayed in town for the 4th and went to the parade in Star and then over to a friends house to swim and then to Stan and Diane's to swim and BBQ and then back to Star for the fireworks.  It's so fun having the kids old enough to be able to stay busy and up late with out any meltdowns.  The next morning we drove up to the cabin, but not without stopping to hike first.  We started to year off with our biggest hike, Blackmere Lake.  It was a hard one at 11.5 miles, but the kids did great of course.  Sunday we went to church and hung at the cabin and played in the backyard.  On Monday the 7th we went over to north beach and took our paddles boards and Pop's kayak.  Tuesday, it was time for another hike, this time it was to the top of Jug Mountain.  Craig and I have hiked it before, but the kids have looked at it from the back deck of the cabin for years and now was their chance to hike to the top.  It gets pretty steep at the top and you have to do quite a bit of bouldering, the kids thought it was pretty sweet.

The rest of July was filled with girls camp for Brooklyn and Craig and then high adventure for Craig and the young men.  We also bought a new car.  Craig had been looking at Jeep Wrangler's for a long time and finally found one that fit the bill.  It will eventually be the kids car but for now Craig and I can have fun driving it around.  At the end of the month we made it up to Hazard Lake to go camping with Stan and Diane.  Stan and Diane bought a little trailer that they brought up.  While we were there we hiked to hard creek lake and then to upper hazard lake and back to hazard, it was about 5 miles and Pops even came with us.  We fished and paddle boarded, at yummy food and roasted s'mores.

At the start of August Lisa's family came in town for a family reunion.  The kids had a blast together swimming and playing lots of soccer and football in the backyard.  Lots of food was eaten and lots of smiles and laughter was had all around.  We are always sad to see them leave.

We were able to get up to the cabin a couple of other times throughout the summer.  We went shooting, spent time at the lake, had fires and the kids had fun in Pop's new garage.

We finished out the summer with Labor Day weekend in Sun Valley.  Friday morning Craig and I were up early and drove to the Sawtooth's to hike into Alice and Twin Lake, which was about 11.5 gorgeous miles.  Stan and Diane then picked the kids up from school and brought them over.  We met them at dinner at Smoky Mountain.  Saturday we spent a lot of time at the car auction.  The kids also went to the parade with Pops and Mouse and then to the ice show that evening after dinner.  Sunday morning we were up early and were back in the Sawtooth's to hike to Goat Lake.  Craig and I had hiked it before but we wanted the kids to experience it.  It is a good 9 miles but worth every mile.  There are some really steep parts that don't have a trail, but the kids are like mountain goats and flew right up.  Once we finished the hike we drove back home so we could spend actual Labor Day at the pool.

At the end of the summer I started working at a new studio, teaching hot sculpt classes.  A friend of ours opened up Uplift Hot Yoga and I was more than thrilled when she invited me to join the team.  Teaching in the heat is new for me but I'm starting to get used to it. We had a great summer.  Always full of adventures and we wouldn't have it any other way.  We love creating memories with our kids and hope they look back on these adventures with fond memories.  Here are a few more random pictures from the summer...