November Happenings

 Maybe next year I'll find it in me to post more than just a monthly recap.  We shall see.  I keep persisting with this blog because it's pretty much the only documentation we have of our lives.  Apparently not my strength.

November was fairly low-key.  We're putting our heads down and doing everything we can to get the office done.  It's hard to imagine what life will be like without the office to work on.  Even though it's getting close, it feels like we may never finish.  Jake and I did all of the wood siding on the warehouse.  I'm not a horrible siding guy.  But as soon as it got cold I got a lot worse.  Working in the cold is brutal.  I have high respect for people who do it day after day.

My sisters and I finally got together for a weekend!  It's been a bit, and it was so nice to be able to relax and talk for more than an hour.  And without kids.  We stayed in SLC and went to a Time Out For Women thing.  Learned lots of good things, but mostly enjoyed being with my sisters.

I rushed home to help Kate get ready for her first dance!  It was a girl's choice and she went with a small group of friends.  They decorated cakes, ate some pizza, went to the dance, and came home exhausted.  All-in-all I think it was a good experience.  So happy she was able to go!

Thanksgiving was at Greg and Tracy's this year.  Lots of delicious food, and it was so good to catch up with family we haven't seen for a while.  

Kate's preference date.  The way they sent the pics was weird, so you'll have to enjoy the blurry.

Sisters!

I got a new bike!  Merry Christmas to me.  I got to ride it once before it snowed.

Not a great pic, but you can see some of the siding we installed.

Sage is our makeup master

Turkey Trot!  It's hard to describe the joy this gives my kids.  Just know that they love it so much.

A random picture Sage took is the only pic we have of Thanksgiving.

Sage gave me holiday nails.  Good thing since I look like I'm 100 years old in this picture.

October Happenings

 I really thought I wrote about October.  I thought I was getting on here to write about November and was all proud of myself because I wasn't too far behind.  Oh well.

October started out busy as we were finishing up our mountain bike season.  Kate finished things up at in Richfield.  It was our first time racing there and it was pretty fun.  We took the trusty trailer and camped right at the race course.  Very convenient.  

As per usual this year, we didn't go anywhere for fall break.  This is the year that we put our heads down and embrace the suck.  In other words, building the office is killing us.  The good news though, is that we already have some trips planned for next year.  Hopefully we can make up for lost time.  At least a little bit.  We did manage to do some great fall bike rides.  Fall mountain biking is the best.  Perfect temperatures and so, so beautiful.  

Sage has found a fun group of friends and is living her best life.  She's trying hard to figure out how to navigate this new world.  Right now her life revolves around her friends.  We're trying to remind that other things still exist.  That said, she decided to have a Halloween party and invited a bunch of girls and boys over.  This was her first time including boys, and it was a bit of a learning experience for us all.  8th grade boys are mostly crazy.  Nice kids, but you know, crazy.  They wore Sage out and she was not happy with the mess they left her to clean up.  No, it wasn't just Jake and I who were upset about the mess.  Sage is very particular with this kind of thing.   She was not happy and has since made it clear to her friends that they're not allowed to come over if they make such messes.  This makes my heart happy.

Anyway, here are the pics to tell a better story of October.

Conference watching fun

Fall mountain biking

Kate always gets a bit nervous right before she races.  

She was on my bike for this race because hers decided to fall apart a couple of days before.

Sage begged me to ride with her in PC.  I enjoyed it because soon I won't be able to keep up with her.

The office that is killing us.  

Jake got his stomach scoped.  Everything looked good.

Zack came home and we went for the funnest ride ever in PC

Every once in a while it's not too horrible to be the only one home with mom and dad because we take you to dinner.

September Happenings

 I at least need to get September up here before October ends.  September was a busy month full of lots of things.  Is it just me or is fall a really busy time?  Add mountain biking to school starting and suddenly we're running around like crazy!

We started the month of with Swiss Days.  I kind of love this Midway tradition.  I mean, it's insanely busy with a million people, but I love the opportunities to serve with neighbors.  It's fun, but exhausting.  This year we had record heat to deal with.  Like 100 degree record heat.  Our ward helps with the swiss taco booth and I bet it got up to like 120 degrees by the fryers.  I legit thought I might die.

We had a couple of mountain bike races.  The first one in Cedar.  We had fun camping in Cedar, along with biking.  We also managed to do a bit of jeeping.  I was holding some razor-wire fencing back so it didn't hit the Jeep and somehow stabbed my hand.  That razor wire is no joke.  The last race of the month was right in our backyard at Soldier Hollow.  So nice to not have to drive far.  The girls did great at all the races.  We had fun watching them and they had fun racing.

In the middle of everything, Jake and I headed to North Carolina for one of his builder group meetings.  Of course we went while there was a hurricane on the east coast.  Luckily we only experienced a tropical storm and we made it home fine.  What did I think of North Carolina?  It was fine, but nothing fabulous.  I wandered around the Duke University campus.  Super pretty.  

I love the Swiss Days Parade!  This year the mountain bike team was part of it.

One last boating trip to Starvation.  That looks so nice right now!

Sage's group getting ready to ride.  I love how many girls race now!  The beginner devo group had 100 riders in it!

Lined up ready to race.  The worst part...

Kate's group getting ready.  There were 200 girls in her wave!

Kate asked someone to Preference for her first date experience!

I went on a fun ride with Sage and one of her friends.  This is graffiti tunnel.

Devo team picture day.  These are the 7th and 8th grade riders.  Next year Sage will ride with the high school team.

Kate got answered for preference.  We still have a lot of those suckers.  There were a ton.

Fall mountain bike rides make all the hot painful rides worth it.

It was freezing before the Soldier Hollow race.  The girls were trying to stay warm.

Sage's cut group of friends.

Jake and I went for a Sunday ride in the mountains.

Beautiful Duke chapel

The chapel has beautiful stained glass windows.  Each of them tells a story about Jesus or one of the Old Testament prophets.  Someone with more patience than me could spend all day looking at the details.

Beautiful Duke gardens