1st & 2nd!!

Because there were so few teams in the B league, the playoffs got weird. Kyle and Ava played and beat the number 1 seeded team and then played them again and lost in the championship at 10:30pm when they were completely gassed!  Glad they beat the team when they were fresh!  Also, so glad we were able to come watch the competition together as a family!

The Finals!!

Ben, Norah and I watched two of the matches. Both times, Kyle and Ava won!

Ben was the best at taking pictures and videos when they were on our side of the net.  It was fun to see them play so well together!

It was so fun to be outside watching the games that we went and got some chik-fila for dinner and stayed until 9:15!  When it was time for us to go, Kyle and Ava had two more games to play.

B League!

Kyle and Ava signed up for the Ogden City Sand Volleyball league again this year. They chose to compete in the B league and had a blast together for 5 weeks every Wednesday evening. 

There were only 5 teams in the league, allowing each team to play each other multiple times and get an idea of how to play them best before the finals. 

Paddle Boarding Together!

Ava and I had the day alone together while the other kids were in school and Kyle was busy working.  We started our morning off with some zucchini bread baking, by Ava, watching Can’t Buy Me Love, which had some questionable parts I had forgotten about, and a trip to the lake for some intense paddle boarding!

We paddled against the wind on the way and enjoyed a smooth ride on the way back. It was beautifully cloudy and not too hot, perfect for an hour on the water. 

Moving Day

Ava and I drove down to BYU this morning after dropping Ben at school.  The drive was only 1.5 hours and traffic-free thanks to the HOV lane.  Once there Ava picked up her ID and keys for her dorm room.  We parked outside her building and put everything on a cart we found in the foyer of the building.

We loaded everything on the cart and into two boxes and made it up to the dorm in only one trip!  I moved the car out of the loading zone and the two of us unpacked and tried to set most of her room up.  After measuring and trying to get some idea of how to arrange/decorate her side of the room, we headed home for a trip to HomeGoods and a haircut.

• We’re not done, but at least we have a plan and will get things ordered in time for her first day of school next Tuesday.

S’mores Time!

We’ve taken rides to North Fork a few times this year on the side by side for some s’mores and a campfire. Tonight we made the trip a little earlier and had some daylight to snap a picture. Love s’mores and scriptures over a campfire in the dark!!

Wild Ride!!

Kyle has been feeling he is missing out on time with the kids thanks to all the trouble he’s experiencing work-wise. The boys crave time with dad more than anyone and today Kyle delivered with an epic tube ride that ended with him doing a backflip off the tube!!  It was such a great few minutes seeing those huge smiles and knowing they were creating memories and strengthening their bond!!

Tubers!

 

After chores and the gym, we headed out on the lake. It’s been stormy every other day this week making it hard to get on the lake with volleyball games and a trip to Las Vegas. We made it happen today and the weather was actually still warm. Things start to get chilly on the lake when school starts. It was a bit wavy from all the other boats and the storm was coming tonight, so tubing was much more fun!

Gym Time!

Something we do multiple times a week is workout at the gym of the church we attend.  It is such a blessing to have access to volleyball and basketball nets, thanks to our Bishop.  Ava is our setter, which allows Kyle to watch the hitter and coach them.  This was probably our last gym session before Ava heads to BYU.  Glad we ended on such a good note!

 

At Work

This is a serious operation.  When Kyle is tossing and Ava is back setting to Norah on the right side for a hit these guys are all business!!  Ava and her skills will be sorely missed when she’s down in Provo!!

 

CX-5

With the money we saved on college for Ava, thanks to her full-ride at BYU and energy scholarship, we bought her a car!  Both her and Kyle have done a bunch of research about which cars handle best in the snow, hold up well over the years and can last hundreds of miles. Once they narrowed the field and found ones available within driving distance they started test driving and making calls. 

On Wednesday they decided on a grey Mazda CX-5 in Vegas, Thursday they bought the plane tickets and got the cashiers check, Friday they flew down to buy the car and then drove it back here!!  Kyle was super excited for the one on one time with Ava and Ava was super excited about the car!!!

She was so excited in fact, that Friday morning she forgot her ID so Kyle and her experienced a miracle getting on the flight without it!  They got to the airport late due to a huge traffic jam from an accident, then realized Ava didn’t have her ID. The TSA folks told her if she had a secondary form of ID she could get interviewed by a TSA agent over the phone. Miraculously we had an insurance card with her name on it in the car. Kyle ran down to their gate which was in final boarding while Ava waited for the TSA interview. While she was waiting the TSA folks turned away 3 other passengers on her flight declaring them to late. 

Once Kyle was at the gate they said that would be able to hold the flight for Ava. Things were getting down to departure time and Ava was nowhere in sight. Finally the gate agent told Kyle they could hold the flight for three more minutes, within two minutes the TSA guy and Ava were running down the terminal together!  It was quite the show and the first time we’ve had such help from anyone at the TSA counter!!!!

Still Tired

Ulli thought things would quiet down with the start of the school year, little did he know how many long walks he would endure as a result!!  We are all tired from the transition to school, hopefully we can get used to it quick!!

Weird Weather

Norah had a volleyball game today, so Kyle and Ava went to watch while I stayed home with the boys. After dinner I met Kyle, Ava and Norah in Ogden at the sand volleyball courts. Ava and Kyle had their second to last night of games so Norah and I watched a match before heading home and catching this glorious rainbow and cloudy sky. So beautiful and quite unexpected. It went from 80 and sunny to this in a matter of minutes. 

7th Grade

 S

Ben starts at the junior high this year, making all the kids new students at a new school!  He is a little nervous about all the bad things he has heard about junior high, but I bet Ben will find some good things about it too!!

Schultutes

Jack and Norah started school today while Ben starts tomorrow and Ava starts September 5th. This didn’t stop us from enjoying a family tradition together tonight after meet the teacher at Snowcrest and Norah’s volleyball game!  The kids got some fun things like books, socks, shirts, earrings, phone cases, candy, without shorts and hydration drink packets.  It was fun to put it all together again this year, love this tradition and love that these cones have last so long!!

9th & 11th

These two made the brave choice to attend a new high school this year that better aligns with their athletic goals for college. Kyle was offered a job to coach the men’s volleyball team at Morgan high school and with that came the opportunity for the kids to attend the school without having to move. It took a lot of prayers and fasting for them to make this difficult decision to leave the friends they have at Weber. Getting an answer to their prayers should make the tough days in the beginning a little easier. 

Wiped Out!

Our last week of summer has been filled with meteor shower gazing on the trampoline, volleyball practices/games/tournaments, flow riding, freshman initiation for the volleyball team, boating, partying with friends, Pirate and Lord of the Rings watching, Father’s blessings, lessons about being the new kid, car research and shopping, sand volleyball playing and lots of good food making and eating!  Ulli is wiped out and ready for the quite days of the school year to start tomorrow!

Best Fur-ends!

I know when these two say bye and Ava heads down to BYU there will be tears shed.  Ulli probably favors Ava over all the other kids thanks to her nightly cheese training with his allergy pill.  I know one of the other kids can fill in, but the bond is strong between these two!

Ulli won’t shed any tears, but he will definitely miss Ava and wonder where she is. The reunions will be pretty sweet though!

Early Morning!

Norah’s last Saturday of the the summer was spent at an all day volleyball tournament that was supposed to be done at lunch time. I dropped her off at 7am and she didn’t get home until 5:30pm.  The upside was that she got plenty of time with her new team, Kyle was able to go watch her and I saw this cool hot air balloon on my way back home. Her team took second place!

Sunset on the Lake

With Norah on the high school volleyball team, our time together on the boat is hard to come by. She’s either at practice or a game or too tired from practice or a game to make it out. Tonight was different. We spent the evening eating pizza and surfing with a little tubing mixed in. It was such a fun night to be out and we caught the sunset without getting stuck in a line of boats trying to get off the lake. 

Skills!!

We took some friends out on the boat today and since one of them surfs goofy footed, Jack wanted to surf with them on the left side. Jack’s never surfed off the boat without the rope and it took him two tries to get it today. Everyone was super patient and it was quite cool to see two people out there at once!

Candid Photo

Someone snapped this picture after our brisket dinner during cleanup and car research before digging into Kyle’s homemade coconut Oreo ice cream.  I love this group, and those that are missing. 

Close Up!

Ben is always on the floor taking pictures of Ulli, I kept this one that shows Ulli’s sweet disposition. 

Pond Friends!

 Somehow we met the Bishop of ward’s son a couple weeks before we moved here. The son, Casey and his family has since moved back to Utah. They don’t live very close to our area, but when they come to visit the grandparents we sometimes will see them. Today was one of those days-swimming at the Cook’s pond with friends on a hot day-what a blessing!!

Groomed!

Ava has been working all summer as a tutor as well as a dog groomer!  She cleans Ulli up beautifully after I trim his hair. She threw on this Petsmart bandana to make it official!