It’s never easy.  Tonight we all had to say goodbye (for now) to our wonderful church youth leader and his fiance.  Sam and Tyson were friends at first sight and have a super awesome bond.  Tyson has been not only a great spiritual mentor to Sam (and Alice) but also took a bit of a big brother role.  We are all excited to see them go on to new adventures but it is definitely hard to see Sam so heartbroken.  Happy Trails, Tyson and Andi!  We will miss them dearly!

Happy Monday night….

Jennifer

 

Mason had his eighth birthday party today.  I gave him the choice of themes and without pause he chose ninja warrior.  Okay….so without making it totally cheesy and downright demeaning to the Japanese culture, we tried our best to make it fun and super cool.  All the ninjas wore black.  We made them red face masks and ninja swords.  Scott put up an elaborate obstacle course in the backyard and we timed them going through it.  Inside, Alice showed everyone how to make origami fighting stars and then the ninjas practiced throwing them at a target.  Mason gave a karate demonstration and we all learned some cool stances.  After a quick snack and cupcakes, the ninjas used their skills at whacking the pinata (not Asian, I know, but oh so much fun).  We finished the party with another round on the obstacle course.  Phew.  Those kids are busy!

 

 

Scary bunch of ninjas, if you ask me.

Jennifer

Again.  Another birthday. Another year older.  Oh my.

This morning, Alice and I went out for her birthday pictures.  Alice is pretty lucky because her birthday falls during the summer, which means flowers and leaves on trees and sun.  It’s a good thing.  Anyway, we strolled around the neighborhood snapping away and somehow  she managed to connect to Pandora the entire time.  Sooo, if you are wondering why she is seeming to jam out in almost all the pictures, it is because she is:)  Taylor Swift radio to be exact.  Come to find out it makes for some great pictures.  This is the picture of Alice most days.  She sings constantly.  I’m not kidding; she is belting out some Disney song in the other room right now.

Happy birthday to my spunky, bright, hilarious, singing, dancing, dramatic, oldest middle daughter.  She rocks.  Literally and figuratively:)

I might be a bit biased but she is darling.

 

 

Much love on this gorgeous Thursday.

Jennifer

Our friends (who are really more like family) are in the process of moving to Summit County.  Instead of paying thousand of dollars in rent, they (and their two Newfoundlands) moved in with us for part of the summer.  It has been super fun and the kids are loving all the new playmates around.  They have been riding bikes, playing in the park, hiking, exploring town and so many other things that kids can do when they live in a small town.  I am loving it because Victoria is a fantastic chef and makes yummy meals:)  and I get someone to hang out with too:)  Anyway, here are a few pictures from the last couple weeks.  Summer fun!

 

Happy Friday!

Jennifer

Scott, Sam and Alice had their second mountain bike race on Wednesday night.  They all had great races and I was so proud of them.  Scott came in fourth, just missing the podium.  Sam road even better than the last race and felt way better about his riding.  Alice moved up to a bigger bike and continued to crush it.  Our mountain biking community is fantastic, really encourages each other and has a genuine love for the land and biking.  Once again, we are reminded that we are blessed to live here.

The Sam Man preparing to ride…

 

 

Alice and her bestie, Sadie, on the line waiting for the start whistle. Let’s go #15!

 

 

Sometimes being a spectator is hard work…Mason does the job well.

 

Check out the guy in the middle.  He looks fast.

 

 

My boys after the race.  So proud of both of them!

Jennifer

Now that summer has finally arrived, we are letting it all soak in.  After a trip to the park, picnic and sand castle building at our local “beach”, the kids were hot and tired so we hooked up the sprinkler and almost everybody took advantage of it.  One of my babies seems to be too cool for running through the sprinkles.  The other three had a blast.

 

Tomorrow I will (hopefully) blog about the last mountain bike race.  My kids (and husband) amaze me.

Jennifer

My babies (Sam and Alice) left this morning for a week-long mission trip to the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota.  They were so excited and I was so nervous:)  No, seriously, I am super proud of both of them.  All of us getting out of our comfort zone is a really good thing.  Please keep them and our entire church youth group in your prayers!

Our weather has finally taken a turn toward summer and this mama couldn’t be happier.  Last night was the first mountain biking race of the summer season and it was a gorgeous night to be outside.  Scott, Sam and Alice all raced their bikes and did awesome. This was Alice’s first race and she finished 4th in her age group.  Super proud of all of them for sure!

 

Running races start next week!

Jennifer