Football and Food.

Sunday afternoon Josh got to practice with the Bobcats! 

How cool is that? 

On the sidelines, waiting for their turn on the turf. 

Luke had a burst of imagination and invented a plane that was made of this plastic thingy.  He drew it on the etch-a-sketch to show us the features. 

Tuesday I went to Canada for work, and got to stay in this luxurious "man camp" room.  It was tiny. 

This is the view from the farthest corner...

We're building a huge power plant and dam. 

So much going on!

This is a portion of the dorms.  All together, there are rooms for 1600 workers at this camp.  It's 3 hours from the nearest town of Thompson, in Winnipeg.  

Friday afternoon Luke had a project he wanted to do with me.  We made stress balls out of balloons and flour.  Luke took his job very seriously!

For part of it...
This is when he's squeezing the air out of the balloon, trying hard not to make a flour volcano.

The stress balls are the perfect size and texture to juggle. This is his first attempt. 

See our final product? So cool, one for each of us. 

Friday night Mike these awesome boys to the Teton Gravity Research movie, after he took them to Burger Bobs for dinner and milkshakes.  

They are the coolest. 

Josh was so lucky - he won the door prize!  He won 2 lift tickets at Big Sky and a night at the Huntley Lodge up on the mountain.  So cool! 

Saturday Josh played football in the chilly fall morning. 

Josh was captain (#56) which was cool!

Luke had a great game, even made 4 tackles!

Luke was QB for part of the game, and handed off for 2 touchdowns!

Saturday I was at a Rodan and Fields leadership retreat. I loved hanging out with these amazing women.  50 rockstars in one room. 

Saturday Luke created his own dessert. Tortilla, then cinnamon, then ice cream, then chocolate sauce. It's nice to have a dessert chef in the family.  

Sunday morning we went to Livingston for breakfast. We were trying to take Luke to the Beanery, but it was closed. He was depressed that he couldn't go to his favorite place.  We were happy to try out Pinky's, but he wasn't really having it. 

Luke and I had the special, which was a waffle, two pieces of bacon, two eggs and sausage gravy.  Incredible! 

Fort Week -- First Football Games

I did a horrible job taking pictures this week, but it's because I was at the Fort at Luke's school any chance I could.  I loved it, though, and especially loved the power tools. :)

Barnard's job at Oroville CA removed a Bald Eagle nest from a tree that was too close to the new power line.  Not every day you get to do that, especially not in California!  Very cool! 

Luke's first game was this week, but since it was at 8:00 I didn't take any pictures at all.  Oops!  This is Josh's team (orange for the Bengals).  He's #56, which you can sort of see in the left group of guys.  He played D line mostly, and did great! 

In this one, he's the second lineman from the right, deep low stance and black shoes.  He pressured the other team's quarterback and forced an interception.

Look at how tough he looks!

After the games, I went to go volunteer to help build the fort. It was a big day, the crane was there to set the 7 roofs.  This one is the top of the spaceship.  And in the middle/right, there's Grampa Harley helping.  He was there every day, all day and was a key player for the week.  

This was a tough week, not only was the job long hours but it was COLD!  We got a lot of rain, and even snow Saturday.  Grampa Harley and his Florida blood didn't love that part.  Gramma Harley helped every day, too, and was bundled up extra warm for that early winter weather. 

Sunday the weather got much, much better and look at what we built!! 

It's been 9 months in the making, and I just can't believe it happened!

We let the kids play on it at 5:00 Sunday, and they all ran in like lunatics, it was so much fun to see. 

Slow Week

I guess I didn't take many pictures this week, I'll do better this week.

Football practice started for Josh on Tuesday.  He's got the same coach as last year, and there are 4 or 5 returning players, which is cool. 

Love this season!

Friday we watched the Hawks play the Glacier Wolfpack.  The boy on the far left is Luke.
Our friends Chris and Susie's oldest son Drew is a senior for Glacier.  He played great. 

Saturday Josh got to do an Escape Room challenge with Maxamillon and some cub scout friends for a birthday party.  

Sunday morning I realized we're back into the swing of school and fall and sports...I made 4 recipes and 10 frozen dinners for some quick cooking weeknights.  Sigh.  I miss summer. 

Back to School

Monday night before school started we had a bit of frozen yogurt with the grandparents.  A summer tradition we love! 

The first morning of school the boys sat at the bar and chatted with Mike and me. 

And then came the photos....so many photos. 

They're so handsome!

Josh is as tall as my chin!  

So happy daddy was in town this year! 

I love taking pictures by this tree.  Josh and the tree are both growing so fast. 

Pretty sure this was the first day of 1st grade...tiny tree, no houses in the background, and no teeth in the smile. 

Luke's shirt says Volbeat on it.  :)

Tough guys

Sweet, forced smiles. 

And he's off!  We live only 2 blocks from CJMS, so he can ride his bike to and from school. So much independence!

Luke was not happy to pose in front of the Emily Dickinson sign.  It's a tradition I'm not ready to give up!

My sunflowers went nuts this year! 

Tuesday was gear pickup day for football.  These two handsome devils. 

The week flew by, and then we were at the lake!  Dad and this old school coffee mug sure area  good match!

This picture makes me happy.  It's all of our parents in one boat watching Luke surf.  

The boys did their first night swim.  This is crazy this is crazy this is crazy!

Ruby likes her people close to her and on dry land, so she was happy when Josh got to the ladder. 

The kids wanted to do a Cinco -- five water sports in one weekend.  They surfed, wakeboarded, waterskied, kneeboarded and tubed.  

Josh was doing Switch riding (even got up twice Switch!), and jumped the wake!

The boys loved their RC boat off the dock.  It was fun to watch it zip around the water. 

My smiling parents!  Yay!

The smoke was THICK Sunday and Monday.  The state is on fire. 

Sunday night we took the kids tubing and Mike and I took our first ride together (ever??).  It was a lot of fun and we didn't even get hurt. :) 

I love this picture because Luke is loving it, Josie looks so scared, and Josh is goofing off. 

Sunday night we had a low country boil, and Luke LOVED it.  He ate a zillion shrimp and loved everything dipped in butter. 

We don't have a campfire for our annual campfire Luke on Dad's lap photo, but we sat around the campfire ring.