Hello Everyone!  Hope you are well and loving life :)

Caleb has been in Minnesota this past week playing hockey.

It's called a "Showcase" which basically means showoff. Unfortunately, he (and many others) do not feel like they belong in this division. They're getting beaten pretty badly. Caleb, fortunately, is still having fun because he's playing the game he loves.

Ken and I hiked Granite Tors last weekend and completed the Equinox Marathon this weekend.  Here are some of our highlights...

Getting ready for the hike. We started out at 5:00PM Friday night.  We hiked about 3 1/2 hours and made it about 6 miles - it was pretty much uphill the whole way (with backpacks)
It was getting dark and we couldn't find a level spot, so we ended up pitching the tent on the trail!
The weather both days was beautiful :)

The next morning, we set out at 9:00am and made it to the first tors by 10:30.

These tors were created by lava coming up to the surface of the earth and, then cooling. They stick out of the ground not because they popped out, but because the land around them eroded away over time. Very cool, huh?

Not really sure why this dead end sign was here. The trail led straight to the tors... Funny :)

That's me standing next to the tree :)

Pretty picture of our hike out.

Walking stick - man

My favorite picture of one of the tors. We climbed up a little.

Beaver dam built right over the boardwalk 

Emily and Stephen after Friday night's football game against Juneau. It was their first home win. The crowd was WILD!

The start of the Equinox...

The famous "turnaround"

My results... 

We accomplished our goal (well, Ken's goal since I already accomplished mine 2 years ago...). We improved our time from last year by shaving off 1 hour and 10 minutes and our pain level was way less.  SUCCESS!

The trail was a mess. We've had a beautiful September so far and, of course, it rained the entire day of the race. The mud was slippery and sticky and everyone was soaked. Oh well, we had fun :)

Yikes! High School...

I officially have two high schoolers! WOW!

They are both doing very well and getting involved in their classes.

Caleb with several honors classes, hockey and student council. 

Emily is adjusting to not having very many of her friends around. Most of her good buddies that she spent the past 9 years with have all gone to the high school on the other side of town.

She is making new friends and being part of the cheer squad has helped tremendously.

SHE LOVES IT!

Cheer/Football has to start in August here otherwise we're playing in the snow at the end of the season. West Valley is currently 0-3, but still having fun!

Emily got her permit in mid August and has been practicing her driving everywhere we go. 

The first day of school is for Freshman only called "Ignition". This should have been a sleep-in day for Caleb but because he's on student council, he had to go the first day, too!!  Poor Caleb, he doesn't look too happy.  Emily had a great day! The upperclassmen mentors make this a fun, positive day for the newbies so they can get their feet wet before the crowds come.

The house project I wanted to accomplish was installing a doggie door before winter hit. Cutting a hole through drywall was easy and fun. Cutting a hole in the exterior wall was less fun.

After about two hours and several mistakes, the door is in and Cooper is loving his extended freedom. The next job is to build him a ramp because the garage is below ground level by about 4 feet. Right now he enters the garage and steps onto shelves, then a table, then a bucket!!!

I'll probably do a little landscaping out here as well to give him more of an entrance.

My second grade class this year is starting out to be quite awesome!  I was fortunate to loop up with 9 of my first graders from last year, making the transition so easy. The kids that are new to my room have adjusted well and are so very sweet. I have 22 and love the low number!

Ken and I plan to run/walk/crawl the equinox marathon again this year! 

It's 2 weeks from today!

Until next time...

LOVE HUGS AND KISSES!!