End of Summer...

Hello Family :)

Summer flew by in a whirlwind of rain and shine and now we are officially starting our third week of school.

Emily attended cheer camp for the third year. This year earning MVP.

Bob helped me blow insulation in my attic to help balance out the temperature in my house and maybe save a few bucks on heating fuel this winter.

Thank you sweetie :)

Emily was talked into playing summer league.

Glad she did... had a blast and improved lots!

The team was the Arizona Wildcats.

My co-worker was Caleb's third grade teacher. 

She found this when cleaning stuff out at her house...

My tomato plants are FULL of green tomatoes so we tried "fried green tomatoes".

The best part is the "fried" part. 

Not a fan of green tomatoes apparently.

My other co-worker gave Cooper a bag full of squeaky toys.

He made is his ultimate mission to remove the squeaker from each and every one!

The flower was first, 5 more followed!

Emily's cheer team cheers on the freshman at ignition day.

The next day was her first official day.

She is a driving junior. 

I've enjoyed driving her around whenever she's needed to go for the past 16 years, but what a difference when she can do it herself!!

She chose "Mortzy" as her license plate.

It's what the coaches have called Caleb since his was 9.

Now, she's taking it over.

And then we took Caleb to the airport...

Sad day, but a wonderful new adventure for him.

He is having a great time with his new hockey brothers and billet family.

The fruits of my labor.

My sweet pea plants are AWESOME! 

Coco gets another shave...

Labor Day camping at Olnes Pond

Autzen (Bob's dog) and Cooper

Bob, Emily,  Morgan and Annie (Morgan's dog)

Cooper and the girls...

Bob and Coco

It was a beautiful night for roasting hotdogs and marshmallows. 

We even played a little hand and foot. 

It didn't start raining until we woke up.

Super fun packing up soggy:)

Hello Everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your summer. With the start of "S" just around the corner, I thought I'd catch up the ol' blog :)

West Valley Baseball season comes to a close (forever...sniff)

Senior recognition night.

The seniors: Cole, Caleb, Stoshi, Jake

Emily's first softball end-of-season-party.

Coach Brian called each girl up to present Varsity Letters and goodies. 

He gave a really sweet, personalized speech about each player.

Emily was first :)

Here she is with her Letter - WooHoo!

Caleb and Coco being cute:)

Emily and I rented kayaks and floated the Chena.

Bob and I at the Craig Morgan Concert.

We went with Laura and Tim.

Emily and Coco being cute:)

Emily with Cooper, Coco and Autzen (Bob's dog)

We all hiked Angel Rocks.

Coco is an excellent climber!

Getting ready to float the Chena River, this time with Laura and Morgan.

Tanner River near Manley Hot Springs

This guy turns 18! 

Thank you for all the gift cards, cash and jerky!!

He also signed up for selective service.

Birthday kiss from Coco.

And a handsome pose with the Coop

Birthday dinner was at ShoGun 

where they prepare your meal in front of you.

Caleb, Emily, Stephen

And throw food at you!

Yes, it got that hot here!!

Caleb and his Bros getting ready for a fly-in camping trip.

Cole, Tyler, Yanni and Caleb.

They had a great time but weather delayed their pick up time by 2 days. 

A plane actually flew in extra food for them :)

They had a lot of bonding time!

Emily's summer rec softball team was called the Arizona Wildcats :)

Her team placed 3rd out of 8

Emily earned one of three MVP awards.

The other two went to the pitcher and catcher.

Em played centerfield most of the tournament.

We drove to Palmer with these two crazies to support Morgan's hockey team. 

They were hosting a 5k run called the Stache Dash!

Morgan couldn't run because she had to work it, but the three of us had a great time.

One the drive back to Fairbanks, we stopped at Bison Gulch for a hike.

posers...

Final stop at the Monderosa Grill for the best hamburgers around!

Here the girls are "cheers-ing" their root beer bottles.

Emily with her newly titled, registered and insured Ford Edge.

We bought the car from an auto auction in Anchorage last March. 

It had been totaled. 

Rodd did the work to bring it back to life.

Her license plate says "Mortzy"

*PS the garden is doing great: sweet peas everyday, zucchini, radishes, tomatoes and strawberries on the way... :)

**Caleb has decided to play for the the Rocky Mountain Rough Riders based out of Superior Colorado. It is a really good U18 team. His goal is to play with this team for one year and take a few online college courses. Next year tryout out for Junior teams again. He leaves this Friday to attend the tryouts (this is optional, but we think it's a good idea to check everything out). Then he'll go back around August 10th for 7 months!!!!!

Love you Family!

May

And so, this happened...

Day before school is out for seniors Caleb's side hurts. 

Visit to the nurse, then doctor, then emergency room.

 Exam and CT scan (7 hours later) revealed that his appendix was inflamed and should come out.

So, he spent his final school day here...

Prepped and ready for laparoscopic surgery

resting afterward...

Meanwhile, life still drives on (literally)! 

Emily got her license the same day Caleb had surgery.

She also got an infield homer in softball, but I don't have a picture!

She drives brother's truck to school the next day by herself :)

And incase you were wondering...

this is what an inflamed appendix look like.

Doc called it an "angry shrimp"

Emily and Zachery (they've been friends since kindergarten)

This was his b-day,  May 13th

Nana, Papa, Aunt Carol and Uncle Jim arrived on the 13th as well.

The next day we walked around historical downtown Fairbanks and the Cultural Center

Sunday was Caleb's graduation party. 

It was super sunny and hot on Saturday, but rained on us for the party. 

Oh well, it was still good :)

He got lots of his favorite things like jerky and cash!

His dad and Montana relatives got him a computer for college.

I put together this quilt of 30 of his old jerseys, t-shirts and sweatshirts from past sports and tournaments. 

He hasn't started his thank you cards, but he will!!!

Carlson Center, May 16th 7:00

It was a wonderful graduation :)

Caleb and Nana

Caleb and Papa

Caleb and Emily

We took a thousand pics, 

but I don't have all of them and you probably don't want to see all of them :)

Good friends...

Gabe, Camron (2015 grad), Cole, Caleb and Dillon

Birthday dinner at Salmon Bake!

YES! The tradition carries on!

SOOO YUMMY :)

At the beach...

Emily says goodbye to her dear friend, Kaytlin, who is moving to Ft. Drum New York.

So sad at the airport.

Nana and Papa bought me gardening stuff for my birthday!

Now I have spinach, zucchini, tomatoes, sweet peas, radishes...

and strawberries...

Oh, and lovely flowers out front :)

Hopefully I can keep this all alive and producing!

This is Coco. 

She was Kaytlin's dog.

She is now our dog, at least for a trial basis.

She is tolerating Cooper better as each day passes, but Stormy is livid!

Final dinner at Pike's Landing

We finished the night playing sticks.

Nana and I tied!

WooHoo!

Love you all...