Back to School

I failed at a basic mothering thing this week because I did not take "back to school" photos of any of my children. So imagine to the right a photo of Jared, dressed in a grey henley and jeans, headed off for his first ride on the early morning bus to high school.  Next to the photo of Jared, would be a cute photo of Ruth in a blazer and jeans, sporting her new "business scholar" backpack.  And then finally, there might be a selfie I took outside my new elementary school on my first day of work.  Imagine those photos and think of those "first" weeks you experienced in your life and you will be well on your way of understanding our experiences. 

Jared, never verbose, seemed to feel just fine about his first week of 10th grade. He was able to name friends he was eating lunch with, and articulated that he particularly enjoyed his engineering class.  Ruth, ever verbose, really loved her first week of "real" university.  She was particularly happy to meet her assigned business group that she will be working and traveling with this year.  

My first week of work went better than expected.  The job description I was given when I took the position ended up being totally changed.  I would have never taken the job in its current form. After stressing out over it, I decided that I would try it out until Thanksgiving. So practicing positive self-talk, I gave my first week my best effort and felt that it went pretty well.  

Chuck's Trip

Chuck had a fun time on his trip to visit his parents and help them get settled in their new apartment.  He was able to set up their electronics and hang their curtains. He enjoyed dinner with his siblings and had a good visit with Chaz and Jeremy.  

Get Ready! Get Set!

This week I had a couple of days of training for the new job I start tomorrow, Jared spent a day at Sophomore orientation, and Ruth spent a day at Business Scholars orientation.  Tomorrow and Tuesday it will all begin.  Everyone is a bit anxious.

Chuck is in Minnesota this weekend. He went to help his parents settle into their new apartment and to visit Chaz.  He was excited to take a trip home.

Before he left, Chuck and Jared picked my first batch of plums off the tree and I made a dozen jars of tart plum jam. I hurt my back a week ago and have been somewhat limited since, so making the jam was a challenge, but ripening fruit is not going to wait for a bad back. Hopefully, with time and care, I will mend.

This week Ruth took a trip with Quade to visit his family, including a stop at the Tuachan theater to see Cinderella. 

Chuck and I always love watching the practice of the local moto races.
 Now that we are riding offroad motorcycles our appreciation for the skill of these riders have increased. 

I finished the Star Wars dress. I'm happy with how it turned out.

My biggest 3d print ever. This Overwatch gun took over 24 hours to print. 

This was Ruth's last week of summer semester and she celebrated by getting her wisdom teeth out.  While this process was easy with Jared it wasn't easy for Ruth.  She spent several miserable days on the couch and is just now starting to feel better.  She is glad she took several days off work for convalescence. 

We only have a few precious weeks left of summer before school starts for all of us again.  We are trying to take full advantage by sleeping in and being really lazy. 

A few weeks ago marked one year we've had our bunnies Peaches and Link.  

After planting a plum tree six or seven years ago I finally have my first crop of plums.  They are sour on the outside and kind of sweet in the middle. I'm not sure when to pick them or what to do with them when I do. 

Idaho Trip

The blog wasn't updated last weekend because we were visiting Kate and Ben in Idaho.  The area isn't known for its plethora of recreational activities, however, we were able to fill our days with some pretty fun things, and of course, the best part was getting to see Kate and Ben and see their apartment and where they live.

One of our highlights was visiting a museum that had an interactive steampunk exhibit.  I wasn't sure what to expect but it was really fun and interesting.

We also visited Idaho Falls and did the river walk.  None of my family had ever been there and we were surprised by how large the falls were. We also had a fun evening swimming at our hotel, taking a tour of the college gardens, and playing games.  It was a really good visit.

 Love Loud

I spent part of this week at the Sunstone Symposium.  I was originally asked to be a moderator for a couple of sessions there, but then some changes happened and I was no longer needed as a moderator.  But I still went for a few days and met some people and listened to some interesting presentations.

On Saturday Chuck and I went to the Love Loud festival and saw Imagine Dragons perform. It was an amazing concert and wished I had bought enough tickets for the whole family.

Lazy Summer

I have nothing of interest to report this week. It was a lazy summer week.  I sewed a dress mockup and did some yard work, Jared played the drums every day and practiced driving a bit, Ruth went to work and school and out to a concert with her boyfriend, Chuck worked and Chuck and I went to a BBQ with some new friends. All in all just a chill week. 

Here is a family photo just so I'd have a photo for the blog this week. 

Happy 4th

We celebrated the 4th by taking a hike up to Scout Falls. It's a fun hike through forests and scrub and covers about 1000 feet in elevation over several miles.  The wildflowers were amazing, and we passed several small lovely waterfalls on the way to the large one.   The path was quite narrow and because of the holiday, it was very crowded.  On the way down, as we passed a large group, Chuck took a misstep and fell down the steep embankment.  Luckily, there was a tree that stopped his fall and he survived the adventure with just some scrapes.     After our hike and cleaning up Chuck's wounds with our first-aid kit we ate out for a late lunch.

Quaid came down for the evening and he and Ruth cooked us dinner, and then we enjoyed fireworks in our neighborhood.  Our neighborhood is crazy on the 4th and there are plenty of fireworks to see right from our front lawn.

A Most Expensive 25 Minutes

Jared had his wisdom teeth out on Friday.  He was in and out in a very short time and his recovery was really quick.   I didn't take any photos or videos of the event because Jared didn't want any, but Jared was really funny when he came out of anesthesia.  On the way home he told me how much he enjoyed the drugs and how he wants to take drugs every day. Once home he played xBox and didn't seem to do very badly considering how out of it he was.   On Saturday he was feeling well enough to make a lemon meringue pie from scratch, crust and all.