Fall = Football

Caleb is playing flag football again and as a returning 2nd grader he is the big man on the team! He is on the Woodland Park/Coffeen Patriots and is loving every minute of it!

School, oh school

Here are the boys on the first day of school. Both were very excited to get back and see their friends and Caleb was really excited to meet his teacher. He started 2nd grade and Ethan is in preschool. After one week they are both still happy, so I take that as a good sign!

Here's what my semester looks like...well, part of it anyway! I have a hectic and busy schedule ahead of me, but I am excited to be in my last year of DH school!

Does Summer really have to come to an end?

Why is it August always flies by? It seems once it hits August 1st the time can't move fast enough to get to Labor Day! We've tried to enjoy it as much as we can though. We had one more overnighter at the cabin where I convinced my Mom that we needed to rebuild the fire pit. A few years ago the Forest Service came in and went over all their rules and regulations in which we had to remove some trees and remove our most favorite swing and get rid of the fire pit, just to name a few things. However, we have watched the "neighbors" plant flowers and run a sprinkler to water their "lawn" and they have a dreadful totem pole and other annoyances that I do believe are against some of the rules and regulations, so I told my Mom, "we're rebuilding the fire pit!" Needless to say, we enjoyed roasting smores while a light rain fell. What a wonderful last night at the cabin!


Besides having our last overnighter at the cabin, we also took a day trip to Yellowstone Lake. I have very fond memories of Yellowstone, as we spent a lot of time there during the summer when I was a child. We would all load up in the truck and camper with the boat and our bikes and everything a family needed for a fun stay in the park. I remember doing this weekend after weekend and sometimes we would stay for a week. We would tour the park or just play for hours in Bridge Bay Marina or ride our bikes through the Bridge Bay campground. My love of Yellowstone is still strong and as my boys get older I want to share it with them. Unfortunately we only had one day this year to go, but I hope to plan a few days visit in the next couple years.

Summer Fun

The boys and I decided to get out of Sheridan for the summer and head to Worland. I've been working at my old job at Farm Bureau insurance and the boys have been spending half their summer break with me and half with their dad. So what, you ask, have we been up to in Worland? Well, unfortunately Worland doesn't have as many fun parks or a fun swimming pool like Sheridan does, so we've missed that, but we have family here and have enjoyed spending time with everyone.

I got to take a trip down to Logan with my sister and nieces to leave them at EFY for a week. It was a beautiful drive and we had a great time!

Caleb got a new bike, so he's been working on his mad biking skills. He's also lost two more teeth and I think grown another inch!

Ethan has enjoyed spending countless hours on the trampoline and being just the right size for the battery-operated tractor.

The boys have loved helping with chores on the farm.



The boys have also enjoyed spending time with some of their cousins this summer; playing in the water, shooting off fireworks, and having a sleepover in the backyard.



One of our favorite summer time activities is heading to the mountains! We enjoyed a picnic lunch with Uncle Doug and Aunt Margaret and a hike down to West Tensleep Lake falls. We had a cookout with foil dinners and a drive up above Meadowlark Lake (one of my favorite spots). Sara and I took the boys to stay the night at the cabin, we had a great time but I forgot the camera. We're hoping to get up there a couple more times before school starts.




One of the highlights of this summer was all my sisters getting together, even if it was for a short time. We just happened to be able to come home all at the same time. It's been a few years since we've been all together, so this was really fun! We also got to meet Jacque's baby, Lily, who is now 1 year old.

We've had a lot of fun so far, and hope to enjoy the last few weeks of our summer break!

My budding virtuoso

The elementary schools in Sheridan offer students the opportunity to learn keyboarding/piano, technology, or the violin. They can choose which one they are interested in and if they are picked they go to a lesson once a week for 30 minutes, free of charge! I chose for Caleb to try keyboarding/piano, because he gets plenty of technology already and I can't stand the violin. Anyway, he started keyboarding at the beginning of 1st grade and seemed to really enjoy it. A few weeks ago they had an "In-Formance" where the parents were able to come to the school and listen to each child play a song on the piano and then a group song on their keyboards. I thought Caleb did really well and have encouraged him to continue on with it next year. (I tried to upload a video, but it didn't work, so you just get a picture)

I'm Back!

I'm not sure where the last four months have gone, but today I got caught up on all the housework from that time and it wasn't pretty. I am happy to say I successfully completed my first year of dental hygiene school, with a 3.5 gpa no less!!! As sophomores in the program, we are pinned by the juniors to show we completed our first year. The pinning ceremony is mostly about the graduating class, as it should be, but it was nice to be recognized. I was also pleasantly surprised with being chosen for two scholarships. I was awarded a scholarship from the Wyoming Dental Association and one from the Northwest District Dental Society in Wyoming. I am looking forward to year two! Too bad I have to wait all summer to start!


My friend Lynsee and I with our pins.


My dental hygiene class (minus one) before the pinning ceremony.

Hello? Is anyone home?

Don't get your hopes up...this is short. I am here to tell you we ARE still alive. I know it's been nearly four months since I've blogged, but let me tell you about something called Dental Hygiene school...it's a big black hole and I have fallen in. I promise to update you with a lengthier post and possible pictures in a couple weeks when I find my way out of the black hole. Until then, wish me luck...I have finals in one week!!!