Our Boys of Fall

When I first started having kids the thought of having boys was a weird thought.  I didn't know anything about boys.  I have one brother who is the oldest in the family and then me being the third of four girls.  I grew up with girls.  Then I ended up with three boys in a row.  At the time, I was anxious. But now, I LOVE MY BOYS!!!  They are so helpful, easy going, talented, fun to be with, awesome, grateful and did I say helpful?
There are a couple things I like about Fall:
#1- School starts and after a great fun filled summer of being with my kids we get to start a routine again!
#2- I get to spend Tuesday- Friday watching my boys in Football and Soccer!

Braeden has asked to get as much playing time as possible.  Which means he is playing on JV and Varsity.  They give him 2 quarters on JV and 3 on Varsity.

The games are quite different!  He likes them both, me however I prefer to watch him up against boys his own size, rather than twice his size!!!

Tyson was asked to play on Varsity his first game.  I was nervous.  He is only a Freshman.  He kept up fine in this game.  Some varsity teams wouldn't be the same story!

He scored 3 goals in this game!  So fun.
We have our reservations in Boise, hopeful we can go cheer for our boys at state!

Carson is the kicker for his team and does a great job.  His team has changed a lot this year.  Not as many boys and a few new coaches.  They have done very well in the past and we are hoping they can keep it up

 So proud of my boys.  The thought of them growing up so fast makes me sick to my stomach.  Where does the time go?  I guess all I can do is be a good mom and enjoy every second I have with them!!!

Grand Teton Relay

 I experienced my first overnight relay this month.  And what an experience it was.  It was called the Grand Teton Relay.  180 miles, 12 person team, 2 vans, 3 legs each person, running from Ashton Idaho to Jackson Wyoming (including the Jackson pass) I was team member 11, my legs were 6.4, 4.2 and 4.4.  They warn you for bears and make each car have bear spray.  As I was going to bed the night before we left there was a news story of two different bear attacks that day (one in Island Park and one in Yellowstone Park, both places fairly close to where we were running) So our first runner from our car started running, it was a dirt road not traveled by many.  We passed a white truck who stopped us and asked us what we were doing.  We told them running the race and they looked puzzled and said, "You know we are tracking bears in the area right?" So from that point on we didn't leave the sight of our runner on the road.  Even during the day it was a scary, weird feeling.  So we all finished our first runs spanning from about 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  We then passed off the baton to van #1 and drove to Teton having dinner at Subway on the way to our resting area (Teton High School).  By the time we were settled we only had 1 hour to lay down and rest before we had to be at our next transition area.  Our next legs started at 11:00 p.m. going to 3:30 a.m.  This was the CRAZY CRAZY leg.  We started off lost at the transition area and because there are not a ton of runners in this race we didn't see anybody.  So our first three runners ran but had to jump in the car several times because of dogs, or an empty van parked in the middle of the road or weird noises.  It just wasn't that great to be out in the middle of no where, in the dark, and no other runners in sight.  When we got to our 4th runner (Stacy) I got out to run with her and we both just got knots in our stomaches, and decided we felt we shouldn't be out there running.  So we got in the car and just started driving the coarse.  By the time we got in the middle of the 5th leg (my leg) we finally saw another runner.  It had been 20 miles, 20 miles I said since we saw anyone.  So when we got to the 6th leg (Jen's leg) Stacy, Jen and I all ran that leg which was to the top of Targhee.  We were so happy to be done and pass off to Van 1 again.  We drove back to Teton High School and was able to get 3 good hours of sleep before our last legs.  There were lots of people on this leg! Hallelujah!!!!  We started about 10:30 a.m. and finished the race at 3:30 p.m.  I saw a moose on my last run but thankfully it was across the street!  We didn't see any bears!  It was wonderful to be running amongst the Teton's in the background.  It was fun and I'm glad I did it, but I probably will not ever do that race again.  Just too much worry for my mind and heart.  I was very happy to return home safely!!

Everyone decorates their cars and we were asked to put Caution Runner on the Road on our cars.  Stacy drove her new car and didn't want paint on her car but we wanted to "obey" the rules so we just wrote it really small!  We laughed the whole time!!

Great photo with other fellow runner's headlights and the Teton's in the background!

Passing into Wyoming on the top of the pass

At the finish line!!

It was fun to get to know some new friends and accomplish something hard together!!  Good Job Ladies.

Missions

Missions: Are a big part of belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

We are so lucky to have both sets of Grandparents on two different missions each within the last 5 years.  Todd's parents first mission was to China.  Todd and I were able to go visit and wow it was so awesome!  Then my parents were in Armenia, we didn't get to go visit :-( Then his parents went to Ukraine, we didn't get to go visit :-( :-( and my parents are now in Nauvoo Illinois (we will go visit!)

Anyway, Todd's parents just returned from Ukraine last week!  Such an exciting day!!!

Us waiting at the airport.  Sherri's, Debbie's, Ryan's, Kent's, Kirk's and our family were all there!  

Dylan was so excited he ran right through the doors to give the first hug!

Todd, as excited as anyone for their return!!!

Braeden and Grandma

Welcome Home, we are so happy to have you back in Idaho!!!  Congratulations on your second mission well served!

My parents are in Nauvoo until next December and we can't wait to go see them performing and working hard in Old Nauvoo!!  They are blogging at daveandconniepincock.blogspot.com  it's so fun to follow them!

The sun and the moon

I often complain about living in Idaho because I HATE winter and it seems like we have 8 months of it here in Idaho.  However I appreciate and love our few short summer months, I do not take them for granted.  We are blessed with such beautiful scenery and I really enjoy taking pictures of nature!  I have taken some fun pictures this week of the moon and sunset!

The moon was huge this night, and I love you can see the dark and light spots!

Another one of the moon

Sunset in the west!

This was the sunset, same night as the picture above just in the east part of the sky!

Bear Lake

We were invited to go camping at Bear Lake with some friends last week.  We had such a great time!  There were 3 other families so there were plenty of friends for everyone!

This is the camper we stayed in!  It sure made camping much more enjoyable!

Inside of the camper

View from the other direction

Master bedroom

Bathroom

Toy hauler area: AKA Braeden's room for the week

Todd spent so much time on the boat.  He was in heaven all week!

Todd Skiing

Ashlynn loved being the flagger on the boat.  

Carson knee boarding

Analee tubing with her friends!

Todd skiing again!!!

Tyson wake boarding.  He even earned his merit badge!

Analee knee boarding.

Braeden surfing.

We went to the Pickleville Playhouse, all 33 of us!!

We took up 4 1/2 rows.

Enjoying shakes!

The kids played jump the river. . . . 

dice games. . . .

watched movies. . . .

 I forgot to take a picture of us watching the outdoor movie.  The camper had speakers on the outside so we hung a sheet on the outside of the camper, took the projector and watched Dennis the Mennis!

jumped rope. . . .
rode bikes, had marshmallow wars, made so many crafts and made tie dye shirts!

Every morning we walked down to the beach and hung out on a perfect little island that I'm sure was made just for us!  They would pull the boat up close and we would change boat riders all throughout the day.

We played in the sand. . . .

Paddle boarded. . .

relaxed. . . 

built sand castles. . . .

made fish. . . .
  We ate, kayaked, snorkeled, swam and laughed (a lot)!!!

We went to the ice caves and the kids explored!

Todd and Braeden along with 7 others in our group tried scuba diving!

 
 I didn't get any pictures of us biking on the awesome 4 1/2 mile bike path all along the Bear Lake area.

We went to Paris and toured the Tabernacle.

                                   

My what a busy week!  We each cooked one breakfast and one dinner for everyone.  It was so nice to not have to spend so much time cooking!  It was a great week, our last week of summer as all the boys started football and soccer practice this week :-(   I guess we have to get back to real life sooner or later. (Summer is just one giant party for us, so sad it is over)  Thanks to the Jenkins, Landons, Taylors and Raymonds for a great time!