Jello, Soup, Ice Cream...

These are the things that L can eat these days without any trouble. A few weeks ago I took him to the dentist/orthodontist for his six-month check-up. The visit before, the dentist told him that he would probably be ready for braces this time around. Nope! L still has nine baby teeth to lose before he is ready for them. That made him a little sad. He has always hated how his teeth look and can't wait for braces to straighten them out.

Well...since his dentist appointment, he has started dropping teeth left and right. In this picture, he only has three molars on the bottom and five nubbins of teeth trying to push their way up. Eating is a little challenging these days.

Jr. High???

When did it happen? When did this kid get old enough to leave the safety of elementary school and enter into the perils of Jr. High? I can't believe that he left the house this morning and headed off to Jr. High.

Here's the thing...I am pretty sure that I was far more worried about it than he was. What if he can't open his locker? What if he loses his class schedule? What if he doesn't have anyone to eat lunch with?

Guess what? He did GREAT! He opened his locker on the first try and even lucked out to have it all to himself. No creepy kid who wipes boogers down the locker door to worry about sharing with! He didn't get lost and he made it through lunch (pizza, of course).

He even asked me this morning when we were going to take pictures (he has learned so well).

I think he is thinking of all the new girls there were to meet today.

His big sister even crawled up out of the basement to see him off.

Good luck and have fun!

Last Year as a "Teen"

M had her last birthday as a teen last week. We didn't see much of her on her big day. She was on a retreat with her scholarship group all day. We picked her up a little early due to a rain out at the resort they were at. It just happened that we were leaving L's soccer match when she called so we picked her up and stopped off at Rio Grande Cafe on the way home. She stuck around long enough to have dinner and change her clothes and then was off again with her friend.

Saturday, we hosted a birthday bash for M and her BFF Megan who has a birthday two days after M's.

Waiting for the party to start...

Happy Birthday!

Saturday Rappel

This morning we went up in the hills above our house and did a little rappelling (ok, you totally know that I didn't do it! I was the photographer). L is leaving in just over a week for scout camp and they are doing a rappel in Southern Utah. He went up and tried it out a week or so ago and it didn't go so well. L is (insert adjective here such as petrified, terrified, scared, etc.) of heights. The guys that took him up wanted him to give it another try before camp to see if he couldn't get a little comfortable with it so we all went up!

Here are the two goofy ones. It took L a while to get mentally ready to go, so these two went up without him...

The kids made me post this picture. L was a little embarrassed at the way his dad was wearing his helmet...

M went first. She had to leave after her first try. She was ready to go again though. She was a natural and didn't seem to mind it at all!

She said she was a little nervous and shaky, but it looks to me like she was feeling pretty comfortable with the whole thing.

Next came Ron... He had gone up last time with L and was super excited to go again. He went more times than anyone in the group.

Poser...

Finally, L got up enough nerve to try it again. It was a hard beginning getting over the edge. He had a lot of encouragement from both the top and the bottom. The first few steps into the descent, he froze and one of the guys had to give him a little push to get him going again.

Once he started down, he loved it!

There was one part where the rock was too far back, so you just have to hang and lower yourself to the next rock.

It probably would have been more fun if his eyes were open (just kidding, I think I caught him mid-blink). I had to show the tongue sticking out. I was afraid he was going to bite it off!

Finishing off...

And after he conquered his fears, he had a great time. He did it three times this morning and has talked about it all day.

Good job Trusty's! I'm proud of you!

Ragnar 2010

M and her friends got this crazy idea to run the Ragnar/Wasatch Back a few weeks ago. So, you know that M loves to run and has done a lot of running in her days, but when she told me she was considering this one, I couldn't believe it.

The Ragnar is a 188 mile race that starts in Logan and runs through the mountains and ends up in Park City. There are 12 people on your team and you take turns running different legs of the race. One of M's legs of the race started at 3:30 in the morning (yep, I was home in bed). She also pulled the finishing leg which took her along the trail in Park City, so we drove up and camped along side of the trail to watch the racers come in.

There were 12 people per team and the race closes after 1,000 teams which meant there were 12,000 crazy people running this race. I don't just mean that they were crazy for running the race...there were fine folks like this guy who ran the race in a wedding dress.

M said that during her 3:30 a.m. run, she looked at the runners in front of her and saw bare butt cheeks in front of her. Really??? Running the Ragnar Naked.

So...once again, M has made us proud by stretching herself to do something new and adventurous! Great job M!

I Need Something To Do...

I haven't had to travel for work the past week. I haven't had any soccer games, running events or after-work meetings. I don't know what to do with myself. I need to be busy, because as you all know, when I'm not busy, I just basically fall asleep.

So... here is what I have been working on this past week to keep myself busy:

This is a pillow that I made to go on our bed.

M has an upcoming baby shower to go to, so we decided that every baby needs a new quilt to cuddle up in.

And a bib to drool on...

And even though it is basically the Fourth of July, these guys are making an early appearance in preparation for Halloween!

I think I need some help!

Utah Summer Games 2010

L's soccer team played in the Utah Summer Games. While the outcome wasn't so desirable, we have had a lot of fun!

All of our games were on Wednesday and Thursday. Unfortunately, we were out by Thursday night. Luckily, we still had the Opening Ceremony to cheer us up.

The Opening Ceremony is a mini-version of the Olympic Ceremonies with the Parade of Athletes...

L had a lot of fun!

The athletes sat out on the football field for the rest of the ceremony. It was hard to find L in all of those kids!

After the boring ceremony formalities, the party got started.

The fireworks show was probably the best I have ever seen. It went on forever. Just when you thought it was over...it kept going!

Even though our Summer Games experience ended on Thursday, we have been hanging out in Cedar City and St. George the past few days. We rented a condo at the Brian Head Resort which is up in the mountains above Cedar City. The weather has been pretty crazy. I flew in to St. George last Monday to work for a couple of days before Ron and L joined me in Cedar City. The temperature on Monday was 105*. When we woke up this morning, there was snow on our car! Will Summer ever get here???