Rollercoaster

Do you ever feel like your life is a rollercoaster? Since I last updated my blog, mine sure has been one. Last week, volleyball went really well. We won both of our games, and had Saturday off, which is very rare. So, to take full advantage of the free weekend, we headed out of town--Tony and Connor to Laramie to watch the Cowboys play football, and Mylie and I to Provo to watch a college volleyball tournament (specifically Idaho State, where my Uncle Chad is the head coach.) Both the father/son and mother/daughter dates were huge successes! Tony got pictures on his phone, which we don't know how to put onto the computer, so you'll just have to imagine the fun they had! Mylie and I got a couple pictures in the gym. We also stopped at Bridal Veil Falls on the way home and went to the bottom of the falls, but my camera had run out of battery, so we didn't get any pics there. Bummer. We also went out to eat, got ice cream, and did a little shopping between games.

Sunday, we headed to Cokeville after church, where we enjoyed a great dinner and evening with my family. We stayed overnight, and I got some more raspberries Monday morning for jam. We had a hot dog roast for lunch, then we headed back home. It was a great Labor Day weekend.

Then back to volleyball. I was super excited to get going again, but we had a pretty rough week. But that pales in comparison to the sad news I recieved Monday night that a young mother in Cokeville died unexpectedly. It has really made me think long and hard about life and how we can never just assume there will be a tomorrow. I have prayed and cried for their family all week. Then on Friday, my cousin Jared passed away after a long battle with brain cancer. Although we knew this was going to happen, it is still painful and hard to see his young family struggle through this. Once again, my prayers are with them and my mind is consumed with thoughts of how short this life really is and how important it is to have faith in our Heavenly Father's plan.

One happy moment in the middle of the week came Wednesday morning as Mylie went to the first day of preschool. She was so excited!

Now--on the way back up the rollercoaster--my JV team had a great tournament this weekend. They really worked hard. Friday had its ups and downs, so we didn't get in the gold bracket, but then Saturday was tons of fun as they played great and won the silver bracket.

Today was also a good day. After taking the summer off, ward choir got rolling again today. We had 25 people show up and I'm excited about our music we're working on for this fall. I still get nervous conducting, but it's getting better.

Finally, I know that I said I'd do garden "updates" throughout the summer, and I have failed miserably with that. But here is my most favorite update possible--enjoying the fruits (or vegetables) of my labors. Today for dinner, we enjoyed stir fry made from our own carrots, peas, broccoli, and onions and corn on the cob!! Yeah! All the veggies went from the plant to my belly in less than an hour. Now that is eating FRESH! And doesn't it look divine?!?

Kitchen Beauty Salon

Now that the boys are back in school, it's a girl party everyday again at our house! Yesterday, Mylie thought it would be fun to have a beauty salon. I wasn't sure if Mariah would understand how "fun" this game would be. But she LOVED it!!

First Mylie made Mariah BEAUTIFUL!

Check out the pedi!

Then Mariah, of course, wanted to return the favor!

Oh, the joys of little GIRLS!

First Grade

Connor started first grade last week, and so far he loves it! Tony is working with a student in Connor's class this year, so Connor thinks it's cool to have Dad around. And the best things ever . . . they are starting out with a unit about insects! They are supposed to catch bugs at home and then bring them to school where they are making bug boxes. And although these are technically not insects, they are super cool!

We've caught three of these bad boys (yes, it's a scorpion) so far for the bug collection, and Connor is certain that nobody will get a bug as cool as this!

First grade ROCKS!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I know, I know . . . Christmas is still months away! But this particular phrase, for me, is about RIGHT NOW--late summer/early fall! I absolutely love this time of year more than any other. And I have for a really long time. Here are a few reasons why right now is the MOST wonderful time of the year.

--The morning air is getting cooler and has that "crisp" feeling to it.
--I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the smell of fall!

--Fall colors are my favorite, and soon they will be everywhere in nature!

--I currently have a bucket of peas in their shells on my counter for snacking.

--Corn, tomatoes, peaches, nectarines, raspberries, etc. YUM!!

--School is starting, which means getting back into a routine. This makes me happy.

--With a new school year comes excitement. It always did for me as a student, and now I get to see that same excitement in Connor!

--Yesterday morning, as I walked into the gym, I could smell a mix of fall air, cut grass, and football pads. Something about this made me smile.

--Birthdays: Dad, Tami, Connor, me, Mom, and Mariah all have fall birthdays!

--Finally, probably the BIGGEST reason of all for my love of fall is my VOLLEYBALL OBSESSION! For three months, I get be part of a small group of people who get to go to work every day doing something that they completely love! I always loved volleyball, but I never really thought I would coach it, and I never dreamed I could love coaching it like I do! Today was the first day of school, so we only have one practice. I was really bummed this morning that I had to wait until 3:00 to go to the gym and get back to work. The girls are working really hard, the practices are intense, we have so much improving to do this year, and I really have a hard time leaving it in the gym. In fact, I don't even try! I do try to not talk to Tony about it every minute, but if I'm not talking about it, chances are, I'm thinking--what we need to improve on, what we can do to improve, what my best possible lineup might be, what we need to do to ensure success in our future as well as this year, what adjustments we may need to make for conference opponents, and on, and on, and on! Anyway, I never really blog about volleyball, even though it is a MAJOR part of my life and who I am. I just don't think that anybody would be very interested, and I'm fairly sure that only a small percentage of my readers would relate to this obsession that I have. But if you'd like to follow our team this year, we have a team website where you can stay updated on our season: mountainviewgirlsvolleyball.vnsports.com

--And finally, doesn't this just make your mouth water? I picked berries at my mom's house on Saturday (they just have TOO many!) and I got a TON! Delicious!

Family Time . . .

. . . will be a rare thing over the next several months. Actually, with me coaching volleyball in the fall (I started today!), Tony coaching basketball in the winter, as well as track in the spring, family time is something we really value when we get it. This weekend, I felt overwhelmed with everything I felt that I needed to get done before starting volleyball, but I am grateful that I decided to really take some time with my family. We had a lot of fun doing simple things. Connor and I had a date in the morning since I won't see him much at all once he starts school next week and I don't get home from practice until about 6pm. We went to Green River and ran a 5k together, then went to Rock Springs where we finished up his school shopping and went to lunch at McDonald's--HIS choice! We topped things off with an ice cream cone at Little America on the way home. That afternoon, Tony suggested we go swimming in the muddy, which is a little river out on their range. We had a great time doing something so simple!Connor was a little daredevil and jumped off the culvert on his first try!

Mylie was as brave as possible for her and swam around a bit with her floaties.

Mariah liked modeling her cute suit and watching all the action from the riverbanks. (By the way, I LOVE toddlers in swimming suits. Their little pot bellies always make me smile. Too bad it isn't quite as cute on adults!)

On Sunday afternoon, we played several games together, visited Tony's grandparents, went on a little drive around the ranch on the Ranger, and then the girls had a little beauty session. Mylie was the hairdresser. Don't we all look amazing?!?

The Most Beautiful Thing

Isn't this the most beautiful thing? Maybe you don't think so, but to somebody who paid thousands of dollars for this, then lost her mind and left it on (ruining the pump), then drug hoses all around the yard for three weeks, trying to save the 7,000 sq. ft. of brand new sod, paid for the pump to be repaired once, only to have it not work, and then paid some more to REALLY get it fixed, THIS IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING!!! Ahhhhhh.

Photo Shoot

A couple weeks ago, I looked up at my family room wall and realized that the pictures of my kids were very outdated. Connor and Mylie's photos are nearly two years old, and Mariah's is over a year old (and she's changed SO MUCH since then!) Since we've had a lot of big expenses (some planned, some NOT) over the summer, I decided that I'd go the frugal route and just try to get some photos of the kids myself. So I got out the bargain digital camera and went to work. Now, I realize that these are far from professional, but I was happy about how they turned out over all and feel like I have at least one photo of each of them that I can hang on the wall. But, like always, I have decision-making issues and need some input from friends and family. Just let me know under each kid's photos which is your favorite so I can try to come to some conclusions.

BONUS--I just wanted to include these cute photos of Connor and Mylie together.

By the time we were done with all three kids, my nerves were a little shot. This picture shows pretty well how we all felt--DONE.