Working boy!

Justin started lifeguarding a couple of weeks ago.  He took a class in May to become certified, but it took awhile for him to get hired.  He's pretty excited to be earning money (he's also been mowing lawns a little this summer).  I think I'm still in shock I have a child who is old enough to have a job.  It will be nice when he gets his license because my taxi service is taking a beating this summer!

He wasn't thrilled to have me taking pictures of him, but it had to happen.  The other kids are pretty excited to see him working when we go swimming.

Scouts, Scouts, Scouts

Last week the boys had a pack meeting.  They have both been working hard on earning their ranks.  Bruce hasn't quite earned his Bear badge, but he will soon.

 

This was Will's last pack meeting in Cub Scouts and he cleaned house!  He earned his Webelos badge, Arrow of Light, Religious emblem, and several activity pins.  Yes, we have been busy!  He's really excited to be going into Boy Scouts next month.  

This week our house has been a little (okay, a lot) more quiet.  Bruce is at Cub Scout day camp and he is loving it.  He is exhausted everyday when I pick him up, but has been having a great time.  His good buddy from church Jameson has been there with him and that's made it even more fun!

 

Justin left yesterday for his high adventure scout trip.  How do you like his makeshift garment bag?  That's for his church clothes (they are going to the temple today).  I think the bag proves Justin has taken to heart the scout motto to be thrifty!  He will be camping out for three nights, canoeing, fishing, and hiking.  He lives for this stuff.  His bags have been packed for several days.

Wrestling boys

 Wrestling season is over for these boys and I was a terrible mother and hardly took any pictures!  Will wrestled with a club and had his first season.  We didn't make it to all of the tournaments, but we tried to go to most of them.  He did really well for a beginner and loved it.  No doubt he will be wrestling again next year.

Justin wrestled on the high school team and wrestled 120 all year.  He wrestled JV most of the year, but got in a few Varsity matches as well.  Competition is a lot tougher in high school than it was in middle school.  They go to tournaments in North Carolina, Tennesee, and Virginia so he was very busy. 

Although the season is over you can count on wrestling continuing in our house.  It's pretty much an everyday activity for our boys!

Golden birthday

 Justin turned 15 on the 15th of this month, aka his "golden" or "special" birthday.  His siblings thought they were pretty funny when they put his gifts in Princess gift bags.

 Naomi painted this cute sign for Justin a couple of weeks ago and was very excited to give it to him.

 This is all Justin has been wanting for months...Aaron is an Android guy, but couldn't talk Justin out of an iPhone.  I don't think he stopped grinning (or using) his new phone all day!

 We planned a little surprise party for Justin at the bowling alley with a bunch of his friends from church.  He was pretty funny and a little in shock with the surprise.

 We're grateful for the good friends Justin has.  We had a lot of fun hanging out with them all afternoon.

After bowling, everyone came back to our house for pizza, ice cream cake, ping pong, and Ender's Game.  While it's not always easy having a teenager who is very independent, I love being his mother.  He is a good student, fulfills his responsibilities at church, and he is the perfect match for Aaron so that I don't have to watch all of his sci fi shows!  Happy Birthday, Justin!  We love you!

{First Day of Seminary}

Aaron was asked two weeks ago to teach an early morning religion class (aka seminary)  for high school age kids that meets when school is in session.  He has been working hard the last two weeks getting everything ready.  He has a classroom set up in our basement for 20 students.  

The kids all started school on Monday and early morning seminary began Tuesday at 6 am.  It's been an adjustment for us because we have never been good about getting to bed early.  Now that we have to get up at 5 am, we have to start doing better.  There goes our time to work on projects after the kids are in bed.

I don't think Justin minds having his Dad teach his class because it means he can roll out of bed at 5:30 and be to class on time (he also likes spending time with Aaron).  We always love having the youth over at our house and with a separate entrance to our basement, it really isn't disturbing our kids at all.  

High Adventure {Adventure}

Aaron and Justin went on their first High Adventure Boy Scout adventure a couple of weeks ago.  Here they are with a couple of boys from church before they left.  Don't they look ready for an adventure?  

I promise Justin's legs aren't really as long as they look in this picture.  Here he is at camp the first night.

Justin on top of Big Bald on the Appalachian Trail

Giant snails they found (boys will be boys)

Overlooking the Nolichucky River

In front of the Nolichucky River getting ready to go rafting

30 miles hiking the Appalachian Trail + 3 nights camping + 8 miles rafting = 1 very tired teenager

So happy to be home!  I'm so glad Aaron was able to go with Justin, but we sure missed them!  I would love to go do the hiking, I just wish they had some nice 5 star hotels along the trail!

Barbie House (Alas!)

We decided about five days before Madelyn's birthday that we were going to make her a Barbie house.  Her friend Emma has one that she used to love playing with in Indiana.  Four days before her birthday, Aaron and I went to Lowe's and bought the lumber.  Aaron came home and built it that night.

We ordered the furniture online from Amazon, but didn't get very far with the decorating by her birthday.

Here she is about two weeks later and her dollhouse is looking a little more finished.  I had so much fun decorating it and picking out all of the rooms (with a little help from Elizabeth and our friend Sarah). 

Even Justin helped a little (there was duct tape involved).

 We still need to get a little more furniture, but we're basically done with the decorating.

The girls have already been busy playing house.  So fun!

In case anyone is wondering, the "wallpaper" is scrapbook paper.  I used "yes paste" to adhere it to the walls.  It's a pretty sticky mess, but it works really well.  Enjoy your new digs, Ken and Barbie!

NASCAR race

A few weeks ago there was a big NASCAR race in Bristol.  We were able to get tickets to the race for $10 through the Boy Scouts of America so we thought we'd introduce our kids to a little local culture.  Aaron and our neighbor took over a car full of boys.  

The race was on Saturday so it wasn't the professional series, but we're amateurs so we didn't really care.

I stayed home with the girls (actually went to the mall with the girls :)).  Aaron said it was so loud, we knew they wouldn't have lasted very long.

Here's a tip we learned:  you don't really want to sit too close to the track at a car race.  Even with this fence, there were actually little pieces of rubber from the tires that came through the fence and hit Aaron and the boys. 

Can this really be happening?

Monday we registered Justin and took a tour of the high school.  He doesn't get too excited or nervous about anything so of course he took it all in stride.  It's going to be a big change, but I know he's going to do great and we've heard lots of good things about the high school.  Now if we can just get ourselves psyched up for early morning seminary at 6 am with a 15-20 minute drive...yikes!

Sweet Treat!

Our Bishop in South Bend challenged our congregation at church to read the entire Book of Mormon by the end of the year.  We moved before the year was up, but Justin continued to read.  When he was near the end, I told him he could pick out whatever container of ice cream he wanted and eat it whenever he wanted when he finished.  He chose this tub of triple chocolate brownie and he usually eats it right out of the container, a little after school everyday.  I'm so proud of him for finishing even after we moved and for the desire he has to find truth.

Turning 14

Justin had a big birthday last Friday...he turned 14!  In our church this means he can now attend youth dances and other activities for 14 and up.  I don't know that he is honestly very excited, except for the fact  that means he is one year closer to driving!

 

He is in 8th grade and there has been lots of talk the past few weeks at school about high school.  They have had counselors and teachers helping them select appropriate classes for high school.  All of Justin's teachers in his core classes have referred him for the honors classes.  He is so mature when it comes to planning for the future.  He wants to take as many AP classes that will allow him to earn college credits while in high school as possible.  He is thinking he wants to either be a doctor or an engineer.  We'll see!

Justin is so easy going when it comes to choosing what he wants.  The other kids are very specific, but he likes about anything so I chose a poppyseed cake I haven't made for awhile.  It was three days late, but he didn't complain!  He wants sushi for his birthday dinner.  Yum!

Last year on his birthday we took a picture of the two of us and we were exactly the same height.  Now he has me by at least 2 inches and the difference is only increasing!  Happy birthday to our 14 year old survivalist, Xbox playing, fun-loving, wrestling son!

Happy New Year!

At the stroke of midnight (or a couple minutes after), this is how Aaron decided to ring in the New Year!  It was a warm 38 degrees outside.  Our boys had been talking for weeks about jumping in the pool on New Year's, but when it came down to it, Aaron was the only one brave enough to do it.  He gave them such a bad time when he got out, Justin and Will finally "man'd" up and jumped in (Bruce was already asleep).  Aaron told me the next day he felt cold all day.  Go figure!

BYU/Notre Dame game

We love it when the Cougars come to town for a game.  Originally, we planned for Aaron and Justin to go, but Aaron was out of town so I went with Justin.  Aaron and I went to the game last time they played here which was in 2003 I think.

Justin's good buddy, Jackson and his dad came from Idaho for the game. He got to spend the day on campus hanging out with them and I met them for the game.  There were really a lot of BYU fans who made the trip and the game was pretty exciting.  Good football, lots of sunshine, and no rain (during the game)...perfect day!