Long Drive, Short Game

We were there in plenty of time.  So Bbfore the game, the moms shared different braiding techniques.  This infinity braid is a new one that I've been really enjoying.  It is something that is so different and eye catching.

The parental support of this team is incredible.  I couldn't believe how many families made the three hour drive to watch their son play.  Of course, it helps that in order to play you have to provide their own ride to and from the games.  Out team was looking sharp.  They had been working hard for nearly a month.

Hudson, #66, playing center, marked with and X on his helmet because he's 130 lbs. (deemed overweight.)

Don't let the rough and tough football stigma fool you.  He might enjoying hitting and the contact, but this kid is still so sweet with his sisters.

"Go Hudson!"

He sure hustles on and off the field for substitutions.

Coach Nelson, keeping things real.  I overheard him tell one player to pull up his socks, "you can't scrunch them down. Life lessons here."

We were happy Brent got to come with us before harvest got underway.

There are a few eating establishments in Salmon, but I think all the football traffic ate at Savage Grille.  We waited for nearly 45 minutes for our meal.  On the plus side, we had plenty of good company.

Sharing His Talents

Hudson's primary teacher, Anne Schiess, invited him to accompany their class musical number in sacrament meeting.  He looked over the music and figured that he could pull it off.  We went to Schiesses for some final polishing.

That sacrament meeting, Delsie only wanted her Hudson.  He is such a sweet big brother.

As time approached for the musical number, I had knots in my stomach and my hands were sweating.  I looked down the bench and Hudson was as calm and cool as a cucumber.  I thought of it not only in terms of musical performances, but how this 'rising generation' faces the challenges before them.  We panic at all the ills of the world and these silent, strong spirits of our children look forward with a confidence and assurance that 'they've got this!'  How grateful I am for good kids.  Ones that are determined and capable.

Visitors

We don't get many visitors, so it was pretty neat and exciting to have Tameka and her two boys join us for a weekend.

Tuff babysat Hudson.  ;)  It was hard to tell who enjoyed it more.

Dalanie tried her hardest to win Flint over.  Don't let the picture fool you, he was miserable with teething and she was frustrated that he was so fussy.

We had to show them the town, so a walk on the river trail to throw rocks was a must.

When you have this many kids chucking rocks, someone is bound and determined to get hit.  It happened to be Ruby this time.

We picked Hudson up from football practice.  He put his lipstick in the suburban beforehand and impressed us all with his skills.

This is one of my all time favorites.  Tuff and Dalanie were both upset.  They lagged behind and found solace in one another's company.

We took Tuff to the watermelon patch and let him pick one out to take home.  (Tuff is holding the coolest hairy horse that Dalanie bought for him at the thrift store in Shelley.  She always wants to buy things for others.)

We loaded up in the RZR and went down to pick sweet corn.

Quite the picking crew.

Tuff and Flint came to Hudson's football jamboree while Tameka went to Rachel's wedding (her real purpose for coming this way.)  We loaded them up with sweet corn and watermelon for the trip home and said goodbye in the Skyline parking lot.  We sure do love those guys!

Big Blue Comes to the Farm

Brent called me to take pictures of the tractor when it was delivered because he was away from the farm.  It was a pretty exciting day for the family.  It's the only brand NEW piece of equipment I can ever remember purchasing.  Add that to the fact that it was blue and there was plenty of talk around the town.  One cannot have a yard full of green and not take a little slack when you change colors.

Hudson was pretty sure he saw it in transport on the bus ride home from school.

In preparing for this year's harvest, Brent decided that packing was our limiting factor.  If one of our pack tractors went down, we would be sunk.  There is no way that we could keep up with our little tractor.

 So we sold our old 8640.  It was a little bitter sweet.  I remember going with Brent to pick that tractor up with Hudson, the little toddler in tow.  We purchased it from a dry farmer up by Ashton.  It was the tractor that got us into the packing business we have today.  After nearly ten years of hard work for our farm, we sold it for what we paid for it.  Now that is a good investment.

The kids quickly dubbed the new tractor as Big Blue, the perfect color for Firth Cougars.

Tuff came to visit soon after we got Big Blue.  Brent was excited to show it to him.  He wasn't impressed with it or our green pack tractors.  He requested to see a baby tractor.  I guess they're too intimidating to him.  I can agree, they are some big pieces of equipment.

Family photo opp.

Facelift

We have wanted to add a porch on to our home for several years now.  We finally got Howell's to come and work on it the same week the kids went back to school.  Our driveway was all a bustle and people were inquisitive when we started digging out for new window wells and footings.

The cement truck kept the girls entertained all morning long.

It was fun to start to see it coming together.

That is as far as we got before harvest started and Howells went to work on some different projects.

The patio has been such a great area for our family, but we wanted to cozy it up a bit and add some shade.

While Howells were here, we had them erect this pergola out of rough sawn timber Brent had ordered from Pratt Lumber.  I was absolutely giddy about the results.

We extended the slab out in front of our garage and added curbing alongside the driveway.

Dalanie has asked about putting her handprint in the wet concrete several times.  As luck would have it, the cement was ready for their prints at 2:00.  I pulled them out of school, because how many times to you get to make such a lasting impression.  

Back to School

The weekend before school started, I gave one of my most epic haircuts.  All was fine until I started doing some blending.  It wasn't until I nearly scalped Hudson that I realized I didn't have the guard on.  Hudson is a very cool kid and was hardly phased by it.  When others would have been really upset and accusatory for ruining their first day of middle school, Hudson down played it saying that he hardly could tell.  Just another reason I love this boy of mine.

These two are officially my big kids now.  Hudson moving to the middle school and Dalanie to the upper hall.  They can fight with the best of them, but both still really look out for one another.

Both Hudson and Dalanie have a cousin in their grade.  To date, Hudson and Hailey have only shared the same class in third grade.  I think they could pass as twins.

We pre-registered so Dalanie was't able to pick out her locker or desk.  When we showed up on the first day, I spoke up to get her a bottom locker.  She could barely reach the top lockers on her tip-tippy toes.

Being a kindergartner, Ruby started class on Wednesday.  She was a bit antsy to go but did a great job of enjoying her last few free days of summer.

She goes to afternoon kindergarten, so she gets to ride the bus home with the older kids.  It's the best of both world because she gets to sleep in too.

We have quite a crew for carpool.  It's wonderful to only drive one week a month.  There is Emma Newman, Ericka and Andre Fielding, and Stockton Christensen.  (Don't mistake the little boy in the picture for Stockton, he's CJ Prestwich.  Stockton is a redhead that has a big crush on Ruby.)