Patriarchal Blessing

Eli received his Patriarchal Blessing in September. We're so proud of the young man he is becoming, and it was very exciting to hear some of the wonderful blessings our Heavenly Father has in store for him.

Rebels

Two of the nights Logan and I were out of town, Jason spent the night at his sister's house dog-sitting, which meant the other three were home alone. And what did these two teens and their younger brother do with their parents both out of town? They went to Barnes and Nobles where Ali treated herself and her brothers to new books. I could not love this more.

Colorado

Logan and I took off for a long weekend to visit my parents in Colorado. He kept marveling that it only took a couple of hours in the air to go the distance it takes us 16 hours to drive!

The main reason for the trip was so Logan could hunt with his Grandpa. He also wanted to shoot some guns, so Grandpa made that happen, too!

I had never been to the property my parents and JD and Lianna own, so Mom and I drove up there with them and spent a couple of hours hiking around before leaving them and heading back to my parents' house with my mom.

While Logan and Dad hunted, Mom and I had a lovely day going to the temple, having lunch with Emily, and then going to a movie- basically the perfect day.

After Logan and Dad came home, my mom showed Logan around Downtown Castle Rock, including taking him to her favorite soda shop and buying him several of their 450 flavors to try.

It was such a fun weekend with my son and my parents!

Final Fun Run

I got to be with Jake for another one of his many lasts, his last fun run. I agreed to work at the school before I realized it was the day of the fun run, and was so thankful that I happened to have a free half hour right at the beginning of his run! 

Senior Night

At the first home football game of the year, they honor the seniors from the football team, cheer and dance teams, and the marching band. Jake, Jason, and I were there to celebrate Ali, and her Aunt Amy and Uncle Steve came to support her too. She has really enjoyed Marching Band these last two years and has been glad she gave it a shot.

Quillens Visit!

JD's family came for a visit! They had a wedding in Chicago, and we were thrilled to be their hosts. We went to our little Zoo: 

Jake LOVED having cousins to play with:

We visited Logan at Crumbl:

Jake had signs welcoming them to the Eldredge Inn, and when they left, we found this cute review!

Come From Away

I mentioned in passing that I wanted to see the musical Come From Away, and then for our anniversary, Jason got us tickets! We really, really enjoyed the show- it's a new favorite for sure.

September 11th

Logan wanted to do a 110-story stair climb in honor of the first responders on September 11th. Jason joined him, and they both did it with heavy-weighted vests (though nowhere near the 75 pounds of gear the first responders really had). It was a lovely tribute.

3D Printer

Eli sold some big lego sets to buy himself a 3D printer. The first picture is the little boat it printed to calibrate itself. And it just got better and better from there! He also paints the things he prints. It's been taking a lot of his time and attention lately. 

We were pleased to see how many things he was able to print on one roll of filament...but it still only took him about a week to use it up!

Creator

Jake still comes up with clever creations: a game for his marbles above and an alien below.