Life Lately

 We went to Katie's house for a Labor Day family swim party. Al & Audrey came too and we all had a really fun day. Paul ended up having to miss it because of real estate issues that came up. We all missed having him there.

Rockwell and Tessa are both doing awesome on their jobs. Rockwell loves when he finds snakes in the yards that he mows. He's seen a lot of baby ones this year and a few big ones too. He always likes to pick them up and hold them for a while.

Tessa loves when Roxanne needs her to watch Sadie. It really is the best job ever for Tess!

I got a new bike as an early birthday present. I've been riding the purple bike from my childhood, and it finally bit the dust after about 27 years. I can't believe it lasted that long! I love my new bike and have enjoyed riding it this past week. 

I've been working toward a goal of riding from our house to the top of the trail in Provo Canyon. It ends at Vivian Park, which is a 17 mile ride round trip. I made it to the top today!

I really love riding in the canyon through all the beauty.

Tessa and Damon opened the door dressed like this when Grandma and Grandpa Ham came to babysit them. Grandpa asked Damon who he was and Damon said, "A mighty warrior!!" Haha!

They spent a lot of time using their imaginations this weekend, and I loved it. They spent Sunday afternoon outside playing all sorts of things in this relaxation area they made. I love the times when the kids play together and come up with non-screen things to do.

Date Nights

 Paul and I went to the Little Big Town concert Friday night at the Eccles Theatre. We've been waiting for this concert for a year and a half. It got rescheduled twice because of Covid-19. We were so excited to finally get to go! We had to show our vaccination cards to get in (or a current negative Covid test). That was a little weird to have to show that, but venues can require that if they decide to.

We love Little Big Town's music. Their voices are amazing. Each of them sound great on their own, and amazing when they harmonize together. The staging at the concert was awesome too.

It was so nice to spend a night singing and dancing along to our favorite songs.

We got to go on another date Saturday afternoon. Grandma & Grandpa Ham came and watched the kids while Paul and I went out to celebrate our 16th anniversary. (Thank you Mom & Dad!!) The kids were so excited to spend time with Grandma & Grandpa, and loved showing them all sorts of tricks and all the things that they love right now. Paul and I went to Provo Canyon and did the zipline adventure.

The guides drove our group up the mountain in a huge truck.

There are 5 ziplines on the tour. Each one gets longer and faster as you go down. It was a really fun afternoon. I just love the beauty of Provo Canyon and love any time we get to spend there.

On the last zipline the guides were fine with us going upside down or getting creative with how we went down. I went for the upside down Spiderman approach. :)

When we were finished in the canyon, we went to Shoot's for dinner. It was packed with people in town for the BYU/Utah football game. (BYU won the game! That was the first time they've beat Utah the past 9 games. It was SO exciting!!) Luckily we didn't have to wait too long, and the food was delicious as usual.

On our actual anniversary I woke up to this sweet note and candy heart from Paul. It was very thoughtful of him!

Clark Family Campout

 We headed up to Grandma Clark's for the annual Labor Day family campout. Paul cooked some delicious hot dogs and hamburgers while I set up the tent. It was fun to sit around the fire and visit while we ate.

The kids loved playing night games all night!

Some of us went inside to play Ligretto. We used to play that all the time, but haven't much since we've had more kids and needed to keep our eyes on them. They're old enough now, the game-playing can commence again. :)

I used to be the one to beat at Ligretto, but feel like I've slowed down in everything I do over the years. Paul was cheering me on to win again and was very proud when I did. :) So much so that he made this picture and sent it to Gramps. Haha! He's in Russia right now for work, and we all missed him being there with us.

We spent some more time around the fire and made s'mores. I love a good fire and good company!

Paul got up when the roosters started crowing the next morning and made us all a delicious breakfast. We hung around for the morning and kept visiting and playing. It was a great campout!!

Big Boy Asher & Baby Liam

 Matt and Marissa came to Utah in between their move from Denver to Pennsylvania. They came to Tessa and Damon's gymnastics meet. The kids were so excited to see Asher and Liam! Rockwell loved getting time with the kids while Tessa and Damon were competing. 

They have always called Asher "Baby Asher," and have been practicing calling him "Big Boy Asher" now that Liam is the baby of the family. :) It was so nice of them to come watch the meet! They came over for dinner that night and we all loved spending time with them.

It was so cute to see the cousins playing together and hear Big Boy Asher laughing his head off. We all loved holding Baby Liam, and may have fought over whose turn it was all night. :)

We were so glad we could see the Cheney's before they move back east!

"Olympic" Gymnastics Meet

 Arete did another meet for their own gymnasts. Tessa and Damon both wanted to compete. This one was the Olympic Meet, and they started with running the Olympic torch around the gym and lighting the "flame." A lady that ran the torch in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake helped the kids pass the torch. It was a fun way to start the meet.

Damon's only been doing gymnastics for a few weeks, but he was excited to show us what he's been learning so far. 

He likes the rings and the bar. He loves going to class every week and practicing at home. It's been fun to see him develop new skills.

Tessa's first event was vault. When we were driving to the meet Tessa said, "I'm not going to mess up on my vault this time!" She sure didn't mess up! She hit the springboard just right and did a beautiful handstand flat back on the mats. Her coach was there to spot, but Tessa didn't need any help. It was beautiful!

Her next event was beam. She looked great throughout her routine, but she did fall off once. She recovered well and didn't let the mistake get in her head. 

Next was the bars. I was watching from up on the stairs, so I didn't have a great view. She did great though, and it was fun to see her do some things on her own that she needed a spot on at the last meet. I love to see the progress she's making!

Tessa's last event was floor, and she did awesome on this one too.

While the judges were totaling the scores, they had a "javelin" competition with pool noodles. Damon won the gold medal in javelin for the younger kids age group. :)

He tied for 3rd place in the all-around for the boys events, and was thrilled with his bronze medal!

Tessa took 1st place in the all-around for her level again. She was so excited to earn another gold medal!

It was so fun to watch Tessa and Damon both do something they love. We're very proud of them for working hard at class and practicing hard at home. Great job Damon and Tessa!!

The owner of Arete called the week after the meet and said that Tessa's coach let her know that Tessa and Morgan are ready to move up another level already. They've only been in The Jets class for about a month, but their coach said they both work so hard and have just connected with this sport. Their form is awesome and they're progressing quickly. Tess and Morgan are excited to move up because the next level is even longer class time. Tessa wishes she could go to gymnastics every day of the week. :)