From Wolf to Bear

Cohen earned his wolf badge last summer, but didn't actually get it until Pack Meetings started back up in the fall.  Here's some pictures from the ceremony.  Cohen pinning the Mother's Pin on me...

No, I'm not running for office--though I realize that I am dressed like I am in this picture.  Haha...

Cohen survived his trip into the Bears' Den too...

He's been a Bear for almost a year now, and just earned that rank too.  He loves going to scouts and being with all his buddies.  Good job, Coco!  --Lindsay

Brace Face No More

Connor got his braces off in September, so that calls for a before and after picture!

Here's his before.  Can you tell how much he enjoys taking pictures for his mama?

And here he is after the braces came off!  Doesn't he look fantastic?  And happier to take a picture?

His pearly white smile is awesome!  So that's one kid down, three more to go...and some of the younger ones are going to need to have some major work done.  Can't wait to see how expensive that's going to be!  Haha!  --Lindsay

Learning Soccer Skills From the Pros

Back in the fall, the boys got the opportunity to go to the ReAL Partner Summit with Poppy.  They got to meet all the players and get their autographs, and learn some soccer skills from them as well.  Here's some pictures from their fun day...

The boys with Kyle Beckerman...

With Albert Rusnak...

With Justen Glad...

How often do you get to kick the soccer ball around with a pro?

Getting tips on playing goalie from "The Wall of the Wasatch", Nick Rimando...

Cohen playing goalie...

A picture with Nick Rimando...

They got to tour the locker room too...

Group shot of everyone at the Partner's Summit...

Such a cool and fun experience for the boys!  Not many kids can say they've learned soccer tips from the pros!  Thank you Poppy and Nana!!  --Lindsay

Aiden's Soccer Season

Aiden played Fall Soccer last year.  But fall soccer is really late-summer soccer since the season goes from the beginning of August to the middle of September.  Here's a few shots I got of him throughout the season...

Aiden had a lot of fun and played pretty aggressively this season.  He seemed to have a good time doing it too.  Of all our boys, he seems to like sports the least, but he never complained about going and appeared to be having a good time out there!  --Lindsay

These People are Crazy!

Only crazy people ride their bikes 206 miles in one day, right?  And Poppy and Mike happen to be two of those crazy people.  They competed in LOTOJA again this year.  We drove up to Logan on Friday afternoon, so the guys could get checked in for the race...

Then it was back to the hotel for a little swimming and hot tubbing...

After swimming, we hung out at the little stream behind our hotel and the kids had fun throwing rocks and sticks into the water to watch how fast it would be carried away...

We ate dinner at one of our favorite places in Logan--The Beehive Grill...

Then it was off to bed so we could all get up bright and early for the race the next morning.

It's really hard to get shots of the guys in this race anymore because support vehicles can't travel alongside the riders until the last 80 miles or so of the race, so most my pictures are of the guys coming into and going out of feed zones.  Here's Mike leaving Preston, Idaho...

All of us waiting at the Montpelier, Idaho stop...

Poppy taking off from Montpelier...

Mike with his cute cheering squad...

Giving Poppy high fives once we could finally ride alongside the riders.  This was right before the King of the Mountain climb.  It's the toughest climb in the course...

Here's Poppy toward the peak of the King of the Mountain climb...

Do you see that slope???

Here's Mike riding the Star Valley portion of the course...

The kids love to get out of the car often to ring their cowbells to cheer the riders on...

And give more high fives too...

Mike got really dehydrated during this part of the course.  He went really fast and just forgot to drink, so he needed a few minutes to recover once he got to Alpine, Wyoming...

As he and Poppy took off to start the Snake River Canyon portion of the course, Mike still wasn't feeling well.  But he pushed through it, and did great!  He said he felt so miserable that he wanted to quit, but he didn't want his kids to see him quit, so he kept pushing...

It's always so pretty when we drive through Snake River Canyon.  The leaves are always changing colors and it looks gorgeous...

During this portion of the course, we always stop a lot and the kids continue to cheer the riders on...

Eventually, we have to leave the riders when they finish the very last part of the course.  It usually gives us enough time to go check into our hotel.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that the hotel where we normally stay had been changed from the Painted Buffalo Inn to the Modern Mountain Motel.  Man, what a renovation!  Everything was so nice, and the decor was awesome.  The kids loved the word search on the wall that was full of words about Jackson Hole and the surrounding areas...

Check out the rest of our fine digs...

After ooing and ahhing over our rooms for a little bit, we headed to the finish line to wait for Team Poppy to cross the finish line.  There they are!  They did great!!  I can't remember exactly how long it took them, but it seems like it was around 12 hours or maybe just a little less.  The time on the finish line clock isn't their correct time because each group starts at a different time...

Finish line picture.  I don't know how these two do this race every year and still manage to be happy and functional afterward...

That night, we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant in Jackson--El Abuelitos.  We love their cabbage salsa and Mike always craves it after finishing LOTOJA.  I think he's trained his brain to expect it after the race, and it's the only thing that gets him through those last few miles...

The next morning, we got up and headed into Grand Teton National Park and went to our favorite little spot--Jenny Lake...

We love coming here.  The kids have so much fun playing, exploring, throwing rocks in the lake, and having all sorts of contests (who can skip a rock on the water the most times, who can hit a log in the lake with a rock, etc.)...

I love this picture, and I'm so happy I was able to capture it.  I'm not sure what was going on, but I love how Cohen has his arm around Vivvie to help her with something.  Such a great big brother...

King of the world...

Vivvie showing off her big ol' muscles...

I love Grand Teton National Park.  It's so beautiful...

We hiked around the lake a little bit.  They've done lots of improvements to the trails around the lake...

Connor showing off by carrying Vivvie on his shoulders and Cohen on his back.  Haha...

Our familia...

After spending the morning in the park, we went back into Jackson to grab some lunch and walk around the downtown area a little bit.  We tried to get a picture by the famous antler arch, but some random people by it would not move.  Haha!  Just a couple more additions to our family, I guess...

Don't feed (your children to) the bears...

We went into a little toy store and let the kids play for a few minutes.  There was a couch for parents to sit on, and I looked over to find this...

I guess that's what happens when you push your body to the limit!

Later that afternoon, it was time to head back home.  Another LOTOJA in the books!  Always a fun, but crazy fast, jam-packed weekend!  --Lindsay