Family Photos 2023

Who knows the next time we'll all be together again . . . ?! So we wanted to squeeze in a family photo shoot one more time before all the boys left.

We had our pictures taken up at Buzzard Gulch - where we mountain bike. Or at least where we did mountain bike when we actually did that . . . 

We love the pictures! I am just posting a bunch of random ones . . . 

Up To Now June Dump

Just dumping a bunch of pictures of life these past few weeks. But maybe a bit of explantations . . . Miles left us first on May 31st. He's working with Aiden up in the Johnstown area - north of Denver. He's living with the Bugarins and is doing well. I have gotten a few forwarded texts about how awesome Aiden and Miles are. :)

Ben left next on June 4th. He flew out to California to Fort Hunter Liggett in Jolon, California. He was doing medic-specific training. They basically spent the first week setting up a field hospital/OR unit. The next week or so was spent in acting out scenarios - i.e., taking care of wounded soldiers who needed surgical care. Ben did some day and night shifts. Then it was basically take-down of the area and he finally arrived, via a long bus ride, in SLC at 4am this morning. My dad picked him up and he's spent the day in Midway. He'll fly home tomorrow and, after 3 weeks, we are all excited to have him back!!

Jonas left next . . . He was supposed to fly out to SLC on June 6th. He and Kolter arrived to the airport, only to find out there had been a mix up (welcome to the military?!) and the tickets weren't purchased. The boys contacted their recruiter and things got settled and so the new plan was for them to fly out the following afternoon. Their flight on June 7th got delayed for a couple of hours and I thought it was impossible when they finally headed out (5pm) to make their connection out of Denver (flight left there at 6:10). But they made it! Jonas said they were the very last people to board the plane. Maybe they were waiting for them? Who knows. So Jonas arrived in Salt Lake Wednesday evening. Then the boys were flown out Thursday to Fort Jackson, South Carolina. They got there late but all was well.

Jonas got to call on Sunday and it was a very depressing call and just broke my heart. He was miserable because he was in the "reception" phase of basic training. "Reception" technically means in-processing, getting things in order for basic, etc. But Jonas had done nothing and that's all they were allowed to do - nothing. No phones, no TV, no books, no exercise, no nothing. How miserable. It was an awful report. I made a comment on the Fort Jackson Facebook page and got similar and sympathizing comments from other parents with children who had expressed almost exact reports and emotions. One father from Kentucky personally reached out to me and we actually chatted on the phone. His son was going through the exact same thoughts as Jonas. Anyhow, I finally heard from Jonas for a brief 30-second call the following Friday. He told me he was moving to the basic training area and would start on Monday, the 19th. I haven't heard from him since - nor was I expecting to. They are allowed phone privilege once a week - if that. So hopefully I hear from him tomorrow and that things are a bit better . . . 

So we three girls have been just us for about 2 1/2 weeks. It wasn't as fun and relaxing as I hoped because I had to run this 3-day 30-kid Harry Potter camp. It was rough. The week before it was spent planning, organizing, purchasing, stressing, etc. Then the week of was rough - it was just a lot to run, especially with 30 kids. And especially without help at home. When I got home, I was taking Lucy to a bday party 30 minutes away (so an hour roundtrip), taking the girls to mow their lawns, etc., etc. Then I had to spend a few more hours when I finally got home prepping for the next day's activities. It was super exhausting and stressful. But there were really positive comments on the camp and so hopefully it was good for the kids! Lucy and Emmy helped me two of the mornings and Lucy actually helped me all day one day. Anyways . . . that was my first two weeks of June . . . This past week was more enjoyable . . . I worked a couple of days . . . Lucy went to girls' camp (Emmy decided not to go - bummer) . . . Emmy and I had a fun day in Junction . . . Etc. 

Okay, now we're all caught up! On to pictures, in random order:

Ben's garden plants bloomed, as did the weeds! They went berzerk in like a 3-day period, thanks to some nice rain. . . So I kindly spent a few hours weeding. :) This is a before picture. No after picture taken.

Ben's OR group perhaps? Ben had some good and some bad experiences while there.

Jonas did go to church the first Sunday at Fort Jackson. The cute senior missionaries took this picture and texted it to me. Jonas looks good (and older!) with a buzzed cut. I mean, I like longer hair better, but he still looks good to me!

Jonas' plane finally taking off!

Ben's home for 3 weeks. He actually thought it was a really pretty site. He also was incredibly lucky with the weather - mid 70s almost the whole time there. Which was really unheard of for this area at this time of year (typically in the upper 90s). Blessings for sure.

Miles hard at work one day.

Miles at some hot-rod thing?

Bye Jonas! Love ya and will miss ya!

Cute siblings. :)

Miles has gone to a few car shows in the Fort Collins area. He was attracted to this Studebaker (of course) and got a kick out of the owner. He thought they could be good friends. :)

Ben's OR unit getting set up.

Pretty sure this was taken the day before leaving. Packing things up and getting ready to head home. Yay.

Miles and Aiden at the temple. Good, handsome boys.

The Bugarins (Aiden, Sarah - one of my favorite people, Jay, Alex, Miles, and Evan). With Miles of course.

Miles has gotten to see some of the Maxwell family while out there working. He had Sunday dinner once with them and even stopped in for lunch one day when they were working just a few blocks away. :)

Cousin Katie and Miles.

Aunt Debbie and Miles.

Grandma and Grandpa Maxwell, Katie, and Miles.

Cousin Nicholas and Miles. So glad he can meet up with family there!

Lunch break at the Maxwells' home. :)

That's that for now.

MnM

Memorial day and the end of May - MnM.

We had a good Memorial day - it was just nice to do something "fun." Jonas said he was going to work with some friends that day, but it didn't pan out. But he still didn't want to join us. Lame-O. :(

So Ben came up with a great afternoon activity on Memorial day: JUCO World Championship Baseball game in Junction. We did that last year and the kids really enjoyed it and so Ben thought it would be fun to do again. Perfect. As the game didn't start until 1, I wanted to squeeze in something active that morning. Miles had never done the Via Ferrata in Ouray and I've wanted to take him for awhile - so Via Ferrata in the morning it was! 

Luckily, Ben was feeling somewhat okay and was able to join us for the whole day. We were just about the first people on the Via Ferrata that morning and no one else really started until we were about half-way in. So that was pretty great. The weather was perfect and I think Miles thought it was awesome! He was definitely excited to send pictures to Melody (his friend in Germany) as she's not keen on heights. . . 

Fun for sure.

Then we rushed home and got ready to head up to Junction. We were a bit late (my bad). Which shouldn't have been too big a deal because baseball games are like forever. However . . . after about an hour of watching the game, the team Emmy and I decided to root for - crushed it. They got up by 10 points. And, apparently, if it's the 5th inning and beyond and a team gets up by 10, game over. So sad! So we only got to watch an hour of the game. But I think this will be a tradition and so next year should be longer! I mean, all those scores were exciting - but apparently too exciting!

We went to Main St. and let Miles check out an antique store. I ended up buying a shirt for myself and a pasta strainer for kids' Mac 'n Cheese. :) We hit up some incredibly large, delicious, and expensive shaved ice and then made our way back home. It was a fun day!

So long May!