Three Eagles

 

Rosie does her bit to help with our hot dry summer.

This summer one of my goals was to push the adulting skills on my middles. They each had a week of dinner meal planning and cooking. Luke wanted to go first (he saw the advantages right off the bat of choosing all the meals.) Macy went second and was so cute. One morning she made us a waffle bowl buffet.

And the littles took advantage of the extra Mom time. Here we are at our fabulous new splash park.

Rosie was ecstatic.

Luke got to ride in the Fiesta Days children's parade. 

A giant strawberry.

Boston's baseball season trickled into football season, and we had to rush him from football camp to some very hot tourney games, back to camp (they slept at the school for a few days). Luckily his football coach said they would never penalize a multisport athlete.

He also got to help with a flag retirement ceremony, which he thought was pretty cool.

We finally got to go to the temple with these handsome lads. 

Our girls' first rodeo, courtesy of Remarkable Home Loans. (And now they can say, "This isn't my first rodeo, ya know.") It was way fun to be there with friends and neighbors.

Cooper and I took a little side trip to Rockwell's Ice Cream.

Cooper had a couple of summer jobs. Yard and garden work with his buddy Kali'i three times a week and science camp/babysitting twice a week for our super fun neighbor boys. On this day they did giant bubbles, and we got to help.

This is Little Cooper in one of the best shots of the whole summer. Big Cooper enrolled in a photography class.

Sigh. The braces are back. I don't know how many years of his life this kid has been in orthodontia, but probably a majority. Hopefully this will be the last round.  When his head stops growing they need to do a cleft tooth implant and also a couple of random implants on the bottom for adult teeth that just weren't there. We switched to a local doc a couple of years ago because I was sick of driving to Primary's in SL every month--also because I heard the Primary's doc is notorious for delaying missions because he takes too long.

Leslie has become familiar with public transit in the booming metropolis of Provo. 

But her folks are nice enough to bring her home regularly. 

Leslie took summer term at BYU and had an intro to social work class where she had to log lots of volunteer hours. She enjoyed working at the local food pantry.

She also has her loan officer license and recently closed her first loan. Give her a call! (ahem, she needs a car.)

The girls finally got to go to the temple, too. It was Macy's first time. We chuckled a bit when she put her baptism jumper on backwards somehow.

True. So, we headed up to Montana.

Leslie decided to come very last minute, taking advantage of her online class situation. I was worried that the packed van would drive her crazy after living away from our noisy bunch, but she was prepared and brought her earbuds.

At the lake, our cousin Benson was a serious bug collector, giant net and all. 

Grandma collects kiddos, I think. 

We are missing Darcy and Perry's boys, and Duke and Natalie's kiddos. Natalie had a pending arrival.

First time trying out the Lily Pad, way out in the middle of the lake. As you can see, it was a big hit. Lots of King of the Mountain or trying to run like a drunkard from one end to the other and jump off.  We laughed pretty hard. I love this picture of Boston and my mom. What a cool Grandma.

Leslie bested all those rowdy boys. Long arms and tenacity.

The little girls liked playing near the cabin. Here they are playing in the sprinkler and dancing with Grandma.

Leslie is a teensy bit accident prone. We were literally packing up to leave and she decided to have a go at the giant rope swing over the lake. She has done it lots of times before, but her second swing out she lost her grip and hit the shallows--sharp rocks. Mark drove her back to the cabin, blood streaming down both legs, bloody hands, shaking and crying (Leslie, not Mark, haha). I had to clean her up, warm her up, and drive her to the ER, where they scrubbed out the "road rash" and stitched her up. Two months later and we have another appointment tomorrow because there are some remaining fragments in one knee.

On to Grandma's house. It was important to go--I realized that Rosie had no memories of ever being here--it's been a minute.

Luke's butterfly trap. He needed Benson's net.

I love this picture. Jaxon, Cooper, Bridger, Boston.

Getting ready to jump into the big canal (that we were never allowed to swim in as kids).

Also love this one. I had to frame it, actually.

He was a little reluctant--the water was icy cold.

It was a little tricky climbing back up the muddy bank.

Addy was not concerned and was smart enough to bring her shoes.

Let's just say I made the biggest splash. 

There were an insane number of grasshoppers because of the drought. They'd hop in every direction with every step on the lawn. Mom was paying the kids per dead grasshopper but I don't think they made much of a dent. I think Cooper is trying to grab some out of the air in this picture.

Boston had some unexpected consequences from the slip n slide.

Macy and Addy as biker chicks.

Nope, they didn't have any fun at all.

It was fun to see who has outgrown Grandpa. 

Also fun to drop in at The Store and see my best cousin Bo--it's been several years.

Also visited the Lewis and Clark caverns. We probably should have taken the longer version of the tour, but we had a three year old and a gimp.

At the Heagy raspberry patch, these guys were worse than the grasshoppers! My Uncle B came by and saw this and just laughed at the hand to mouth action going on.

I used to have a bouncy horse just like this, probably under the same Charlie Russell.

We made some homemade ice cream, trying to fatten up Grandpa for his chemo and radiation, (esophageal cancer) which he recently completed. Way to go Grandpa!

Love these two. And aren't they so beautiful?

photo credit Kam Galeazzi Neth

Jake was pretty excited to try out their pontoon. He kept singing about it, so you know that's big time.

We went for a walk in the smoke. 

Boston needed a picture for an informal football roster. He picked the serious one but I like this one. It's his first year playing high school tackle, Sophomore team. Because his mom is a rookie, she didn't realize that there were required practices during the Montana trip. (July??) But, Montana is Boston's favorite place, so he was happy to run the make-up Monsters in the park when we got home. Right, Boss?

The kids kept him company. Rosie was the best Monster runner. I think because she's closest to the ground. And doesn't follow the rules.

Welcome baby Saylor! What pretty girl cousins! Someday we'll have to take their picture all together. 

Boston is the tall 73 in the middle, playing defense and special team. This is the pre-season scrimmage. I am always a little surprised when I hear the cheerleaders cheering for the Eagles, because that was my high school mascot. These are the Golden Eagles, but they shorten it most of the time. Boston's uniform has Eagles printed down the side of his leg, and I kind of wanted to take a close-up picture of the logo, but I was worried it would look weird if I was down on the sidelines trying to take a shot of his bum after the game, haha.

I didn't know he was going to be one of the captains this game, so I didn't have my camera out in time to video the boys walking out to the center with their arms linked. Pretty cool. And excellent timing. A few days after this game he broke his wrist at practice, they thought, when someone landed on his hand and popped it back. A week later the new xray said it was a strain on top of a sprain, but Doc said he had to refrain from pushups and tackling for two-three weeks. He has to go to games and practice and run and do situps, etc., anyway. He got 3 games in before the injury and hopes to get the last two.  I knew it was a gamble...all those monsters! Mark pointed out that football is, unfortunately, a gladiator sport--mostly for the fans. But we're proud of all Boston's hard work and very glad it wasn't a concussion or a break. We'll see if he does it next year or not, and I think we've talked Cooper into saving his rangy frame for basketball once he finishes his last year of flag. 

I have more videos but it's hard to pick him out.

And check out these Eagles! Mom pulled these from Dad's yearbook for me. Above, senior year. Below, junior year. 1970, 1971.

Here is Grandpa Happy Jack, who played football for the Eagles, too, but I don't know his position or number. I'm sure he was a lightweight--not as tall as Dad and Boston, who would be about the same size.  Grandpa Heagy, however, was pretty laser focused on his pilot training when he was in high school. The coach at Great Falls High would beg him to play but he deferred and would spring along the sidelines during practice on his way the airfield just to tease the coach. 

We have made soooo much salsa, and given away soooo many tomatoes. Come on, fall. But first, school started. Also known as...

This was the night before the first day of school. The olders were in my room, chatting before bed. Boston says to Leslie, only half joking, "Got any fashion tips?" Leslie laughed and demanded, "Not that!"

I have kids at, count 'em, five different schools this year! Elementary, Middle, Junior, High, and BYU! I'm keeping Rosie home from preschool one more year, partly because she has a fall birthday and partly for my sanity. And the kid can write her name--she'll be fine. 

Leslie had fun playing chalk art with Rosie one day.

We also spent a lot of snuggle time in the hammock under our shade tree. 

We managed another trip to the reservoir after school. Cooper and Luke hiked up to the Spanish Fork cross, commemorating where the Dominguez-Escalante expedition first entered the valley in 1776.

And this guy turned sixteen. His birthday was pretty low key because he got a phone and a license. (Correction. He got MY new phone and a license. We both needed a phone and got the same kind. Mine was delivered, his was not. I let him have mine because he was so excited to graduate to a smart phone. Then I got a message that the other delivery was delayed a month because of labor shortages. Found out yesterday they finally gave up and cancelled the order. Go covid!)  

Boston calls it The Whip.

We got a little nicer car than Leslie's humility machine because it has to survive atleast three more teen drivers. You know how some parents pay for grades? We decided to pay insurance for grades. 

Coop was supposed to take an unusual angle of one of his hobbies for his photo class. Luke was the frame.

Leslie is happy to be rooming with her cousin Lydia.

She joined us for the Vocal Point concert at BYU Education week. Just documenting. We decided as a family to get our shots and wear masks in public meetings where we couldn't social distance, so this qualified.  Luke and Rosie aren't old enough to get shots.

But Luke was old enough to get this... He just had mild sniffles and cough, and I mostly had him tested so I could feel justified sending him to school. Was not expecting a positive result. Unfortunately, this was a Tuesday and he had already gone to school on Monday, so his class got the quarantine notice. Dang. He quarantined in his room and outside to stay away from the middles, who were allowed to attend school as long as they were vaccinated and tested negative. I quarantined Rosie at home as well.(We drove the whole family--minus the leper--down to Nephi that afternoon so we could all test together. That was a treat. Everyone else was negative. Leslie tested at BYU--twice because she had bad allergies that week--also negative.)

 

We took extensive hikes and bike rides every day "to keep his lungs clear" and generally had an awesome week, minus having to cancel Boston's birthday party. (Luke was fine by like the second day. Our neighbor Little Cooper told his mom, I can't believe someone my age has Covid!) 

He was pretty excited to explore the dripping rock trail. You can't see the steep dropoff from this angle.

I had no idea Rosie was so good at going uphill on a strider bike. We need to start taking this thing everywhere. She loved it.

They liked swooping down into this tunnel. Over and over.

Our last night of quarantine we were sick of not being together so we had a family picnic and played frisbee golf in the mountains.

After that long week, it was wonderful to have a nice break. We hadn't had a sisters' trip for three years, back when I was a recovering baldy, so we went ahead with this one even though Rach and Natalie couldn't make it.  Here are the crazy cloud formations floating on top of the haze on the flight to Eugene, OR.

The Portland Temple with its beautiful reflection pool. 

We were having a hard time getting a picture of the reflection pool with the entire temple plus spire.

Darcy is not one to stand on ceremony. She had an idea of how to get a better angle. Plus I think we were all a little giddy to get to be together.

It cracks me up that they got her about six inches off the ground. But still.

Darcy was an excellent trip planner and quick decision maker. She had to re-plan the trip about three times due to forest fires near the Redwoods and a major storm warning on the coast, where she lives. So, we switched last minute and rocked central OR. This is Horsetail Falls hike, a quick pullover uphill hike to get us warmed up. (She said it was so she could gauge how out of shape I was--I had been warning her about no black diamond hikes, haha. So, to get back at her I sang showtunes loudly on the trail to frighten the homeless potheads hiding in the bushes, and to prove my stellar lung capacity. Alright, I only could sing while hiking downhill.)

Then we went to Mt. Hood and hiked to Mirror Lake.

Darcy said all the stumps have these notches in them for a foothold for the loggers. So I had to try.

These bushes were over our head on the edge of Mirror Lake. Walking the plank was fun.

I'm her Firstborn in the Wilderness. 

Brooke said at one point in a huffy sneezing fit (after she snatiated on too much Mexican food), "I got ALL the BAD GENES!"

While we were posing, Darcy was making friends with the Jays. 

Jackie, do you want a turn? Brooke says. Hard pass. I think you can see my revulsion here a little.

But Mom wanted a turn. She talked to them, too.

I called her Snow White a few times after this.

We spent the night nearby and the next morning drove up near the summit of Mt. Hood to see the famous Timberline Lodge. Luckily there was no "guests only" sign so we got to snoop around. It was beautiful and massive, and I'd like to go back when the smoke isn't blocking the view.

Our first night, Darcy had surprised us by pulling long sleeved beach shirts, and swim shorts and shoes out of her bag and tossing them at us. "Perry booked us a white water rafting trip!" (Laughing at our faces.) We were nervous but excited--only Darcy had ever been before. After scaring us with photos, she was kind enough to drive us up the Deschutes river while we waited for our excursion. Eh, not so scary, and the air was warm so we didn't even get cold. Fun and very beautiful.

Obviously, our guide is not concerned about this drop, called The Bathtub. She had instructed all of us to slide to the floor of the raft as fast as we could. Then she laughed when we all got drenched.  I always pictured holding on tightly with both hands so I wouldn't fall out, not both hands on the oar. Instead, we were told to tuck our toes under the sides of the raft. My foot fell asleep at one point...

The next day for my birthday Darcy drove us down to Crater Lake, where we were surprised by several inches of snow. Good thing it melted fast. This picture looks like the water is gray, but it is actually the deepest blue color, as shown in some of the other photos. It would have been mind-blowing to discover this lake. It is so odd looking, deep and clear and beautiful and ringed with crater cliffs. It is the deepest lake in America--way deeper than the twin towers, for example, and one of the cleanest, most transparent in the world.

This was a short hike we did to see the Phantom Ship.

The colors were just so vivid.

This was the Pinnacle hike--these strange, huge pointy ash colored towers.

Darcy had to bring extra raincoats. Wish I needed one at home--I live in the desert. She laughed at me when I asked if she was going to pull her car around to the hotel door to pick us up.

It was a great time, girls! It was good to get home, though. At one point on the river, our guide asked me what else was on my bucket list--she said she liked hearing what was most important to people. I said that there were a few silly things like riding a camel, but most of the things on my list have to do with what I want other people to do. That got some laughs, but intrigued the guide. Like what? I told her I want to raise my kids to have strong marriages and families, because I truly believe that is what will make them the happiest and most fulfilled--it has for me. So glad you amazing women are family!