Sunbeam Wrangling, Water Polo, School's In, and a Long, Dry, Summer

Just a quick post to let you know we're still alive in Soulsbyville (and elsewhere)!

School has begun

Water Polo has begun

I'm teaching seminary again and trying to figure out what to do in an empty house all day.  I've also been assigned to be a helper for the spirited 3 year-old class at church, The kids promptly dubbed me the "Sunbeam Wrangler."

Mark is still commuting and Bishoping.  His big project for the summer,the High Adventure to bike/hike around most of the Tahoe Rim Trail with 14-18 year-old boys from church, was a success.  He knows he is not 25 anymore.

Levi is wondering what he's going to do about his crazy new life as a high schooler, attending seminary and playing water polo.  His muscles and stature continue to grow.

We demonstrated our faith in our 1997 van, "Babe"
by dumping almost $3000 into her, then 
promptly sending her on the road to Utah without us.

Eliza completed a spectacularly enjoyable and successful summer "job" as she spent the last six weeks before school helping out my parents in Wisconsin.  We missed her, but it was a lifetime experience.  She successfully completed one, and is working on the second prerequisite to embarking on a major in Business Management at the Y, and she's enjoying living in Spanish Language Housing.








Luke is learning important lessons on his mission in England, and enjoying the culture there. Go to his blog for more details.

 

Marta left mid-August to train as a Resident Assistant at BYU as she works on her Sophomore year as a Recreation Management major.  She is mother-hen to at least 47 Freshman girls (and two or three more if you count Eliza and cousins).

Tess is getting all kinds of college recruiting mail (passing the AP Calculus exam as a Junior has gotten her quite a bit of attention), but is resolutely looking toward joining at least two siblings at BYU next year.  We just scheduled her wisdom tooth removal appointment, but it looks like she'll escape a tonsillectomy!

Alright, not really Levi, but his slender frame makes his
physique a lesson in musculoskeletal anatomy.

Levi is adjusting to the sleep deprivation of high school with sports and seminary.  His sisters awakened him to the need to earn money for high school expenses, so he's been doing some hard labor for a neighbor.  That and his water polo workouts are adding muscles to his already elevating stature.

A reservoir a a couple of hours from us.  Ours look similar!

Even the "Live Oaks" in the yard are demonstrating their thirst with the continued drought and unusually warm weather of this extended summer.  We are hoping for rain!

And despite hundreds of blog posts, I still can't figure out how to get rid of text that shows up on the preview but not in my post screen.  So if you notice two comments on Levi, just chalk it up to old brains trying new technology!

Denise

How My Job Went Through a Dam Drain

So, a week ago today, a big rock broke. The rock was attached to a dam that held a lake at which I worked (and Marta too). It looked like this on Rock (yes, that is a name).

However, the dam that it was attached to was not happy, so it started to cry...

And then, to add insult to injury, the rock broke even more!

That is when the dam was truly compromised. So now, the lake looks more like this...

(That green stuff is lake-weed on top of  about a foot and a half of sludge,
 with tiny, rotting, dead fish everywhere.) 

...than this.

Like I said in the title, my job went through a dam drain. Literally. Overall, unemployment isn't too bad, except that I don't get money anymore. I mean, I have an extra week and a half of free time before school starts, so it actually made my schedule a little bit easier, which is kind of nice. Oh, well.

In other news, Eliza left to spend a month or so helping the grandparents before going to school, and Marta is leaving for BYU at the end of this week. Levi and I have to go back to school in a week and a half (ugh!), but it will be nice to have a regular, stressful schedule again. Mom is getting ready to teach seminary again, and Dad is preparing to get back into working all the time without a family vacation every two weeks or so.

Love,

Tess

June & July Whiz By. . .& Trans Tahoe Swim!

Four weeks from today, high school starts for our youngest two.  Marta will be leaving to start her job as an RA in Heritage Halls at BYU before then, and Eliza departed yesterday to spend her last six weeks of summer in Wisconsin with her grandparents.  And we haven't had a lazy day of summer yet!

This is what has kept us hopping!







Levi graduated from eighth grade--the last of our children to graduate from Soulsbyville School!











Tess had her Senior pictures taken--glamour makeover and all!
She's beautiful without the fluff, and this is just my phone shot of her!










Before the family reunion, Levi and I headed out to Maryland for a visit with Rick and Jill Kemper and family, and some playing in the Washington, D.C. area.

Levi at the White House

Uncle Rick has a couple of old-fashioned bicycles.
They are more scary than you would guess to ride.
despite his steadying hand.

We walked to the Capitol end of the mall

With Aunt Jill, Bridget, William and Levi at the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing.  

One of the highlights of the trip for Levi was time in Uncle Rick's wood shop learning to make "scales," or handles for knives, and producing one for Levi and one for a Father's day gift for Mark.  Pretty spiffy, and quite alluring for Levi, who has now set up a miniature shop in our garage to produce more knives (with generous support and encouragement from Uncle Rick!)

On the way to Wisconsin, we met up with Chicago Houghtons and Chains for Chicago dogs and a quick visit.







That Kemper family reunion Tess told about that we did all the travelling for.  .  .here are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren, except for Joe, Luke, Aidan, Andrea, and James, who couldn't make it, and Nora and Reed who didn't make their appearances until a few weeks after the party.  You can also almost see Grandpa in this picture--in the upper left.  Less than a week after he was released from the hospital, he was enjoying and hosting this crowd.

On the way back from Wisconsin to Maryland, we drove through a torrential storm with flash flooding!

Shortly after the storm abated, Bridget, Marta, and Tess in
an Ohio parking lot.  

We also went to a high-flying Adventure Park in Maryland.





Once home from our travels, it was time to prepare for Girls' Camp.  Everyone was part of the action!



Mark and Tess finished up their "Go Dog Go" car, which was deemed a great success, and placed upon "Maximus the horse" as a prank the last night of camp.

The Sonora 2nd ward crew at Girls Camp

Eliza attended camp as a counselor, and Tess as a Youth Leader (both did great jobs, by the way!)

Marta helped prep with sign-making and general support.  (Oh, and I was camp nurse--this was the sign to tell where I was.)

Levi test-rode the "car" and he and Mark helped us load and unpack.

Once back from Girls Camp we had just enough umph to finish up training and pack up for our Trans Tahoe adventure, a six-person relay across lake Tahoe.  With help from friend who loaned us boat and condominium, we created a fabulous family memory! 

The 10-11 mile swim began on the northeast at Sand Harbor,
and finished up just above Tahoe City. 

 Driving and launching with this rig was a bit nerve-wracking, but it made for a comfortable few days on the lake!  We even got to meet up with cousins Maren and Julia (and Julia's two children).


Saturday, July 19 was a gorgeous day on the lake with water temperatures between 68 and 71 degrees--unusually warm!  Despite the attendant not showing up at the boat launch, with some help from fellow swimmers, we made it across the lake in time for the start!








Marta was our lead swimmer.  We were one of 220+ teams, and she started in the last of four waves of swimmers from Sand Harbor.  The rest of us waited in the boat to meet up with her as she rounded the buoy at the edge of the small bay.  








                                 After 30 minutes, Tess took her first turn in the water.










Then it was Eliza's turn.  We didn't exactly have to push Eliza in, but it wasn't her favorite thing to do to let go of the boat!

Fourth came Levi, who zipped through the water, despite some pre-swim jitters.  (It's scary to look down into 1000+ feet of water, in case you're wondering, let alone to jump in and swim more than a mile).  Levi was our fastest swimmer, clocking at 2.6-2.7 miles an hour most of his time in the water!

Levi psyching himself up for the swim.

The girls danced and stretched with Mark to help him warm up for his leg!

Even I swam--the slowest on the team, but steady!

Napping did occur between swim "legs."

Mark captained the boat most of the time.

Levi wore his British goggles to
include Luke, serving his mission in
England, in the race!

After we'd each swum 30 minutes, then 15 minutes,
and Marta had taken her third turn for ten minutes,
Tess jumped in to finish the race,
with Marta and Levi trailing in the kayak!
Our time:  4 hours, 54 minutes!

We were a happy crew at the finish line.  We came 8th in our division, and 139th overall--a decent
(and better than we expected) showing for first-timers with a slow mom on their team!

"Team Mountain Houghton" celebrates in Tahoe City after the swim!

We enjoyed the rest of the weekend exploring Tahoe City, attending church in the Kings Beach ward, cooking good food, playing games, and visiting.  Happy family memories!

Denise