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