Ava's weekend up north

Ava had a fun weekend with friends at a cabin up in Pine over the 4th of July weekend. Lexi's grandma had rented a cabin for her grandkids and friends. It was Ava and her boyfriend, Aidan, Lexi and her boyfriend Caiden, as well as two of Lexi's cousins (and Grandma). Since I wasn't there, I won't have much to write about these photos, but it sure looked like a fun trip! They made homemade pizzas the first night they were there, and she said they turned out really well (using dough from Trader Joe's). 

On the 4th, they went into Payson for their holiday festivities in the park. The girls looked so cute in their themed outfits!

It's so great to see that these two are still such great friends, even after Ava switched schools. They've spent even more time together since Ava started dating Aidan, as he's part of Lexi's friend group at RM. I think they met in 5th grade at the Academy and have been best friends ever since. 

Is it even a small town holiday party if you don't get your face painted? 

I'm sure they enjoyed the break from the heat while they were up north. Getting out of here in the summer is never a bad idea. 

The boyfriends enjoy fishing, so Ava has done more fishing in the last few months than in her entire life. I don't think they ever catch much, but they must have fun doing it. And, these two sure look cute! 

They also went on a hike one morning, so it was a weekend filled with a bunch of adventures! I'm glad they had a good time. 

4th of July

This first photo wasn't from the 4th, but it was a pretty sunset the night before, so worth sharing. I picked up Thai food and hung out with Nadia. 

The 4th was on a Saturday, which means the day starts with trapeze. 

We were all dressed up in our patriotic gear to at least pretend like we're excited for this holiday. 

After practice, we started doing some prep work to take down the net and replace it with a new one. A couple months ago, the net started tearing in a few places. There were about 5 different spots that had to be patched, and it was fraying in a lot of other places. This net was just over a year and a half old, and it already started breaking down. It should definitely have lasted longer. The net we had before this one lasted for 10 years! I wasn't there to help put up the last net, so it was good to be part of the process this time. Today we took off the aprons, the wings (which are the pieces of net that cover the spreaders on each side of the net). We also took the new net out of the crate and stretched it out. Luckily, it wasn't too terribly hot and we had some cloud coverage. It was good that we were able to do some of these things today to cut out some steps tomorrow. 

For the evening festivities, Dave and I went over to Rod's house for his annual festivities (we also went to his friends house before that for another party). Rod and George always buy a ton of fireworks. There was less running through them this year, so that was good. 

This photo above was a recreation of a picture Jan, Kaylin and I took two years ago.

Happy 20th Tyler!

Today is Tyler's twentieth birthday. Our first born, our baby boy, the one who made us parents is no longer a teenager. I wrote a post on Instagram celebrating the occasion and I said that everyone tells you how quickly it's all going to go, but it's one of the truest things that can be said about parenting. I'm sure I say it on every birthday post I write about my kids, but there's something about Tyler entering his 20s that makes it really hit hard. We've been fortunate that Tyler is still living at home and we get to see him everyday, so we're grateful for the extra time. I know there will come a day when he is ready to move out or move on to another opportunity, but we're glad he's in no rush. 

It's hard to even know where to begin when it comes to talking about all the things that make Tyler so awesome. You all know, everyone who knows anything about Tyler knows he is incredibly talented. When he was little, he could tell you everything you needed to know about the Saturn V rocket or the solar system. As he moved into his pre-teen and teen years, he developed a love for technology and an aptitude for learning it all on his own. He shot stop motion Lego movies, and then taught himself special effects by creating a 2 second light saber video in the 4 hours that the Super Bowl. All of that led to an interest in making movies, which culminated in an 18 minute short film that he shot over the course of a couple years in two states, a dozen locations and with a variety of family and friends as his actors. As a reminder, that was during middle school! When he hit high school, he got into VR e-sports and then joined RMTV (and through his work with VRML), where he found his passion for event production. That brings us to now, where Tyler owns his own business, has taught himself carpentry to finish his trailer, and is heading into his first football season where they will have games on cable tv every week. He's had a pretty successful launch into adulthood! What a guy. 

For his birthday dinner, we all went out to a restaurant in Scottsdale, so we took the chance afterwards to get some photos in a little garden. For so many years, we were in North Dakota for Tyler's birthday, and maybe we'll do that again one of these years. I definitely miss those summer trips around the 4th of July. It's definitely been too long. I'll always associate Tyler's birthday with those wonderful summer memories on my farm and at the lake. I hope Tyler does too. 

I always love getting new photos with my kids! Before we knew it, they went and grew up on us, but they've grown into such wonderful people. 

These two couldn't be more different from one another, but luckily they get along well and seem to enjoy each other in the limited time they spend together. I hope they continue to get closer as they grow into adults. 

Ya, I think we did good with those two. We don't look like the parents of a 20 year old, do we? The right answer is no. 

Since we didn't get a photo of Dave and the kids on Father's Day, we'll pretend like we took this one for the occasion. Dave has been such a support to Tyler all these years with his many projects and ventures. Most of what Tyler knows, he learned from You Tube, but Dave definitely contributed to his knowledge base. Happy 20th birthday to our amazing son. We literally could not be more proud of you and the young man you have become. You are talented, humble, hard working and creative. You go after what you want and you aren't scared to put in the hours and take risks. This business you've started is so impressive, and it'll be fun to see where it goes! Here's to a great decade! Have a blast in your 20s kid. We love you. 

A nook to a work space to a closet

Weird title to a post, I know. If you've been our house, you know this little space I'm talking about. When we first moved in, we used this little space as a plant shelf, even going as far as to add lights that would help the plants in our relatively dark house. When the kids were little, it also served as a toy storage space. There were a few Christmases that it also held our stockings and my snow baby collection.  How cute is little 2 year old Ava?!

Once Tyler started to start spending more time on a computer, we decided to turn this space into his area. Knowing that all the "experts" said that kids shouldn't have a computer in their bedroom, we decided we wanted it out in our living space. Little did we know at the time how big of a part of Tyler's life computers would become. When he started, he used this space to learn how to do special effects and graphics, as well as editing his movies. Once VR came into his life, he played VR in the living room connected to his computer, and started his work for VRML. Many hundreds (thousands?) of hours of You Tube were watched here to learn all the things he's learned. That work led him to what he's doing now, live event production. I think it was only Feb 2023 that we let him move his computer into his room. It's kind of crazy that he did all of this work out in the living room for so long. It was once he started needing more privacy for meetings with his VRML team that we realized it was time to move. Dave swapped his office with Tyler's bedroom, and then he turned his closet into his work space. So, I guess you can say that this little nook was a big part of Tyler's journey to what has turned into a career. 

Since Tyler moved out of this space, it's just been sitting there unused. It would collect random stuff, but served no purpose. Recently Tyler has started piling some of his equipment into the space, mostly the more expensive stuff that he doesn't want to leave in the trailer. When talking about what he was going to do with all of this gear, I suggested enclosing this space and turning it into his storage closet. Sure, we could have brought in a contractor to make it a proper enclosed closet, but we decided to keep it simple. Dave ordered some closet doors, kind of a barn door style, and here we are! They're not the best quality, and probably aren't a great long term solution. For now though, they serve the purpose. Tyler's gear is safe in the house, and it's out of view. Our house is low on closet space in general, so this is a efficient use of the little bit of storage space we have. We only have the 4 bedroom closets--no linen or coat closet. It's always been one of the things I didn't like about this house. I'm glad we found a solution that helps Tyler out and gives the house more storage long term. 

Happy Father's Day

Well, since we didn't take a new picture of Dave with his kids on Father's Day, let's take a little trip down memory lane with some pictures of them from earlier days. I don't have very many of Dave with the kids from recent years, unfortunately, so most of these are pretty old. I'll try to be better about getting some updated shots of these three. 

What to say about Dave...well, if there's one word, I'd say steady. He has been a steady presence in Tyler and Ava's lives. They know they can always rely on him to be there whenever they need him, whether it's for advice, help with projects, or taking care of those responsibilities you always call your dad for. 

He is always teaching, and supporting their dreams. I think part of the reason Tyler grew to be the person he is, is because of how his dad always was with him. Tyler had so many ideas for projects as a kid, and Dave was there for each one of them--to help, but also to let him figure it out on his own. No idea was too crazy, and Tyler had some crazy ideas! 

With Tyler on the verge of turning 20, it's almost hard to remember these days when they were so little. Dave was there for all of it, and we are all so grateful for his consistency. His family is his world, and that will never change. 

In the past few years, our family life has looked a bit different, but Dave has been the steady presence in the kids' lives. As complicated and hard as it's been for everyone, I am grateful that my kids have this man as their dad. Life takes some crazy twists and turns, but when you have people in your life like Dave, it makes it just a bit easier. Thank you for being such an amazing father to our kids, and for all you do for our family. 

We love you Dave! Happy Father's Day. 

Happy Father's Day to our own dads too. Dave is Dave because of Ed, and he also continues to be a huge supporter of our family. As for my dad, I sometimes forget that he's gone. It's been 4 years since he passed, and I miss him so much. I wish he could have known our amazing kids as adults. It's sad to think of how much he's missed. I was lucky to have him for my dad.