Seth- Soccer and Flag Football

Seth stayed really busy with soccer and Flag Football this year. He tried AA soccer this year and had fun. He played some really hard teams and lost most of his games in both sports but he learned about being a good sport. :)

 I noticed from these pictures, when things get intense, Seth puffs his cheek out.

 Hike!

Here comes the ball...caught it!!

 Seth scored lots of touch downs this year. He's small, but he's fast!

Sea World

Back in July when we went to CA, I forgot to blog about Sea World so I'm doing it now.  We are able to all fit on Shamu, barely. The photographer wasn't very happy with us.

Maddie and Seth holding hands. Doesn't happen very often so I had to get a picture of it.

 As I was scrolling through the pictures I notice Seth and Katie did this "Poining Gun" pose a lot. I think it was their way of rebelling against us for taking so  many pictures.

 Katie with the pose. The kids touching starfish. Good, no poses!

 Wait, here they go...Seth and Katie.

 And Katie again! Yeah, Churros!

 Everyday a trainer takes the flamingoes out for a walk, it was fun to see them up close.

Mary and Devon as penguins

Max- Soccer and Flag Football

For some reason soccer and Flag Football overlap. I guess they're both trying to get their sport in before winter comes. It makes it really busy for about 4 weeks. Sometimes even tears are involved, usually mine. :) So, Max decided to just do Flag Football this year and give up soccer. But as I was signing Seth up for Soccer he changed his mind so here we go again. He's really good at both and I hate to see him stop playing either. It just means we don't eat dinner together very often but we'll have time for that all winter. 

Max wanted to play goalie this year, yikes. He's doing a great job. Sometimes if the other team isn't very good, it's a boring job. So usually half the game he plays a different position which is nice.

Grandpa Buddy and Grandma Sherry usually get to come to a couple of games. They have 6 grandchildren in soccer this year so they have to travel around.

During Half Time Maddie can't resist getting out there and taking a few shots. Even bare foot.

Jon got a new camera and is having fun taking many pictures in a few seconds. It makes for some great pictures. We're not sure if he caught these but we'll say that he did.

Pull those flags!!

Tanner Homecoming 2012

Tanner hates me to take pictures of him and I'm going to assume he wouldn't really be too happy about me blogging about him, but he doesn't read my blog and it's for memory sake, so I'm doing it! Tanner asked a girl in our neighborhood which could be risky but she's very nice and they had a great time! I called Carissa's mom and asked her what her favorite ice cream was. Then Tanner put a note in a plastic bag in the bottom of the container so she had to eat the whole ice cream to see who asked her to the dance. Then she answered by ringing the doorbell. When Tanner opened the door their was a big arrow in chalk on the sidewalk. He followed many arrows all the way around the house until he got to the garage where Carissa and two friends were hiding. They jumped out and silly-stringed (is that a word?) him then ran away laughing. They left behind a big poster that said "Heck Yes!" They had a Day Date, which seems like Prom to me but I guess that's what they do. They did Laser Tag outside. Then later, the boys (men?)  picked them up for dinner and went to Noodles and Company and then the dance. Tanner said the dance was pretty fun because it wasn't hot and crowded like Prom. It was a fun group!

Back to School 2012

The kids have been "back to school" for two weeks now. They're in the full swing of things. Max had to go the day before everyone else because he started 7th grade. In the past they had 7th and 10th graders have their own first day to learn to navigate around the school before everyone is there. Then the next day they got a day off while their siblings went to school. This year they did something different. They made that Monday optional and a half day, but they still had to go the next day also.  Kind of a bummer. So Max went and learned where he needed to be then they gave everyone a free piece of pizza and they got on the bus and went home at noon.

 Tuesday- everyone else's first day of school. Tanner has to leave at 7am- pretty early! He didn't have a lot of time and seemed to not really care about posing for a picture. I told him there was a glare from the sun but he just ran to the bus. 11th grade.

 Seth is ready for 4th grade. He finally got into the mood of going back to school the day before school started. His favorite thing about school is the feeling he gets when it's time to go home. If he didn't go to school he would never get that feeling.

 Maddie and Max leave together since 9th grade is at the Middle School. They leave last at 7:45. Their morning is long which is nice for Maddie to take time for her hair and nice for Max to stare at the computer.

 Maddie's new backpack.

Kayaking and Fishing

One morning in CA we rented kayaks and went on a tour. The ocean was smooth so that made it easier to not tip over. It was a great work out on our arms. Fortunately I had Max with me and he did most of the work. I know that because he was pretty sore the next day and I wasn't too bad. Plus the fact that I didn't row very much. :)

 Maddie and Katie

 Seth and Jon

 Grandma Sherry, Grandpa Buddy, Peter and Katie (kind of).
I didn't get pictures of everyone (Peter, Thomas, Tanner and Max) but I didn't want to get my camera wet and I couldn't catch up to some of you!

 The guide said if we wanted to see sea lions we had to go clear out into the ocean and we all voted to do it. The sea lions were sleeping and not very entertaining, but we made it to them.

 Uncle Ryan chartered a fishing boat one evening.  They all caught lots of fish that we actually ate for dinner the next night. It was yummy.  Seth caught a "Sheep's Head" which doesn't' sound very appetizing, but it was.

 Tanner is so excited to catch a fish!! Just kidding, I think he was just pretending the fish was kissing him, but he did have fun.

 Max caught a Sculpen (sp?). Maddie went for the boat ride but didn't fish. They had a great time! Thanks, Mary, for the pictures! By the way, if you'd like to see more flattering pictures of Mary go to her blog. :)