Fun week!

This week, on Tuesday, Mason has his last regular season volleyball game and they finished undefeated!  They then played in a tournament and played really well and finished in third.  It was exciting to see him grow in skill and want to play more!  

On Friday the kids didn't have school and I took Anna for a haircut!  It is fun to see the before and after!

On Saturday Olivier was the biggest kid at jiu jitsu and they were doing point matches so they paired him with one of the class helpers.  It was great to see him push himself!

Enjoy watching!  

And this afternoon the kids enjoyed coloring eggs!  Ready for Easter tomorrow!

Spring break week comes to a close and we hop into April!

This week the kids were on spring break.  Although it was rather boring for them since we didn't go on any trips or anything like that, I am sure they didn't mind the chance to sleep in!  Even Olivier slept in some!  

On Saturday we joined the celebration for Eli's 13th birthday!  Hard to believe these Arnold cousins are all 13 now!  

Today I went out early to a local bluff trail because a co-worker mentioned there was a lot of wildflowers, especially poppies.  And although there weren't as many as expected, it was still a beautiful walk and view!  

And an up close photo of the poppies!

This week Mason't school volleyball season closes out with a game and a tournament.  No rain in the forecast and it might warm up a fair amount come Easter weekend!  

Busy week before spring break!

This week was another busy one!  On Tuesday Mason had a volleyball game (another win!) and Anna had a band concert.  This one snuck up on us but it was nice to hear the music they have been working so hard on.  They ended with the song Slippery Slide Rag and if you listen to it, it will be stuck in your head!  Oh, and it rained on and off all day, and when it was raining, it was pouring!  

Wednesday was another volleyball game, and another win!  And yup, more rain!  It was very similar to Tuesday with rain on and off with heavy rain when it was raining.  The photos of Mason serving are the easiest to get since it is a set time he will hit the ball.  And then it was a trip back to the high school for Anna to play pep tunes for the 8th grades who were going to check out what the high school has to offer.  She got lucky that she plays a woodwind instrument because she was under an awing, the brass instrument players had to play in the pouring rain.  

Thursday and Friday were dry days and a little less crazy thankfully.  On Saturday during the process of swapping out sheets, Star was finding some new hiding spots!  

Today I took the kids to visit with family who was gathered to celebrate Jake's 2nd birthday (my cousin's son).  It was nice to see everyone and Olivier enjoyed having his buddy to play with...wait, Jake was happy to have his buddy Olivier to play with!  

They enjoyed the merry go round too!  

Then it was time for a piñata!  My dad climbed up the structure to help get it setup!  Always a kid at heart!  

Jake was super excited by the idea of hitting something with a stick!  

His true love was the swing though!  He got a piece of candy and ran back to the swing!  I promise he wasn't scared!

He didn't want to leave the swing but once he knew that it was cake time, that grin was all over his face!  

And as soon as cake time was over, he ran back to the swing, making sure Olivier was coming with him.  The big swing was taken so they used one of the shared swings.  Frosting face!  

Then they transferred to a shared swing with a baby swing for Jake.  He was a happy guy!

There was a spot to put a phone and Olivier got this super cute video of Jake while swinging!

While we were at the park, Matt was out for his Sunday ride and saw the lake spilling over that was so close last weekend!  This is on the west side of the road.  

And this is on the east (lake side) of the road.  So cool!

The kids are on spring break this week but there are no plans to go anywhere (sorry kids).  And yes, there is more rain coming this week, looks like it will be on Tuesday and Wednesday.  

Busy week!

It was another busy week with another big rain storm on Tuesday.  Matt was able to go down to the train tunnel (what we call a tunnel under the train tracks near our house) on Tuesday after a good chunk of the rain had come.  This is a photo of the water coming under the road toward the tunnel.

This is the stair headed toward the tunnel.  You can't really see the tunnel but it is there on the left.  

He then drove around to the other side of the tunnel and tried to get a look.  From this spot he couldn't even get close enough to the area.  And yup, it is flooded during storm!

He was able to work his way to another spot and from here you can see the very small portion of the train tunnel that isn't full of water.  

So much water!  But thankfully no issues with flooding in our area.  

Mason's volleyball game on Tuesday got cancelled because school got cancelled.  Wednesday the game got cancelled because the other team had scheduling conflicts.  So they only had a game on Thursday which was a tough game, but they managed to pull off the win!  It was very exciting to watch and we are excited to see them learning to be a team.  

On Thursday all the kids had a band event at a local performing arts center and they were excited to learn that their grandparents would be ushers during the event!  And Olivier went over and sat with them at one point, giving high fives when he left which meant a lot more high fives from his classmates as they went by!  A fun birthday event for Grandpa!

Today we took a quick trip out to a local lake that is about to overflow for the first time in over 20 years!  It was amazing to see it so full after seeing it so dry all these years.  And although I didn't get photos of it, all the extremely green mountains!

And the water is just about to spill over!  They were releasing water knowing it was about to spill over, especially since more rain is coming.  Yup, more rain but not a huge amount, it should be under 2 inches.  We shall see!

 

More rain...and more rain coming...!

This week volleyball really kicked into full gear!  Mason had three games this week and they won all three!  We were excited that they kicked off the regular season with a home game against the middle school I attended and won!  We got to watch and Matt's dad joined us!  They were on the road Wednesday and Thursday and got two more wins!  

And here is a video clip!

With such a busy week, he was happy to find out Thursday on the way home from the away game that school was once again cancelled on Friday due to the crazy weather coming our way (which had already started).  From late Thursday through Saturday morning we got over three and a half inches.  It was crazy but thankfully not as impactful as the rain that came in early January.  I took a photo of the creek behind our house at the peak and thankfully there continue to be no issues to our house/property.  We are very thankful!

On Wednesday night during my walk I enjoyed the full moon and the beautiful sky before the rain clouds came it.  It was a beautiful sight but sure hard to take a photo of when all you have is your phone!

Now we prepare for more rain, yup, more is coming!  They are projecting over 2.5" from Monday night through Tuesday.  And then some light rain starting next Sunday.  We shall see!  

Fun weekend activity!

Yesterday Anna and I participated in an event at a local library to learn the history of henna.  It was super interesting to learn about and we were excited to learn that we were going to get henna too!  It was amazing to see what she was able to create freehand and quickly!

The finished product!  

Once the henna paste was removed about four hours later, this is what the stain looked like.  We are super excited to see as it darkens in the next day or so and to see how long it lasts!  

Yesterday we got got a little rain and we got a bit more today.  Looks like more is coming late in the week ahead.  It has been so nice to see and know that the mountains are getting that much needed snow to help refill the ground water also!  

Anna completed the second trimester finals last week.  She is excited to know that school is already two thirds of the way done!  How is that possible!  Nice to see all three kids doing well!  

Middle School Volleyball has Kicked Off!

Today the middle schools in the area kicked off the boys volleyball season with a tournament!  It was an exciting way to start the season and it was even more exciting because our nephew is also playing!  He attends a different middle school in the area but all the schools where there, and it was crazy action!  I was thankful for the updates as the tournament started and went on, and Matt got there about half way through the preliminary round to get more updates too!  The boys with their dad's (note - Tom is closer to the camera so he looks taller)

A clip of Mason serving (it is a trend!) from the first game!  (Thank you April!)

And more Mason serving!  

And a good photo of Mason during a game!  

After the preliminary rounds, the top teams went on to the next round (eliminations!) and they squeaked in with a 4-4 record (tie breakers were in their favor!).  

In the first elimination game they won the set 15-11 and mason served for the last two points!  Here is the last point:

The next game they played it was out of 25 point.  Mason was in and out of the game and they won 25-15 and made it to the final round!  

The final round they won 25-18!  They hit a good grove in time for the elimination rounds and it was exciting that Mason was in for most of that play!  

The bar got set high and it will be exciting where it takes them this season!