They Missed Him

While we were living it up out West, the middle school basketball team had a game Monday night. The team lost. Big. The boys looked bad. After the Game, the boys went wild running through showers, yelling, acting silly. A fellow eighth grader said, “You wouldn’t be acting this way if Keagan was here.” Then he broke down in tears - embarrassed that his team was in such disarray. After a long pep talk and a “we’ll get ‘em tomorrow guys,” Coach went home and told his wife, “I’m flying Keagan back for Tuesday’s game. I can’t handle another game like we had tonight.” Unfortunately, Tuesday’s game was just as bad. Keagan was despondent; he hated missing the games and receiving texts about the scores knowing he wasn’t contributing!

Tonight Keagan was back. And he played the point like he hadn’t missed a week of training. The best part, though? We came home with a Dubba!

Day #5

We wrapped up our week in Jackson with some shopping, a photography gallery, and a Christmas tree lighting ceremony. 

Our wildlife sightings this week have been extraordinary. We awoke to fresh snow and prints right outside our door. We speculated bear, cat, and everything in between, but the park ranger told us we were looking at the prints of a harmless otter! What a great week we have had! Next trip on my bucket list is Iceland! 

Day #4 Happy Thanksgiving

We started our day of thanks with a tram trip to the top of Rendezvous Peak, 10,450 feet above sea level, in the Tetons. 

At the top, we were greeted with heavy snowfall and strong winds, but what an experience!

After a Thanksgiving Lunch, we watched the Cowboys game - some traditions can’t be broken. 

At dusk, we hoped the quiet and peaceful day would lure the elk out so we could get a close up view, but we were only greeted by mule deer. 

What a blessing it is to be with family! Now we hunker down for the winter storm.

Day #3

We started our day in the National Elk Refuge. Within minutes, we found bighorn sheep!

Then we headed to Teton Village. Nothing was opened so that trip was short lived. 

On our way back to Jackson, we stopped at a park to hike. The views were stunning! The weather was just perfect and the skies were a beautiful clear blue!

After a late lunch (where Wes finally got his bison burger), we went for a hike near the Snake River and Antelope Flats. After we got home, we learned there were bears spotted a half mile from us. 

What a wonderful day! 

Day #2

We began the nine degree morning with a wonderful breakfast, and it all seemed we were in the beginnings of a great day. 

When it was time for our pre-reserved wildlife tour, we were told our reservation for ten was no where to be found. For an additional $981, the company would happily escort us to see wildlife. We refused. We rented a van and took off on our own. Our first stop was to see elk. There were dozens to be seen, but none were close enough to be photographed with my phone. We were thrilled to drive right past a bald eagle roosting in a tree! 

Our second stop was the local art museum where we learned of a famous photographer who photographed animals. We also saw pieces of the outdoor sculpture garden.

Late afternoon, we drove to the marsh land to try to spot moose. We found a half dozen and then went off-roading in our ten passenger van and found bison! Our trip was made!

Tomorrow we hope to see big horn sheep. 

Dream Vacation

Wes’s dream retirement trip was a month long RV trip to the national parks. Luckily for me, there is no way you can drive a RV in November through the mountains, so we found a cabin next to Flat Creek and decided to explore Jackson Hole for a week. We were shocked to learn, after we bought non-refundable plane tickets, that the parks here are closed for most of November. We decided to make the trip anyway. The view of the mountains alone was worth it!

We spent day one soaking up the views, window shopping in the downtown area, and soaking in the hot tub. We have spotted mule deer, ducks, geese, and otters on the property. Our goal is to find moose and elk before we leave.

Talent

Our family has lots of talent when it comes to sports, but golf is not one of them. 

Lots of laughs today! We get one full week of family fun days. Let the adventures begin!

Summer Camp

Two weeks ago Evan was nominated by his English teacher to attend a leadership summit for highschool students at Harvard or Yale. That sounded too good to be true.

Wednesday we received a letter notifying us he had been nominated to attend the National Student Leadership Conference in Chicago or New York. We had decided to send him to Northwestern to attend the sports management leadership camp. 

Then Friday he received an invite to attend George Mason’s journalism and broadcasting camp while earning college credit! The invites just keeping getting better and better! He’s almost decided to attend both Northwestern and George Mason. Now I need 5k and stat!

He’s searching sports broadcasting schools, calculating driving distance, and looking at admission rates for Northwestern and other schools with leading sports journalism programs. I cannot believe we are in this phase of life!

1-1

Love this guy. Look closely. That’s my guy on his knee saying the pregame prayer. We’ve never prayed before games - until now. 

We had a great first half and it all fell apart after halftime. We got desperate trying to force points and we made some mistakes, but even worse, some kids just couldn’t dig deep enough to play until the end. At the end of the game one of our teachers told me, “It’s too bad they don’t all have heart.” 

My boy left the locker room so very disappointed. He wants it so badly. He always has and seems to always get on teams with players that don’t share the same desire to win. 

Friday he was back in the lab - “gotta get better.”

Baller

We’ve kicked off the winter basketball season. Our first game ended with a W! I love the energy, the team spirit, and the anticipatiot of playing the school’s rival. So much so I almost forget about hard, wooden bleachers and hot, stuffy gyms. 

Keagan had eight assists, three steals, and four points. He was clearly in his element leading his team to victory. He’s born to encourage. He’s born to never give up. He’s born to always paint a positive picture -even if he doesn’t see what anyone else sees. In short, he’s born to coach.  

My hopes are high for the season as we have a perfect season with a record of 1-0. Go Hawks!

Sweet 6teen

Happiest of birthdays, Evan. 

My hope is year 16 will be better than year 15 - no ingrown toenails, a summer free of the podiatrist, and no injuries. My wish is you will have a year filled with health, happiness, and success! Love you BIG!