He Passed!!!!!

Jared got his results on his final this morning (I know, that was quick!). He passed!! He more than passed! He got 91%!! I'm so proud of him. He said he missed 4 questions and got a lower score on one case study he had to do, but he did great!! (He had to do 3 case studies of 3 different people and exercise and nutrition programs he had to put them on. One was of a golfer. If anyone knows Jared, you know he HATES golf! So he put the guy on a lower impact routine so it wouldn't kill this 55 year old cause Jared doesn't think golf is a sport at all. Poor Jared, should have known he'd get a case study about golf of all things. It's the Morse Law he's cursed with!)
I'm so proud of him!! I couldn't stop smiling all morning. The boys were all excited, too. Cody told him congratulations. Jared started training me at home today using the exercise ball to lift weights with. Let's just say it is so different then lifting in the gym with him. (I've lifted with him for almost 3 years now.) He kicked my butt today! I was going to make him a cake to celebrate his graduation but that will wait until tomorrow when I can use my arms again. He's going to make a good trainer!

I can tell Cody and Hunter walked past the mailboxes. It bugs them to have the flags down and they immediately run after me and put them up if I put them down. Hunter looks in the neighbor's mailboxes and if he sees mail in there, he thinks they are mailing it so the flag needs to be up. Cody just thinks it's fun to have them all up. I know my boys have been out there when it looks like this. We never all mail something at the same time. Cute boys and their fun little quirks.

My CPT

I know I haven't posted much on Jared's CPT course he's taking, but I am so proud of him. He finished his final today!!! He did it in just under 2 months! When he signed up they said it usually takes about 8 months to finish everything, but he worked as hard as he could and got it done fast. It seemed like whenever he had time, he was always studying. He did great, too! There were 33 quizes he took. And throughout all of them, he only missed one question. He's nervous about the final, but I know he did good. He really knows his stuff. He had 7 essays he had to write on different major things he learned, then he had 3 case studies he had to come up with exercise programs for plus nutrition habits. He'll find out his results in about 3 days. Now all he has to do is get certified in CPR/AED (defibrillator), send in his certificate of completion, and then his CPT certificate will come. I think he'll take that course next week. He just wants everything to be done. He's thinking about certifying in nutrition to go along with being a personal trainer. They recommend doing this to have better luck with jobs. Jared already has one client though (besides me) and that's my friend Tobie. She's supposed to start this week. Jared's nervous, but so excited!

Jared taking his final. He lucked out at the timing of everything. He was originally supposed to test at the Salt Lake Community College, but the week before he took it, they opened the online testing. It helped so much since the final took him 3 days.

I'm so proud of him!!!!

Lemonade Stand

I know every parent says this about their kids, but I have to say that I have the cutest kids ever! They crack me up with all their little adventures they come up with. One of their favorite things to do with their best friends - the Kent's -  is a lemonade stand. They've done this with them the last few years. If we let them, they'd have a lemonade stand every weekend. But they know it would loose the cuteness so they'd also loose customers. I guess it's a good lesson in patience, right?! (It's hard being a kid sometimes, isn't it!)

First they hung up signs on the road advertising. This is on a pole out front of our yard.

Aren't they just cute?! They made signs to hold up as well. Hunter turned his upright for the picture. They were having him hold it upside down because it looked cuter and more people would stop. They know how to work it! Plus, when people would stop, Brodie would tell them he was doing it to earn money for the sick (It took everything I had not to laugh at this!).                                                                                                Don't they look so official. The Kent's have a cute little lemonade stand and Tobie let them use her glass pitcher. Plus, she made the yummiest lemonade, too!

It cracked me up watching these kids as a car drove past. Hunter was usually in the road dancing and all the kids were smiling and waiving.

See.... Hunter is in the road! Sometimes he was almost in the middle. Stinker!

He's so dang cute!

Curb side service!!! Cause it's my sister-in-law Cherie... hehe.

They did so good!!! They made $45 dollars to split between them!!!! T.J. and Brodie felt so big doing this. The next day they walked down to Maverick and bought themselves lunch with it.

Had to put this movie clip in. I love how excited they get when that car comes, then watching them as it drives past. I love these kids!!

Spring!!

Here's some of my favorite signs I found around the yard that show spring is FINALLY here!!

I love when the leaves start popping out!

I love when the lilac bushes start blooming again. It won't be long before I'm smelling that perfumed air all around our yard from our dozen lilac bushes. Can't wait!

I loved when the snow would melt and I could see my wagon wheels completely again. But I'm sad to report that those lovely tree branches that fell a couple weeks ago hit this and broke it. I need to find a new one. I love my wagon wheel.

I love the tiny purple flowers that grow in the field behind us. Makes it look so pretty. Reminds me of where I grew up and also going to Aunt Mame's every easter for the Holt family party. She had the funnest farm ever!

My bulbs are starting to bloom which means they will only be out there for everyone to see maybe a couple of days before my boys attack them. I let them pick as many tulips and daffodils 3 years ago so they could bring them in and show me when I was stuck in the house nonstop with a blown knee. Now they can't get enough of picking them. Good thing I love them so much.

Did I mention I love when the leaves pop out? I love this tree against this wood fence. Makes for some awesome pictures here! And I can't wait for these leaves to turn their pretty bright yellow in the fall. Makes for some even cooler pictures! (Yes, I'm already planning for fall. My favorite!)

I love when it's time for us to get the garden ready for planting. Jared's digging up horse poop to till in.  T.J. and his friend Brodie helped. Their payment... a trip to Maverick for some gas for their 4-wheeler and a drink.

Cody loves helping Jared in the garden. That's the little farmer in him.

Because this spring has been so wet we've got to let this dry out a couple days before we till. We've had so much rain we're late getting our peas in this year. Hopefully we get it in soon. Peas are one of my favorites to grow!!

First Soccer Game

Hunter had his first soccer game last Saturday. Technically it was supposed to be the week before, but with all the rain we've got lately, it was cancelled.

This was from his orientation day. (I'm just not on the ball with getting these pictures on here.) He's getting his uniform. He's number 3! They decided their team would be called the "Tigers".

Hunter was so shy. Around those he knows he's his typical self - the class clown. But around others or when he's doing something for the first time - like soccer - he's really quiet.

Hunter and one of his best friend's - Savannah Drury (Possum). Aren't they just the cutest! They could pass for brother and sister. I asked them to stand and smile for pictures, so Possum posses for me with her little hip thrown out. They are going to get married someday. (Hunter's told me this for a couple years now.)

Now onto his first game....

Hunter takes his soccer very seriously... can you tell?! He's quite the clown sometimes. He couldn't wait for his game. Once we finally found his socks (this kid looses EVERYTHING!), he wore his uniform for almost 4 hours before his game.

I had to throw this in. Love this picture. I think Cody spent almost every minute we were home that day on the 4-wheeler hauling his little brother around on back.

Hunter practicing before his game. This part I'm not too happy about. His coaches don't know too much about soccer. They only volunteered because we didn't have a coach. So they've decided to only hold a practice 15 minutes before each game. These kids are not going to learn how to play. We're working with Hunter at home. And my brother Jim is going to help. He played soccer for years. He's really good.

T.J. and Cody watching Hunter's practice.

Hunter did really good in his game. He played most of the time. He was always going after the ball and payed good attention.

Doesn't he look so cute in his cleats! I couldn't get over how much he looked like a real soccer player, and he hadn't even had much practice yet.

You can't see Possums face clearly but she totally had on a players attack face. She took this seriously when they were playing, then did cartwheels while there were time outs.

This is a good example of why we need practices during the week. They decided they weren't going to let anymore goals get through so they lined up and held hands right in front of the goal.

Coach giving Hunter and Possum "5".

They did really good for not knowing what they were really doing. They lost 3-2. You could tell the other team had practiced, too. Good job cute kids!

Softball

Jared's softball season has begun again. He had his first game last Thursday. Some of the same teammates from last year are playing again this year, but there's also a bunch of new comers. The team name is still Riverton Rehab after Will Drury's practice. The Drury's - Will, Joyce, Quinn and Miriam - are all playing again this year, as well as Jared, my brother Jim, Jared's sister Heather and brother Trevor with Jaimi-his fiance-, Chris and Tobie Kent, and then a few from Will's work.

Jared is their main pitcher, with Will subbing in sometimes. Jared pitched a really good game, throwing a bunch of strikes. I didn't like this ump though. He was so critical of his pitching, telling how to correct it even though he was throwing and calling strikes. He didn't say one thing to the other team's pitcher, and he was not good at all! I hate when umps favor.

It makes me nervous to watch Jared pitch. I'm so afraid he's going to get hit hard. Last year he got smacked right in the shin right smack dab on the bone. I heard it hit from the stands. I thought for sure it might have cracked the bone. But he was lucky! Especially since he was leaving to hike down dark canyon two days later with the scouts! I got hit once when I pitched years ago. Got it right on my hip. The girl smacked the ball so fast I didn't have time to react. Since then I've been more timid about pitching; especially to guys. I worry about Jared. I just turn my head a little bit once he throws that ball so if it does happen (which I pray it never does!!!!!) I don't want to see it.

Jared up to bat. This ended up being a foul. They had a really hard time getting good hits off this pitcher. He'd pitch the ball way too high. The ump never corrected him. He'd even call strikes when the ball would BOUNCE on home plate. Sorry ump... that was not a strike!

Jared ended up being walked.

My brother Jim up to bat. He's a really good player. He played baseball growing up. Jared's the base coach by third base.

I love watching their games. But it kills me not to play. I LOVE softball. I played both for the city and YW for 8 years growing up. I played pitcher. I miss playing. But since I blew my knee out, I don't dare play on a team. Everyone tells me to take it easy and just play, but I know I wouldn't be able to. I take softball very seriously. I know I'd probably blow my knee out again doing a switchback in between bases, just to try and save us an out. My Dr. told me I have to be very careful in things I do now. My muscles are not the same anymore and with one minscus missing, I could blow it out again very easily. So now I'm a cheerleader. And I'll go practice with them for fun. Plus, Jared and I play catch a lot in the backyard which I love to do. So at least I'm getting in a little softball here and there.

They lost their game 25 to 5 (ouch!)