For the First Time Ever!

I finally got to see the circus! There were some pretty cool stunts and shows. 

The backstory of an evil witch that steals the circus characters was super cheesy. 

(I've heard they don't always have a separate storyline -- perhaps this is to replace the elephants?)

Needless to say, I had a fun time and was so glad Nick and Chris were willing to come with me!

Dan and the older kids had a better offer -- The Mumford and Sons concert. 

They thought we were ridiculous to choose the circus over the concert -- especially Courtney.

But I've never seen the circus!

Yes, the kids were a little old. Chris commented that he probably won't go again until he can take his 3-year-old child. But I was glad I didn't have to wait until then.

And seriously, the lions and tigers were so cool. And scary! And their trainer was so brave! 

Or perhaps a little too trusting.

Also loved the trapeze artists and the motorcycle guys in the small sphere!

I'm A Groupie... and Spontaneous!

It went something like this:

Rachel texted and said "I have on my calendar a sisters' trip this weekend. Too bad we didn't plan it!"

That reminded me that after seeing Air Supply in the spring, I had said all the sisters should go when they came to San Diego. We were bummed we weren't all getting together.

Then the next day I texted Sheree:

Me: Let's take the 5:00 flight to San Diego and go see Air Supply tonight. 

We could take a 6:00 a.m. flight and be home by 9:00 tomorrow morning.

Dan said he'd watch the kids!

Sheree: I'm in! That sounds so fun! 

I'm on a hike right now but I'll be home by noon.

Text to everyone else: Get on a flight STAT! Sheree and I are going to Air Supply tonight. Join us!

And that's how a few hours later we were in San Diego singing our hearts out to Air Supply!

(And learning how to make Snapchat stories!)

Homecoming

First high school dance for Christopher! 

Swimming & Waffles for their day activity.

Dinner at Brio and then dance.

After at our home for a movie and cold cereal for dessert!

Chris & Lauren

The Squad and their dates.

Luke & Chris -- Uncle and Nephew

Chauffeur Shawn -- when you're not old enough to drive, but one of the Dad's is cool enough to be invited on for the job!

Emigration Ride

For our birthdays, Carol and I planned a ride to the top of Emigration Canyon. 

I'd never made it to the top before (starting from my house it takes a while), but she promised me I could make it no problem.

Beautiful colors and fun friends.

We ate at Ruth's for lunch on the way home. 

Happy Birthday to us!

Go Cougars! BYU/UCLA

We took Nicholas and three friends to the opening BYU Football game for the season.

We have been so excited about their new coach, Kalani Sitake and excited to see 

BYU Football become great again.

Our Shaeffer Family has continued the Adair Family tradition of eating at Brick Oven before the games. The boys are all huge BYU fans and we were all pumped heading down to the game.

Sadly, Nick had been sick with a cold for a few days and by the time the game started at 8:15 p.m, he was starting to feel tired and uncomfortable.  He powered through with a good attitude, but to make matters worse, it was the most boring game in football history. No great plays. Just the ball going back and forth. UCLA was winning the whole game and by the time BYU got any points, it was really anticlimactic.

Well, we tried. Headed home at 1:00 a.m. and taught these cute boys in Primary the next day.

Actually Ryan is in a different ward and Nick stayed home to sleep and hopefully get better.

Ryan Moffat, Nick, Burke Chipman and Porter Maughan

Fall Lacrosse

We had perfect weather for lacrosse this fall! 

Chris and Nick practiced at the same field so carpooling was simplified.

A couple of evenings I drove and brought home so I stayed and read my textbook

and enjoyed sitting out on a perfect fall evening!

Both boys played Midi and Attack and both made lots of goals over the season!

Nick's practice. Wish I could have captured the beauty better!

Jake Hopkins, Jon Boss, Dan Rasch, and Chris. In between double-header games!

Growing Up!

One of our top priorities while Courtney was home for break was to see Lexie and her new little girl! 

Lexie is the most natural mom! I always said having her live next door was like having an au pair.

She loves kids and loves taking care of them. And they love her.

Courtney hadn't seen Lexie since we all went out to dinner and a movie two summers ago. 

At that time Lexie had just met Critter, her now husband, and was REALLY hoping

he asked her out on another date.

They got married while Courtney was in Bristol last year and 9 months later their baby was born!

A lot had happened since Courtney saw Lexie, who was a like a sister in so many ways and like another daughter to me! 

Bonus was we got to see beautiful Quincie who also lives in Logan.

And to top it off, they can literally see Ron & Barb's house from their apartment.

Nick's Motorcycle

Nicholas' friend got a small Razor motorcycle for his birthday in May. 

Nick thought it was so cool, he decided to save his money for one too. He already had some money saved, but when we looked at the different options, we decided he should save up for the bigger one so that he wouldn't outgrow it too soon. So he made a plan and began to save.

He worked at the new house cleaning construction trash and mowing lawns through June and July and finally had enough. 

We were both so disappointed to find that the price of the one he wanted had gone up $100!!

What?!

We searched and searched the internet and finally found one for only $50 more, 

but would take 2 months for shipping.

At this point, I was wondering how he would learn to save up his money if the lesson turned out to be the price will go up or it will go out of stock!

We split the $50 difference and he waited. And waited.

Finally in mid-September, we got a notice it had been shipped!

It didn't come until late. Nick wanted to start putting it together but I thought he should wait until the weekend when Dan was home.

He didn't press me and I didn't think anything more about it until 30 min. later when he 

came to me and asked for my help in the garage. 

When I got out there, he had already put most of it together!

It's SUPER heavy, but he figured it out!

He said he put the handlebars on wrong so had to turn them around and after that decided to read the instructions more carefully. He did all this before I got there.

All he needed me to do was help him turn it upside down to get the wheels on and hold the nuts in place. He read the instructions and did everything else!

I am so impressed with my kid who is so persistent, doesn't get discouraged and reads instructions and is confident he can figure it out!

Summer Lovin'

After having so much fun singing away at the Air Supply concert, I got busy and bought tickets to SEVEN (!!) more concerts for the summer!

It was so much fun. Maybe too much fun. We still had 2 more after school started which was tricky to leave the boys on a school night! Kind of didn't think that one through.

Started out the summer at Deer Valley with Matt and Bekah. 

"Rock On Hits from the 70's and 80's" with the Deer Valley symphony.

Everything's fun with Matt and Bekah! 

The next week we went to the Sandy Amphitheater to see Chicago with the Rigby's.

What I didn't know was that my favorite Chicago Album, Chicago 17, was one of 21 Chicago Albums. And they played songs from all of them. So we only knew about 3 songs that night.

But fortunately, the Rigby's are a couple who also make everything fun, so we had a great night in spite of not singing along (very much).

Wish we had a picture with Steph and Eric!

The very next night we went to Howard Jones, OMD and Barenaked Ladies at Red Butte.

This was my favorite concert of the summer! The music was still so great and the performers were awesome! They were old but they could still bust out the moves and sing like crazy. It was a blast!

Red Butte was a great venue and had fun spending time with Stan and Heidi Hanks.

We also went with Michael and Katie up to Deer Valley for Steve Miller Band.

Not sure why we don't have a photo, but we had a great picnic on the lawn and fun evening.

Took Chris and Nick to Coldplay. Definitely a concert not to be missed! So entertaining!

Take the photo quick, the boys were embarrassed to be taking photos with their parents!

Coldplay had the best visual effects!

Finished off the summer (school had started by now) at Goo Goo Dolls
(back at Red Butte with just Dan and I. No photo)

...And two days later at 

REO Speedwagon and Def Leppard with the England's.

Sang along to all of REO and a few of Def Leppard. 

But we ditched out of Def Leppard early. Super rockin', super loud, super fun!

Happy 46 to Me!

For my birthday I wanted to go to the Utah State Fair. We'd been many, many years before, but it seems like something you should take your kids to and check out.

We saw sheep, cow and pigs in the Agri barn. We saw an enormous alligator for $1. We looked at the 4-H stuff. We ate corndogs and chili fries. Nick was sick and Chris was fine not going on any rides. But Dan really wanted to go in the house of mirrors. So we did. It lasted about 30 seconds. But those 30 seconds were cool.

I felt good that we went and we saw the Fair. And now I don't think we'll go back for many, many years until we think, "shouldn't we go to the Fair?"

Wisdom?

Some of my favorite quotes from Christopher when he got his wisdom teeth out:
(At 15 years old. Doesn't that seem early? But there they were -- ready to break through!)

"I love you, Mom, you nigga." And gives me bones. (I don't think we're supposed to say that, Chris!)

As I'm trying to get him up into his room: "Have I shown you guys how I can do a backflip?!" And then about tries to do it.

"Just take me to school. I wanna see my friends. I feel good."

Finally, I get him into bed. "Will you tuck me in?" "Will you rub my back?" "Will you rub my feet?"

Summer Breaking For a Long Time

Nick finally went back to school today!
Starting school after Labor Day sounds like the greatest thing ever. But it's not when most of your friends start back 3 weeks earlier. And any school friends are still on family vacations enjoying the long summer break.

I actually had a lot of fun hanging out each day with Nick together. We kept busy hiking and biking, boating, Airborne and he really loved cleaning!

Airborne -- finally tall enough for the obstacle course!

Hanging out with his bros. 

Scavenging in Marty's Room

Boating day -- as the only kid along, he got to try everything he wanted.

Cleaning out his room. (Saying goodbye to Wilbur Wright)