Kid Updates

Summer is winding down, and in two weeks the kid go back to school. It has seemed long, and it's seemed short. Our first trip of summer to TN/IN etc seems ages ago, and the summer has seemed long, yet it seems like we didn't do even half of what we planned.

As mentioned in the last post, Tyler just turned 28. He loves board games, but often there aren't enough people able to play at the same time to make it fun.

He works part time at the mall and has his own flea market shop on the weekends. He also plays Magic The Gathering at a local comic shop some Friday and Saturday evenings.

He wants more of a career than the mall, but doesn't really want to move for training for a new career. He enjoyed his wildfire training and experience through job corps but the certification and job isn't available locally. 

Hopefully something will turn up that will catch his interest.

 Jessica has her degree in criminology and her certification for underwater crime scene investigations, but then she got married and did not pursue it. She is thinking of going back to school for nursing.

 Hunter and Jessica really want to live somewhere other than Florida. Somewhere with mountains and lots of land. But the advantage her is that there are three sets of grandparents to help with the girls.

 Winter is 15 months old now. Hard to believe. She is a very easy toddler. She is easy going and happiest when being held. She is a good eater.

River is very much a two-year-old. She keeps her mother on her toes. Although a sweetie, she can have some "interesting" moments. Hopefully it is just the age, and she'll soon mellow out.

 Winter

 Winter

Problem with your electronics? Just ask River to fix it.

No new pictures of Jeff and his wife because all I have is what is on facebook, and there hasn't been anything since November when they got married. It feels weird to have a daughter-in-law I don't know and wouldn't even know about if her last name hadn't changed to Cassel on facebook. I guess since she was barely 18 when they got married I wondered if she was pregnant. But if she was, she should have had the baby by now, so I guess not. Would be nice to be able to have some sort of relationship with them but Jeff no longer considers us his family. Reactive attachment disorder sucks.

Adam keeps life interesting. He lives several hours from us now and is without driving privileges for a few more months, so we don't see him as often as we'd like. But he's finding his way and figuring out what he wants. He has some career choices to make soon, and I hope he chooses wisely. He seems to have goals and the incentive to reach them.

Jasmine is currently studying lines for the Missoula play "Gulliver Travels in Outer Space." There are two Gullivers, tiny Gulliver and giant Gulliver. She is the smaller Gulliver.

This coming year is going to be a tough one for her academically. And since it's her senior year, she has to pass everything in order to graduate. Right now she has two math classes to make up in a credit recovery program, but that won't be an option if she wants to graduate with her class.

She also has some BIG decisions to make about what to do next. I envy her being so young with her whole life ahead to accomplish big things, plus she has so many more options than I had. Well, I may have had them, but there was no one helping me figure out what would be best for me. We are looking into many ideas for her, but in the end she has to decide what she feels is the path she's meant to take.

Kaleb's summer has somewhat been dictated by the juvenile court system. Due to his 6 p.m. mandatory curfew, any camps or weekend youth group trips have been out. But he's been going to the Boys and Girls Club all summer and cooking out with us at the beach.

He will be an 8th grader in the fall, and for the first time in 5 years, he and Kayla will be at the same school, and it's the best middle school in the county. He has been there for two years, and Kayla will be transferring to join him. He is not interested in band or swimming any longer, so track may be his only activity, and that's not until spring.

 Kayla is still in Indiana with her fair evangelism team. She will return home on the 10th. She seems to be getting along well with her team mates.

Besides their evangelism work, they went to a large amusement park and have also visited a family who lives on a farm and they been able to swim in a pool.

I'm glad we were able to visit with Ashley's family this summer, but wish it didn't have to be another full year before we get together again. Not even sure where everyone will be next summer.

 Phoenix starts high school in just a couple of weeks. She is a percussionist.

Griffin is all boy, and he's a football player. A little smarty too.

Rick and I? Well, we are here holding it all together!

The kids start school August 15. 3 kids, two schools. How about you?