The Start of School

School Started in the middle of August. Ashley started 1 day before the others. She really wanted to take Lula with her to school.

I started working this year at American Heritage as a teacher's aide. I was hired to help in the science department, but the only high school science teacher that wanted to use my help was the physics teacher. About 3 weeks into the school year, the principal called me and asked if I would like more hours. She said that there was an english/history teacher that had lost his aide and they were looking for someone to help in his classroom. So I went from barely 10 hours a week up to 20 hours a week. It has gone well so far and I am happy to help with Ashley's tuition.

2 days after school started, we headed down to St. George for Alyssa's tennis tournament. It was HOT! But the kids spent a lot of time in the pool or inside in air conditioning. Alyssa did well in the tournament, but since she had just been paired up with her doubles partner, they were still learning how each other plays and they did not end up taking home a medal, even though they placed 4th out of 8. We were excited to have Gawbie and Grandpa join us for the weekend. We didn't get any pictures with them, but they were also there. Here are the boys in front of Black Bear Diner before dinner one night.

Alyssa finished her tennis season in early October. She and her doubles partner made it to the second round of the state tournament. They had to go against the number 3 seed and expected to get blown away. But they actually ended up getting quite a few games off of the other pair. They were very happy with how they did. The coaches did a tennis banquet after the season was over. Here is Alyssa with the other varsity girls.

These are 2 of Alyssa's best friends this year. She is sad because one of them graduates this year and the other has chosen not to do tennis next year and to focus her efforts on track and field instead, so Alyssa won't have any close friends on the team next year.

This is Olivia, who is also on the team. Alyssa has known Olivia since we moved here 11 years ago. They have been close through the years,but have grown apart this year because Olivia has had a boyfriend. 

And the mother/daughter picture. And yes, she is taller than me.

When school started up, I decided that I wanted to start hiking once a week during the day. I went one week with Lula, twisted my ankle a bit and then decided that I should probably hike with someone else...someone that could actually help me if I got injured. So I found a hiking buddy. We hardly knew each other and I was a bit nervous about what we would talk about for 3+ hours every week, but we ended up having a lot in common (including: having recently lost a parent, a love of volleyball, dog mommas, and kids that are similar ages. We even kind of look alike) I have enjoyed getting to know Adrianne and am looking forward to the weather warming up again so that we can get back out on the trails. Here are some pictures from a couple of our hikes.

And in case you are curious about her height, she is like 6'2" or something (she is Shawn Bradley's sister0.