first day of school

Summer seemed to fly by this year, and none of us were ready for school to start. We still had a long list of things we wanted to do before the days of alarm clocks and homework came around.  Ready or not, here's what the first day of school looked like around here ... 
Emery - 9th grade:

Sam - 6th grade, and Luke - 3rd grade:

golf team

Viewmont golf team tryouts were held earlier this month.  Emery knew all summer long that he wanted to try out for the team.  I knew he could play well, and he had certainly put in tons of hours practicing (or should I say years of practicing), but I was still a little worried about try outs.  As a mother, I didn't want to see him fail, and there were a few things going against him ... after all, he's not really even in high school yet (but 9th graders are allowed to try out for the team), and he's not exactly tall or big for his age, so others can hit the ball quite a bit further than he can. 

He played great and not only did he make the team, he made the varsity team (the top 12).  Congratulations, Em!

Emery's summer

Emery's summer needs no explanation.  These pictures totally sum it up ...

He has spent hours and hours at the golf course.  Hitting bucket after bucket, chipping and putting, playing 9.  I don't think I'd recognize him without his golf bag slung over his shoulders or a golf club in his hand!

the never-ending baseball season (plus a little lacrosse)

Now that summer is well under-way, our "spring sports" have finally ended.  We spent most of our spring and early summer evenings watching the boys play various sports. 

Emery and Luke played baseball.

Emery was on the Angels:

Luke was on the White Sox:

and Sam decided to give lacrosse a try this spring:

 

But things didn't end there ... after Sam's lacrosse season and Luke's regular baseball season ended, somehow they both ended up on their cousin Jake's baseball team for the tournament.  Go Mets!:

 (Luke rubbing his rear end after getting hit by a

pitch in his first ever kid-pitch game)

(Luke, Jake and Sam)

And when all of that ended, Luke played on an all-star team.

Good thing we love watching these boys play sports!

14

Emery is 14.  Fourteen.



Happy Birthday, Em.  I love you tons. 

I can't wait to see what 14 brings.  I'm sure it'll be good.

die-hard

Emery practicing in a blizzard, April 7, 2011

pinned

After suffering disappointing and heart-breaking losses to this guy:

and this guy:

and after dominating in a long and tough and well-fought match:

and with only .7 seconds left on the clock, Emery finally pinned this guy!

And he learned that the thrill of victory is way more fun than the agony of defeat.  (And I hope this guy's neck feels better soon!)

the singlet

I always thought wrestlers wore uniforms, or maybe even leotards ... but singlets?  Never heard of them.  Well, turns out wrestlers wear singlets, and when Emery brought his home a couple of weeks ago and tried it on for the first time, I did what any good mother would do.  I whipped out my camera.  Here it is ... the singlet:

Sweet, huh?  Then Sam seized the moment and gave that paw print a smack ... which I also captured on camera:

Emery's "party"

Since Emery is a teenager now, and practically all grown up, we opted not to have a party for him this year.  Instead, he decided to invite a bunch of friends to come over and just "hang out."  Somehow, we ended up doing this ...

with them ...

Hmmm.  Sort of sounds like a party to me.  :)

(And, yes, girls came!)

After bowling, we had to stop at the dollar store to pick up a few items.  The receipt is pretty self-explanatory ...

24 rolls of toilet paper, 6 cans of silly string, and 2 air horns.  They "decorated" a neighbor's yard very nicely, then enjoyed blaring the air horns.  (And, thankfully, unlike the last time they tried to TP somebody, no policemen showed up this time!  We certainly don't want another "notation" on my son's police record!)

And, a "party" wouldn't be complete without an injury, so Emery took care of that.  Apparently, he was running away from the silly string war and went down hard in the street.  Ouch.  He should have had three stitches on his knee, but since we couldn't really take him to the Dr. in the middle of all the festivities, we waited until the next day to take him in, and they just glued it back together!

Happy Birthday, Emery

I can't believe that this little guy ...

who looked like this when he was one ...

and this when he was two ...

and this when he was three ...

and this when he was six ...

and this when he was eight ...

and this when he was ten ...

turns thirteen today!  Thirteen.

I really can't believe we've had 13 years with this kid.  I'm so grateful to be his mom!  So, in honor of this momentous day, here they are ... thirteen reasons why I love Em.

1.  Emery can accomplish anything he sets his mind to.  I've never met anyone who can set a goal and attain it like Emery can.

2.  He has an amazing memory.  Yep, Emery has a great memory.  (Get it?  It rhymes!)  It's true.  He remembers everything.

3.  He's getting really good at playing the piano.  He has learned some awesome songs because of this combined with reason #1.

4.  He read the entire Book of Mormon.

5.  He's determined to always do his best.  This applies to everything ... school, sports, whatever.  Sometimes this is a little frustrating, because it drives him crazy if he's not as good at something as he wants to be.  But I love that he expects nothing but the best from himself.

6.  Emery loves healthy foods.  His favorite foods are steak and cucumbers.

7.  He's sooooo fun to tickle.  And I think he secretly likes it when I give him the tickle torture.

8.  His entire life, he's always had this talent that if he's going to throw up, he can hold it in until he makes it to the bathroom.  As his mom, and the "throw-up-cleaner-upper," I really love and appreciate this about him.

9.  He's a real smarty-pants and he gets excellent grades.

10.  He makes a mean batch of chocolate chip cookies.  Mmmm.

11.  Emery has the perfect golf swing.  Grandpa Ralph beams and gloats about Emery's golf swing.

12.  He is becoming fabulous at mowing the lawn.

13.  He adores our dog, Jimmy.

Okay, just one more ...  Emery's smile.  That smile combined with his sparkling blue eyes completely melts my heart.

Happy Birthday, Em!!  We love you tons!