I would like to begin by saying, it feels wonderful to be settling back into a routine. Life has been busy, but we seem to be getting back into the swing of family life. 

Last weekend we took a long-awaited trip to Salt Lake City for the IFSC Climbing World Cup Finals. This sounds very fancy, but every comp is the 'finals.' The unique thing about this one was that it was in our neck of the woods and not abroad. Adalie and I have been comp watching partners for a while now, and we decided a few months ago that this was our time to actually go! Everyone was excited, and we were off! The first stop was Smithfield to see Nancy and Greg.

Day 1

Smithfield with Grandma and Grandpa! 

We were welcomed with a delightful brunch at Nancy and Greg's house

Fall is the perfect time for a walk up Logan Canyon. It was lovely with good conversation.

The photographer was NOT paying attention in this one!

(Also not pictured: a quick tour of the historic courthouse in Logan, where Griffin works as an attorney. The building was gorgeous, full of rich dark wood accents and leather throughout. We even went up into the dome at the very top, passing through an old doorway that made you feel like you were genuinely stepping back in time.)

I headed to the SLC airport to pick up Logan while all of the kids went to see Wait Until Dark with Grandma, Grandpa, Griffin, and Erin. They had a great time in a barn that had been renovated to be a theater. We will definitely be back!

While we were gone, Logan went to see "The Minutes" at the Civic Theater in Spokane. If you are keeping count, our family managed to see three different plays in a single week.

Day 2

 Adalie and I headed to the competition for semifinals in the morning while everyone else enjoyed Thanksgiving Point. Logan joined us in the evening for finals. In between semis and finals, we enjoyed a nice picnic and went to Grandma's house to hang out. We took a 'cookie walk' with her around the neighborhood. Apparently, every Sunday her church gets together to decide who will offer cookies on their driveway. This provides a great reason to get out and go on a social walk. 

Day 3

We headed to the comp in the morning with Maren added to the group. In the evening the whole family came, including Grandma Almond. 

Sometimes someone asks you to do something just to take a photo. This was one such incidence.

Day 4

We met up with Shannon and Adrian for a lovely Autumn walk before driving home. 

Other recent happenings:

Climbing

I (Rachel) have been climbing weekly for as long as I can remember. Here are some pictures with a variety of fun climbing partners.

& Juliet

We didn't know what to expect when we went to this one, and I can say that we were all blown away. I had fun watching Logan because I don't think he stopped smiling through the entire production!

Friend Day

Kristin, Jamie, and I spent a glorious Sunday together doing whatever we wanted! It was lovely. Pictures may be coming soon.

U of I with Jack

Jack has been putting a lot of thought into college and his future profession. A few months ago he invited me to join him at the University of Idaho for an "Envision" program for future Vandals. He had already RSVP'd and wanted me to come along! I was excited for the prospect of an overnight trip with him. We headed to Moscow on Thursday night and ordered takeout Mexican food to eat for our movie night. The food was great, but they forgot to give us silverware! We ended up getting creative and we managed to make it work. Good memories!

We spent Friday at the university going on tours for specific majors (electrical engineering and Landscape architecture), attending seminars, and enjoying lunch together. After the scheduled activities, we decided to go climbing in their indoor gym. Their rock wall did not disappoint, and my only regret is that we did not take any pictures from the trip. We had a great time, and I am excited to see what the future holds for Jack.

Evelyn Update-

The busyness of school is starting to hit with Ev. There is a LOT of work to do outside of class time. She is now working a great daytime schedule at Wakin Takos two days a week. This is great, but she is having a bit of a rough time making room for friends and social time while balancing work and school. I sure hope it gets a bit easier for her. 

Ev recently put in an 11-hour study day so that she could justify a backpacking trip that she was looking forward to. The group headed up on Friday night and were met with the beautiful sights of Autumn.

They awoke to the beautiful sights of a winter wonderland!

Ev told me that she had the warmest backpacking sleep of her life! She used one of the sleeping bags provided on the trip, and apparently, it was a bit better rated than the one she normally uses. 

We are looking forward to having Ev up for Thanksgiving. She gets to hang out up here for ten days! 

*Jackson's photo highlight*

Have a good week!

It's been a while since I (Logan) posted on here. A huge shout-out goes to Rachel, who has been keeping this thing going through one of the busiest seasons of my life. Things have finally settled down, we are all alive and well, and life is good. We’ve had a great couple of weeks full of friends and family, and this brisk autumn air brings so much fresh energy—I love it.

As soon as I wrap this up, a few of us are heading over to watch football with friends. Yesterday, Rachel and I had a great overnight date at the Wallace house and grabbed breakfast together. This morning, she was out with friends while a few of the kids and I went to church. It’s been a wonderful weekend.

It's also been relatively chill compared to last week. It was "Parents Weekend" at Boise State, but we all decided to head down and expand the concept to "Family Week." It was so fun seeing what Ev has been up to. We spent plenty of time walking around campus and checking out her favorite local spots. We stopped for lunch at the restaurant where she works and went on a hike (more like an exploratory bushwhack) to a nearby creek. Ev, Addy, and I got up early one morning to study, and we split up for a fun evening out: Rach and I went on a date, Ev and Josh went out, and the rest of the kids stayed back to watch a movie and eat tacos (because it can’t always be pizza). We also caught the Boise homecoming parade and cheered as BSU pulled off a win against Utah.

Speaking of homecoming- Back in Post Falls, Addy is still alive- just in case you were wondering! She is tackling a heavy course load with almost every class being dual-credit-enrollment for college credit, and it’s been super rigorous. On top of that, homecoming week was inTENSE with all her band commitments. We barely saw her all week outside of brief 6:00 AM breakfast chats before she took off for zero-hour jazz.

As for everyone else, Maren's horseback riding lessons are going great, and she looks forward to them every week. Jackson had a quick overnight trip where he and Rachel went down to Moscow to check out some of the programs offered at U of I. And Lindsey is doing really well in school, enjoying choir, and dabbling in animation production with her friends.

Have a good week!

Exploring Boise is always fun. This time was even better because we went to see Ev's favorite places

This dirt provided a lot of entertainment

In other news- Maren is loving her horseback riding lessons

Have a good week!

The Swing of Things

 The first day of school rolled around and brought much delight and order to my life, but the feeling was not mutual with the kids. I think summer brings about a great balance. Memorial Day hits and the excitement of trips, freedom, and family time is palpable. Then, Labor Day rolls around and the excitement for order, home cleanliness, and finally having a reliable schedule kicks in. Everything in balance—and I am settling in with my cleaner house, enjoyable work schedule, and being home for the kids after school.

The new school year also brings back after-school activities for everyone, and we are switching it up this year! To Maren's delight, she began horseback riding lessons yesterday. Many months ago, she approached Logan and me armed with a PowerPoint presentation to convince us of the myriad reasons why horseback riding would help her develop skills to prepare her to be successful in the future. Her presentation persuaded us, but there were no horseback riding lessons available within 45 minutes of our house. About a month ago, that all changed. A friend of mine gave me the news that a stable in north Spokane was moving to Post Falls! After a few calls, Maren was in! She has stepped away from formal voice lessons for the time being, but was recently accepted into the audition choir, Women's Select, at the high school. She definitely still has singing in her future! For now, she is ecstatic to make a few new four-legged friends, who may or may not be named Douglas.

Enter Adalie. This girl just became a licensed driver! Her first "to-do" item was to get a climbing punch pass at Coeur Climbing. The gym just happens to be located 10 minutes from the stables. Adalie will be driving Maren, then heading to the gym. She is excited about this because, instead of paying half for her climbing, I am willing to pay for her punch pass (that is a great after-school program as far as I am concerned!). I am happy to pick Maren up, and I just may head to the climbing gym early to get a session in. It's a win-win situation!

This year, Lindsey has decided to discontinue Irish dancing for the time being, and instead will be taking voice lessons. She loves to sing, and was recently accepted into the Titanium Choir at River City Middle School.

Jack is gearing up for all of his after-school clubs. This year, he has a Dungeons and Dragons club in the works. He has found a teacher to sponsor it, as well as a day of the week. It is now time to advertise. He will also be active in the anime club, and, and... he will probably find some time to get climbing in as well.

Weekdays are for schedules, and weekends are for fun. True to form, we took full advantage of this weekend and had one of the best family climbing days to date. We headed up to the Tum Tum climbing area to a "new-to-us" wall. Terminal Wall has everything our family could need: a wide range of difficulty levels, varied climbing styles, and the bonus of an incredible view! Everyone climbed (including Lindsey, who has been sidelined since she broke her elbow), and we just enjoyed being together. It sounds cheesy, I know, but sometimes time together can feel like "forced family fun." This outing was also notable because we had enough belayers that Logan and I were able to climb hard as well. I had some good sends and a rewarding lead, and he top-rope flashed a burly 5.11+ along with a handful of other enjoyable tops.

Back to school pictures for 7th, 9th, 11th, 11th, and Boise freshman.

Family climbing day

Picnic lunch at the crag with beautiful views

Logan jumped on and tested his metal- spoiler- he's still got it

Other happenings

Happy birthday to these two! Marissa had a surprise celebration- she made cheesecake and these cute little guys!

Evelyn update:

Ev is spending her time exploring Boise, going to football games, attending shows (most recent was the Trixie Mattel drag queen DJ set), climbing and bouldering with the Alpine Club, picnicking with friends, and 'doing random stuff.' She is also doing her fair amount of studying and tweaking out as she gets into the swing of college. She has her first round of tests this week, and will do great!

Have a good week!

The final few weeks of summer were relaxing and chill. Logan and I went back and forth with ideas for Labor Day weekend, and we decided an at-home weekend doing fun things around here was just what we needed. Everyone brainstormed local activities that often get taken for granted.

The final list included the Museum of North Idaho, mini-golf, tacos at Taco Works (thanks, Amanda and Byron, for the recommendation!), tennis, Spider-Man: A Brand New Day, an at-home painting afternoon, baking together, and a BBQ at Marissa’s house. Every day was memorable, and we had a great time together.

Here are a few pictures from the week and a few other recent goings-on.

Adalie is now OFFICIALLY LICENCED TO DRIVE!

Painting together

Marissa had a little party with delicious homemade cheesecake and these adorable animals she crocheted for Adalie and Jack.

Jackson DM'd an exciting Dungeons and Dragons game with the family

Maren and I snuck away to a cute little tea house

An exciting cooking challenge

Maren, Lindsey, Adalie and I went to Lookout to find huckleberries. We hiked up Marmot to Black Bear and we didn't find any trace of berries! It was a lovely hike and a good reason to get out. Lindsey and Maren were hanging out together and missed the photo op.

Gracie and Lindsey have a great time at Silverwood a few weeks ago, and they recently had a party to celebrate their 7 Year friend anniversary!

Evelyn's update:

I've been doing like everything ever this week. I went to that Psychedelic Porn Crumpets show, and it was so much fun. I actually got pretty close to some people as friends, the crowd was hype, and I actually crowdsurfed to the stage.

I've also been hanging out with friends a lot, and a group of like 4 or 5 of my friends and I have actually been going to the gym almost every morning, so that has been fun. I made it to church, and I liked it a lot, and I definitely think it'll be the one I choose. Since I only have classes Monday and Wednesday, and I had none today because it's a holiday, I had like a week off from school basically. Other than that, I've been dilly-dallying a lot. I went to a really cute store downtown after church just because I passed by it and it looked cool.

I've been hanging out with friends like every day basically, and we do all sorts of stuff, and I can't even remember it all. Today we had a picnic and the gym ofc, and then we did a study group and all got food together. Earlier this week, I also went to an alpine club hangout, and I tried the slackline and also did some very poor hacky sack.

I've been having a great week, and next week looks fun, too. Tomorrow I'll be going to the gym at 6 with friends, and then doing lots of homework, and then there's the ski club meeting, and I'm trying out boxing. On Thursday I might go bouldering with the alpine club, but I'm scared so idk. One of my friends is also a swimmer, so on Thursdays we're doing her swim workouts apparently, and I'm scared. And then I think this weekend I might be camping, and then on Sunday I have goth night with friends.

Also, I saw The Odyssey with friends, and then we hung out and walked around downtown, choreographed a dance, and showed it to random people on the street. I got a $5 Canadian bill, and then we made friends with the gas station clerk, and then I found a branch, and then we scootered home, and it was scary again.

Stay tuned for Adalie and Jackson's birthday and the first day of school.

Jackson's favorite recent shot

Have a good week!