August 2018 Happenings

The end of July brought the sad news that our friend Billy had been killed in a car accident when someone ran a stop sign and hit the truck he was driving. Jon and Billy's wife, Natalie, have been close friends since high school and we try to see them at least a couple times a year. I have never met anyone like Billy before and it is so sad to think of his family losing him in the blink of an eye. The date for Fun Day had been set a month prior but that morning ended up being Billy's memorial service. Natalie insisted we still have Fun Day so we decided to do it in honor of Billy who had always loved Fun Day. On the way home from the memorial service we were basically run off the road by an elderly lady (that we later learned was having a diabetic incident). To say we were a bit emotional and frazzled by the time we got home is an understatement but we were soon surrounded by friends ready to celebrate life (dressed as cowboys of course)

The boys enrolled in a three day soccer camp hosted by the high school girls soccer team. Lyla and some of the boys' other friends did the camp too. One of the days was also crazy hair day at their preschool so C and I managed to put hair color and braids in their hair in the parking lot between activities, I'm sure we looked ridiculous to anyone passing by. The boys thought the camp was great and seemed to have learned quite a bit in the three days.

The week of soccer camp we also finished another year of swim lessons with Morgan. The boys did so great this year - Reed learned all four strokes and Kieran turned into a complete fish who can dive to the bottom of the pool and swim free style. Of course we had to celebrate on the last day with our annual popsicle party!

Elise and Travis' 1st Birthday parties fell on the same day so we spent a Saturday party hopping and watching the cutest kiddos shoving cake in their mouths. Unfortunately Elise has some of the same food allergies as Reed, but the silver lining is Laurie made a couple kinds of adorable cupcakes and Reed was able to choose whichever kind he wanted - he was so overwhelmed with having a choice, it was so sweet! Travis' party was great, the boys swam for hours on end, they had BBQ that Reed (and the rest of us) devoured, and the kids had an absolute blast playing with Ben.

In the middle of the month we were told the US Secretary of Ag, Sonny Purdue, wanted to come to HMC to visit. We were excited for the opportunity to be able to participate in a roundtable discussion with him and other industry leaders to help explain the hurdles California ag is facing and our feelings about the effects current policies are having on our industry.

Reed started 1st grade at a new school (they switch schools every year or two in our district) and has loved it so far. His teacher, Mrs. Martinez, really pushes the kids and you can see that he is completely thriving. He has managed to loose a couple more teeth and has a few others on the way out so I think we are going to have a lot of toothless grin pictures this year. With Reed back in school it means I'm home with Kieran one day a week so we've turned it into a Mommy and Me date day. This basically means I drag him along on a bunch of errands and then let him pick a place for lunch, but we have a ton of fun and I'm soaking up the last year of being able to do this with him.

We managed to fit another Fresno Foxes game in and Reed was hilarious during the game - demanding Jon touch his head/face the entire time. Jon would slowly slip his hand off and Reed would immediately grab it and stick it back on the top of his head.

At the end of the month Jon and I left the boys with Grandma and Grandpa while we went to Denver to celebrate my friend Katie's wedding. She and Kevin had eloped this Spring and had a reception in Denver to celebrate. It was so fun to visit a new place, spend time with my college roommates (and their spouses), and of course celebrate Katie and Kevin's marriage. They hosted us at a Rockies game, had an ice cream truck, late night pizzas delivered, and sent us home with hangover kits. Kevin is a big fan of bow ties so all of the guys wore them in his honor - they all looked so good. The entire weekend was a blast to say the least! The boys had an equally fun time in the mountains, hiking, making s'mores, and having a slumber party at the cabin.