Westley Graduation

Westley had a graduation party as part of his high school graduation. He also graduated from seminary.

State Chess

Westley started playing chess competitively when we moved to ND. Last year, he worked really hard to earn third place at the state scholastic meet. This year, he wanted to win, and he did! State Scholastic Champion!

Skiing Trip

The kids went with our church youth group to South Dakota to go skiing! They had a great time.

Mathcounts

Westley had a great time participating in Mathcounts this year. At the Chapter Competition (all the best 6-8th graders in the county) he placed First in the written round and Second place in the sprint round, which is a speed round with buzzers. He qualified for the State competition and placed 19th. He was very happy and I thought he did an amazing job for his first year, since we didn't do it last year. 

Hiking

We actually had a free day where we could just go do something fun as a family. We decided to check out some local trails. We started early and got in a few simple hikes before it became crowded.

Basketball Champions

Westley's basketball team played was undefeated this year and won the championship.

Halloween

The kids had a great Halloween season this year. Westley went to the haunted corn field thing for the first time. The girls and I tried out a new pumpkin patch. We also homemade the girls' costumes. Everyone had a great time trick or treating and we learned that going from neighborhood to neighborhood chasing the best candy does not result in as much candy as just going to every house in the one neighborhood. Basically Westley ended up with twice as much candy as his sisters.

Monopoly

Westley and his friends have gotten into playing Monopoly lately. I love that they like to play board games together.

Northern California, Oregon, and Washington

After Westley raced at nationals in Sacremento, we decided it would be a great opportunity to go see the redwoods and go to Oregon and Washington, since we haven't been there yet. We first drove through the various redwood forests to the Northern California coast. We have previously seen the giant sequoia trees, but we were still amazed to see the redwoods. In the first picture below, Westley is standing new the top of a fallen redwood tree and the girls are standing on the base. You can barely see them under the red arrow.

Another highlight included driving through a redwood tree. We are thankful to Westley for making us stop so he could throw up, giving Ben the time to discover that we were only about a mile from the drive through tree.

My favorite part of the trip was the beach. It was not quite what I grew up with, but it was still beautful and relaxing. I could spend all my time there happily. At one point, as we were walking past a harbor, Charlotte heard a seal and took off running. That girl loves all animals and she was enthralled. Ben loved the Oregon beaches, with the giant sand dunes, rocks, and light houses. I felt like I was in a book or movie since I had never seen beaches like them before.

We then headed inland and traveled along the scenic byway new I-84. There were many gorgeous sites including the Multnomah falls. And yes, even though it was summer, we were cold! (Also, Jenna is much taller than me now.)

We made a couple of stops in Washington along the way. One cool stop was Maryhill Stonehedge. A WWI memorial that is a full sized replica of Stonehedge. This spot also afforded us a beautiful view of the Mount Hood volcano.

Track Nationals

Westley ran one event at nationals (we decided not to run the other event so we could leave earlier on a vacation to Oregon). He ran really well. We were very proud of him. He finished in 28th place in the 11-12 year old division. He ran a PR and moved up in placement. Overall it was a really good race.

Region Track Meet

Westley competed at the regional track meet. He ran two events and places in the top five for both events, qualifying him for Nationals. And yes it was quite cold there even though it was the end of June.

Summer Games 2019

The 5K and 10K at the summer games some of Westley's favorite races. Probably because they are both downhill races so he can often PR. He did PR in the 5K finishing in 19:03!  So close to getting under 19 minutes. He finshed 11th overall and 1st in his division. Ben also ran very well, getting first in his division as well. They both did great considering they raced the 10K the day before.

Both Westley and Ben also won first place in their divisions in the 10K as well. Westley finished 10th overall, but did not PR.

Seussical Jr.

The kids were recently in Seussical Jr. Charlotte was Mrs Who. She was amazing and she says it was her favorite part she has ever done. Westley was a monkey, who was mean to Horton. He had a good time, which surprised us all. Jenna helped with choreography, stage crew, and she danced during one of the solo songs. She missed being in the picture because I couldn't find her.

Math Kangaroo National Winner!

For a couple of years now, the kids have been participating the Math Kangaroo math contest. This year Westley did very well. He placed first in state and 13th place nationally. He was very excited to do so well.

Piano Practice Contest

Westley's piano teacher had a piano practice contest. The student who practiced the most days over about a six month period won. Of course Westley loves contests, so it was a great motivator for him. Westley never missed a day of practice, so he won the contest.

Mud Run Fun

Westley participated in the mud run again this year. It is one of his favorite running events every year. He like the combo and obstacles and running. Next year he will be old enough to be in the competitive round, so we think we will let him try racing it.

Scratch Day

Westley participated in Scratch Day. He won a couple of awards and had a great time coding with some friends.

10K PR

Westley ran the St. Patrick's day 10K race. He finished 12th overall and finished in 40:50, which was a PR time. He was very happy with his race. I love this picture at the finish line. He is checking his watch as he crosses. I did notice that many of the racers did the same thing.