Jack’s first car

Mom was in San Diego last week

Presenting medical escape rooms at a conference

with her friend Alyssa, a PICU doc at Children’s.

That night, while they were sitting around chatting

At a speakeasy

(Pretty cool place, right?)

Alyssa mentioned that her husband was looking to sell one of their cars.

He works in a body shop

And often has cars that need a little work

But drive great.

He’d been driving it for a few months

While he fixed his own truck

And now didn’t need it anymore.

A few texts later

And I was off to my first test drive.

How about this?!?!?!

A 2010 Jeep Liberty.

Good looking inside and out.

Drives great.

It cost me all my saved birthday money since I was 2

And a little bit more

But soooo worth it!

A bet’s a bet

Dad challenged me last week that if I could get a 250

He’d take us out to Jack Stack.

Well…as you know, I got another 230.

It’s apparently my number.

This week, 

A similar challenge was made—

if I could break my PR by 4 or more,

He would splurge for Jack Stack.

Well, here goes nothing

Drumroll…

I GOT IT!

New PR—236!

Jack Stack, here we come!

 

All the activities

Ok, try to keep up...

Friday night, 

Beckett had his first swim meet of the winter season.

His flip turns ROCKED

but he struggled with his start on backstroke

and goggles on freestyle.

No PRs

but a 1st in his relay, 6th in back and 4th in free 

isn't a bad way to start the season.

Can't wait to see what he looks like when things go right!

Aaaaand, it looked so fun,

I decided to jump into the league and swim again too!

Saturday, my team had another win

(we're undefeated!)

and our teachers can to watch--

check out Mr. Ruble, Mrs. Fortney and Mrs. Strickland!

I had to get my own picture with Mrs. Strickland

Then it was off to archery

where Weston somehow got the exact same score (230)

for the third flight in a row. 

We didn't even see Jackson--

he was at First Lego League event

volunteering for robotics.

Whew.

We need to go back to school to get a break!

Date night, anyone?

Restaurant Week always inspires Mom and Dad 

to go out every year

and try a new restaurant.

This year, Welchs asked if they wanted to try out Puttery,

an indoor, adults-only mini golf course.

Uh, heck yeah!

Well...the place was really cool inside,

with several bars, some cool seating areas,

and 3 different courses.

But the service...was soooooo slow.

Apparently they had lots of call-ins and

the poor remaining staff were just trying their best.

Once they weren't hangry anymore...

They headed for the course

There were plenty of shenanigans

and a good team seems to have been had by all

 

Twinsies

Um, look at this completely unposed picture...

Definitely related.

 

Escaping the cold...sort of

It's going to be HIGHS in the negatives this weekend in LS

so we decided to head to the cabin for some warmer weather...

Because it's highs in the single digits here!

We actually did a lot outside--

some hiking,

some 4 wheeling,

a lot of time at the pond across the road.

But we also did a lot inside--

Learned some new games

(ignore the poop cigar in my mouth)

Had some nice family time

Celebrated Mema and Cooper's birthday

And played some poker

Throw in a trip to DG and the VFW,

lots of good food,

and a Chiefs win

and it was a heck of a weekend!

 

The long awaited, long anticipated, AMAZING bathroom remodel

Mom has been asking for a master bathroom remodel for years.

They didn’t really know what they wanted, 

Hemmed and hawed for a long time,

Met with a designer that charged waaaay more then they were prepared for,

And finally Dad got the time to jump into it.

Here’s the old bathroom in August when Dad started

(Minus the large set of drawers and a few tiles—

We always forget to take “before” pictures)

Here are the progress pictures

They were a bit nervous but decided to be bold

And get rid of the tub

Still ripping stuff out

Including the wall and the shower

There was a bit of leakage in the old shower—

Nothing that we can’t fix!

Installing the new shower

New vanity under construction

New cabinets

Shower is taking shape!

Ready for tile

Add some decor and TA-DA!

It’s AWESOME!!!!

Using up ALL the AMI days

The day after we came back from break,

we got some snow...

a LOT of snow!

It ended up measuring about 8 inches--

it's the most snow we've had in, like, forever!

More than they had in Jackson!

Definitely worth getting the snow pants on for!

 

Long time, no see!

The Lee’s Summit friends got together tonight

For the first time in a long time.

Some drinks, some games, some catching up

Good to be together again!

Back in flight

I decided to join the archery team again this year

And picked up right where I left off.

My PR from last year was 229 on bullseye—

And today I shot a 230!

Qualified for state on my first day!

Then off to 3D

Where I shot 230 again!

What a start to the season!

 

Jackson Day 7: A good way to pass the day

Our last day is sadly here—

But since we don’t fly out until this evening,

We practically have a whole day of Jackson ahead of us.

Mom and Dad snuck out to check out the bighorn sheep

They wandered down the hill but stopped about 100-200 yards away

Which they though was close…

Until we all went back together and they wandered much closer

MUCH closer!

Now we understand all the 

“Don’t let the sheep lick your cars” signs—

They are definitely attracted to cars!

Ok, sheep.

We’ve gotta go get some breakfast.

We discovered Snake River Roasting Company—

They had delicious pastries

And even better drinks.

We’ll definitely have to come back here next time!

Then we had to roam through a few shops

Before we headed to the Elk Refuge to see their museum

(It was closed on New Year’s Day)

And they happened to have a raptor show going on.

Meet Gus, the golden eagle

Then we were off to Nikk’s hut,

The most photographed barn in America

Dad took some cool shots

Really cool

It is a cool barn

Family picture!

There’s another picture here

With Beck and Tuck mooning the camera—

we’ll spare you that one.

How about this cool shot from Weston?

We thought we’d try to make this the most photographed outhouse in America

At the recommendation of Isaac,

Our driver to and from dog sledding yesterday,

We hit up Creekside Market

And wow, did this whole in the wall have some great sandwiches!

Some stellar merch too

But now we’re out of time

And have to say goodbye to Jackson Hole.

A quick hello to Denver (in the airport) 

And it’s home again, home again, jiggity-jig.

What a trip!

Until next time, Jackson Hole!