Madi the Diver

Madi had a great diving season!  Here are a few of her cool dives...

 

A "5" and above is a great score.  Here is Madi's best score for the season:  a 7.5!

Eliza the cross-country runner

 Eliza is having a great cross country season.  She ran track her sophomore and junior years, but this is her first time doing cross country.  She trained with the team all summer and was thrilled to make varsity.  Over the season, she has dropped 3 minutes off of her 5K time and is hoping to break into the 20's (translation:  to run faster than 21 minutes).

 Not only does Eliza have a cross country t-shirt, but she also has a cross country ladies shirt (above) and a cross country seniors shirt!  It's a really nice, tight-knit group.

 At one meet, I ran the Open Race, with all the JV runners and a few other adults.  How humiliating!  I was definitely near the end of the pack.  I plan to run a half marathon in January, and I"ve been training for distance but obviously not for speed.  Lyrad, on the other hand, recently ran his first half marathon (in less than 2 hours), and his first marathon (in less than 5 hours).  Wow!!  Impressive.  He never planned to run a marathon, but I guess he got bored enough in the desert to take on the challenge.  But he says the long distance racing is a one-time thing (so he doesn't wreck his knees), and he'll just cheer me on at my half marathon (but I'm still trying to talk him into running with me).

The 7 varsity girls

Josh the musical 6th grader

 
 Josh sang "Men in Black" at a school pep rally with the Boys' Chorus

 Josh plays trombone in the band

 



Halloween

 Josh was a Nudist on Strike (thanks to our friend Dave Smith in Austin, TX, for the idea)

 Josh's carving

 a baby, a viking, Superman, and the nudist on strike

 Rachel the Pirate

What Josh ended up with after The Big Trade.  He went for Quality, not Quantity, he says

Off to the Homecoming Dance

 Eliza and Cameron

 Madi and Colin

 Madi and Eliza had a great time at their senior year Homecoming Dance.  They went in a group of 24 people and ate at La Famiglia's (Italian food) before the dance.

 Rachel went to the dance with 2 friends

 I wanted a photo with super cute newborn Zach, so I asked Vanessa to hold her baby brother.  They all laughed and said this looked like a Teen Mom photo. 

Since you can't see Zach's face in the other photo, here he is when he was a few days old, so sweet and adorable.  Aren't I lucky to have a friend with this cute newborn, just down the street?  I get to enjoy him and hold him, then sleep through the night!

The newest Riley pet

Back in July, Josh designed and built this rabbit hutch (with the generous help of our home teacher and Isaac).  He really wanted a pet bunny.  But I did NOT want an inside pet, and I was worried about the bunny surviving outside in the heat.  So the cage sat empty for 3 months...

 ...until Josh fell in love with this bunny at the pumpkin patch.  She is a Meat Rabbit, so Josh saved her life by buying her.

 He named her Sophie Marie (after our good friend Sister Legge).

Josh and Rachel are crazy about this cute bunny.  She will get much bigger, which means she should fit into the bunny harness/leash that Josh bought 3 months ago.

Senior year fun

 Madi the senior

 Madi loves to dress up for theme days at school

 and she loves to play "Fur Elise"

 On Twin Day

 Here's Eliza on PJ Day

 and on Rockstar Day

 And with Clark Kent on Super Hero Day

 Eliza is 4th from the left in front, in this senior class picture (Madi is on the other side of the gym)

Isaac's last weekend... then off to the MTC in Utah!

 On General Conference Sunday, our good friends (from Guam, 11 years ago) spent the day with us.  They live in southern Florida now and were at the cross country meet in Tallahassee with Eliza, the day before.  It was great to have their family with us!

 After Conference, the came with us to see Isaac getting set apart as a missionary.

 Here's our family photo after the setting apart.  It was wonderful to have Lyrad there "with us" on skype.

 On Isaac Last Day at home, he made steak for the missionaries,

and played soccer with ward friends.

At the airport -- sending off Isaac for TWO YEARS.  Josh will be 13 when Isaac gets home, and Rachel will be 16.  Eliza and Madi could be missionaries before Isaac gets home.  Wow.  Sounds like a long time.  We'll miss Isaac, but we're proud of him.

Isaac enjoyed his day in Provo before Grandma dropped him off at the MTC.  Because I was sad to not be there to drop Isaac off and get a photo of him in front of the MTC, Lyrad kindly "made" this for me using a photo of a random missionary he found online.  Isn't he sweet?

Isaac's photos and letters from his mission will be posted on a different blog:
http://elderrileyinukraine.blogspot.com/