Goodbye Feb, hello March!

We are digging out, or better yet the sun is out and melting it all away.  Early February brought winter and tons of snow. I don't mind winter if there is snow.  Almost 20 inches over one weekend. We don't pay for a plow, instead we snowblow and shovel. Our long driveway can be completed in about 2 hours with the 4 of us. 

Among the routine of work, school and life we got out a bit. Below are a few pictures form the last 2 months. Details below each pic. 

Spring Attitash ski day! Nic was in lessons and Chris is not yet cleared to ski from his hip replacement. 1/2 day in 55 degree weather, second half of day in downpour. 

Dogs loving the snow, Scout more than Lucy. :) She tolerates it. 

Chris and I are both pros with snowblower. Chris even repaired it a couple of times. 

Inside shenanigans. 

Celebrated a birthday and the big V Day.

Bus stop. Here, kids are required to go to school in snow gear. They can go out for recess unless it's below 20.

Cold days as the snow melts away. Nic is a ham.

The start of College tours with Andrew. He successfully took the SAT. Lots of prep.

Day at the Museum of Fine Arts and surrounding city walk. Boston 2017.

Snow hikes with the dogs at Steel farm.

January recap

I've been hunkering down working a bunch of hours lately so I have been neglecting the personal blog updates. All is well in Mallett land.

We have enjoyed a mild weather January. It feels like spring. I know this won't last but it makes daily walks with the dogs so much more pleasant.

I celebrated another year last weekend! GO 42! Andrew & Ben volunteered to watch Nic while Chris took me into the city for a spa day and a nice night at the Liberty Hotel. The Liberty is the old Boston prison converted into a luxury Hotel. We enjoyed nice food and people watching. It was a great birthday. Family and friends sent nice gifts and birthday wishes. It feels great to be remembered. THANK YOU!

The dogs are well. Puppy training is helping keep Scout in line. Nicholas loves him so much that sometimes his hugs are little to hard and invoke a tiny growl from Scout. Lucy is enjoying feeling young again and I am constantly picking up stuffed animal guts as these two dogs can really tear them apart.

Ben and Andrew are great but, as you know, not too willing for photos. Andrew is enjoying ski team and is improving daily. The snow here is different from Utah and he has a bit of a learning curve. Andrew made the local paper the other day. Benefit of living in a small town.

Ben and team won a soccer tournament. Five games spread out over a Saturday their team won 4 of 5 games and Ben had a 4 game shut out with NO goals scored! He played super well and had a great time!

Chris spent a large chunk of time finishing his chapter 4 & 5 of dissertation. These are out for review right now and hopefully with minor edits he'll graduate in April!!!

AB Colonials 2015 JV Baseball season

Andrew enjoyed a great season of baseball on the AB Colonials JV baseball team. He really made some great friends and grew his social and baseball skills. We are so proud of him — it's hard to come into a new town, try out for a team, make the team and then play well. Way to go Mallett! His teammates call him 'Utah' or 'Mallett'. He played 1st base and pitched most of the season.  Here are his stats in Chris' words: 

Andrew had a terrific Freshman season. He was the only Freshman to make the JV team at AB. Played nearly every inning. He didn’t hit all that well (ok, but not great), but he played a terrific defensive 1B and couldn’t have been much better on the mound. 

Andrew pitched a lot. He finished with 4 wins and 1 loss with a save and a no decision on the season. He pitched in some very clutch spots and did well every time. His only poor outing was the loss. The team from Wachusetts hit him hard. His no decision was a 4-3 win in extra innings against Bridgewater Raynham. He gave up just 1 earned in that one – his first start; pitched terrific. He pitched complete games in his last two starts for the win in both. Three games back, he gave up just one hit through 4 before getting pulled in a blowout win for AB to let others pitch. Today (the last game) was his best effort of the season. He threw a one hitter, struck out 9, walked 3, and got the complete game win against Concord Carlisle.

Here are some fun photos of the team and shots taken at various games.

AB Colonials JV 2015 Team

Number 18

Coaches -vs- Cancer game

Andrew and Henry at the Miracle League game

Back to school

Earlier this month the kids started back to school. Andrew 9th (highschool), Ben 7th and Nic 4yr old preschool.  With the blog switch over I never posted about it. Playing catch up.

We've survived the first few weeks. The homework load is heavy and we have lots of after school sports (Andrew Jordan high baseball, Ben soccer, Nic soccer) and other activities. Busier than ever. 

Boys 1st day if school 2014