August 2013 Update

NATHAN

Nathan now refuses to take naps, but sometimes he gets really worn out and I find him asleep in the funniest places.

Nathan did really well in swim class.  The teacher thought he was probably a good enough swimmer that he could skip the next level.

Nathan had fun kayaking at our ward Fathers and Sons outing.

Nathan caught napping again.

He loves his new construction pjs from Grandma.

Now that we have started homeschool, he does a lot of puzzles while I'm working with Abby.

ABBY

Abby is getting to be a really good swimmer.  Her only problem is that she is so skinny she doesn't float very well.

Abby learning the front crawl.

MADDY

Madeline has overcome her fear of the water and has really taken off with her swimming.  She even passed all the tests to get into the next level.

SECOND HONEYMOON

Jared and I always planned on having a second honeymoon for our 10th anniversary.  However, we spent our 10th anniversary in tears since I was pregnant, and we had just found out about all of Thomas' health problems.  Needless to say, we didn't really feel like celebrating.  So we decided to make a big deal out of our 11th anniversary instead.

Jared planned a fun get away in Cascade, ID which was near our free babysitters in Boise.  Thank you Eric, Amy, and Grandma Collett.

On the first day we hiked to this beautiful alpine lake.

Knowing that camping isn't my cup of tea, Jared decided to plan a glamping trip where we spent the day doing fun things outdoors, and then we came home to this fancy suite.

We stayed at the Ashley Inn which was a nice Victorian style hotel complete with a pool, a jetted tub, and free access to canoe and kayaks, not to mention freshly baked cookies every night.

On Friday we went on an awesome and somewhat scary zip line course.

This is me scared to death at the top of a huge pine tree.

Jared walking along a suspended bridge.  Here is a video of one of our zips.  It is a lot scarier than it looks.  In some places we were 200 feet above the ground.

On our last day Jared and I went jet skiing, but I don't have any pictures because I didn't want to risk the camera.  We also enjoyed some nice hot springs before heading back to Boise to pick up the kids.  We stayed in Boise on Sunday and were able to attend Jenna's baby blessing and have Sunday dinner with Jared's family.

Later in August, our family hiked Badger Mountain for the first time since we moved here 5 years ago.  We had a FHE lesson on enduring to the end and started up. I was impressed with how well the kids did.  Abby and Maddy made it on their own, and Nathan only had to be carried for a short time.  The hike was ugly (no trees, only dust, rock and sagebrush) but the view was worth it.  At the end we took at trip to Baskin Robin's to show that after we endure to the end we will get a reward.