August 2014 Update

BOATING ON THE COLUMBIA

Nathan was braver than his sisters and agreed to be the first one on the tube.

Once Nathan did it Abby decided she would try it.  You can tell by her huge smile that she loved it.

Maddy had fun on the tube too.

Jared was excited that he was finally able to get up on a water ski, although he was super sore for the next few weeks from all his attempts.

SUMMER FUN

The kids are always begging for me to do crafts with them which is hard when I was busy trying to pack everything up.  Jared came home with corn on the cob one day and they insisted on making corn husk dolls. Thanks to a little help from YouTube they turned out really nice. 

  

Nathan with a long alphabet puzzle he did at the library.

The kids doing a parade at our ward breakfast.

IDAHO

Jared and I went to McCall again this year to celebrate our 12th anniversary.  Since my pregnant body couldn't do a lot of active stuff we spent time relaxing at the hotel, swimming, and we rented a pontoon boat for a day and had a picnic out on the lake.  It was nice to have a final get away before new baby and moving far from family.  We really appreciate Craig and Jessica and Eric and Amy helping to watch our kids so we could have this get away.  It was a much needed break after all the repairs and stress of spending the summer getting our house ready to sell.

The timing of our anniversary trip turned out perfectly so that we could be in Boise for our niece Lyla's baby blessing.

She is such a sweet little angel and we felt privileged to be part of this special day.

We had a little talent show with all the cousins.  Abby performed "Let it Go" from the movie Frozen.

Maddy was excited to play "Cinderella's Waltz."

Although Nathan had only been taking lessons from mom for a few weeks he wanted to play his favorite song, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL PICTURES

Maddy's first day of home school

Abby's first day of home school

Nathan's first day of kindergarten

Nathan was excited to ride the bus to school for the first time.

Maddy wanted a picture on her first day of Homelink too.

Nathan's 5th Birthday

NATHAN'S BIRTHDAY

Nathan wanted a knight birthday party this year.  The kids started out by decorating the shields that we made for each of them.  Then they were assigned a quest.  Their first task was to jump over a moat.  We slowly widened the moat to see how far they could jump.

Then they jumped into a pit of snakes the spiders (plastic ones) and stormed the castle wall.

Probably their favorite task was shooting a real bow and arrow at a target with some help from Jared.

Their final task was to slay the pinata dragon.

Here are all the knights and ladies who attended the party.

The knights waiting to get knighted by the king.

Nathan's cake was a sword in the stone.

He must be the true king since he pulled it out easily.

Nathan with the slain dragon's head.

On Nathan's real birthday his was excited to open a knight LEGO set that his sisters picked out for him.

He also loved his castle tent from mom and dad.  He even started sleeping in it at night.

On our trip to Boise, Nathan was excited to get some new PJs from Grandma.

He also really liked his new LEGO Castle set.


NATHAN AT 5 YEARS OLD:

Favorite Colors: Blue and red
Favorite Foods: Fruits and vegetables
Favorite Book: Lego books
Favorite Movie: Swiss Family Robinson
Favorite Things to Do: Build with LEGOs, playing with cousins
Favorite Sports: gymnastics, soccer, and swimming
Best Friends: Lance, Ty, and Edward
When I grow up I want to be: A dad
Favorite Toy: LEGOs

Nathan is very kind, obedient, and helpful.  He has a talent for reading, making friends, and learning through observation.  We love him and feel blessed to have him as part of our family.