Happy 14th Birthday Jacob!

Aug. 7 was Jacob's 14th birthday. He had a great birthday. We celebrated over several days. We spent a day touring the World's Largest Garage Sale (runs from AL to MI), a took a quick trip to the river and since his birthday was on Sunday he was able to be ordained a Teacher on his birthday. Very neat! Jacob's wish list was expensive this year (kayak gear) so he got money from Grandparents for a new paddle (thank you), kayak gloves from his sisters and a kayak roll lesson from me and James. His cake is right along the same theme. The cake depicts Jacob and James kayaking, only Jacob's kayak is upside down since he does not know how to roll yet... Jacob continues to be a great example for his sisters and a super teenager for his parents. We are so grateful to have him in our family.

River Rafting and Kayaking

We spent all of our spare time this summer river rafting and kayaking. We bought a raft so we can go rafting as a family and since James went to guide school, he is our guide. James and Jacob both have kayaks and love to whitewater kayak any chance they get. Jacob often takes his kayak down the river while the rest of the family rides in the raft. Here are some pictures of our river trips over the summer. Jacob is in the green kayak and James is in the yellow one. I have to say, whitewater rafting is a really fun family activity. Before you think we are too daring, the river we take the kids on only has class I and II rapids - that means the water is moving and there are a few bumps along the way. We will go on 'bigger' rivers as time goes on, as our children are older and better swimmers. Meanwhile, Kathryn would really like to learn to kayak and I am considering the idea as well...

Jacob's Eagle Project/4th of July/Happy Birthday Samantha!

July was a very busy month for us. Jacob finished his Eagle Project, we had a BBQ on the 4th of July to thank everyone who helped on the project, and then went to Utah to visit family and friends for the rest of the month. While in Utah we celebrated Samantha's 5th birthday. Here are a few pictures from Jacob's project, the BBQ and our trip.

Everyone pitched in to help. Our little girls out worked many of the teenage boys, they had a great time. Kathryn was the official photographer so she is not in very many pictures.

All these little kids put the top of the bench on - what good workers!

Each day he had about 25 people there to help. We were very blessed with so many helpful friends and ward members.

For his Eagle Scout Project Jacob built an amphitheater for the Madison YMCA. It included 10 benches, and a stage. We had 3 work days for his project. Jacob did a great job on his project and I could go on and on and on bragging about it, but that would be rude - still I have to stop myself from talking about it. I am so impressed with this fine boy! I'm such a lucky Mom!

Our 4th of July BBQ was a lot of fun. It was super hot so the kids spent the afternoon in the pool. We played a few relay races, ate yummy food and had fun shooting fireworks. It was a great day.

While in Utah we visited with our super duper friends the Greers. The kids and I stayed there for a few days while James was out of town. We had such a great time! Rebecca and I visited into the wee hours of the morning and the kids played so well together, it was really wonderful. We can't wait to do it again.

James' Aunt Carol is serving a mission on Temple Square. We stopped by to see her. It was really fun to see where she is serving (the Family History Library) and her apartment. Of course no trip to Salt Lake is complete without a stop at the Visitors Center on Temple Square.

We stayed at our dear friend's the Weavers while in Utah. They are always so good to us when we come. It was great to see them and play a bit while we were there. LuAnn and I took the girls to Temple Square on one of our last days there (James and Jacob went home a few days ahead of us, and Lance was out of town). We had such a nice time looking around and seeing the Salt Lake Temple.

Cool note - there is a FREE dinosaur museum at BYU - LuAnn and I took the girls - it was super!

The purpose of our visit was to see my Grandfather and Aunt. We spent part of every day with them and that was a treat for me.

We do not have any parks near our home so we went to the park as often as possible. These are pictures from several park visits over the weeks we were there.

This is a fun statue at a park in Heber City - of course we needed a picture since it has a horse in it.

Hiking in the south entails high humidity and green tunnels with very few over looks at great vistas. Hiking in the west includes super views, thin air and sometimes snow in June. So fun!

Such a great picture - also proof that he was there since all the other places we went he was the photographer.

The picture really does not show how steep the hill was. Jacob, Kathryn and James all 'skied' down the hill. I held on to the little girls hoping we would stay on our feet. :)

Picture taken by some really nice fellow hikers.

Samantha turned 5 while we were there. We threw her a little party and the Weavers' daughter Kristen and her family came over as well. It was a fun day. Samantha is such a happy soul, we are so grateful to have her in our family. She received several fun presents including a rainbow shirt, a pillowpet and some great books.

Jacob gave her a Barrel of Monkeys - she was really excited! No picture here, but she got a scooter from Mom and Dad, she had been asking for one for a while.

The Pillowpet was a big favorite.

Since we were out of town, we bought a cake for her - thank you Smith's for a good bakery. She really liked it and we may copy it for future cakes at home.

This is Samantha with her GREAT-Aunt Candy. It was so fun to be there and have her celebrate with us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CUTE GIRL! WE LOVE YOU!

Camping and Raft School

James took went to raft guide school in April. He had a great time, learned a lot and now he can guide us down the river. We went out at the end of the week and camped with some friends (their Dad was in the school too). We hiked the Appalachian Trail for a little while, watched the Dad's go down the river - James is the guide in the back, he loved it! It was a fun weekend and now we have our own raft and love to go white water rafting as a family. We have only gone on the Nantahala River so far since it is a good river for little kids, but we plan to tackle the Ocoee some time this summer, that will be for the big kids and adults.

Happy Birthday Emily and Sarah (better later than never)

With all the tornado hubbub and then summer business I did not realize I never posted pictures from Emily and Sarah's birthdays in April. I am having a hard time believing that it is June, practically July as I write this, but there it is.

Emily turned 7 on April 8. Emily is a sweet girl with a very funny rough house side. She is in charge of collecting eggs everyday, a job that she takes seriously and does very well. With her move up to eggs, it left an opening for feeding the dog. Samantha has taken over that responsibility and feels very grown up to be doing Emily's old job. Emily does really well in school, she likes to read, ride her bike, and anything horse related. For Emily's party we invited a couple of families over for an ice cream party. She wanted a volcano cake and we did our best.

Sarah turned 9 on April 22. Sarah has grown up a lot this year. She has taken on more responsibility in the barn and has really risen to the level of 'big kid' over the past several months. Sarah loves babies, anything wedding and love related, riding her bike and anything in the water. For Sarah's birthday weekend we went to Atlanta for the Temple Open House. It was wonderful. We did not take any pictures of the temple because - hot day, lots of people, parked WAY in the back, too tired I guess - but James took a picture of all of us on the Temple grounds. Visiting the temple open house is something that I think the kids will remember for a really long time. It was very nice. Sarah wanted a motorcycle cake. James, Jacob and Kathryn all pitched in to make it super cool. It has whoops, jumps and flying motorcycles, they did a good job.

Just because I can not believe these two little girls are growing up so fast, here is a picture of them when Emily was a baby, Sarah was 2. Happy (belated) Birthday cute girls!