First Day of School

First Day of school.

K first grade in Mrs. Henrie's class

                                                 J 3rd grade in Mrs. Hand's class

                                                     E 6th grade.  Middle school.

Kids Marathon

My friend got a group of us together and organized a kids Marathon.  What we did is ran a mile a day for 25 days throughout the summer on our own. The Saturday before school started we all gathered together and ran the last mile.  The kids did really good and it was nice to get them out and running most mornings.

 Here they are at the starting line.

 All the kids who participated!

 A trying to run after the kids!

 E and J Crossing the finish line!

H and her medal that she got!  It was a lot of fun.

Table Rock

The day after H's birthday  E, Nathan, and I along with Nathan's cousin Marc hiked Table Rock in the Grand Tetons.  Table Rock's elevation  is around 11,000 feet.   Nathan had made the hike many times.  I had never had the chance since I was always pregnant or nursing.  Nathan also decided that E could come this year.  We started out great and made great progress up the mountain.  We made it to the top (I realized just how out of shape I really was) before lunch.  Unfortunately I found out how much I didn't like heights once we were on top.   The view was spectacular even though it was a very cloudy day.  Going down we decided to go down the face of the mountain.   Not a good idea.  With all the loose rock E and I really struggled.  I slide a lot and my knees started to hurt.  We made it down and were very excited to see the truck.  It was quite the experience and I am glad that I did it.

 The Grand Teton.

E, Nathan and I at the top of Table Rock!!

The big 4 year old.

H turned 4 mid August.  We opened presents early in the morning, then spent the afternoon swimming at Rigby lake with cousins.  After swimming we went home for a yummy dinner of chicken, rolls, salad and a chocolate horse cake.  It was fun to celebrate the day with all the cousins!  We love having H in our family.  She is so enthusiastic about everything and always curious.  We love you H!!!!!

Sugar City and the Gee Clan

The kids and I left Utah and made the trek to Sugar City Idaho.  It was a relief to make it to Nathan's parents home and know that Nathan would be joining us shortly.  We had a couple days with Grandma and Grandpa by ourselves.  We went to a park for a picnic and had fun playing dress ups and reading and watching the Olympics   Nathan finally made it Friday after being delayed long enough with one flight that he missed his connecting flight and ended up getting to his parents house around 11:30 pm. 

Saturday we met as the Gee Clan at Porter Park in Rexburg and went on a couple carousel rides and played at the splash park.  The older kids didn't last long at the splash park because the water was too cold, but A loved it! 

 Saturday evening we all were together for dinner and pictures and visiting.  This is the first time in a couple of years that we were all together, but we were ALL there.

 The kids had so much fun playing with all of their cousins.

 J learning how to shoot a BB gun with Uncle Even.

Nathan's sister Jodi set up a slackline between two trees and everyone go the chance to walk across it.  It was really hard.  Nathan learned the hard way that it is best with bare feet and not with socks!

Cousins

After leaving my parents in Idaho we spent some time with my sister Teresa and her family in Nibley Utah.  

 E having fun with cousins.

After a couple days in Nibley we headed down to Orem and my sister Rebecca's house.  We met my younger sister Heidi and her girls at the BYU Paleontology museum then went and got Slushies and Sonic.

 We also went swimming and had a BBQ with sisters Shelly and Heidi and family.  I also did a lot of school shopping for the kids since my sister lives 5 minutes from the mall and in PA we live far from everything.  It was so much fun and we loved being right by the mountains!!!

Council Idaho

After the family reunion was over we dropped Nathan off at the airport (actually my sister did because they both needed to be to the airport around 5am).  Nathan worked for 2 weeks while I drove all over the west with the kids.   Our first stop was at my parent's house in Council Idaho.  The kids had been looking forward to fishing with Grandpa.  We woke up early every day that week so they could go fishing.  Thankfully there was a little stocked pond close to the house.

 H trying to catch a fish.

 Morning view!

 J was the first one to catch a fish.  He was very excited.

 E and her catch.

 K and her catch.  

My Dad also helped H catch a fish, but before I could get a picture she walked right into the fish as my Dad was holding it up and freaked out.

 

A had fun hanging out and watching everyone and their fish.

 One evening after my Dad finished work we headed up to a lake to go canoeing.  It was a beautiful evening and the kids had so much fun.  My phone took a dive into the water, but luckily no harm was done.