Short update

It has been a very long time since anything has been posted to our blog, and we will be surprised if anyone ever looks at it again, but it is a nice place to help us remember what has been happening.

For today, I will report on three notable events that have happened since the last post.

Cape Hatteras

At the beginning of September we headed off the the Outer Banks NC again.  One of our sight seeing stops this year was the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  Last year we couldn't get down there  due to the hurricane that had come through a couple weeks prior to our visit and washed a section of the road away.  Here are some interesting facts.  The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in America, and the 23 tallest traditional lighthouse in the world.  It is 12 stories tall, and has 268 steps to the top.  Nathan took the older 4 children up in it.  A was too little to go in so he and I stayed behind.  Both E and J weren't able to make it to the top because of their fear of open and high spaces.  As I was waiting for them to make it to the top I overheard a girl telling her family that "some Dad just left his daughter on the stairs a couple stories up crying because she was too scared".  My first thought was "That is not a very nice Dad"  then my second thought was "That was Nathan and he had to leave E behind".    Because he had the other 3 kids with him he didn't want to bring E back down.  J only made it a little farther.  I am glad that I didn't try going up.  Both K and H loved it though!

View from the top!

First day of Preschool

H started preschool a couple of weeks after the older kids did.  We have her in the same preschool that K went to.  So far she is loving it and enjoying the time (for the most part) away from home!

Labor Day

On Labor day we went hiking with some friends.   It was a lot of fun and we didn't get too wet or muddy.  After the hike and some geocaching the girls took off to the outlet malls close by while the boys headed home with the little ones.  It was a fun full day.

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!!