Idaho Reunion Party

We had a little reunion with our Idaho crew on August 5 at the Harpole's house.  Donnie had taken every one's pictures and videos and made an awesome movie of our entire trip.  I'm so thankful to have this movie as a keepsake!  

We will forever remember this trip, these people, and all of the new things we experienced.  Jen even set up a little pretend groover, so we could all reminisce on that experience.  Ha!  We of course used it as a photo opportunity.  :)  

To end the night, Brody and Culver played an intense round of "Butt Darts," which is a game the guides showed us on the river.  This was by far one of the funniest games we played on the trip, and it's even funnier how serious these boys took it.  I'm not sure if we should be proud or not that Brody is once again "Butt Dart Champion."  See the video below if you are curious what Butt Darts is all about.  

Colby's 9th Birthday

Our littlest number 9 is now 9 years old!  Colby has kept us on our toes since day 1.  He's taught us so much about faith, hope, strength, and love.  He's shown us what it means to be fighter.  He's proven that there are no limits when you trust in God.  He has inspired us to always strive for more.  He has completely changed all of us...for the better!  We are very thankful that God blessed us with him.

Happy 9th Birthday Colby Chance!  We love you BIG!!

Burn Summer Kids Camps

This summer, I was able to co-train the Burn kids camps, and I can't even explain how much fun I had doing this!  Being able to come up with fun workouts and then watch the kids push themselves and have fun while doing it, just made me so happy.  It was especially great seeing my two boys have so much fun, get stronger, and build more confidence in themselves over the summer.  I am so proud of Brody and Colby and how they give 100% to all they do.  

Manchester City vs Tottenham Soccer Game

Manchester City and Tottenham came to Nashville for an International Champions Cup match on July 29th.  We had so much fun tailgating before the game with great soccer friends.  Then, we were able to cheer on Manchester City to a 3-0 win inside Nissan Stadium with over 56,000 other fans.  It was an awesome experience to see these teams play in person.

15th Anniversary

Jason and I celebrated our 15th Anniversary on July 13.  It's hard to believe we have been married for 15 years!  In those years, we've experienced a lot of ups and downs.  The ups and happy moments have been amazing, and the downs with heartache, worry, stress, etc have been tough.  I'm thankful that we decided to use those tough times to bring us closer together, rather than let them tear us apart.    We are thankful for each challenge we've faced as a married couple, because each one has taught us so much about love and grace.  I cannot imagine going through this life without this man by my side supporting me, loving me, and cheering me on.  Here's to many, many more years together!

Community Church Camp

The boys attended Community's Church Camp again this summer, and they absolutely loved it! It is so weird without them at home for 4 nights.  I miss them like crazy, but I am so thankful that they get to experience such a fun camp.  They were both in cabins with friends, and they both made some new friends.  They spent time fishing, shooting, boating, playing games, making crafts, and most importantly, learning more about God.  Colby even received the Bible Award for the week, which makes us super proud!  

Idaho Vacation

Our trip to Idaho was the BEST vacation I think we have ever had!  We experienced so many new things and saw an absolutely beautiful part of the country.  We spent so much time together as a family completely unplugged...no phones, no iPads, no outside connection at all.  It was just the four of us and 16 great friends for an entire week.  I honestly can't think of anything I would want to change about this trip.  It will definitely be one that we remember for a lifetime!

We left very early on Saturday, June 24 to start this amazing adventure.  Once we landed in Boise, we had to drive about 3 hours to get into Riggins, which is where our rafting fun would begin.  

The first night, we all stayed in a Bed and Breakfast, and the rafting company sent vans to pick us up early the next morning.  The kids had a lot of fun at the Bed and Breakfast feeding the animals and making s'mores by the campfire.  

We got our things all packed up into our dry bags and headed for the river.  We had no idea how much fun we were about to have or how many awesome memories we were about to make!  We are so thankful that we had this experience to live on "River Time" and just enjoy God's beauty and each other.  The guides answer when anyone asked what time it was or when we would get to our next camp site was "about a mile...about an hour."  It was awesome to not live on a schedule!  

Day 1 on the River...

Day 2 on the River...

Day 3 on the River...

Final day on the River...

We left the river Wednesday afternoon by speed boat.  The speed boat actually took us back up the river through all the rapids we had just come down, which was pretty awesome.  We were very sad that our rafting and camping time had come to an end, but we were also pretty eager to take a hot shower and have a real bathroom to use (instead of the groover)!!  The next 4 days of our trip would take place at a house in Tamarack Resort.

Thursday's adventure was an ATV ride through the mountains.  This was an incredible experience!  At the top of the mountains, there was still snow on the ground.  The kids actually had a snow ball fight, next to the lake, in June!  It was crazy and so much fun!

We finished the day with dinner and games at the house.

On Friday, we packed a lunch and went for a hike around a beautiful lake in McCall.  We were thankful it was so beautiful, because our short 2 mile hike ended up a 6 mile hike after a wrong turn somewhere.  Ha!

We spent Saturday on Lake Cascade in Tamarack.  It was an absolutely beautiful day and a beautiful lake!  The kids pretty much tubed the entire time we were out there.  It was pretty cool to watch them tube with snow on the mountains in the background.  Once again, we were amazed by the beauty of Idaho!

We got up early on Sunday, so we could make the 2 1/2 hour drive back to Boise in time to have lunch with some old friends before our flight home. We love the Barton family, and we haven't seen them in way too long!  It was so good to catch up, and I really hope that we can see them again very soon!

This was by far my favorite vacation we have ever taken, and we were all kind of sad to see it end.  The bright spot of coming home, though, was seeing our little Messi!  We all missed him like crazy while we were gone.