BOYSNBERRYMOM: September 2008

Well, the kids have been back to school for just over a week and I'm starting to feel like myself again. This year, Diane is in 9th grade, Jacob is in 7th, Chad is in a Gifted and Talented 5th grade, Gregory is in 2nd and Elijah started preschool 2x/week just yesterday. The coming school year will be busy with lots of homework, keeping up with our scouting responsibilities and volunteering in the schools. It's a good thing we had such a fun filled summer to give us memories that will lighten our hearts as we look back on the year.

After school let our in June, Diane, Jacob and Chad started Summer Music. Diane was in the choir, Jake in band, and Chad started to learn the Stringed Bass. Diane began volunteering at the Discovery Science center one afternoon a week and she took several private voice lessons throughout the summer to help her prepare for the Honor Choir (Improv) that she will be singing in this year at school. Diane also attended 2, week-long volleyball camps to help her improve her skills. She is playing on her 9th grade JV team this fall and is looking forward to the games starting next week.

For the 4th of July, we started the day with a pancake breakfast and bicycle parade at our church. After that we floated the Boise River on our little raft. That night, we drove downtown and watched the awesome city fireworks, returning home in time to light our own little display in the the cul-de-sac.

The next weekend, our family took a one night camping trip to Hot Springs campground, where we cooked a dutch oven dinner, sat in the tiny little Hot Spring across the road, cooked marshmallows, etc. the next morning we cleaned up camp, then went to a shooting range where we practiced our rifle skills with Stuart's 22. After shooting the gun, we drove to a pond where we tried fishing, Chad caught his first fish ever, and then went swimming. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the sand and water before driving home.

Our family's former exchange student, Carina Claussen, arrived on July 14, and then our fun really began! She and the boys took some paddleboats on the Julia Davis pond one afternoon, we took her to Cabela's and ice skating. We spent a day at Roaring Springs water park, where she ate a funnel cake and some dipping dots for the first time. We took her camping in McCall where we went swimming in another natural hot spring pool as well as in the very cold Payette Lake. My in-laws came for a visit while she was here and we all took a train ride in the old west style. Just before she left in August, Stuart took Carina, Diane and Jacob on a white-water rafting trip where they forged through class III and IV rapids. It definitely was a fantastic summer with Carina around. After she left, we took one last camping trip as a family, up to the very first campsite we ever camped at as a family- Grayback Gulch. The next Monday, school started and I have been trying to figure out what happened to all our pencils ever since.

Our 4th of July Floating trip down Boise River.