August Happenings

Squished in between cabin visits, Boise, & work....

We didn't have time to celebrate our 9th anniversary in July & we planned a trip to Jackson Hole that fell through as well so Vic decided to surprise me when I got home from work by lighting up the backyard for a "romantic" night with the kids! It was very sweet & thoughtful. :)  He bought me that light up arch & 9 wicker baskets to hang in the trees.  We follow the traditional wedding anniversary gifts & it was wicker or pottery this year.  You can't see in the picture, but that big white bowl is what I gave him.  It is customized with "Sutherland Snacks" and I filled it full of caramel popcorn Vic likes.

 Tommy did his 1st triathlon.  He was pretty proud of the metal he got for finishing.  I was really proud of how much effort he put into it.  He went full speed the whole time.  For my records...

He did: 6:02:52 on the Swim, 6:21:20 on the bike, & 6:15 on the run, 18:28 Total

 They let the kids out in heats at the start. Tommy was in the last heat, but he pushed to the front of his pack. He did great!

 He passed a lot of kids on the bike as well. I was surprised how many kids struggles with the bike portion as I thought that would be the easiest for most kids.

 He ran with Victor for the run & I was worried Vic's pace was too fast & that Tommy might run out of steam, but he was so hyped up on adrenaline that he did great.  There was an older girl from an earlier heat ahead of him at the end & he sprinted past her at the end.  He has quite the competitive spirit!

 The next day Vic did his race & the weather was TERRIBLE! It was really cold & drizzled rain the entire time.  There was parts where it started pouring rain even.  I felt so bad for all of the runners & was glad I didn't do this one! Vic did the Olympic distance & got:

Swim 34:41, Bike 1:28:35, Run 48:32 T1 5:50, T2 2:53, Total 3:00:29

 We were out riding bikes one HOT day & I told Whitney & Tucker to go inside & get their shoes on so we could go to the park & this is how they came back out... goobers & partners in crime is what these two are!

 Tucker did his first visit to the dentist and had the nicest hygienist, he did great!

 I took the kids to weekly story times at the library & one of the dress up parties. Our library does a great job of both.

 For my Dad's birthday we had him over for a BBQ & cake. The kids LOVE Grandpa Miller!  They were quite disappointed that we didn't get to go to his house though as when they see him they want to see all of his fun extras too! (horses & tractors)

 I took the kids to the zoo lots & bought a little pack of tickets so we could do a few rides after each visit.

 One of my neighbors had a BBQ with a giant slip & slide down their backyard. The kids had a ball doing that!

 We were also very busy with the kid's soccer games & Vic's baseball games. It was really fun to see him play on a team again!

Cabin Vacation #2

We felt like our trip in July went by way too fast so we went up to the cabin a few more times in August for extended stays.  We wanted to do a few different things so we did fun stuff on the way up.  Here are the kids at the Rexburg splash park. It was way better than what I was expecting.

 We did another visit to Rigby lake. Here is Whitney & Tommy with a few neighbor friends.

 Vic & Tucker having a water fight...

 and a close up of my little cutie!!!

 This kid loves life.  We get to see this super cheesy smile almost 24/7!

 Tommy was the only one who dared go down the blue slide. Tucker & Whitney would inch their way down & then crawl off the side before they went into the water.

 I've wanted to hike up Sawtelle peak for as long as I can remember & we finally did it!  I love that Tommy can take pictures now so we Vic & I can be in a photo together!

 Tommy is still our climber, climbing anything he can.

 Our view from the top.  The kids were really tired about here so we didn't make it to the end.  I was really proud of Tucker for making it as far as he did as normally we take a back pack for him.

We drove up the scariest road to get to the satellite on top. I was so nervous & tight the entire time. I couldn't help but let out sounds of worry & got the kids all worried too! We stopped right before one of the drop offs so you could see what it looked like driving down the road... like you'll just fall off!

 Strong Whitney ;) 

Yay for a couple picture! :)

 The kids were out the minute we started driving. It was a long hike for them. We were proud!

 The lake dried up really early this year so we played a little on the shared dock a few of the days.

 The last day we finally did something with all these tree stumps by the lake... we built a 2 level tree house for the kids!  Whitney is standing on the plank as Mom & Vic insisted on that as the final project will look like a pirate ship!

Boise Trip

In August we took a long weekend to go visit Josh, Vic's brother in Boise.  We went to the zoo on the 1st day. Here is Ian with our kids (Josh & Heidi way back there!)

 Cute Tucker ground hog!

 Cute little Heidi in the butterfly house.

 I always take pictures on the rides so I can remind them that they have done it!

 Ian & Tucker are both 2 and they are TROUBLE together!  They are both so busy & curious & thought whatever messy naughty thing one was doing was great & joined in. I thought it was cute they figured out how to work together to play in the drinking fountain at the park... needless to say they got water all over everyone!

 After the zoo Vic's parents joined us too and we had a BBQ & played out in the yard. I was happy to win croquet, but mom was tickled pink to go from last place to winning "poison" afterwards. 

Vic, Dad, Mom, Me, Kim, Josh

 The kids couldn't wait to get their chance to play afterwards!

 I don't know why, but I didn't take any pictures on Sunday! We went to a park/spray park & had Heidi's 1st birthday party.  Then on Monday we went to Vic's favorite restaurant, Tucanos, a Brazilian steak house.  Then we went to Roaring Springs water park.  The kids are at a really fun age finally!  Here they are all excited while we wait in line.

 We talked Dad into going on our favorite ride & thought he'd love it, but I think it almost gave him a heart attack & he said we were trying to kill him.... not show him some fun!  Vic had a great time laughing his head off while watching his Dad in terror... poor thing!

 I was surprised the kids were okay with this big slide. It seemed a little too scary for them, especially Tucker, but they all loved it & went several times.

It was a great weekend & made me miss living in Boise!