Happy First Day of Fall!

All,

I am excited to be sitting down and finally putting another post up on the blog! I never intended to let this sit so long, but life has for our family has been busy; there are always things that we want to do, and then there are the things we have to do. Finding a balance is an ever-changing challenge, making me all the more thankful for the grace of God as He leads us through life and has a perfect plan in everything.

Since my last update, I served with a team from Castleview on a mission trip to Camp Ray Bird; Mom, Anna, Dad, and Will celebrated birthdays (with Joshua's coming up in two days); school and sports began; we enjoyed wonderful visits from cousins, aunts and uncles, and great-Grandma Paige; some of us volunteered with Samaritan's Purse disaster relief teams to help homeowners affected by the fire; I had my wisdom teeth removed; we've taken family hikes in the mountains; Mom trekked up Pikes Peak with a group of her friends; and we visited one of those friend's ranch in the mountains with the other families for a fun day of fishing, kayaking, driving ATVs, food, and more.

To borrow the sentiment of a picture being worth a thousand words, I don't have time to draft a dissertation on all the details of these aforementioned events, and you probably wouldn't have time to read it. So, I'll do my best to upload a sampling of photos that will instead convey what I might have told you; for the rest of this year, I will try to not let so much time pass before posting to the blog again.

Enjoy the first day of fall!

For the Tribe,

         Nate

Fire and Other News

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope your summer has been enjoyable thus far! We have been in Indiana for one week exactly now, and our departure from Colorado couldn't have been at a better time. The massive wild fire that spread through the foothills came within 3 to 4 miles from our home, but progress is being made toward containment. Although the fire did not reach where we live, the air has been affected by the smoke and ash, so it is a blessing that we did not have to be in the midst of this. Pictures of the fire and the resulting damage can be seen on the Colorado Springs Gazette website. (The link below)

http://www.gazette.com/sections/slideshow/?id=15002311

Our visit has been encouraging and quite busy. Dad will arrive tomorrow night to join us, but in the meantime, we've spent plenty of time with cousins, friends, aunts, uncles... it has been good to catch up with so many dear people.

For those of you who are supporters of the trip to Camp Ray Bird with the team form Castleview, I have been meaning to send an update. When I get back to Colorado on the 8th, I'll send a more detailed note; the trip is coming up in two weeks, so please pray for the last minute details! We have a team meeting on Friday, and we will leave on Sunday the 15th. Thanks!

The weather has been extremely hot and humid (I'm missing the dry heat of Colorado!), but it has made the pool a great place to be. Unfortunately, we may not get to see fireworks due to the burn bans and lack of water. Even so, we look forward to celebrating our country's freedom (and Mom's birthday) on Wednesday. Have a great 4th of July!

     -Nate

Week of Firsts

All,

As you can tell, the summer has been quite busy, hence my blog posts being sporadic at best. However, I want to give you a quick sampling of what's been happening these past weeks.

Since I last updated the blog, Grandpa and Grandma Paige have moved into their new home here in Colorado Springs! So, we are once again close in proximity to them. Last Saturday, the Abells arrived; we've had a wonderful visit thus far. In particular, this week has held many "first" experiences for some of us. Wednesday, Luke and I joined Ethan and Mr. Abell on a day trip to fly fish; today, we took the Abells up the Incline, saw our first bear here, and the four oldest guys hiked to the top of Pikes Peak! Our trek lasted eight hours, but the time was enjoyed by all of us... although we will be feeling the pain tomorrow.

Rafting Pictures (plus a couple others)

The rafting pictures are up! There aren't any of the rapids themselves, but we did get some of our Jarretts vs. Jarretts splash battle, as well as us modeling the very attractive wetsuits. (The were quite a few comments among the ranks that these suits looked like they were from Star Trek and totally out of style.)

Pictures Are Up!

The pictures of the baptism are up, and tomorrow I'll post the rafting pics tomorrow.

Baptisms, Rafting, and Surfing... Water Anyone?

We just returned home after an evening of worship and celebration of twelve baptisms at church; three of the believers baptized were Luke, Becca, and myself! It was a joyous ceremony and an exciting event for all of us. I will upload tonight's pictures tomorrow.

On Memorial Day, Dad and Mom took Elissa through Ben (ten of us!) white water rafting on the Arkansas river. The weather was beautiful, the views scenic, and the water a bit chilly! The only time we really noticed how cold the water was occurred at the end of the raft trip, when quite a few of us jumped in for a quick swim. For his trip, we stuck to the class two and three rapids, but we're looking to take on the class three, four, and fives next time! Grandpa and Grandma stayed with the four littlest boys, and we ended the day together with dinner and then s'mores by the fire.

For Katie's birthday, Dad, Mom, and Christie (and the birthday girl of course!) are leaving tomorrow for an extended weekend trip to Oceanside, California... and surfing!

Summer Break!

Today was the last day of school for Katie and myself! Since Christie on down finished earlier this week, the whole family is on summer vacation.

Elissa arrived late last night, and we're glad to start our extended visit with her. Katie, Christie, Elissa, and I went out for ice cream this afternoon to belatedly celebrate Katie's birthday, as well as Elissa's arrival and the end of school.

Tonight is my baseball banquet to end the season, but Dad and I have continued to play on the men's softball team from our church. At three wins and three losses (two of them very close), we've progressed greatly since the first weekend. Our last win was 21-6!

Most of us have been making summer goals as we organize the house, preparing for our upcoming guests and a much-anticipated break from school. There are many things we are hoping to do, but we can trust in God's plans for these next months.

As you enjoy the warmer weather this season, take time to give thanks for it!