Some Natisms

Nate is such a wonderful, fun child to have in our family. He has a pretty strong personality (note the 'Believe the Hype' shirt....) that I believe will serve him well in this life. He oozes confidence and is not afraid to stand up for things that he believes to be unequal or not right. I hope I can instill in him the power that personality trait can carry. If used for good, he will be an amazing example to those around him and people will continually be drawn to him. He is a natural leader and we are lucky to have him!

A few weeks ago we took the boat and headed to Willard Bay with just the older boys (Jake and Audrey napped at Grandma's house, which is very close to Willard). It was a fantastic day! We packed a picnic, ate on the boat and everyone had lots of turns tubing and playing in the water. After we were finished boating, we had the boat tied up to the dock while Warren went to get the car. All the sudden I hear a splash and look up to see Nate struggling in the water off the dock - without his life jacket! It is quite deep and Nate is not yet a strong swimmer, although he's had swimming lessons. Thankfully, I just hauled him out of the water and he was fine. After I get him calmed down, though, I asked him what he was doing. Did he fall in?

"I just wanted to see if it was deep," he replied!!!

What a way to test! I think the experience sufficiently frightened him and I'm confident that jumping in lakes sans life jacket will not be repeated (by Nate, at least).


This summer we also headed to Park City a few times. We discovered that on 'off' weekends, we can get a two bedroom condo type room at the Marriot Summit watch (a time-share resort). We took advantage of a great rate and played in the amazing pool, let the children go to 'kids night out' while Warren and I went out to dinner, and just generally had a wonderful few days away. Nate and Drew have learned to ride two-wheelers this year, so we took the bikes up to ride the biking trails around Park City. After their ride, Warren and Nate were in the parking garage putting bikes back on the bike rack. It is just the two of them until a pretty lady walks by and Warren is mortified to hear Nate do this:


That's our boy!!!