10. Barlow boys were the 6A Track State Champions. It was Scott’s first year as an assistant track coach, and what a first year it was! Barlow dominated State with wins in the 110 meter hurdles, 300 meter hurdles, 4x100 meter relay, discus and shot put. We were also second in the 100 meter dash, fourth in the 200 and 400 meter dash, and seventh in the 800 meter run and 4x400 meter relay. It was a great season, and the three of us (Scott, Heather and Stanley) were able to attend day 3 of the meet together. BTW: the last state championship won by Barlow was the Track championship in 1999 which Scott was part of as an athlete. (He was 18th in the 1500, but he was there.)
9. After taking financial peace university back in March, we’ve both been saying we need to pare down on some of our stuff. Last weekend we finally did with a garage sale. Matt and Elizabeth helped with it and provided some of their stuff too. It was great to see old things go, and to have less clutter. Now we are still trying to regain our garage with some of the leftover things that didn’t sell.
8. Scott took a week long class in July to help improve his teaching. The class went from 8am to 6pm Monday through Saturday. It was definitely a stretch for us having him being gone all day. Fortunately, he was able to carpool with Paul from work. They were also workout buddies for the week, running in the mornings and playing tennis, golf, or some other activity in the afternoon. The class allotted time in which we were required to do a wellness activities. From the class, Scott has some great ideas for the classroom, and it also helped him get back to running more regularly. He’s actually going to be doing a fun run this upcoming Sunday!
7. Our friends Matt and Holly Smucker visited us from Taiwan. They have been in Taiwan for 2 years now and are going to spend at least another two there. They hadn’t seen Stanley yet, so it was fun for them to meet him, and great to catch up with them. It is awesome to see how friends our age are serving God overseas, and how He is using them. We hung out at our house and got to play some Frisbee golf with them afterwards.
6. Every summer we like to go camping at least once. This year we ended up going to Timothy lake which is just east of Mt. Hood. We went with Matt and Elizabeth Reese, and it was tons of fun. Scott, on a whim, ran the 13 miles around the lake. We enjoyed some calm moments on the lake while Matt and Elizabeth watched Stanley. And Stanley got his first taste of the outdoors (not literally, we didn’t let him eat the dirt—maybe next year).
5. This summer there were lots of additions to our families. Heather’s sister Beth had her third child Kade on May 25th, and Scott’s sister Sjana had her second child Makenna on June 24th. It was fun following our sister’s along the process and comparing where they were to where Heather was during the pregnancies.
4. Speaking of cousins, Beth and her family came up to Oregon in the beginning of July. It was fun hanging out with them for a week and to see how they’ve grown, and to see Kade for the first time. During their stay we had “Camp Nanapa” at Gene and Cinda’s (Cinda is called Nana and Gene is Papa Gene thus the name “Nanapa”). We spent one day at the Alpine slides, which was Scott’s first time going down the slides, and we spent a day at Trillium Lake. Cinda rented some kayaks for us. We also had a meet the baby party for Beth and Kade. Overall, it was a great time with family and we look forward to seeing them again. Maybe we’ll go down to Arizona after Christmas again.
3. For Stanley’s four month birthday (yes he is already that old) we decided to go to the zoo on two dollar Tuesday. It was a great idea, unfortunately everyone else and their mother had the same idea. Traffic was great until we got through the tunnel and the right lane suddenly came to a stop about a mile from the zoo. We waited, and waited, and soon realized that it was stopped because of the zoo. We waited for about 30 minutes and then had to get off because Stanley was starting to wake up from his nap and he wanted to eat. During those 30 minutes we moved MAYBE a quarter mile. People kept zipping 
forward in “the line.” After we fed Stanley we decided to check out a zoo shuttle that ran from the Nazarene church at the Sylvan exit (that’s where we got off to feed him). Unfortunately that was also crazy busy. I guess the zoo parking lot just filled up. At that point we thought we’d just go find a park to rest at and enjoy our picnic lunch. After lunch we had Stanley’s four month photos taken at Portrait Innovations. When we finished there it was about 2:30, and we knew traffic getting home could be horrendous, and Scott had a great idea, why don’t we try to the zoo again! This time it was easy to get to the zoo, but it was still crazy the number of people still arriving. We had to wait in line for 20 minutes to get our tickets. But it was worth the money. For $6, we got to spend 3 ½ hours at the zoo which was plenty of time. On our way home we heard I-84 East was backed up so we stopped at Lloyd Center for dinner. It was a great four month birthday for Stanley. He seemed to enjoy it, although he’ll enjoy anything as long as he stays well fed.
2. We celebrated our four year anniversary this summer. For our anniversary Heather was surprised with a trip out to Club Sports in Tualatin and dinner at Stanford’s. Sue watched Stanley so we got a day to ourselves. That in and of itself would have made a great anniversary. At club sports we rock climbed, lifted weights, and used the hot tub, elliptical, saunas and steam rooms. When you walk into Club Sports, it feels as if you’re walking into a hotel. It is super nice. Scott received a free week family membership during the class he took in July. Unfortunately, we were only able to use that week membership that one day. After our time at the gym we headed up to Portland for dinner. We had an incredible dinner at Stanford’s. If you haven’t been there, you need to go. The food is incredible, but the company was much better. It was a great four year anniversary for us, and we are looking forward to the years ahead.
1. Our highlight of the summer was that Scott didn’t have to work and that we didn’t have to move. We were able to just relax and enjoy our time together and with Stanley. We’ve spent the majority of our summer around home, watching movies, cleaning, organizing, and just being together as a family. During the school year, teaching is a really demanding job. 
Without summers, teachers couldn’t maintain the level of intensity that they need to do their job. We also decided that we need to have all our babies in the spring so that Scott can be around during the summer to help with those first couple of months. However, we know that we can plan, but ultimately that is in God’s hands. It has also been fun to be around and see the changes in Stanley. He is growing bigger and bigger every day. He can now hold his head up easily. He is vocalizing a lot, but it’s still mostly “ahhs” and “oohs”. By just being home we have been able to cherish and enjoy every moment. The summer has been a true blessing.
So there’s a little recap of our summer. It has been a great time. We also want to give a shout out and congratulations to a few of our friends who have accomplished great things this summer.
Recently, Scott has been able to participate in two really fun running events. Last Sunday he did a 5k fun run at Mt Hood Community College, and on Friday he was able to run a leg of the Hood to Coast Relay. Although he didn't run any times close to what he did in college, he had a blast doing both.
Scott just wanted to see what he could do, and was surprised when he ran it in 18min 10sec. Before the race he was just hoping to run it under 21min. He finished fifth overall, and second in his age division. He's hoping to run more 5k's throughout 
the year, and hopefully improve his time. Heather was a huge support in the whole race. She brought Stanley out to watch daddy run, and she was at several of the spots during the race. Afterwards, she even gave Scott a hug despite him being all wet and sweaty. Scott was even able to talk his dad into running the 5k. The last race they did together was when Scott was in 5th grade. 
His participation in the Hood to Coast relay was a surprise when our friends Jeremy and Claudette called asking if Scott would be willing to run with Claudette on one of her late night runs. She was running the leg into Portland and did not feel comfortable running that by herself. The Hood to Coast handbook even suggests that females have someone to run with on some of those late night legs. Heather again was very supportive of this, and drove Scott out to meet Jeremy and Claudette's team at 10:30pm, and picked him up at 11:30 under the Hawthorne bridge. It was a perfect night for a night run, and Scott had fun being part of the Hood to Coast.
