Small Town 4th of July

Brooke's new house is across the street from where the fireworks are shot off in Soda Springs. We had a great split 4th, since all the fun at the park was on Monday, but the fireworks were lit on Saturday night. Here are some pix from both days.

New family~ These are my hot new nephews, Damien and Tanner Bananner. I'm pretty sure Auntie M (that's me) scared the you-know-what out of them! Yup, I still got it ;)



"Old" friends~ Thanks for the visit, Suzie. You are one of the strongest women I know and I am so proud to call you friend. (How stupid is my sunburned face?!)



My wonderful parents getting set for the fireworks with Joshie Bear.



I'm such a proud (former) dental assistant mama! My son with a SulcaBrush! Thanks for finding it before you ran over it with the lawnmower, Kevin.



Josh loved the fireworks, but mostly was just content to cuddle with Daddy.



Oh our little Max...We so want him to be a tough, strappin' little boy, but he remains terrified of fireworks.



He buried himself so deep under his blankie when the sparklers came out...



That he fell fast asleep before the good ones even started.



Whataya do?! Gotta love him:)

Melissa's House

We spent the 4th of July (the actual 4th, as opposed to the 3rd or the 5th) with the Nelsons and other First Baptist Church family in Pocatello.  We began in the park after the parade, where we caught up with old friends while Brittney and Kelsey captured our boys.  Later in the day, we moved to Mark and Melissa's house for a barbeque and fireworks, but mainly more catching up with friends.



We could literally feel the love eminating from this Thomas the Train set since it belonged to Andrew~gone for 6 years now, but alive today because his family chose to share this piece of their son with Max, who is their godson. 







Max also got to pick 2 trains that he got to take home.  He carried them with reverence in the backpack that Melissa sent to him a while back, also Andrew's. 



We are incredible blessed to call this family our friends.  We love you all, so much!  Thank you for opening your home and your hearts to us.

The Youngs: In the middle of Nowhere

Here is the first set of pix from our summer vacay to Idaho & Utah to see our families. These are from Troy's old house in Niter. We went to visit and while Brooke packed up the house, we checked out the horses.  Josh's vacay nap schedule was non-existant, so he fell asleep during the 20 minute drive to the middle of Nowhere, Idaho.  We weren't sure he was going to wake up in time or if we were going to be able to find our way back to Mom & Max's house ;)



He did wake, but when he saw Damien's dog, he freaked out a little. This dog is much nicer than our Bodie, but he was big enough that Josh found him intimidating! Since the dog scared him, we were a little nervous for him to see the horses.



Max wouldn't go any closer to the horses than the trampoline in the beginning-




Uncle Troy came to the rescue though! He got everybody warmed up slowly-





Even Max couldn't pass up the chance to give the "cute little horsies" something to nibble on!




Mykah was a pro by the time we left!



Uncle Troy got Joshie Bear THIS CLOSE to getting on Cracker!



There was also a second where we thought Troy was going to be able to get Maxie on Cracker, too, but it was such a brief second that I didn't even get a pic!

Our update~I just finished my first summer term at Tiffin University.  I get a break for a week, then I start my math class ($%*!), which I will take along side my program when it starts on September 25.  Here's how my Degree Completion Program works- I will be grouped with other people who are in the same program as I am, which will earn me a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration in August 2012.  We are all classified as Juniors, since a prerequisite for the program is approximately 2 years of college.  For the program classes, I will be taking one class every 5 weeks.  We move quickly through one class, and to cover the whole syllabus, we only focus on that one.  I still have a few more prerequisites to catch up on, so I'll be taking 2 classes at a time total.  In the time it takes to finish my math class, which is a full term, I will have finished 2 business classes and be 1/2 way into my third!  So it's going to be pretty crazy.  I already know my blogging will suffer-all the energy I need to write now has to go to papers!  Oh well, when I come to the surface in 2 years, it will have been worth it, right?!  I took 4 classes in 7 weeks this term and did ok, so I should do fine!  Joe's MBA program starts on August 30 and he'll be taking 1 class every 7 weeks.   He should receive his Master's degree about the same time I get my Bachelor's, but we're both pretty nervous about having enough hours in the day.  So, you're up to date!  TU's first football game is on Thursday, September 2nd...we'll let you know how it goes!!

The Birthday Party

As the oldest sis in my fam, I've gotten to watch my younger sibs as they experience the wonders of life. Sometimes it has been incredibly painful to watch and not be able to fix their hurts. Other times, however, have made me stop and remember how quickly time passes and how good God is. As a sister, there is no greater moment than watching your siblings gaze at their own children...

Trevor and Sydnee Kay



Celebrating Gabriel's 3rd birthday and Papa's 65th-Gabe's fave present, an umbrella!



Auntie's bow & arrow set ranked up toward the top, though. Yup, I still got it ;)



Auntie gets some up close & personal time with her newest niece! Any resemblance? At all?...



Time for cupcakes-my boys were first in line, of course!




Max & Josh enjoy some wagon time with Dad while Mama oogles Sydnee...



and Aunt Kay tries out Mom's Heely's!! Her learning curve is MUCH shorter than mom's was!



and BTW, this is only 8 weeksish post pregnancy...how does she get that hot bod back so quickly?! Kay-B, you know that forces us to hate you, just a little, right?!

Kidding, of course ;) We love you, and we love your gorgeous family!

The Oasis

When I think of an oasis, I picture someone walking through the desert very slowly, feet dragging, hunched over, clutching at her chest and praying with all her might that there would be one more drink of water in her canteen.  She knows that regardless of the distance she has yet to travel that she would make it~if only she had just one drink.  Then, her prayer is answered (and lucky for her, this one is answered the way she hoped for).  She sees a big, crystal clear oasis where she knows she'll get the drink she so desperately needs.  Even better, the closer she gets she realizes that her oasis isn't an optical illusion fading into the sand...it's real and it's delicious!

Now that I'm so well traveled (ha-ha!), I can picture another kind of oasis~the delightful "travel oasis".  For any of you that have never had the luxury of traveling on a toll road, here's the jist~once you enter the toll road, you get a ticket that tells you the fee you'll have to pay when you exit the road.  You don't want to exit early, or you have to pay to get off the road, then take a new ticket when you get back on, only to pay again at your destination's exit.  The oasis on these roads is a gas station/restaurant combo where you can exit like you would a rest stop and not have to mess with your tickets/toll.  If you've ever been on a toll road in the middle of Pennsylvania with bulging, nursing boobs, a screaming newborn in the back seat who really, really wants your bulging, nursing boobs, and a very full bladder from trying to keep yourself hydrated because of said bulging, nursing boobs, this oasis will bring you just as much joy as the desert oasis!

Take those visuals (Sorry, Joe M!) to heart and you may start to get a feel of how desperately my family and I needed the oasis that is our extended family. 

Although we got to see my parents at the end of May, I hadn't seen any of my siblings for a very long year, and Joe hadn't seen any of his family in that year, either.  A lot has changed in that year, as you can all imagine and we needed a good, long "drink"~badly.  There were times when we felt as though we were in a different universe as our family.  There is no longer a time than waiting for phone calls from the hospital, trying to figure out if we get on a plane now or wait a little longer...wishing that we could just hop in our car and drive to the ones who are tugging at our hearts, ready to give anything for another hug, another chance to say "I love you" and "You're my hero."

We're so blessed to have the extended family that we have!  We thank God each and every day for all of you and that we made it home for a safe and awesome visit.  I hope you enjoy the next series of posts as much as we enjoyed our "oasis" in Idaho and Utah.  I have 9 occasions to show you pictures from...I promise I won't narrate all of them!  For those of you who don't know, Joe & I are back in school!  By the end of summer 2012, Joe will have his MBA in Sports Management and I'll have my BBA!  Hopefully, we can stay in Tiffin for 2 years to see these dreams become reality!  Obviously, this will be taking sacrifice on our part, so my blogging may have to get simplified ;)  That's not all bad, right?!  Just pictures, no words?!

We'll see...