Cowabunga Bay with The Grundys

We had so much fun with Kelly, Chad, and their kiddos at this wonderful water park in Draper.  I only have pictures of Josh because Max was having so much fun that he wasn't in one place long enough to be anything but a blur on the picture! Unfortunately, Mykah wasn't with us either, but we texted her lots of pictures and thought of her all day.  Chad left early, like a trooper, to get us all In-N-Out burger...mmmmmmmmmmm! 




Josh hated this life jacket, so it didn't last long. His favorite things were these little fountains! They were located at the end of the pool that only had a few inches of water, so we let him lose the jacket and just hang out! He was content to sit with Aunt Kelly and her baby bump to receive the occasional squirt in the face!





Contrary to his face in this picture, he also loved the lazy river and we had fun just floating around!



Thanks for this wonderful memory, Kelly and Chad. We loved spending the day with you! 

Trains and a Glow

It's only fitting that Grandpa Joe and Grandma Kathleen took us to the train museum in Ogden, since little Maxie's gene pool is identical to Grandpa Joe's! Trains are Max's new passion and he was glowing all day.   Thank goodness we remembered the Thomas the Train cap!












Josh had to get in on the fun.






In the end, though, he was just plain tired!



Since Grandpa Joe's dad was a train engineer at the Kennecott Copper Mine in Bingham Canyon, UT, we all have a special place in our hearts for the sight of his great-grandsons having such awe and reverence for trains!

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!!